In the news
■ President Joe Biden kept the turkey-pardon tradition going, declaring that two birds named Peanut Butter and Jelly “were selected based on their temperament, appearance and, I suspect, vaccination status,” and “instead of getting basted, these two turkeys are getting boosted.”
■ Eddie Bernice Johnson, 85, a trailblazing Black congresswoman for nearly 30 years and a political fixture in her hometown of Dallas, pledged to endorse “a female that is qualified” as she announced she won’t seek reelection next year.
■ Vicki Been, a New York deputy mayor, is grateful that the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota will accept a controversial statue depicting the 26th president on horseback followed by an American Indian and a Black man, after the bronze art piece was removed last year from outside the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
■ Curtis Martin of the California Highway Patrol said two people were arrested and more could face criminal charges after motorists scrambled to snatch up fistfuls of cash when the doors on an armored truck popped open, spilling bags of money on a freeway in Carlsbad.
■ Donald Tusk, 64, a former European official who heads Poland’s main opposition party, said having his driver’s license suspended and getting a ticket for driving 66 mph in a 31-mph zone were “adequate” sanctions and he accepted them “without discussion.”
■ Robert G. Anderson of the Mississippi Department of Human Services cited “the controls we have in place to identify, investigate and eliminate fraud” after a 29-year-old woman from Foxworth was arrested on charges of obtaining $26,161 in food-program benefits under false pretenses.
■ Joshua Matthew Houchins, 36, a North Carolina real estate developer, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to a Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of $1.5 million.
■ Pamela Perry, the ex-girlfriend of the man who detonated an explosive in Nashville, Tenn., last Christmas, is suing for $284,000 in reward money because she says she stepped forward “at great personal risk” to help identify the bomber.
■ Michael Moffa wanted to make the holiday season bright for his family of five in Westchase, Fla., so he had their Christmas lights professionally installed Nov. 6, but his homeowners association is threatening $1,000 in fines for decorating too early.