In the news
■ Alessandro Zamperla of Central Amusement International celebrated a “great, rich place with so much legacy and emotions and memories for all” as Luna Park in Coney Island, N.Y., debuts new attractions including a roller coaster called Tony’s Express and a log flume ride called Leti’s Treasure.
■ Christopher Mason, a Massachusetts State Police colonel and the agency’s commander, informed about a dozen troopers who were fired for failing to get covid-19 shots that their permits to carry firearms will expire shortly.
■ Elmo, the furry, red 3½-year-old whose last name is unknown, got a covid vaccine just like Big Bird, according to the nonprofit educational organization behind “Sesame Street,” and he reported, “There was a little pinch, but it was OK.”
■ J. Walton, a teacher in Belton, Mo., is suing the school district, claiming it unfairly terminated her contract because she blew the whistle on her alternative high school for unfairly dropping students and skewing test score data.
■ Ali Khosroshahin, a former women’s soccer coach at the University of Southern California who took bribes to help unqualified kids get into the school, was sentenced to six months of home confinement after cooperating with authorities investigating the college admissions scandal.
■ Vladimir Mau, a leading economic expert in Russia who was lauded by President Vladimir Putin as recently as 2017, was detained on embezzlement charges in a case that some observers see as linked to purges targeting members of the country’s liberal elite.
■ Satendra Kumar, an official in New South Wales state, said “Australia is the only major honey-producing country free from varroa mite,” but the threat has reappeared and the country is destroying millions of bees by pouring gasoline into hives and setting them afire.
■ Mette Frederiksen, prime minister of Denmark, was accused of being “grossly misleading” by a commission that harshly criticized the government for its decision to cull millions of healthy mink at the height of the coronavirus pandemic to protect humans.
■ Stella Creasy, a Labor member of Britain’s Parliament, said efforts to allow “politics and parenting to mix” are challenged by a ruling that lawmakers should not bring their babies to debates after she was reprimanded for bringing along her sleeping newborn in a sling.