In the news
■ Nick Castro of Nick’s Extreme Pest Control in Santa Rosa, Calif., figured the usual dead animal was stuck in a home’s wall, and he “was just kind of shocked” to discover a woodpecker treasure trove, tens of thousands of acorns totaling about 700 pounds.
■ Insaf Ali pledged “to stay away from the birds, because it’s trouble,” but he was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for scheming to smuggle finches from Guyana to New York for birdsong competitions.
■ Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, a political analyst in India, said the decision “was to prevent the politics of Hindutva [Hindu nationalism] from being ridiculed in the face of severe criticism from all quarters” as the government withdrew its idea of celebrating Valentine’s Day as “Cow Hug Day.”
■ Dan Salkeld, an adviser to the Bay Area Lyme Foundation, has bad news for California residents regarding the recent weather, reporting, “Having a good rainy wet season is going to be good for ticks.”
■ Dillon Jordan, a California movie producer, was sentenced in New York City to five years in prison after running a high-end prostitution service for seven years, providing women to clients for up to $15,000 and organizing sex parties in both the U.S. and abroad.
■ Rob Bonta, California attorney general, said it’s not petty theft; “this is organized,” and “it won’t be tolerated,” as eight people were charged with multiple felonies after $1 million worth of goods were stolen from Apple stores across the state.
■ London Breed, mayor of San Francisco, delivered an address arguing the city is neither dead nor dying but instead a place of resilient dreamers, and she pledged to beef up police staffing, crack down on drugs, offer tax breaks to new businesses and build more housing for essential workers.
■ Ashton Ryan, former chief executive of a New Orleans bank that racked up $263 million in losses, was convicted on 70 counts of fraud, conspiracy and other charges, some carrying possible 30-year prison terms, with a U.S. attorney calling it “a theft of epic proportions.”
■ Terri Sewell, an Alabama congresswoman, called Tabernacle Baptist Church in Selma “a living testimony of those giants who fearlessly fought for freedom, equality, and justice for all” as her office announced a $750,000 National Park Service grant to help preserve the site.