In the news
▪ Michael DiMassa, a former Connecticut legislator, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for stealing $1.2 million, most of it pandemic aid, to fuel a gambling addiction that is alleged to have included betting on how long the national anthem would take at the Super Bowl.
▪ Carolyn Bennett, Canada’s mental health and addictions minister, hailed a “bold step” as the country becomes the first where warning labels must appear on individual cigarettes, including “poison in every puff,” “tobacco smoke harms children” and “cigarettes cause impotence.”
▪ Paul Whorrall, mayor of Manlius, N.Y., said a swan named Faye that was stolen from the town’s pond “was consumed; sad to say, but that’s what they did,” with three teenagers arrested on charges of grand larceny and criminal mischief.
▪ Crystal Zion of the Georgia State Patrol cited the importance of the state’s move-over law, which requires motorists to slow down and get out of the way when they see flashing lights, after a Nissan Altima rocketed into the air when it drove up the ramp of a tow truck and the car’s driver landed in the hospital.
▪ Daniel Elie Bouaziz, a Palm Beach, Fla., art dealer, was sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling counterfeit works for $75,000 to $240,000, including pieces purportedly by Andy Warhol.
▪ Mark Bartlett, a white man, got off with probation, community service and anger management and racial sensitivity training after pulling a gun and yelling racial slurs in a Miami traffic confrontation with Black teenagers protesting housing inequality.
▪ Everette Wadley, a mother and museum-goer in Atlanta, said, “Can you imagine trying to tell an 8-year-old we’re not going to be able to see that today?” after a Jurassic Park dinosaur exhibit was closed because of a break-in that caused $250,000 worth of damage.
▪ Pyotr Tolstoy, a Russian lawmaker, said the aim is “to stop the infiltration of the Western anti-family ideology” as he led 400 members of the lower house in pushing a bill to ban gender-affirming surgery, as well as name and gender changes.
▪ Anthony DeFillipo, mayor of North Miami Beach, Fla., was arrested and charged with voting irregularities, with the regional Commission on Ethics & Public Trust fielding a complaint that he actually lives in Broward County and the city commission stalemating over the issue.