In the news

■ Art Acevedo, police chief in Houston, called the slaying of 10-month-old Messiah Marshall “callous and cowardly” after the baby was shot while in his father’s arms as the 22-yearold ran from three men who confronted him on a walk at an apartment complex.

■ Ryshonda Harper Beechem, 37, the first black mayor of Pelahatchie, Miss., will take office July 1, saying she hopes race didn’t play a factor in her election, adding, “I love everybody in this town,” which has 1,340 residents and is 60 percent white.

■ Joe Saladino, town supervisor in Oyster Bay, N.Y., said if residents have to pay for access to a town beach, then so do the Russians, ending a decades- long “good neighbor” policy that granted dozens of free passes to visiting diplomats and their families.

■ Rachel Borch, 21, of Hope, Maine, is being treated for rabies after a raccoon charged out of the woods while she was on a run and attacked her, biting down on her thumb as she ran with the animal to a nearby puddle where she held its head underwater until it drowned.

■ Natwaina Clark, 33, a former Gainesville, Fla., city employee, was arrested on larceny and fraud charges after investigators said she stole $93,000 from the city for personal expenses, including $8,500 for butt-lift surgery.

■ Christina Wagner, a snack bar owner denied a permit to sell bratwurst at an Autobahn rest stop near Rodaborn, Germany, now passes her food to customers through a fence from an adjacent lot and said she’d rather go to jail than pay the fines authorities are threatening to impose.

■ David Narkewicz, mayor of Northhampton, Mass., pulled $1 out of his pocket and gave it to Bill Pharmer of Hershey, Pa., who complained that he paid to park in the city at 6:15 p.m., unaware that parking enforcement stops at 6 p.m.

■ Kieran Healy of Orange County, N.C., asked his water utility if he could make installment payments after his statement showed he owed $189.92 for water and $99,999,999 for a service charge, a bill the utility assured him was wrong.

■ Brian Frosh, Maryland’s attorney general, told state and local officials they can enforce laws barring topless sunbathing, saying “prohibiting women from exposing their breast in public while allowing men to do so under the same circumstances does not violate the federal or state constitution.”