In the news

■ Josh Etheridge, police chief of Chatsworth, Ga., said an officer was justified in using a stun gun on an 87-yearold woman who didn’t obey commands to drop a knife, saying the woman could have hurt the officer and it was “the lowest use of force available” to stop the threat. ■ Tristan Allen, a veteran, is hoping social media will help him find the owner of a ring emblazoned with “United States Army” on the top, “Victory” on one side and “Spartans” on the other that a relative found at a landfill in Abilene, Texas. ■ Melissa Ramirez, 33, got an apology but sought medical care and received a single stitch to close a wound after being bitten on the leg by a passing Secret Service dog as she walked near a hotel during Vice President Mike Pence’s Aug. 8 visit to Grand Rapids, Mich.

■ April Spurlock, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Zoo, said police are investigating after security video revealed a man crossed a railing into the hippopotamus paddock where he sneaked up on two hippos and spanked one on the rear before running off with his arms raised in a victory gesture.

■ Melissa Howard, a Republican candidate for the Florida Legislature who falsely claimed she had a college degree and posted a purported copy of her diploma online, has dropped out of the race and apologized, calling it a “terrible error in judgment.”

■ Megan Morgan, an Oklahoma City police spokesman, said a rodeo bull that broke free from a stockyard pen and charged through city streets, collapsed and died after cowboys and police corralled the 2,000-pound animal.

■ Meiliana, 44, an ethnic Chinese woman identified by a single name, faces 18 months in prison after Indonesian prosecutors charged her with blasphemy against Islam for complaining about the volume on a loudspeaker used by a mosque for its call to prayers.

■ Blaine Busker, 41, and his wife, Donella, 38, the parents of two teenagers in Emerson, Neb., face child-abuse charges after prosecutors said they locked cupboards and a refrigerator to keep their sons from snacking and then sat on the boys as punishment.

■ Steven Foster, 61, of Dalton, Ga., a Democrat running for Congress who was convicted of drunken driving, won’t be able to campaign in person after a judge sentenced him to six months in jail, which will keep Foster locked up past Election Day in November.