In the news

■ Jamal Abu Rida of Gaza’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities explained that “Anat was the goddess of love, beauty and war in the Canaanite mythology” after a Palestinian farmer working his land found a 4,500-yearold, 6.7-inch sculpted limestone head believed to represent the goddess.

■ Beto O’Rourke, the Democratic nominee for Texas governor, tested positive for covid-19 and was experiencing mild symptoms a day after speaking to a crowded room of supporters while campaigning in East Texas.

■ Edith Vogel, a former council member in Jefferson City, Mo., sued on free-speech grounds after the city removed two paving stones she paid for that are engraved with a reference to Confederate Gen. Sterling Price, prompting a settlement in which the city agreed to reinstall them and pay her legal fees.

■ Jeff Moseley, a county attorney in Tennessee, won the state Historical Commission’s unanimous go-ahead for Williamson County to remove the Confederate flag from its 1960s-era seal.

■ Barry White, of the Chattanooga Tourism Co., touted the “incredible” impact of the Tennessee Aquarium, the region’s biggest tourist draw, on conservation, education, downtown revitalization and the local economy as the riverfront attraction celebrates its 30th anniversary.

■ Samuel Boyd, pastor of Pearl Street AME Church in Jackson, Miss., announced the conversion of the old Jackson Southwest Hotel into a complex of affordable housing and a health care facility for older residents “to give them a safe haven; so many … have fallen through the cracks.”

■ Nancy New and her son Zachary, who ran the Mississippi education company New Learning Resources, await sentencing after admitting they received more than $2 million from the state Education Department by submitting false documents about the three schools they operated for children with autism or dyslexia.

■ Erik Hooper was jailed in Cherokee County, Ala., and charged in the death of a man whose body was found wrapped in a tarp and stuffed in a toolbox abandoned by a dirt road in Polk County, Ga., across the state line.

■ Keishira Richardson of Louisiana was sentenced to five years’ probation and ordered to pay $4.7 million in restitution as one of the latest to be sentenced among the 36 people convicted in what authorities dubbed Operation Sideswipe that targeted auto crashes staged to chase insurance settlements.