In the news
Josh Etheridge, police chief of Chatsworth, Ga., said an officer was justified in using a stun gun on an 87-year-old 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 childabuse 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.