In the news
■ Molly Santos, a Portuguese woman whose son, Christian, discovered a message in a bottle from a Vermont teenager while he was spearfishing in the Azores, posted a photo of the note on Facebook asking for others to share the post in hopes of finding the writer.
■ Christian Heiss, director of the Regensburg Cathedral Choir in Germany, said “We are happy to welcome girls in the future,” in an announcement that the organization plans to establish a separate choral group for girls for the first time in its more than 1,000-year history.
■ Megan Kirchgessner, a veterinarian with Virginia’s Department of Wildlife Resources, joined several state agencies and the U.S. Geological Survey in advising people to refrain from feeding birds as scientists investigate an ailment that has blinded and killed hundreds of birds in the region.
■ Marilyn Hartman, 69, a Chicago woman known as the “serial stowaway” for her penchant for attempting to sneak onto flights, has been ordered by a judge to undergo screening for possible admission to a specialized “problem-solving court” for defendants with mental health concerns.
■ Muge Ma, 37, of New York pleaded guilty to bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in a scheme to get $20 million in federal covid-19 relief by falsely claiming to pay hundreds of employees millions of dollars in wages through two companies he controlled, prosecutors said.
■ Anthony Freeman, 53, a caretaker at an unlicensed home for elderly and vulnerable adults in Tennessee, was indicted on first-degree murder and other felony charges after a woman was found dead in her hospital bed with blunt force injuries and cuts on her body.
■ Emad Moawad, 50, a dentist in Los Angeles, was charged with more than a dozen counts of sexual battery in the abuse of nine women while they were undergoing procedures and under anesthesia, according to prosecutors.
■ Kamau Williams, 42, of Tulsa and three U.S. Postal Service carriers have been charged in a drug-trafficking conspiracy to receive methamphetamine shipments from a California supplier, according to federal prosecutors.
■ Joel Cochran, the sheriff of Washington County, Ga., said an autopsy confirmed that a body found on a rural road was a 46-year-old teacher who was last seen leaving a restaurant after telling her daughter she was going to meet a man.