In the news

■ Rodney Ellis, chancellor of Southern University at Shreveport, said “come get your education, get your lives back on track and help us to help you succeed” as the school announced it’ll use pandemic relief money to eliminate student debt from the past year.

■ Robert Damm, a music professor at Mississippi State University, developed a curriculum of African, Latin American, Black and American Indian music for the College of Education’s new minor in music and culture.

■ Gil McBride, a chief superior court judge in Columbus, Ga., said raising the bar on who gets locked up has long been a concern, and that from now on the county jail will not hold people charged with misdemeanors such as shoplifting, driving without a license or possessing drug paraphernalia.

■ Ethen Mark Bentley, 29, of Stella, Neb., got 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to setting a fire in his cell that forced the evacuation of the Missouri jail where he was being held on charges of assault and resisting arrest.

■ John Thomas Uda, 27, of Dothan, Ala., charged with attempted rape, burglary, aggravated criminal surveillance and illegal possession of a credit card, faces more counts after police say a search of his home turned up more than 400 women’s undergarments and dozens of voyeuristic photos of co-workers.

■ Brian Berryman of Mississippi, serving a life sentence for possessing a firearm while out on parole after murder and armed robbery convictions, is appealing on the grounds that the 211 days he spent in jail before indictment and the 399 days before arraignment violated his right to a speedy trial.

■ Angelena Adams, 52, of Bossier Parish, La., was handed 27 months in prison after pleading guilty to defrauding the IRS, including pegging one year’s adjusted gross income at $166,011 even as her business brought in $702,855.

■ Greg Kazemier, 59, of Grand Rapids, Mich., said a noose he hung in his window was a statement against corrupt politicians and had nothing to do with race, but that he took it down after a neighbor told him of social media posts saying otherwise.

■ Elizabeth Wood, a veterinarian at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, Calif., called pelicans “really incredible animals, basically like flying dinosaurs,” as she urged people to come forward with information about the killing or injuring of more than 30 birds along the coastline.