In the news
■ Tom Vilsack, U.S. secretary of state, informed Mexican officials “out of an abundance of caution” that he tested positive for covid-19 and is experiencing mild symptoms after a recent visit to the country, his office said in a statement.
■ Jared Whipple, a Waterbury, Conn., auto mechanic, is collaborating with a N.Y.-based gallery to host art shows displaying works found in a dumpster by Francis Hines, the late abstract expressionist known for his fabric wrapped paintings, drawings and sculptures.
■ Rasheed Edwards, a student in the first cohort of students in Georgetown University’s degree program for prison inmates in Maryland, said the liberal arts program “is going to take me further in life, take me to places I didn’t even think were possible for me.”
■ Maria Valderrama, 30, brought her daughter to a Washington, D.C., block party celebrating the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson because she wants the 6-year-old “to remember she was here when it happened and that she has role models she can see herself in.”
■ Bill Tunnell, chairman of the 18-member commission that oversees the USS Alabama and Battleship Memorial Park, said the plan to update the attraction has five phases and “was carefully drafted to allow our visitors maximum access to the deck, with an exception of the current working area.”
■ Marina Ermoshkina, a Russian TV presenter, cut her Chanel handbag with gardening scissors after learning that employees at a Dubai store refused to sell a luxury bag to a Russian customer who refused to sign papers attesting she would not display the French bag in Russia.
■ Jeffrey Selchick, an arbitrator, ruled that two Buffalo, N.Y., police officers didn’t violate the department’s use-of-force guidelines when they pushed a 76-year-old protester to the ground during racial injustice demonstrations after the 2020 murder of George Floyd.
■ David Dietrich, chairman of the Hampton, Va., Republican Party, resigned from his post after screenshots of a Facebook post that referenced lynching Washington leaders and calling them a racial slur surfaced and he was denounced by the GOP group.
■ Eric Adams, first-term mayor of New York City, canceled public appearances and will work remotely after testing positive for the coronavirus on his 100th day of office, according to spokesperson Fabien Levy.