In the news
■ Soren Andersen, film critic for the Seattle Times, cited an “uneasy marriage of clunky psychodrama and overwrought special effects” that made it “a chore to sit through,” and many seemed to agree as “Strange World,” Disney’s new animated offering, took in just $4.2 million in its U.S. theater opening.
■ Mark Rowley of the London police said the department is now targeting not just internet sites but “the criminals at the center of these illicit webs that cause misery for thousands” as it sends 70,000 text messages to possible victims of banking scams seeking to enlist their help.
■ Neil Walter of Michigan was jailed on charges of using the phone and internet to make death threats against U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
■ Larry Langford of the Chicago Fire Department said he’s seen many car crashes “and this is among the worst,” after the driver of a stolen Dodge Charger sped down a street the wrong way and caused a fiery wreck that killed the two people in that car and put eight others in the hospital.
■ Kenny Payne, police chief of Plaquemine, La., was released on $25,000 bond after being arrested on five counts of malfeasance in office, namely asking a woman for sexual favors in exchange for dropping charges against her boyfriend.
■ Erika Shields, police chief of Louisville, Ky., will exit after less than two years on the job amid tension over the department’s handling of Breonna Taylor’s fatal shooting by police, letting the mayor-elect pick a new leader.
■ Khorry Ramey, 19, asked a federal court to let her watch her father’s death by injection for killing a Missouri police officer, despite a state law barring anyone younger than 21 from witnessing an execution, calling him “the most important person in my life.”
■ Thomas Blake Tucker, 25, an Alabama high school teacher and coach who quit after being arrested on a charge of having sex with a student, has since married the young woman and asked a court to lift a restriction barring him from seeing her.