In the news

■ Cyril Ramaphosa, 69, South Africa’s president, tested positive for covid-19 despite being vaccinated and is being treated for mild symptoms while isolating in Cape Town and delegating his responsibilities to the deputy president.

■ Keisha Lance Bottoms, mayor of Atlanta, said “combating violence is a deeply personal issue for me” as she named a director for her new Office of Violence Reduction that is tasked with implementing “evidence-informed, community-driven solutions to reduce interpersonal violence.”

■ Michael Fauber, 18, an elder for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is improving at a Birmingham, Ala., hospital after being shot multiple times by an unidentified participant while playing basketball at a weekly church event.

■ Thom Corley is ascending to the office of police chief in Jackson, Tenn., after 31 years with the department, starting as a patrol officer in 1990 and serving as a narcotics investigator, hostage negotiator, patrol shift commander, internal affairs investigator and assistant chief.

■ Kristen Thomas will head the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel, La., becoming the third female prison warden in the history of the state, where women make up 5% of the inmate population.

■ Nakita Blocton, a circuit judge in Jefferson County, Ala., who handles domestic relations cases, was removed from office after being accused of such behavior as making derogatory comments about other judges and using fake social media accounts to influence litigants.

■ Dane Lovell, assistant director of public works in Vicksburg, Miss., said the dog situation “seems to be getting a little bit worse,” and the city responded with a stiffer ordinance requiring residents to keep their pets away from mail carriers, meter readers and others, or face fines and court costs.

■ Rolando Calzadilla, owner of Pest Wildlife Pro, said “everyone hates the dog catcher” as the Miramar, Fla., homeowners association that hired him could face a city fine over the 10 geese that fell into a lake and drowned when they were fed bread laced with sedatives.

■ Beth Ditkoff of Damariscotta, Maine, says “You think of them as scampering around; he’s bah-boom, bah-boom,” talking of a portly squirrel that gorges itself on seeds from bird feeders as well as beach nuts, hazelnuts, acorns and mushrooms, earning the nickname “Fatty McFatterson.”