In the news

■ Tom Girardi , 83, a disbarred lawyer once celebrated for winning huge settlements, including the $333 million verdict made famous by the movie “Erin Brockovich,” was indicted by federal grand juries in Los Angeles and Chicago on charges that he stole $18 million from clients.

■ Alyce Clarke , 83, of Jackson, Miss., announced she won’t seek another term in the state Legislature, having served 38 years after becoming the first Black woman elected to the body, and the House speaker told her to applause, “You have made the state of Mississippi proud.”

■ John Cooper , mayor of Nashville, Tenn., said he won’t run for reelection this year after a term that included overseeing the pandemic, the Christmas Day bombing in 2020 and fatal tornadoes, as well as an agreement with software giant Oracle to build a $1.2 billion campus in the city.

■ Masayoshi Arai , a senior aide to Japan’s prime minister, is being dismissed despite a retraction and an apology after telling reporters that he did not like seeing LGBTQ people.

■ Sekko Tanaka , former head monk at a temple in Tsushima, Japan, welcomed the outcome but questioned why it took so long as a South Korean court ruled that a 14th century gilt bronze Buddha statue stolen in 2012 should be returned even though a Korean temple claims it had been looted by pirates in the 16th century.

■ Gentner Drummond , Oklahoma’s new attorney general, apologized to a former cabinet secretary for a bribery indictment pursued by a previous AG, saying he believes the secretary “committed no wrongdoing” and dismissing the case permanently.

■ Randall Crater , the founder of a Las Vegas-based cryptocurrency and virtual payment services company called My Big Coin Pay, was sentenced in federal court in Boston to eight years and four months behind bars after authorities say he cheated 55 investors out of $7.5 million.

■ William Carson of Milwaukee was sentenced to 16 years in prison for shooting at seven children who threw snowballs at his car, with three of them injured.

■ Vera Liddell , formerly in charge of food services at a Chicago-area school district, was charged with two felony counts after a review found 19 months’ worth of invoices for 11,000 cases of chicken wings, a menu item never served to students.