In the news

■ Roy Link , an ex-Marine, said a prayer to himself and soon was hailed by the local sheriff as man of the year for finding 2-year-old Joshua “JJ” Rowland, who had wandered into the woods by his Brooksville, Fla., home and triggered a search by hundreds of people.

■ Jeff Titus , portrayed as a hothead who didn’t like trespassers when he was convicted in the slayings of two Michigan deer hunters, was ordered released after serving 21 years of a life sentence as a judge was informed that an Ohio serial killer is now the prime suspect.

■ Norman Seabrook , former head of the New York City correction officers’ union who got 58 months in prison for taking a bribe to steer millions of dollars into a risky hedge fund, was ordered freed after 21 months by a judge who cited the 10-month sentence of the man who paid him off.

■ Daniel Joseph Tisone of Naples, Fla., was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for stealing $2.6 million, with the special inspector general for pandemic recovery saying he “seriously abused three federal programs that used taxpayers’ money to aid struggling small businesses.”

■ Sameerah Marrell of Detroit was sentenced to 4½ years behind bars for her role in a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service and six states out of $28 million by filing false claims for tax refunds.

■ Jo Ann Macrina , a former Atlanta commissioner, got 4½ years in prison for helping a firm win city contracts in exchange for bribes including $10,000, a diamond ring, a stay at a luxury hotel in Dubai and landscaping work at her home.

■ Justin Augustine of the Center for Biological Diversity was among those applauding as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed that California spotted owls have their habitats protected in the face of a dwindling population.

■ Jim Breheny of the Bronx Zoo said “people need to think” and realize “that wild animals don’t make good pets” after an emaciated 5-foot alligator rescued from a chilly lake in New York City was found to have swallowed a bathtub stopper and has to be fed through a tube until the plug can be removed.

■ Miroslav Bobek , zoo director in Prague in the Czech Republic, said more hurdles await, but a tiny Chinese pangolin that is the first to be born in captivity in Europe is doing well after initial troubles thanks to extra milk from a cat.