• Nathan Sanders, 23, of Lakewood, N.J., faces disorderly conduct and fireworks charges after police say he set off fireworks near a movie theater in Howell, N.J., in celebration of his friend's marriage proposal, creating a panic among moviegoers who mistook the fireworks for gunshots.
• Brian Kolb, of Victor, N.Y., the top Republican in the New York State Assembly, was charged with driving under the influence on New Year's Eve a week after he wrote a newspaper column warning people against drunken driving.
• Mack Ginn of Lexington, Miss., said he's going to put a new solid floor in his deer stand after a 4½-foot rattlesnake slithered up into the slats of the pallet he used for the blind's floor and repeatedly struck at him until he could position his rifle to kill it.
• Eric Jones, Detroit's fire commissioner, called it "inappropriate and unprofessional" and promised punishment after a photograph was posted on the department's social media showing 18 city firefighters posing on New Year's Day in front of a vacant house in flames.
• Brandon Kirby, 40, was arrested on kidnapping and other charges after police said he stole a pickup in Carthage, Mo., that had a sleeping passenger and a goat inside it, and drove to Sand Springs, Okla., where he released the animal and the pistol-whipped victim, who called 911.
• Jeremy Anderson, 29, accused in the shooting deaths of three homeless people in Baton Rouge in separate incidents just two blocks from Anderson's home, is facing three murder counts, Police Chief Murphy Paul said.
• Tyler Alcantar, 20, was arrested on aggravated assault charges after police said he got into an argument with someone while driving in downtown Nashville, and his vehicle narrowly missed several cars, then jumped a curb and headed for three on-duty deputies walking on a sidewalk.
• Brian Hornaday, police chief of Herington, Kan., apologized for the "unnecessary, negative attention and pain" caused by a now-former officer who made up a story that a McDonald's restaurant employee at a drive-thru had handed him a coffee cup with an expletive and the word "pig" written on it.
• Beth Bays of Huddleston, Va., who has been making hay bale sculptures for the past eight years, has created "Will-Hay Nelson," a 15-foot-tall sculpture of musician Willie Nelson, complete with guitar and pigtail braids.
A Section on 01/03/2020