In the news

■ James Wersick, 72, an electrician who spent decades working in milliondollar homes in Potomac and Bethesda, Md., and who was accused of robbing six banks over eight years, pleaded guilty to armed robbery and began a five-year prison sentence, saying he turned to crime as both his business and health declined.

■ Neil Cavuto, 63, the Fox News host who announced last week that he had tested positive for a breakthrough covid-19 infection, urged viewers Sunday to “toss” their “political speaking points” and get vaccinated, saying, “Think of what’s good, not only for yourself, but for those around you.”

■ Gene “Alex” Scott, 24, a U.S. soldier accused of fatally shooting his grandfather and great-grandmother at their home in Richburg, S.C., 16 months ago, was flown from his base in Germany back to the United States to face charges, authorities said.

■ Brian Switzer, the coroner in Harrison County, Miss., said a 45-year-old Alabama man who went to a Biloxi casino to celebrate his birthday died when he jumped onto a support pillar, stumbled and fell from the top floor of a parking garage.

■ Renee Johnson-Fritz, 44, of Kansas City, Mo., accused of passing on a letter from her husband, an inmate at a state prison in Leavenworth, Kan., that sought the killing of another inmate, pleaded guilty to solicitation of capital murder, prosecutors said.

■ Lindsey Bohrer, an Ohio Department of Public Safety spokesman, said the state will recycle about 35,000 new license plates that depict a banner attached to the wrong end of the Wright Brothers’ historic first plane, the Wright Flyer.

■ Gene Suellentrop, 69, of Wichita, Kan., a Republican state lawmaker who was removed as Senate majority leader after being arrested, will serve two days in jail and pay nearly $ 1,000 in fines and court costs after pleading no contest to driving under the influence and reckless driving.

■ Gordon McBeth, 44, a landlord in Kansas City, Mo., accused of fatally stabbing one of his tenants more than 30 times as the two argued over heating at the victim’s residence, faces murder and other charges, police said.

■ LaTonia Collins Smith, interim president of Harris-Stowe University in St. Louis, said the school received numerous calls and letters of gratitude after it used federal coronavirus relief funds to cancel about $330,000 in debt for its students.