In the years leading up to Tyre Nichols’ deadly arrest, Memphis police have been dogged by a confluence of dangerous trends, including a chronic shortage of officers and a struggle to bring in recruits. Former recruiters told The Associated Press of a growing desperation to fill hundreds of slots that drove the department to increase incentives and lower standards. A $15,000 signing bonus was accompanied by elimination of requirements of either college credits, military service or previous police work. All that’s now required is two years’ work experience. And the department even sought waivers to hire applicants with criminal records.

Authorities say a man having a “mental health crisis” shot and killed one police officer, wounded a second and fired at a third before being injured in a shootout Monday in western Pennsylvania. The officers had answered a domestic disturbance call in McKeesport, near Pittsburgh. The McKeesport police chief identified the slain officer as 32-year-old Sean Sluganski, who had worked for the department full-time for two years. The chief also said the officer who was wounded has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home. The alleged shooter is in stable condition and facing charges.

Harry Whittington, the man who former Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot while they were hunting quail on a Texas ranch 17 years ago, has died. He was 95. Family friend Karl Rove said Whittington died Saturday in Austin. Before Whittington was thrust into the national spotlight after the accidental shooting, the attorney was long known for helping build the Republican Party in Texas into the dominant force it is today and for being the man governors went to when they needed to clean up troubled state agencies. Rove, an influential Republican strategist and former adviser to former President George W. Bush, said Whittington was “a man of enormous integrity and deep compassion."

COVID-19 vaccinations are no longer required for military personnel. But that hasn’t ended litigation over the issue. Government lawyers want a federal appeals court to lift earlier orders blocking punishment for Navy personnel who refuse to get vaccinated. They say the case is now moot. But lawyers for a group of Navy SEALS and other Navy personnel who oppose the COVID vaccines on religious grounds say the case still presents important issues because commanders can still make assignments based on vaccination status. Both sides presented arguments Monday at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

For decades, Missouri executions played out in similar fashion: An inmate was strapped to a gurney in a drab room, alone except for the eyes of witnesses staring through thick glass as unidentified executioners administered the lethal chemical from behind a cinderblock wall. But in November, convicted killer Kevin Johnson spent his final moments speaking softly with a pastor, praying, being assured of forgiveness. When Amber McLaughlin was executed in the same room weeks later, her pastor stroked her hand, providing comfort even as McLaughlin expressed that something was causing her pain. A March Supreme Court ruling requires states to accommodate those who want spiritual advisers in the execution room, where they can pray together and even touch.

While TV writers Casey Johnson and David Windsor were winding down the emotional roller coaster series “This Is Us,” they had another project waiting to soar — one with ghosts. Their new “Not Dead Yet,” about a newspaper obituary writer haunted by the subjects she is writing about, lands on ABC less than a year after viewers bid goodbye to “This Is Us” characters Randall, Kate and Kevin. In “Not Dead Yet,” Gina Rodriguez plays a reporter who returns to her California newspaper 10 years after she quit to follow a love interest to London. She lands on the obituary desk and is visited by ghosts every week.

The latest picture book collaboration between Julie Andrews and daughter Emma Walton Hamilton was inspired by an unusual musical performance in Spain. “The Enchanted Symphony” will be published Sept. 12. Andrews and Walton Hamilton thought of the book during the first year of the pandemic, when they learned of “Concert for the Biocene.” The performance featured a string quartet, playing in front of thousands of plants at Barcelona’s Gran Teatre del Liceu. “The Enchanted Symphony” takes place in a village “beset by a mysterious fog,” but revived by a “boy’s simple melody.” Abrams Children's Books calls it a “hopeful fairy tale.”

The U.S. abortion debate is shifting to funding as states take control of policymaking. Liberal cities and states are funding efforts to provide access to abortion, while Republican-led states are seeking new ways to financially support anti-abortion centers. Just months after Kansas voters affirmed abortion rights in August, the state's Republican-controlled Legislature is considering millions of dollars in state funds for such centers and millions more in income tax credits to their donors. Supporters say the effort to financially support the centers shows the anti-abortion movement is addressing the social and financial needs of women and families. Critics say the efforts fall short of what’s necessary.

Charles Kimbrough, a Tony- and Emmy-nominated actor who played a straight-laced news anchor opposite Candice Bergen on “Murphy Brown,” has died. He was 86. The New York Times first reported his death and his son confirmed it Sunday to The Associated Press. He died Jan. 11 in Culver City, California. Kimbrough played newsman Jim Dial across the 10 seasons of CBS hit sitcom “Murphy Brown” between 1988 and 1998, earning an Emmy nomination in 1990 for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series. He reprised the role for three episodes in the 2018 reboot. He was born May 23, 1936.