Ancient bronze figurine found

ATHENS, Greece -- Heavy rainfall in southern Greece has led to the discovery of a bronze bull figurine believed to have been a votive offering made to the god Zeus in Ancient Olympia as early as 3,000 years ago. Greece's Culture Ministry said Friday that the small, intact figurine was found after an archaeologist spotted one horn poking out of the ground following recent rainfall in the area. The excellently preserved figurine was transported to a lab and initial examination indicates it dates from the Geometric period of ancient Greek art, roughly 1050 B.C. to 700 B.C. It is believed to have been a votive offering to Zeus made as part of a sacrifice, as the sediment cleaned from the statuette bore distinct burn marks, the Culture Ministry said. Thousands of votive offerings are believed to have been made at the altar of Zeus. Many have been found in a thick layer of ash and are exhibited at the archaeological museum in Olympia.

Covid partially closes Mar-a-Lago

WASHINGTON -- Former President Donald Trump's Palm Beach, Florida, club has been partially closed because of a COVID-19 outbreak. That's according to several people familiar with the situation, including a club member who received a phone call informing them about the closure Friday. A receptionist at the Mar-a-Lago club confirmed the news, saying it was closed until further notice, but declined to comment further. A person familiar with club operations said that, out of an abundance of caution, they had "partially closed" a "section of the club" for a short period of time and quarantined some of its workers.

5 White House staffers lose jobs

Five White House staffers have been fired because of their past use of drugs, including marijuana, press secretary Jen Psaki said on Friday. Marijuana has become a delicate issue for President Joe Biden's administration because 15 states and Washington, D.C., allow for recreational usage, despite a federal prohibition. The administration has tried not to automatically penalize potential staffers for legal behavior in their communities by developing a more flexible policy, Psaki said in a statement to The Associated Press. Hundreds of aides in the 2-month-old Biden administration have cleared the suitability review by career staffers handling security issues. The White House has said there can be multiple factors for dismissals, including hard drug use. The marijuana policy has become less stringent under the Biden administration, allowing for up to 15 past uses in a year among White House staffers.

School desks can move closer

NEW YORK -- Students can safely sit just 3 feet apart in the classroom as long as they wear masks but should be kept the usual 6 feet away from one another at sporting events, assemblies, lunch or chorus practice, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in relaxing its COVID-19 guidelines. The revised recommendations represent a turn away from the 6-foot standard that has sharply limited how many students some schools can accommodate. Some places have had to remove desks, stagger schedules and take other steps to keep children apart. Three feet "gives school districts greater flexibility to have more students in for a prolonged period of time," said Kevin Quinn, director of maintenance and facilities at Mundelein High School in suburban Chicago.

No Zoom, no sweatshirts at Oscars

With nominations set and just over a month until showtime, details are trickling out about the 93rd Oscars and neither sweatshirts nor zoom made the cut. "Our plan is that this year's Oscars will look like a movie, not a television show," said show producers Jesse Collins, Stacy Sher and Steven Soderbergh in a statement Friday. They've enlisted Emmy and Tony Award winning director Glenn Weiss to direct the live broadcast on April 25. Although considerably scaled down from a normal year, the producers have said they are committed to holding an in-person event at Los Angeles' Union Station for nominees, presenters and limited guests. There will also be a live component at the Dolby Theatre, which has been home to the Academy Awards since 2001. But unlike the Golden Globes, which combined in-person and Zoom elements in its bi-coastal broadcast, the Oscars are not making a virtual element possible for nominees who either can't or don't feel comfortable attending. The producers said they plan to treat the event like an active movie set with on-site COVID safety teams and testing protocols. And, yes, they expect attendees to dress up. "We're aiming for a fusion of Inspirational and Aspirational, which in actual words means formal is totally cool if you want to go there, but casual is really not," producers said. The 93rd Oscars will be broadcast live on ABC on April 25 starting at 8 p.m. ET.

US charges Swiss 'hacktivist'

The Justice Department has charged a Swiss hacker with computer intrusion and identity theft, just over a week after the hacker took credit for helping to break into the online systems of a U.S. security-camera startup. An indictment against 21-year-old Tillie Kottmann was brought Thursday by a grand jury in the Seattle-based Western District of Washington. Federal prosecutors said Thursday that Kottmann, of Lucerne, Switzerland, was initially charged in September. The range of allegations date back to 2019 and involve stealing credentials and data and publishing source code and proprietary information from more than 100 entities, including companies and government agencies. Kottmann had described the most recent hack and leak of camera footage from customers of California security-camera provider Verkada as part of a "hacktivist" cause of exposing the dangers of mass surveillance.

Former senator to lead NASA

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- President Joe Biden has chosen a former senator from Florida who flew on the space shuttle right before the Challenger accident to lead NASA. Biden on Friday announced his intent to nominate Bill Nelson as the space agency's administrator. If confirmed by the Senate, Nelson will become NASA's 14th administrator, succeeding another former member of Congress, Jim Bridenstine, a Republican from Oklahoma. Nelson, 78,, currently serves on the NASA Advisory Council. Nelson promised, if confirmed, to "help lead NASA into an exciting future of possibilities." The space agency is working to send astronauts back to the moon this decade and counting more than ever on private U.S. companies and even other countries to get that job -- and others -- done. "Its workforce radiates optimism, ingenuity and a can-do spirit," Nelson said in a statement. "The NASA team continues to achieve the seemingly impossible as we venture into the cosmos."

Shopper hits bike-riding sheriff

PORT ORANGE, Fla. -- A young woman who said she was using her phone to shop while driving hit a sheriff who was biking in central Florida. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood tweeted Friday morning that the driver is in custody. Paige Bergman, 20, has been charged with leaving the scene of a crash that caused serious bodily harm. "I know she had no intention of running me down," Chitwood tweeted. "That's what a lot of distracted drivers say after they cause a tragedy." Deputies found Bergman in her car in her family's driveway where she was recorded during her arrest claiming she had hit a mailbox. The deputy explained the situation to her relatives outside the home. "She did not hit a mailbox. Do you want to know what she hit? Mike Chitwood, the sheriff," the deputy tells her family. Bergman later said she had been shopping on Amazon while driving, according to the sheriff. The sheriff said he suffered a broken leg, along with various bumps, bruises and cuts in the Thursday afternoon crash. The doctors s id his fibula should heal on its own without a cast. "Just imagine if that had been a child or an elderly person on that bike, or if the car drifted a couple more inches to the right." The collision was recorded on video by a Waste Pro truck whose driver, Allen Ramos, stopped to help the sheriff. The sheriff later thanked him in a tweet.

L.L. Bean sees sales boom

FREEPORT, Maine -- With Americans hunkering down and hankering to get outdoors during the pandemic, L.L. Bean recorded its best annual sales growth in nearly a decade. The Freeport-based retailer started its fiscal year with store closings and worries about survival but the company weathered the turbulent times with revenue growth of 5%, the best showing since 2011. L.L. Bean was positioned to meet consumer demand for both comfy items for people working from home and outdoor gear as more people ventured outdoors to ensure social distancing and other pandemic-related protocols. "What my great-grandfather knew more than a hundred years ago was that spending time outside is really important, and that took on more importance this year," said Shawn Gorman, chairman and great-grandson of the company's founder, Leon Leonwood Bean. The company's 4,600 full- and part-time workers reaped some of the benefit from the net revenue of $1.59 billion. The family-owned company's board on Friday awarded a cash bonus of 10% of workers' salary and an additional 401(k) contribution equal to 8% of salary, said CEO Steve Smith. All told, the company gave back $72 million to workers, he said.

4 more women sue Texans QB

HOUSTON -- Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson has been sued by four more women who accuse him of sexual assault and harassment. The lawsuits were filed Thursday night, hours after the NFL said it was investigating earlier allegations by three massage therapists who said the quarterback sexually assaulted them during massages. The claims in the four new suits, which were filed in a Harris County state district court, mirror those in the three earlier cases. Each woman who sued Thursday worked in a spa or giving massages and claims that Watson exposed himself, touched them with his penis or kissed them against their will. None of the seven women, who have sued separately but are all represented by Houston lawyer Tony Buzbee, are identified by name in the lawsuits. They are each seeking compensatory and punitive damages, as well as court costs. Buzbee said some of the massage therapists who came forward work at spas, some work from their homes, some work at deluxe hotels. All but one, who was flown in from Atlanta, were from the Houston area. "These are, for the most part, licensed professionals. These are people that, many of them, are single mothers, either own their own shop or work in a spa," while three clients are married and one is engaged to be married, he said. The women are suing for $500 in damages, the least that can be sought in a Texas civil district court, "and they bring these cases for one reason only -- stopping further misconduct from this defendant or any others like him," he said.

Musician created fake charity

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Branson performer has pleaded guilty to a count of wire fraud, admitting in court that he created a fake charity for foster children to bilk his audience members of thousands of dollars. James Patrick Garrett, 65, pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court to the count, which says he stole more than $85,000 over several years. Garrett for years performed the John Denver Tribute at the Branson IMAX theater. Authorities said Garrett devised the scheme in 2012 by creating a company named Diamond Jym Ranch, making himself the president and a member of its board of directors. The enterprise purported to provide housing, education, food and other needs to displaced or homeless children, and Garrett asked audience members at the end of each of his six-day-a-week shows to donate to the charity. Prosecutors said Garrett instead u used the money collected to eat out, pay off credit cards and pay rent and taxes. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Ex-UCLA coach gets 8 months

BOSTON -- A former University of California, Los Angeles men's soccer coach was sentenced to eight months behind bars Friday for pocketing $200,000 in bribes to help applicants get into the school as bogus athletic recruits. Jorge Salcedo told the judge that he joined in the college admissions bribery scheme because he was desperate for cash after buying a house his family couldn't afford. Salcedo said he takes complete responsibility for his actions that have destroyed the life he knew. "I am a different man than I was two years ago and I will never make decisions like this again," Salcedo said during a hearing held via videoconference. Salcedo's is one of the longest sentences that have been handed down so far in the case dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," which in 2019 uncovered a scheme to get wealthy parents' kids into elite universities with fake athletic credentials or bogus test scores. The admissions consultant at the center of the scheme paid Salcedo $100,000 to help a California couple, Bruce and Davina Isackson, get their daughter into UCLA as a bogus soccer recruit, authorities say. Salcedo convinced women's coaches to recruit her and created a coverup story when school compliance officials questioned her soccer background, prosecutors said. The Isacksons have also pleaded guilty. Salcedo took another $100,000 bribe from the consultant, Rick Singer, to recruit the son of Xiaoning Sui, of Surrey, British Columbia, to his team. Salcedo submitted paperwork awarding him a 25% scholarship because he knew scholarship recruits received less scrutiny, authorities said.

Russian admits ransomware plot

RENO, Nev. -- A Russian man has pleaded guilty to offering a Tesla employee $1 million to get computer malware into the electric car company's massive electric battery plant in Nevada for a ransomware attack that never happened, according to court records. Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov, 27, told a judge in September that he knew the Russian government was aware of his case. Prosecutors and the FBI have not alleged he had ties to the Kremlin. Kriuchkov is expected to face no more than 10 months in prison under terms of his plea agreement. He has been in custody for seven months, since his arrest in August in Los Angeles. He was heading to an airport to fly out of the country when he was detained. The FBI said the plot was stopped before any damage happened.

Current aide accuses Cuomo

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A woman who currently works in the office of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he looked down her shirt and made suggestive remarks to her and another aide. Alyssa McGrath told The New York Times that Cuomo called her beautiful in Italian, referred to her and her female colleague as "mingle mamas," asked why she wasn't wearing a wedding ring, and inquired about her divorce, McGrath said. McGrath is the first current aide to come forward publicly on the mounting allegations of sexual misconduct against Cuomo, who is the subject of an impeachment investigation by the New York Assembly, the state's lower legislative chamber, presumably over those accusations and questions about the governor's handling of data about COVID-19 nursing home deaths. McGrath told The New York Times that her female colleague was the same woman the governor is accused of groping in the Executive Mansion, an allegation that was revealed in a report last week in the Times Union of Albany. That aide hasn't been identified publicly.

Biden eyes new goal for doses

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. on Friday cleared President Joe Biden's goal of injecting 100 million coronavirus shots, more than a month before his target date of his 100th day in office, as the president prepared to set his sights higher in the nationwide vaccination effort. With the nation now administering about 2.5 million shots per day, Biden, who promised to set a new goal for vaccinations next week, teased the possibility of setting a 200 million dose goal by his 100th day in office. "We may be able to double it," he told reporters before leaving the White House for Atlanta. His comments come as the U.S. is on pace to have enough of the three currently authorized vaccines to cover the entire adult population just 10 weeks from now. As the pace of U.S. vaccinations and supply improves, the White House said the nation is now in position to help supply neighbors Canada and Mexico with millions of lifesaving shots.

Cruises to end pandemic hiatus

MIAMI -- Two Royal Caribbean cruises will resume in June ending a yearlong hiatus, but passengers 18 and older must test negative for COVID-19 before getting on a ship. The company's Celebrity Cruises subsidiary said its Celebrity Millennium ship will relaunch on June 5 from St. Maarten. One itinerary will stop in Aruba, Curacao and Barbados, and another will stop in Tortola, St. Lucia and Barbados. CEO Lisa Lutoff-Perlo said returning to the Caribbean "marks the measured beginning of the end of what has been a uniquely challenging time for everyone."

Man's civil judgment upheld

DES MOINES, Iowa -- There was enough evidence for a jury to conclude in a wrongful death lawsuit that an Iowa man shot and killed his mother, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday, leaving in place the jury's $10 million award even though the man was eventually acquitted on criminal charges in her death. The court denied Jason Carter's appeal of the civil judgment, in which a jury found him responsible for the June 2015 shooting of his mother, Shirley Carter, at her home near Knoxville. Jason Carter, of Knoxville, and his father, Bill Carter, have been locked in legal disputes since Shirley Carter's death. Jason Carter claimed the judge had wrongly denied his motions to delay the civil trial, saying it should have been postponed because authorities were still investigating his mother's death and hadn't charged him yet. But the high court concluded in a decision written by Chief Justice Susan Christensen that "there is no rule requiring trial courts to stay civil proceedings until criminal proceedings conclude."