Land sold for resort near gorge

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Investors are obtaining land for development of a private, upscale resort near Kentucky's Red River Gorge, a nonprofit group said, but with significant local opposition the project is far from a done deal. Red River Economic Development announced Wednesday that private investors signed a contract to buy 891 acres near Slade for about $2.25 million. The land is currently privately owned by entrepreneur Ian Teal. There is significant local opposition to resort development of the land outside the borders of the Red River Gorge, one of Appalachia's most beloved natural attractions. The sandstone arches and towering cliffs in the 42,000-acre geological area southeast of Lexington has long attracted hundreds of thousands of hikers, rock-climbers, kayakers and campers each year. The buyers, known as Red River Property Holding Group LLC, will hold the land until Red River Economic Development can find a developer to build the resort. . Red River Economic Development said in a news release that the closing on the purchase will happen after survey and title work. Chairman Charles Beach III said that while an economic rebound has started a year after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, "we need more time to test the waters with developers and investors for the proposed resort. We're extremely fortunate that this group of supporters is willing to purchase and hold the property for three years and give us breathing room to pursue a suitable development plan."

Colorado weighs ban on mascots

DENVER -- Colorado lawmakers are considering a proposal that would ban Native American mascots in public schools and colleges amid a nationwide push for racial justice that gained new momentum last year following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the NFL team in Washington changing its name. The measure that the state Senate Education Committee is scheduled to discuss Thursday would include a $25,000 monthly fine on public schools, colleges and universities that use an American Indian-themed mascots after June 1, 2022. Colorado is one of seven states considering legislation that would prohibit the use of Native American mascots, according the National Conference of State Legislatures. In 2019, Maine became the first state to ban the use of such mascots. Nearly two dozen schools in Colorado still use Native American mascots such as the "Warriors," "Reds" and "Savages," according to Democratic state Sen. Jessie Danielson, one of the bill's sponsors. Two prominent high schools dropped their "Indians" mascot in the last year: Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs and Loveland High School in a city in northern Colorado.

Teacher taped kids undressing

TAMPA, Fla. -- A former teacher was convicted Thursday of secretly recording 124 students and an adult teacher undressing over a period of nearly two years. Mark William Ackett, 52, pleaded guilty in Hillsborough County Circuit Court to more than 300 counts of video voyeurism. He faces the possibility of life in prison at his May 10 sentencing. Ackett, who taught fashion design and coached girls track at Bloomingdale High School, quit shortly after his 2018 arrest. A 17-year-old student was changing clothes in a dressing area inside a fashion design classroom in September 2018 when she noticed a box on a shelf with a light coming from it, investigators said. She found a cellphone recording a video inside the box and told the principal, who contacted the sheriff.

City can remove Rebel statues

FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- Virginia's highest court ruled Thursday that the city of Charlottesville can take down two statues of Confederate generals, including one of Robert E. Lee that became the focus of a violent white nationalist rally in 2017. The state Supreme Court overturned a Circuit Court decision in favor of a group of residents who sued to block the city from taking down the Lee statue and a nearby monument to fellow Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Charlottesville's city council voted to remove both. White supremacist and neo-Nazi organizers of the August 2017 "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville said they went to the city to defend the statue of Lee. They clashed with counterprotesters before a man plowed his car into a crowd of people, killing a woman. The Jackson statue was erected in Jackson Park in 1921 and the Lee statue was erected in Lee Park in 1924. In 1918, the city had accepted a resident's offer to donate land for parks for both statutes.

Girlfriend recalls their struggles

MINNEAPOLIS -- George Floyd's girlfriend tearfully told a jury Thursday the story of how they met -- at a Salvation Army shelter where he was a security guard with "this great, deep Southern voice, raspy" -- and how they both struggled mightily with an addiction to opioids. "Our story, it's a classic story of how many people get addicted to opioids. We both suffered from chronic pain. Mine was in my neck and his was in his back," 45-year-old Courteney Ross said on Day Four of the murder trial of former Officer Derek Chauvin for digging his knee into Floyd's neck. She said they "tried really hard to break that addiction many times." Prosecutors put Ross on the stand as part of an effort to humanize Floyd in front of the jury and portray him as more than a crime statistic, and also explain his drug use. In other testimony, David Pleoger, a now-retired Minneapolis police sergeant who was on duty the night Floyd died, said that based on his review of the body camera video, officers should have ended their restraint after Floyd stopped resisting. He also said officers are trained to roll people on their side to help with their breathing after they have been restrained in the prone position. "When Mr. Floyd was no longer offering up any resistance to the officers, they could have ended the restraint," Pleoger said.

Hamas forced man to divorce

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- After months of torture and interrogations in a Hamas prison, Palestinian activist Rami Aman says he was offered an unconventional proposition: Divorce your wife and you are free to go. Aman had recently signed a marriage contract with the daughter of a Hamas official, and the ruling Islamic militant group apparently wanted to dispel any insinuation that it supported Aman's outreach to Israeli peace activists. He says he eventually caved into the pressure. Now he says the love of his life has been whisked out of Gaza against her will, and he may never see her again. "I realized I was sent there to do time until I break up my relationship," Aman said in an interview on the roof of his Gaza City home. It was the final humiliation in a saga that began with what he believed to be an innocent online meeting with Israeli peace activists. Instead, the episode landed him in a notorious prison cell known as "the bus," and ultimately destroyed his marriage. His experience shows the tough constraints on free expression in the Hamas-ruled territory, and the militant group's hostility to any talk of coexistence with Israel.

Fake heiress taken into custody

NEW YORK -- U.S. immigration authorities said Thursday they have detained Anna Sorokin, the con artist who passed herself off as a wealthy German heiress and served more than three years behind bars for defrauding New York banks and hotels. Sorokin, who finagled her way into the Manhattan elite using the name Anna Delvey, remained in New Jersey's Bergen County Jail days after she was scheduled to be deported to her native Germany. The 30-year-old was taken into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody on March 25, agency spokesperson Marcus Johnson told The Associated Press. The delay could mean the one-time darling of New York's social scene is challenging her deportation, which has been in the works since she was convicted in 2019 on multiple counts of larceny and theft. Prosecutors said Sorokin falsified records and defrauded financial institutions and Manhattan celebrities into believing she had a fortune of $67 million (60 million euros) overseas that could cover her high-end clothing and lavish hotel stays. Among other lies, she claimed her father -- a former trucker who runs a heating-and-cooling business -- was a diplomat or an oil baron.

Donald Trump Jr. buys mansion

JUPITER, Fla. -- Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle are now Florida home owners. The couple spent $9.7 million this week to buy a 11,000-square-foot, six-bedroom, 11-bath mansion in the town of Jupiter, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from the Mar-a-Lago compound where former President Donald Trump and former first lady Melania Trump are living. The home is in the exclusive and gated Admirals Cove community and on the Intercoastal Waterway. Baseball Hall of Fame member Mike Schmidt and Washington Nationals star pitcher Max Scherzer also live in the 888-home community and singer Celine Dion is a former resident. On top of the home price, new residents must pay a $195,000 membership fee. The community features a marina that can accommodate large yachts, 45 holes of golf and tennis courts. Trump Jr., 43, is the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, the family's business group. Guilfoyle, 52, is a former Fox News personality. Both are active in Republican politics. The couple has been dating for about three years. Guilfoyle was previously married to Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Swagger returns to box office

NEW YORK -- Once again, mayhem and mass destruction is back at the box office. It's almost like old times. "Godzilla vs. Kong," one of the few tentpoles to dare release during COVID times, is poised this weekend to set a new high in ticket sales during the pandemic. It won't be the kind of blockbuster business such a big-budget release would typically manage, but experts forecast a launch of at least $25 million. Opening-day ticket sales on Wednesday for "Godzilla vs. Kong" totaled $9.6 million, Warner Bros. said Thursday -- a single-day pandemic record and more than most 2020-2021 opening weekend hauls. Last weekend, the monster mash pulled in an impressive $123.1 million internationally. In China, where moviegoing is close to pre-pandemic levels, the movie made about $70 million, double the debut of 2014's "Godzilla." For the first time in a long time, there's the faint hint of a hit at the box office. "It's a good omen that the tastes of the consumer have not shifted so much that there's no possibility of restarting the movie business," says Joshua Grode, chief executive of Legendary Entertainment, which produced "Godzilla vs. Kong." "This tells everybody: the moviegoing business is here, and, yes, it may be different post-pandemic. But there is a viable industry there."

Over 55,000 animals die in fire

BERLIN -- A fire at a pig-breeding facility in northeastern Germany is believed to have killed more than 55,000 animals. The fire broke out on Tuesday at the facility in Alt Tellin, in Germany's northeastern corner. It spread quickly, in part through ventilation shafts, and destroyed the stalls where the animals were kept. A spokesman for operator LFD Holding, Ralf Beke-Bramkamp, listed some 7,000 sows and 50,000 piglets as being at the facility at the time, and only about 1,300 animals were rescued. Groups of demonstrators, carrying placards with slogans such as "Stop animal torture," gathered at the scene on Wednesday.

'I've been shot' no laughing matter

WICHITA, Kan. -- Police were not laughing Thursday after a woman called her daughter and said she had been shot in what was supposed to be an April Fools' Day prank. The mother, Arnthia Willis, 58, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of unlawful request for emergency service assistance. Willis' daughter notified 911 after her mother called and said she had been shot and then hung up. "Multiple police units, probably between 15-20 officers from the Wichita Police Department as well as fire department and EMS responded to the scene," Wichita police Lt. Ronald Hunt said. When no one responded at the home in northeast Wichita, officers wearing shields and with guns drawn broke down the door, Hunt said. Hunt said the mother was at work and called her daughter as a prank. Willis was arrested in Derby, a Wichita suburb. "April Fools' can be a good, funny little joke in some circumstances" but when it leads to a police response "it's not funny any more," he said.

'Jobs Cabinet' to sell proposal

WASHINGTON -- President Joe Biden set about convincing America it needs his $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan on Thursday, deputizing a five-member "jobs Cabinet" to help in the effort. But the enormity of his task was clear as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's vowed to oppose the plan "every step of the way." Speaking in Kentucky, McConnell said he personally likes Biden and they've been friends a long time. But the president will get no cooperation from the GOP, which objects to the corporate tax increases in the plan and says they would hurt America's ability to compete in a global economy. "We have some big philosophical differences, and that's going to make it more and more difficult for us to reach bipartisan agreements," the Republican leader said. White House chief of staff Ron Klain said the key to any outreach is that the proposal's ideas are already popular. Americans want smooth roads, safe bridges, reliable public transit, electric vehicles, drinkable water, new schools and investments in manufacturing, among the plan's many components, he said. "We kind of think it's just right," Klain said. "But we're happy to have a conversation with people, less about the price tag, more about what are the elements that should be in the plan that people think are missing."

Gunman knew California victims

ORANGE, Calif. -- The gunman who killed four people and critically wounded a fifth at a Southern California office building knew all the victims and apparently before opening fire chained shut the gates to two entrances, delaying police from getting inside. Among the victims of the "horrific massacre" Wednesday afternoon was a 9-year-old boy who was found cradled in the arms of a woman believed to be his mother, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. The woman was the only survivor among those shot. The others killed were a man and two women. "Our hearts today go out to the victims, and I'm here to tell you that we're going to do everything in our power in the Orange County District Attorney's office to get justice for these families," Spitzer said. He said he will consider seeking the death penalty. The violence in the city of Orange was the third major mass shooting in just over two weeks. The suspect in the California shooting was identified as Aminadab Gaxiola Gonzalez, 44, of nearby Fullerton. He was critically wounded and it was unclear whether he suffered a self-inflicted wound or was shot by police.

7 democracy leaders convicted

HONG KONG -- Seven of Hong Kong's leading pro-democracy advocates, including a media tycoon and an 82-year-old veteran of the movement, were convicted Thursday for organizing and participating in a march during massive anti-government protests in 2019 that triggered a crackdown on dissent. The verdict was the latest blow to the flagging democracy movement as the governments in Hong Kong and Beijing tighten the screws in their efforts to exert greater control over the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. Hong Kong had enjoyed a vibrant political culture and freedoms not seen elsewhere in China during the decades it was a British colony. Beijing had pledged to allow the city to retain those freedoms for 50 years when it took the territory back in 1997, but recently it has ushered in a series of measures that many fear are a step closer to making Hong Kong no different from cities on the mainland. Jimmy Lai, the owner of the outspoken Apple Daily tabloid; Martin Lee, the octogenarian founder of the city's Democratic Party; and five former pro-democracy lawmakers were found guilty in a ruling handed down by a district judge. They face up to five years in prison. Two other former lawmakers charged in the same case had pleaded guilty earlier. According to the ruling, six of the seven defendants convicted on Thursday, including Lee and Lai, carried a banner that criticized police and called for reforms as they left Victoria Park on Aug. 18, 2019, and led a procession through the center of the city. The other defendant, Margaret Yee, joined them on the way and helped carry the banner. Police had given permission for a rally at Victoria Park but had rejected an application from the organizer, the Civil Human Rights Front, for the march.

US near 100M vaccinations

The U.S. moved closer Thursday toward vaccinating 100 million Americans in a race against an uptick in COVID-19 cases that is fueling fears of another nationwide surge just as the major league baseball season starts and thousands of fans return to stadiums. More than 99 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and more than 56 million people -- 17% of the nation's population -- have been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A total of 154 million vaccines had been administered as of Thursday. President Joe Biden's new goal is to give 200 million vaccine doses during his first 100 days in office. But coronavirus infections are inching up again, and officials have warned that they could ban fans from ballparks if the numbers continue to rise. Even before the baseball season got underway, an opening game was postponed after a player tested positive for the coronavirus. The Washington Nationals were scheduled to host the New York Mets on Thursday night, but after a Nationals player tested positive for COVID-19, the team canceled the game. It was not immediately rescheduled.