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Disney World has discount for visitors who want to sleep in
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uORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Walt Disney World is offering discounted tickets to visitors who want to sleep in.

Starting Friday, the Florida theme resort is offering two-day tickets for as low as $88 a day, as long as purchasers don’t show up at the parks until after 12 p.m.

That’s an almost 25% discount from start-of-the-day tickets that cost $116 each on Friday.

The “sleep-in” tickets are good for the resort’s four theme parks. Prices vary depending on the month, week and day under Disney World’s variable pricing. The deal is good through mid-December.

The move comes as Disney World is set to open its much-anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge land at the end of the month. Just this week, it opened the NBA Experience at Disney Springs at its restaurant and shopping complex.


uGIRL BITTEN BY SHARK ALONG FLORIDA COAST KNOWN FOR BITES: NEW SMYRNA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A newspaper reports that a young girl has become the 10th person bitten by a shark in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, this year.

The Daytona Beach News Journal quotes authorities as saying 9-year-old Margaret Crum of Canton, Ohio, was bitten in the right leg Friday while wading through the water at the beach, located on Florida’s central Atlantic coast.

Capt. Tammy Malphurs of the Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue says the girl’s injuries weren’t serious.

Experts say factors contributing to shark bites are large numbers of people in the water and ocean currents bringing bait fish closer to shore.


uAMAZON: FACIAL RECOGNITION PROGRAM FOR COPS DETECTS EMOTION: SEATTLE (AP) — Amazon has announced its facial recognition program used by one Washington state police agency can now detect emotion, generating concerns from privacy advocates.

KING-TV reported Thursday that Amazon announced its Rekognition tool has been enhanced to detect basic emotions, including fear.

Officials say the American Civil Liberties Union is seeking a delay on police use of the product without regulation until the implications are discussed.

Amazon says Rekognition could be used to monitor unsafe online content and find missing persons on social media.

The ACLU says it tested the tool by comparing Congress members to a database of mug shots and found 28 false matches were returned.

Amazon says the ACLU did not use the tool correctly. Amazon says the Washington County Sheriff’s Office is the only agency using it.


uPOLICE SEIZE HEDGEHOGS, KANGAROOS, FOX FROM ‘BOOTLEG’ ZOO: ROMULUS, Mich. (AP) — Suburban Detroit police say they’ve seized more than 300 hedgehogs and other animals that were being kept by what they’re calling a “bootleg zookeeper.”

The Romulus Police Department says it also rescued six Flemish giant rabbits, three large iguanas, two kangaroos, a peacock, an Arctic fox and a 16-foot, 200-pound reticulated python Thursday from a building on one of the city’s main roads.

Police say they were acting on a call from a concerned resident.

They say the animals have been turned over to experts who can properly take care of them.

 

uAUDIT SHOWS WHY CRASH SUSPECT’S LICENSE NOT REVOKED EARLIER: BOSTON (AP) — A new audit finds that a Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles employee missed an opportunity to revoke the license of the driver accused in a crash that killed seven motorcyclists because he did not know how to add convictions to driving records.

The finding was revealed Friday in a preliminary report examining why Massachusetts failed to sanction Volodymyr Zhukovskyy after being notified of his May drunken driving arrest in Connecticut.

A firm hired to investigate found that an RMV employee briefly reviewed the notification from Connecticut but did not change Zhukovskyy’s record. It says the worker wasn’t trained to add convictions and didn’t bring the case to anyone else’s attention.

Zhukovskyy, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, has pleaded not guilty to negligent homicide in the June crash that killed the seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire.


uTEACHER’S REJECTION OF GENDER IDENTITY PROMPTS TRAINING: JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Teachers and staff in a Florida school district will be given additional diversity training after a high school math instructor refused to call a transgender student by her chosen gender identity.

First Coast News in Jacksonville reports that teacher Thomas Caggiano wrote in an email to the student “I will NOT refer to you with female pronouns ... If this is not acceptable for you, change classes.”

Caggiano wouldn’t comment to the television station.

Sandalwood High School Principal Dr. Saryn Hatcher promised to “handle” it and wrote to the student that her wishes would be honored.

Duval County Public Schools spokeswoman Laureen Ricks says the teacher’s behavior is inconsistent with the district’s policy and expectations. She calls it a teachable moment and says staff will undergo additional diversity training.


uMCCONNELL UNDERGOES SURGERY TO REPAIR SHOULDER FRACTURE: LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell underwent successful surgery to repair a fracture in his shoulder — an injury he suffered when he fell at his Kentucky home earlier this month.

The surgery occurred Thursday in his hometown of Louisville, a McConnell spokesman said Friday.

“The surgery was performed without incident, and the Leader is grateful to the surgical team for their skill,” McConnell spokesman David Popp said in a brief statement.

McConnell’s staff did not immediately respond to an email seeking additional details about the procedure.

The six-term senator fractured his shoulder when he tripped on his home’s patio during the first weekend of August. He was treated that day and released.

The day before his injury, McConnell attended the Fancy Farm picnic — Kentucky’s premier political event — where he and many other of the state’s political leaders gave stump-style speeches before a raucous crowd.

The 77-year-old McConnell has been working from home since his injury, his staff has said. His recovery comes while Congress is on its August recess.