newsmakers

newsmakers

Feds: NY man tried to extort Paula Deen

ATLANTA

Authorities on Friday arrested a New York man charged with trying to extort money from embattled celebrity cook Paula Deen in exchange for not going to the media with “true and damning statements” he said she made.

FBI agents and local sheriff’s deputies arrested Thomas George Paculis, 62, of Newfield, N.Y., on Friday morning. A criminal complaint filed Wednesday in federal court in Savannah, Ga., charges him with extortion.

The complaint says Paculis was threatening to go to the media with statements made by Deen unless the former Food Network star gave him $250,000. The complaint does not specify what was in the statements Paculis claimed were made by Deen.

Paculis has been ordered to appear in federal court in Savannah on July 16.

‘Dark Knight Returns’ cover to be auctioned

PHILADELPHIA

It is the comic-book cover that captured the grim visage of an older, wiser — and meaner — Batman.

Now, the 1986 pen-and-ink creation — drawn by writer/artist Frank Miller — that is the cover to “The Dark Knight Returns” No. 2 will be sold next month in Dallas by Heritage Auctions.

It’s the first cover from DC Comics’ 1986 four-issue “Dark Knight” miniseries to be sold and is expected to go for more than $500,000.

Miller’s story “radically altered the direction of comics,” said Todd Hignite, Heritage’s vice president.

“For fans of modern comics, this drawing is where everything really begins,” he said. “This moment defines Miller’s Dark Knight, and the modern day perception of Batman, like no other drawing. ... It was one of the first modern mainstream features to put a gritty noir patina on the squeaky-clean Silver Age hero mythos previously exemplified by DC.”

Oscars of India to take place in Fla.

TAMPA, Fla.

Bollywood’s version of the Oscars is coming to Florida, and it marks the first time that the multiday film event will take place in the United States.

Tampa officials announced Friday that the International Indian Film Academy’s Weekend & Awards is expected to bring thousands of visitors to the area next June. Local officials say previous IIFA events have generated up to 24,000 room nights with a local economic impact exceeding $11 million.

According to the IIFA, the awards have a worldwide viewership of approximately 600,000 people.

The term “Bollywood” is the nickname for the Mumbai-based Hindi film industry — but Indian cinema comprises not just the song-and-dance extravaganzas mostly produced there. Indian cinema has become the largest producer of films in the world. India produced nearly 1,500 films last year, according to accounting firm KPMG.

Prince Harry qualifies to command copter

LONDON

Britain’s defense ministry says Prince Harry has qualified to command an Apache attack helicopter — the culmination of his training over the past three years.

Harry, known as Capt. Wales in the army, earlier this year completed a 20-week deployment in Afghanistan as a co-pilot gunner on an Apache and since then has flown missions in the U.K.

His commanding officer, Lt. Col. Tom de la Rue, called the qualification a “tremendous achievement,” saying in a statement Friday that 28-year-old Harry had passed with “flying colors.”

The military said Harry had undergone months of training to prepare for the test, which involved a “grueling” six-hour flying assessment that took him all over the U.K. and required him to perform a variety of tasks including simulating a low-level attack.

Vindicator wire services