Judge denies bail for Journey drummer accused of rape

Judge denies bail for Journey drummer accused of rape

SALEM, Ore

An Oregon judge has denied bail for the drummer of rock band Journey, saying his repeated attempts to contact a woman he’s accused of raping show that he poses a threat.

Marion County Circuit Judge Channing Bennett said Wednesday that Deen Castronovo violated a court order to stay away from the woman after his June 14 arrest on domestic violence. Prosecutors say he texted her 122 times and called 35 times.

Castronovo was indicted this week on charges including rape, assault and sexual abuse.

His attorney, Jeffrey Jones, says Castronovo was high on meth when he was arrested and would go to rehab if released.

Castronovo has been with Journey since 1998, when he replaced Steve Smith — the drummer on the group’s best-known songs, including “Don’t Stop Believin’.”

Customs officials recover idol looted from Indian temple

NEW YORK

Customs officials in New York have recovered a bronze religious statue from the 11th or 12th century that they say was looted from a temple in India.

The New York office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement said Wednesday an anonymous collector voluntarily surrendered the idol. It says the 21/2-foot idol was looted from a temple in Tamil Nadu at the southern tip of India and will be returned to India.

Customs agents say the collector bought the object in 2006 and was given false provenance papers.

ICE says the bronze statue would sell for as much as $1 million if offered on the market.

The idol’s recovery is part of a three-year investigation into former New York-based art dealer Subhash Kapoor, who’s awaiting trial in India on looting charges.

Patterson announces first round of grants to schools

NEW YORK

James Patterson is announcing the first round of school libraries to receive grants from an initiative he and Scholastic Reading Club launched in March, and he continues to raise the amount of money he will donate.

The best-selling and prolific author said Tuesday that $500,000 has been given to 127 schools, from Berryville Middle School in Arkansas to the Pierre Indian Learning Center in South Dakota.

Individual grants range from $1,000 to $10,000, part of a program Patterson and Scholastic originally set at $1.25 million, but now stands at $1.75 million.

On Tuesday, he committed an additional $250,000, the second time since March he raised funding by $250,000. An “overwhelming” volume of requests, more than 28,000, for books and other resources is behind the latest increase.

“With nearly half the population currently reading at or below the basic level, the United States is truly in the middle of a crisis,” Patterson said in a statement. “I’ve now read over a thousand letters from school librarians, teachers, and parents about the lack of resources at our country’s schools. How will children make it to high school without access to books? This is a huge problem — and we have to take action. I hope that education will become a major topic on Capitol Hill and in the upcoming presidential debates.”

The remaining $1.25 million of the library program will be distributed over the second half of 2015.

Patterson has given away millions in recent years to libraries and independent booksellers while also sponsoring numerous literacy projects. In May, he started a young adult book imprint, Jimmy Patterson, part of his longtime publisher, Little, Brown and Company.

Associated Press