demolish

INTERLOCHEN, Mich. — A Michigan summer arts camp and boarding school where Jeffrey Epstein has been accused of meeting at least two of his victims will tear down a lodge that once bore his name.

The Interlochen Center for the Arts said this week that its board of trustees has approved a plan to demolish the Green Lake Lodge, which had been known as Jeffrey E. Epstein Scholarship Lodge until the school cut ties and scrubbed references to the late millionaire sex offender after his first conviction in 2008.

Epstein attended the Interlochen Arts Camp in 1967 as a teenager, and donated more than $400,000 to the school between 1990 to 2003, including $200,000 for the construction of the lodge.

“The lodge has, over time, come to carry associations that are not reflective of who we are as an institution or the values we strive to uphold,” Interlochen said in a statement. “After careful consideration, the Board determined that removing this structure in a safe and timely manner is the right step for Interlochen at this time.”

A world-renowned destination for young artists, actors and musicians, Interlochen’s alumni include Grammy winners Chappell Roan and Norah Jones and Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph.

At least two of Epstein’s accusers have said they met him at Interlochen in the 1990s.

The school said it was aware of news reports about the women’s claims and said it has invited them to speak with an independent investigator as part of an external investigation into reports of historical misconduct at Interlochen.

A pair of internal reviews, most recently after Epstein’s sex trafficking arrest in 2019, found no reports of misconduct at Interlochen involving Epstein in its records, the school said.

Epstein visited Interlochen periodically, often with his confidante and former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, and stayed in the lodge now marked for demolition.

According to correspondence included in the Justice Department’s recent release of Epstein-related records, he directed that tuition for at least one student be paid out of his donations and once flew violinist Itzhak Perlman to the school on his private jet.

Epstein killed himself in a federal jail in Manhattan in August 2019, a month after being indicted on federal sex trafficking charges. In 2008 and 2009, he served jail time in Florida after pleading guilty to soliciting prostitution from someone under the age of 18.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex trafficking for helping to recruit some of Epstein’s underage victims, and is serving a 20-year prison sentence.

The Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets while the New York Knicks put on one of the most dominant displays in NBA playoff history, destroying Atlanta to advance, and the surging Sixers beat the visiting Celtics again to force a decisive Game 7

Sixth-seeded Minnesota will play the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals after completing a 110-98 win on Thursday for a 4-2 series upset defeat of third-seeded Denver.

Three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Jokic top-scored for Denver with 28 but it was not enough to fend off the dogged Timberwolves, who were playing without star man Anthony Edwards due to injury.

The clash in Minneapolis was tight throughout, with no team gaining a double-digit lead until the game’s dying moments.

The Timberwolves edged the first half, leading 57-50 at the break.

Jokic roared to life. The Serbian superstar scored 14 points in the third quarter alone to ensure a nail-biting finish.

Having already been ejected for unsportsmanlike conduct from game four after a shoving match, Jokic enraged the home crowd by sparking another brawl, with Jaylen Clark.

With his Timberwolves leading by five with 90 seconds remaining, Jaden McDaniels sank a long jump-shot for two to rouse the home fans and force a Nuggets timeout.

When play resumed Denver could only turn over the ball again. McDaniels closed out the win with two free throws, ending his night with a career-high 32 points, to top-score overall.

“It’s a great night. It’s a great victory for us. Hopefully … we’ve got 12 more to go,” said Minnesota coach Chris Finch.

“We came into these playoffs not trying to beat Denver, but trying to win a championship.”

A visibly crestfallen Jokic, whose side last won the NBA championship just three years ago, said they “just didn’t do a good job”.

“I needed to play better. I must play better,” he added.

Edwards – out with a bone bruise and hyper-extended left knee – could return for the Timberwolves’ series with the high-flying Spurs.

Knicks crush Hawks in record-setting rout

Elsewhere on Thursday, the Knicks routed the Atlanta Hawks 140-89.

It was the most points scored and the biggest win by the Knicks in a playoff game, setting up an Eastern Conference semifinal with either the Celtics or the 76ers, who are tied 3-3 after a Philadelphia win.

The Knicks wrapped up their 4-2 series victory in emphatic style, leading the Hawks by as many as 61 points before benching their starters for the final quarter.

New York’s 47-point half-time lead, at 83-36, was the widest in NBA postseason history.

OG Anunoby top-scored with 29 points, including 26 in the first half, before he was rested. None of New York’s starters played more than 29 minutes.

“We can’t just meet the moment, we’ve got to exceed it, and I thought we did a great job of doing that tonight,” said Karl-Anthony Towns, who recorded a triple-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.

Having finished third in the Eastern Conference, the heavily favoured Knicks had been down 2-1 early in the playoff series, before roaring back.

They are the first team to advance to the East’s semifinals – their fourth straight year of reaching that stage.

The Hawks briefly led at the start of the game, going up 11-9 before the wheels dramatically came off. They trailed 40-15 at the end of the first quarter.

The final 51-point margin of defeat was not quite the largest in playoff history, which stands at 58 points.

“Obviously you hate to lose anything. And to lose the way we did, I think, particularly given the enthusiasm and support that we’ve had from the people in this building … disappointed on a lot of levels,” said Hawks coach Quin Snyder.

Sixers dump Celtics again to send series to Game 7

The Celtics-76ers playoff series is headed for a decisive game seven in Massachusetts after Philadelphia beat Boston 106-93.

The Celtics had held a 3-1 series lead, but the 76ers proved dominant on their home court to make it 3-3.

Tyrese Maxey top-scored with 30 points. Paul George added 23, and 2023 Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid poured in another 19, plus 10 rebounds and eight assists.

It is the 23rd playoff series between the two historic rivals – an NBA record.