Mystic Caverns for sale on eBay

For sale

Attention Batman

Steve Rush, 49, is auctioning off the Mystic Caverns in the hills of the Ozark Mountains on eBay. The 28-acre property in Arkansas includes a gift shop and three caves, two of which are safe enough for visitors. The bidding starts at $899,900, cut from Rush's original asking price of $1.2 million. Rush bought the property near Harrison in 1988 and began giving tours in 1992 to the two accessible caves, Mystic cavern and the Crystal Dome cavern. A third cave on his 28-acre property, Not Much Sink cavern, remains too dangerous for tours. Business has dropped since a nearby amusement park closed in the 1990s. But Rush said the Mystic Caverns still get about 15,000 visitors each year.

People

An open-and-shutter case

It took a year and a half for a tabloid photographer's lawsuit against actor Keanu Reeves to make it to trial, and just over an hour for a jury to decide the man didn't have a case. The Superior Court panel in Los Angeles cleared the film star of any liability Monday in a 2007 incident in which a paparazzo claimed Reeves bashed into him with his Porsche in Rancho Palos Verdes. The photographer, Alison Silva, maintained he suffered a broken wrist that left him unable to hold the large cameras necessary for his job. He asked for $711,974 in compensation for medical bills and other damages.

Trump resort

Real-estate tycoon Donald Trump won approval from the Scottish government Monday to build what he says will be "the world's greatest golf course" on a stretch of Scottish coast, over the objection of local officials and environmentalists. The $1.6 billion resort project was rejected by local authorities in Aberdeenshire last year, because part of a golf course is to be built on habitat of rare birds and other wildlife. The Scottish government then took the unusual step of agreeing to review Trump's application. The resort is expected to have two championship golf courses, a 450-room hotel and 500 luxury houses.

Passages

Joseph Alliluyev, the son of Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana, died Sunday in Moscow. He was born in 1945.

John W. Ripley, 69, who entered Marine Corps lore when he single-handedly blunted a major North Vietnamese offensive during the Vietnam War by blowing up a strategically placed bridge, died Oct. 28 at his home in Annapolis, Md. Col. Ripleywas awarded the Navy Cross for his actions at the bridge. Among other decorations, he received the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

Today in History

1922: The entrance to King Tutankhamen's tomb was discovered in Egypt.

1924: Nellie T. Ross of Wyoming was elected the nation's first female governor to serve out the remaining term of her late husband, William B. Ross.

1979: The Iran hostage crisis began as militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran, seizing its occupants. For some of the hostages, it was the start of 444 days of captivity.

1991: Ronald Reagan opened his presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif., with a dedication attended by President Bush and former Presidents Carter, Ford and Nixon — the first-ever gathering of five past and present U.S. chief executives.

2007: King Tutankhamen's face was unveiled for the first time to the public, more than 3,000 years after the pharaoh was buried in his Egyptian tomb.

Today's Birthdays

Former CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite, 92. Actress Doris Roberts, 78. First lady Laura Bush, 62. Actress Markie Post, 58. Actor Ralph Macchio, 47. "Survivor" host Jeff Probst, 47. Actor Matthew McConaughey, 39. Rapper-producer Sean "Puffy" Combs, 39.

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