to be sold, shut down

A slowdown brought on by the rapid proliferation of casino gambling in the northeastern United States claimed its first victim in New Jersey on Monday when a federal bankruptcy judge approved the sale and shutdown of Atlantic City’s Atlantic Club Casino Hotel.

The casino, which opened in 1980 as the Golden Nugget and featured then-owner Steve Wynn bringing fresh towels to Frank Sinatra in its commercials, will shut its doors Jan. 13.

Judge Gloria Burns approved a deal that was reached Friday. Two rival casino companies with a presence in Atlantic City, Tropicana Entertainment and Caesars Entertainment, will buy the casino for $23.4 million, essentially strip it for parts and shut it down.

The Tropicana will take the slot machines and table games, while Caesars will get the 800-plus-room hotel. Atlantic City will have 11 casinos after the shutdown.

— Associated Press

ALABAMA

Man again avoids jail after rape conviction

A north Alabama man convicted in a series of rapes has again avoided a prison sentence for the assaults.

Limestone County Circuit Judge James Woodroof on Monday suspended a 35-year sentence for Austin Clem and ordered him to spend five years on probation.

Prosecutors appealed after Woodroof’s original sentence didn’t require prison time for Clem, 25. An appeals court ordered another sentencing, and Woodroof again let Clem stay out of prison.

Clem was convicted of sexually assaulting a neighbor three times. Prosecutors say the assaults began seven years ago, when the victim was 13.

— Associated Press

HEALTH

Study: Eating nuts while pregnant safe

A new study gives reassurance that women who eat nuts or peanut butter during pregnancy are not raising the risk that their children will have nut allergies. Kids whose moms ate nuts most often were actually less likely to have problems consuming them, researchers found.

Peanut allergies are on the rise and affect up to 2 percent of the population in the United States and other Western countries. Women were once advised to avoid nuts during pregnancy to avoid triggering allergies in their offspring, but that advice was later rescinded. The new research supports the theory that avoiding nuts during pregnancy increased a child’s chances of being allergic.

Michael Young of Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston led the study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

— Associated Press

Former Tiffany executive sentenced: Ingrid Lederhaas-Okun, a former executive from Tiffany & Co., was sentenced to one year and one day in prison Friday for stealing more than $1.2 million in jewelry from its famous Fifth Avenue location in New York.

— Associated Press