Ohio historical society settles with golf club to take back World Heritage tribal site

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Ohio historical society settles with golf club to take back World Heritage tribal site

2024-08-02 06:09 Last Updated At：06:20

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio’s historical society announced a deal Thursday that will allow it to take control of an ancient ceremonial and burial earthworks site located on the site of a golf course, ending years of litigation.

Ohio History Connection will pay Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark to buy out its lease and end the long-running legal dispute over the Octagon Earthworks, although the sum is confidential under a settlement agreement. The deal avoids a jury trial to determine the site's fair market value that had been repeatedly postponed over the years.

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The clubhouse of the private Moundbuilders Country Club, the site of the Octagon Earthworks, in Newark, Ohio, is seen on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The entrance to the private Moundbuilders Country Club, the site of the Octagon Earthworks, is seen in Newark, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Octagon Earthworks mounds are seen beyond a greens facility sign at the private Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Golfers putt on a green in the private Moundbuilders Country Club, with mounds of the Octagon Earthworks seen behind them, in Newark, Ohio, Friday, May 24, 2024. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A golfer watches their shot from the other side of an Octagon Earthworks mound at the private Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, Friday, May 24, 2024. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A golfer tees off among Octagon Earthworks mounds at the private Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, on Friday, May 24, 2024. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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The clubhouse of the private Moundbuilders Country Club, the site of the Octagon Earthworks, in Newark, Ohio, is seen on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The entrance to the private Moundbuilders Country Club, the site of the Octagon Earthworks, is seen in Newark, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Octagon Earthworks mounds are seen beyond a greens facility sign at the private Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, on Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Golfers putt on a green in the private Moundbuilders Country Club, with mounds of the Octagon Earthworks seen behind them, in Newark, Ohio, Friday, May 24, 2024. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A golfer watches their shot from the other side of an Octagon Earthworks mound at the private Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, Friday, May 24, 2024. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A golfer tees off among Octagon Earthworks mounds at the private Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, on Friday, May 24, 2024. The Octagon, built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, is two combined earthwork enclosures that include a 20-acre circle and a 50-acre octagon, connected by a small passageway. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

The Octagon Earthworks are among eight ancient areas in the Hopewell Earthworks system that were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site last year. The historical society, a nonprofit state history organization, takes control of them on Jan. 1 and plans to open them to visitors.

“Our guiding principles throughout this process have been to enable full public access to the Octagon Earthworks while ensuring Moundbuilders Country Club receives just compensation for the value of its lease on the property,” said Megan Wood, executive director and CEO of the Ohio History Connection. “And now we have accomplished those things.”

David Kratoville, president of the country club's board of trustees, said he has mixed feelings about coming to the end of the legal battle. He said negotiations over the past two months finally landed on a figure “that allows us to survive,” but the future of the club remains in limbo.

Moundbuilders is in negotiations to buy another property, the nearby public golf course Trout Club, but members gathered at an emotional meeting Monday where owners were unable to make promises for the future, he said.

“For me, the news will be where do we land after 114 years operating on this site,” he said.

Built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago by people from the Hopewell Culture, the earthworks were host to ceremonies that drew people from across the continent, based on archeological discoveries of raw materials from as far west as the Rocky Mountains.

Native Americans constructed the earthworks, including eight long earthen walls, that correspond to lunar movements and align with points where the moon rises and sets over the 18.6-year lunar cycle. The History Connection calls them “part cathedral, part cemetery and part astronomical observatory.”

The historical society owns the disputed earthworks site, but it had been leased to the country club for decades. History Connection had put the value of the site at about $2 million, while the country club was seeking a much higher amount.

In 1892, voters in surrounding Licking County enacted a tax increase to preserve what was left of the earthworks. The area was developed as a golf course in 1911, and the state first deeded the 134-acre property to Moundbuilders Country Club in 1933.

A county judge ruled in 2019 that the historical society could reclaim the lease via eminent domain. But the club challenged the attempt to take the property, saying the History Connection didn't make a good- faith offer to purchase the property as required by state law. The country club argued that it had provided proper upkeep of the mound and allowed public access over the years — albeit only a few days a year.

Charles Moses, president of the organization’s board of trustees, said the History Connection is excited for the location to be “fully open to the citizens of Ohio — and the world.”

The settlement will be shared with the judge later this month and the case closed.

US stocks dip after careening through a manic day following Trump's latest tariff threat

2025-04-08 04:46 Last Updated At：04:51

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks careened through a manic Monday after President Donald Trump threatened to crank his tariffs higher, despite a stunning display showing how dearly Wall Street wants him to do the opposite.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.2% at the end of a day full of heart-racing reversals as battered financial markets try to figure out what Trump’s ultimate goal is for his trade war. If it’s to get other countries to agree to trade deals, he could lower his tariffs and avoid a possible recession. But if it’s to remake the economy and stick with tariffs for the long haul, stock prices may need to fall further.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 349 points, or 0.9%, and the Nasdaq composite edged up by 0.1%.

All three indexes started the day sharply lower, and the Dow plunged as many as 1,700 points following even worse losses elsewhere in the world. But it suddenly surged to a gain of nearly 900 points in the late morning. The S&P 500, meanwhile, went from a loss of 4.7% to a leap of 3.4%, which would have been its biggest jump in years.

The sudden rise followed a false rumor that Trump was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs, one that a White House account on X quickly labeled as “fake news.” That a rumor could move trillions of dollars’ worth of investments shows how much investors are hoping to see signs that Trump may let up on tariffs.

Stocks quickly turned back down, and shortly afterward, Trump dug in further and said he may raise tariffs more against China after the world’s second-largest economy retaliated last week with its own set of tariffs on U.S. products.

It’s a slap in the face to Wall Street because it suggests Trump may not care how much pain he inflicts on the market. Many professional investors had long thought that a president who used to crow about records reached under his watch would pull back on policies if they sent the Dow reeling.

On Sunday Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wasn’t concerned about a sell-off and that “sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.”

Trump has given several reasons for his stiff tariffs, including to bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, which is a process that could take years. Trump on Sunday said he wanted to bring down the numbers for how much more the United States imports from other countries versus how much it sends to them.

Indexes nevertheless did keep swinging between losses and gains Monday after Trump’s latest tariff threat, in part because hope still remains in markets that negotiations may still come.

“We’re not calling the all-clear at all, but when you have this type of volatility in the market, of course you’re going to have back and forth” in markets not just day to day but also hour to hour, said Nate Thooft, a senior portfolio manager at Manulife Investment Management.

“We’re all waiting for the next bit of information,” he said. “Literally a Truth Social tweet or an announcement of some sort about real negotiations could dramatically move this market. This is the world we live in right now.”

All that seemed certain Monday was the financial pain hammering investments around the world for a third day after Trump announced tariffs in his “Liberation Day.”

Stocks in Hong Kong plunged 13.2% for their worst day since 1997. A barrel of benchmark U.S. crude oil dipped below $60 during the morning for the first time since 2021, hurt by worries that a global economy weakened by trade barriers will burn less fuel. Bitcoin sank below $79,000, down from its record above $100,000 set in January, after holding steadier than other markets last week.

Trump’s tariffs are an attack on the globalization that’s remade the world’s economy, which helped bring down prices for products on the shelves of U.S. stores but also caused production jobs to leave for other countries.

It also adds pressure on the Federal Reserve. Investors have become nearly conditioned to expect the central bank to swoop in as a hero by slashing interest rates to protect the economy during every downturn. But the Fed may have less freedom to act this time around because inflation remains higher than the Fed would like. And while lower interest rates can goose the economy, they can also put upward pressure on inflation.

“The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession,” JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, one of the most influential executives on Wall Street, wrote in his annual letter to shareholders Monday. “Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth.”

In the bond market, Treasury yields rallied to recover some of their sharp drops from earlier weeks. Some of the big move may have been because of reduced expectations for cuts to interest rates by the Fed. Some analysts also said it could be due to investors outside of the United States wanting to pare their U.S. investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury jumped to 4.20% from 4.01% late Friday.

Earlier in the day, the S&P 500 briefly fell more than 20% below its record set less than two months ago. If it finishes a day below that bar, it would be a big enough drop that Wall Street has a name for it. A “bear market” signifies a downturn that’s moved beyond a run-of-the-mill 10% drop, which happens every year or so, and has graduated into something more vicious.

The S&P 500, which sits at the heart of many investors’ 401(k) accounts, is coming off its worst week since COVID began crashing the global economy in March 2020.

All told, the index fell 11.83 points Monday to 5,062.25. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 349.26 to 37,965.60, and the Nasdaq composite added 15.48 to 15,603.26.

Kurtenbach reported from Bangkok. McHugh reported from Frankfurt, Germany. Associated Press writers Ayaka McGill, Paul Harloff, Matt Ott and Jiang Junzhe also contributed.