By BEN FINLEY and COLLEEN SLEVIN

DENVER (AP) — A group of rabbits in Colorado with grotesque, hornlike growths may seem straight out of a low-budget horror film, but scientists say there’s no reason to be spooked — the furry creatures merely have a relatively common virus.

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The cottontails recently spotted in Fort Collins are infected with the mostly harmless Shope papillomavirus, which causes wart-like growths that protrude from their faces like metastasizing horns.

Viral photos have inspired a fluffle of unflattering nicknames, including “Frankenstein bunnies,” “demon rabbits” and “zombie rabbits.” But their affliction is nothing new, with the virus inspiring ancient folklore and fueling scientific research nearly 100 years ago.

The virus likely influenced the centuries-old jackalope myth in North America, which told of a rabbit with antlers or horns, among other animal variations. The disease in rabbits also contributed to scientists’ knowledge about the connection between viruses and cancer, such as the human papillomavirus that causes cervical cancer.

The virus in rabbits was named after Dr. Richard E Shope, a professor at The Rockefeller University who discovered the disease in cottontails in the 1930s.

News about the rabbit sightings in Fort Collins, 65 miles north of Denver, started getting attention after residents started spotting them around town and posting pictures.

Kara Van Hoose, a spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the agency has been getting calls about the rabbits seen in Fort Collins.

But she said that it’s not uncommon to see infected rabbits, especially in the summer, when the fleas and ticks that spread the virus are most active. The virus can spread from rabbit to rabbit but not to other species, including humans and pets, she said.

The growths resemble warts but can look like horns if they grow longer, Van Hoose said. The growths don’t harm rabbits unless they grow on their eyes or mouths and interfere with eating. Rabbits’ immune systems are able to fight the virus and, once they do, the growths will disappear, she said.

Finley reported from Norfolk, Virginia.

By ED WHITE and MARK VANCLEAVE

PETERSBURG, Mich. (AP) — A retired Michigan autoworker looked at a Facebook message after midnight from a stranger: Did you lose your wallet years ago?

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“If so,” a Minnesota man wrote, “it was in the engine bay of a car.”

Richard Guilford couldn’t believe what he was reading on his phone — a decade-old mystery was remarkably solved.

Guilford’s tri-fold leather wallet — stuffed with $15, a driver’s license, work ID, gift cards worth $275 and lottery tickets — had turned up under the hood of a car in a repair shop in Lake Crystal, Minnesota.

A Christmas gift from Guilford’s sons was suddenly a family treasure again. “Big Red,” as he was affectionately known at Ford Motor, was in awe.

“It restores your faith in humanity that people will say, ‘Hey, you lost this, I found this, I’m going to get it back to you,’” Guilford said Thursday.

The wallet was discovered in June by mechanic Chad Volk, sandwiched between the transmission and the air filter box of a 2015 Ford Edge with 151,000 miles on it.

“Crazy,” Volk said.

The filter box wouldn’t snap in place after a repair, he said, “so I messed around a little bit and then pulled it back out and the wallet was sitting on a little ledge where it needed to snap down. I pulled the wallet out and that’s what it was.”

Turn back the calendar to 2014, around Christmas. Guilford was working on the same car at a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan. It was in a long line of new vehicles assembled elsewhere that needed extra electrical work before being shipped to dealers.

Guilford realized later that his wallet had fallen out of his shirt pocket. He was certain he had lost it in a car, but figured it was on the floor of a Ford Flex, not an Edge, and certainly not in the engine.

Guilford said he searched 30 to 40 cars, and his co-workers looked at dozens more, “just opening the doors up, looking under the seats, looking behind it.”

“I can’t take too much time to look for this because I gotta work. I’m on the clock,” he recalled feeling. “No luck. Life went on.”

Guilford, now 56 and living in Petersburg, Michigan, retired from Ford in 2024 after nearly 35 years. He had put the wallet out of his mind long ago, until getting the message on Facebook, where his profile said he had worked at Ford.

Volk messaged a photo of the wallet and included the driver’s license. “Big Red” saw a younger version of himself with his red-tinged beard.

“The amazing part to me was it was so protected,” Guilford said of the wallet as he also traced the car’s history. “Think about this: 11 years, rain, snow. It was in Minnesota, for crying out loud. It was in Arizona when it was bought. Think about how hot a transmission gets in Arizona driving down the road. That’s incredible.”

Ford spokesperson Said Deep called it a “repair that’s right on the money,” adding: “Can you imagine the odds?”

Cabela’s, an outdoor retailer, said the $250 in gift cards remain valid, but it has offered to give him new cards anyway. Guilford doesn’t know the status of a $25 card from Outback Steakhouse. The numbers on the lottery tickets in the wallet faded long ago.

“I’m going to put everything back in it and leave it just like it is, and it’s gonna sit at the house in the china cabinet and that’s for my kids,” said Guilford, a part-time auctioneer. “They can tell my great-grandkids about it. We’re big into stories. I like tellin’ stories. That’s just who I am.”

Vancleave reported from Lake Crystal, Minnesota.

After riding the roller coaster with quarterback J.J. McCarthy throughout training camp, everybody on the Vikings knew that joint practice with the New England Patriots would reveal how much progress he has made to this point.

You couldn’t have scripted it much better with how well McCarthy played on Thursday afternoon at TCO Performance Center. It was exactly what the Vikings were looking for out of their face of the franchise.

“The offense was humming as a whole,” McCarthy said. “The physicality up front set the tone, and we were able to execute.”

Though he credited his teammates for their efforts, and rightfully so, McCarthy was the straw that stirred the drink for the Vikings in their dissection of New England. He was clear in the huddle, authoritative at the line of scrimmage and precise after the ball was snapped.

All of it impressed head coach Kevin O’Connell.

“It felt decisive,” O’Connell said. “There was an incredible amount of conviction to some of the decisions he made.”

Now the next step for McCarthy is doing it again and again and again. His ability to do that will be the key to success for the Vikings this season.

Here are more takeaways from Day 15 of training camp:

How is McCarthy?

After overthrowing receiver Jordan Addison early in 7-on-7 drills, McCarthy flipped a switch and was nearly perfect the rest of the way.

There was the 50-50 ball to tight end T.J. Hockenson in the back of the end zone. There was the touch pass to Addison over the outstretched arms of a defender. There was a deep shot to running back Aaron Jones that dropped right into the bread basket.

It’s not hyperbole to say this was as good as McCarthy has looked in training camp. There was a stretch during which he completed a dozen straight passes while showing a confident command of the offense.

Fittingly, McCarthy got to cap his notable performance on a high note, winning the situational drill with an effective drive.

After getting the ball back trailing 27-21 with one minute left on the clock, McCarthy moved the ball with a pair of completions, scrambled for a big gain, then hit Addison in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

Who stood out?

As impressive as McCarthy was, backup quarterback Sam Howell also stood out in much more limited reps. There were a number of throws from Howell that stood out, including a touch pass to receiver Jeshaun Jones and a go ball to receiver Myles Price.

After a shaky start to camp, Howell has turned the page over the past couple of weeks.

Not to be outdone, rookie quarterback Max Brosmer continued to turn heads with his arm talent, dropping another dime to receiver Tim Jones that drew a loud cheer from the fans. The remaining exhibition slate will be important for Brosmer as he tries to establish himself as somebody that deserves to stick around.

Quote of the day

“It’s not a matter of this guy saying, ‘You know what? I’m just going to cold clock this guy.’  Nah. We’re competing, and I’m going to try to destroy guys within the parameters of the game. And that comes with it. I’m not surprised. I love it when it’s in good faith like that.”

— Edge rusher Jonathan Greenard, on the handful of scrums that occurred during joint practices

Injury report

The biggest concerni s the health of safety Josh Metellus and receiver Jalen Nailor.

On the final play of a situational drill late, Metellus leapt to deflect a pass in the end zone and came down favoring his shoulder. As for Nailor, he participated in the early stages, then sat out down the stretch with a wrap on his hand.

It’s unclear if Metellus or Nailor will miss an extended period of time.

What’s next?

The next step for the Vikings is the exhibition game against the Patriots on Saturday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Morgan Moses #76 of the New England Patriots and Dallas Turner #15 of the Minnesota Vikings participate in a drill at Twin Cities Orthopedics Performance Center on Aug. 13, 2025 in Eagan, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)

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By DAVE COLLINS

A state judge in Texas has appointed a receiver to take over and sell conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Infowars assets to help pay the more than $1 billion he owes in legal judgments to the families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

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The order by Judge Maya Guerra Gamble in Austin on Wednesday has the potential to shut Jones out of his studio in the coming days. It also appeared to restart an effort by The Onion satirical publication to buy Infowars and its assets and turn the platform into a parody site. “We’re working on it,” Ben Collins, chief executive of The Onion, said in a social media post Wednesday.

On his daily show Thursday, Jones called the Texas court order improper and vowed to keep broadcasting if he is locked out. He added he has another studio already set up in the event of such a scenario.

“People want to hear this show,” said Jones, who is based in Austin. “I will continue on with the network. They can harass me forever. … And they won’t get me off the air.”

Jones said he expected Infowars to be sold to someone or some entity that will keep it on the air.

The Sandy Hook families won nearly $1.5 billion in judgments in 2022 against Jones and Infowars’ parent company, Free Speech Systems, in lawsuits filed in Connecticut and Texas accusing him of defamation and inflicting emotional distress. They sued over Jones’ repeated comments that the 2012 school shooting in Connecticut that killed 20 first graders and six educators was a hoax. Victims’ relatives testified in court about being terrorized by Jones’ supporters.

Jones and his company both filed for bankruptcy in 2022. A federal Bankruptcy Court judge in Houston ordered Free Speech Systems’ assets, including Infowars’ production equipment and its intellectual property, to be sold at auction to help pay the Sandy Hook legal judgments.

The sale process was derailed when the bankruptcy judge, Christopher Lopez, rejected the outcome of a November auction in which The Onion was named the winning bidder over only one other proposal by a company affiliated with Jones. The auction was by sealed bids only and no live bidding was held.

Lopez had several concerns about the auction, including a lack of transparency and murky details about the actual value of The Onion’s bid and whether it was better than the other offer. Jones called the auction “rigged.” The judge rejected holding another auction and said the families could pursue the liquidation of Jones’ assets in the state courts where the defamation judgments were awarded.

The Texas judge’s order on Wednesday gave Free Speech Systems five days from when the order is formally served on the company to turn over its assets. Proceeds from any sales would go to the Sandy Hook families.

The judge also authorized the receiver to change the locks at all locations containing Free Speech Systems assets. She also authorized law enforcement officers to assist the receiver in his duties and prevent anyone from interfering with the receiver in taking possession of the assets.

It was not clear Thursday when the order would be served on the company, or when the receiver planned to take over the assets and sell them. The receiver, Gregory Milligan in Austin, did not return an email seeking information about the liquidation plans.

Jones’ lawyer, Ben Broocks, also did not return an email seeking comment Thursday.

Jones said on air Thursday that the state court order was not valid because Free Speech Systems’ assets are still under the control of the trustee in his bankruptcy case in federal court. He said there was a state court hearing set for Sept. 16. He said Infowars could be closed next week, or it may be able to keep operating pending the hearing. He said he wasn’t exactly sure what would be happening next.

Last November after The Onion was named the winning bidder, a bankruptcy court trustee shut down Infowars’ Austin studio and its websites for about 24 hours, but then allowed them to resume the next day as disputes over the auction continued in court. During the shutdown, Jones moved to a nearby studio and continued broadcasting.

Jones, who said in 2022 that he believed the Sandy Hook shootings were “100% real,” continues to appeal the Connecticut and Texas state court judgments against him, citing free speech rights and improper actions by judges in the two states.