Auction of recluse's gold nets $3.5 million

Recluse's gold nets $3.5M

Bidders paid more than $3.5 million at auction for half of a Nevada recluse's gold collection on Tuesday. Walter Samaszko Jr., 69, stashed away a treasure of $7.4 million in gold coins before he died last year in Carson City. The auction was to satisfy $800,000 in government estate taxes and fees. The profits beyond that amount will go to a substitute teacher in San Rafael, Calif., who is Samaszko's first cousin and sole heir. It took an exhaustive search to locate Arlene Magdanz, who has shunned publicity and not commented about the fortune.

SpaceX planning launch on Friday

Rocket maker SpaceX is targeting Friday as the launch date for the next NASA cargo resupply flight to the International Space Station. The Hawthorne, Calif., company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., performed a resupply mission to the space station in October and a demonstration mission in May. Its Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled for blastoff Friday morning from Cape Canaveral. SpaceX's Dragon capsule is set to be packed with more than 1,200 pounds of scientific experiments and cargo for the astronauts aboard the space station.

Brothels might face changes

Amsterdam plans to raise the minimum age for prostitutes from 18 to 21 and force brothels to close from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. At a news conference Tuesday, Mayor Eberhard van der Laan said the moves came from a decision to crack down on crime in the city's famed Red Light District and protect sex workers — mostly women — from abuse. The Netherlands city is home to about 8,000 professional sex workers, the city estimates, half of them who operate behind windows with red velvet curtains and red lights.

Times wires