Nation briefs 8/16/16

'Confederate' taken off Vanderbilt dorm

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Vanderbilt University announced Monday it will pay more than a million dollars to remove an inscription containing the word "Confederate" from a campus dorm. The private university has referred to the Confederate Memorial Hall as "Memorial Hall" since 2002 but was blocked in court from changing the name chiseled on the building because it was built with the help of a $50,000 gift from the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1933. Under the agreement, Vanderbilt will pay $1.2 million, the equivalent of the gift made 83 years ago, to the organization's Tennessee chapter. In exchange, the chapter will relinquish its naming rights to the building. "You can memorialize individuals without taking sides in the bloodiest war that was fought over the divisive issues of slavery and equality that we're still struggling with today for those young people coming onto campus," Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas Zeppos said.

Man questioned in imam slaying

NEW YORK -- Police detectives investigating the slayings of an imam and his associate have detained and questioned a man as part of an attempt to identify a vehicle seen leaving the scene of the shooting, authorities said Monday. The man was taken into custody in connection with "an unrelated incident" but had been questioned by detectives about the Saturday afternoon shooting of Imam Maulama Alauddin Akonjee and Thara Uddin, said Stephen Davis, the New York Police Department's top spokesman. Akonjee, 55, and Uddin, 64, were shot shortly after leaving the Al-Furqan Jame Masjid mosque in Queens.

Report: Man 'moved' before stabbing

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. -- Police said a man accused of stabbing his father at a church service told officers he was "moved by the message" before the attack. The (Bowling Green) Daily News quoted an arrest citation released Monday as saying 21-year-old Ethan Buckley told police he'd had thoughts of killing his father, and he stabbed David Buckley with a pocket knife. The attack happened Sunday at a Baptist church in Bowling Green. Bowling Green police spokesman Ronnie Ward said 40-year-old David Buckley was alive Monday. The citation didn't say what Ethan Buckley meant when he said he was "moved by the message." A judge set a $500,000 bond on Monday.

Weights in raft were within limits

KANSAS CITY, Kan. -- Police said combined weights for a 10-year-old boy and two other people riding a raft with him at a water park when he was killed were within the ride's limits. Caleb Schwab died Aug. 7 while riding the 168-foot "Verruckt" at Schlitterbahn WaterPark. Riders are weighed to ensure each raft carries between 400 pounds and 550 pounds. Police Monday released a report showing one rider at 140 pounds, another at 170 and an unclear weight for Caleb. He would have to weigh 90 pounds to make the trio's weight reach 400 pounds. But police said weights taken at a hospital after the accident show one person weighed 275 pounds, another weighed 197 pounds, and a third weighed 73 pounds, putting the combined weight at 545 pounds.

-- From wire reports