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RENO, Nev. (AP) — Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus honored a Nevada teacher killed by a 12-year-old student in a schoolyard shooting last year, calling him a "true American hero."

Cyrus praised Michael Landsberry and presented a memorial plaque to his widow, Sharon, during a concert Saturday night in Incline Village, a Nevada community on north shore of Lake Tahoe.

Police say Landsberry, a 45-year-old ex-Marine, tried to talk the shooter into turning over the handgun before he was shot in the chest Oct. 21 at a middle school in the Reno suburb of Sparks. The student wounded two classmates before taking his life.

"Tonight we are here to honor a true American hero," Cyrus told a crowd of over 1,000. "Michael Landsberry made the ultimate sacrifice to save his students after serving three terms in Afghanistan."

Cyrus said Landsberry also represented the courage of the Vietnam veteran honored in his patriotic song, "Some Gave All." With a large photograph of Landsberry in the background and the math teacher's widow on stage, Cyrus led the crowd in singing the song.

Cyrus said he was moved by the story of Landsberry's actions in the school shooting and decided to recognize him when offered a chance to perform at Lake Tahoe.

He and his father, Ronald Ray Cyrus, made similar presentations honoring American heroes for more than a decade, and this marked the first time the country star has done so since his father's 2006 death.

"Just about every year, my dad and I would find an unsung hero and present them with a 'Some Gave All' award," he told The Associated Press. "I kind of play everything by ear, and I thought sometime when the time is right, I would love to recognize the sacrifice Michael made."

Sharon Landsberry thanked Cyrus and said his tribute moved her and their two daughters, Alisa Cook, 25, and Andrea Cook, 18. Alisa Cook also attended the concert, while Andrea Cook offered a videotaped message from an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf, where she serves in the Marines.

"We all love him today. ... He lives within all of us," Sharon Landsberry said of her husband.

Cyrus, who rose to fame in 1992 with the hit song "Achy Breaky Heart," also gave her a "financial gift." The amount was not undisclosed.

The singer is involved with a program called Do the Write Thing, which aims to reduce school violence by encouraging the public to alert authorities to potential problems at schools.

It's been a year since a train carrying crude oil exploded near a town in Quebec, killing nearly 50. The accident drew attention to the use of railroads to ship crude from North Dakota to the coasts.

NEW YORK (AP) — Property from the estate of noted horticulturist, philanthropist and heir to the Listerine fortune Rachel "Bunny" Mellon is going on the auction block this fall.

Over 2,000 paintings, jewelry, furniture and decorative objects are estimated to bring more than $100 million, according to Sotheby's.

The proceeds will benefit The Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, which supports The Oak Spring Garden Library in Upperville, Virginia. The library houses Mellon's collection of rare books, manuscripts and works of art related to landscape design, horticulture and natural history that is visited by scholars worldwide.

Mellon was the widow of philanthropist Paul Mellon. She died in March at 103.

The auction house did not provide details but said the objects were drawn from the couple's homes in the United States and abroad and would be offered in a series of sales in the fall.

Mellon was a self-taught botanist and close friend of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In 1961, she redesigned the White House Rose Garden and later created another White House garden that was named for Kennedy after her death.

A private person, Mellon was thrust in the spotlight when John Edwards was indicted in 2011 for using what prosecutors alleged was campaign money, including $750,000 from Mellon, to hide his mistress during his 2008 presidential bid. He was later acquitted. Mellon was never accused of breaking any laws.

During their lifetimes, the Mellons donated hundreds of important artworks to museums, including the National Gallery of Arts. The Washington, D.C. museum was founded in 1937 by Paul Mellon's father, the Pittsburgh industrialist Andrew Mellon.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets were mostly lower Monday as investors looked ahead to U.S. corporate earnings following last week's strong job numbers.

Oil declined but stayed above $104 per barrel.

China's benchmark Shanghai Composite Index was off 0.1 percent at 2,059.65 points and Hong Kong's Hang Seng was down 0.1 percent at 23,517.08. Taiwan, Sydney, Seoul and Singapore also registered small declines.

Markets gave up some of last week's gains that followed news the United States generated a stronger-than-expected 288,000 jobs in June, a sign an economic recovery might be gaining traction.

"The market saw another piece of evidence that the U.S. economy is gathering steam while at the same time central bank rhetoric remains dovish," said Credit Agricole CIB in a report.

Japan's Nikkei 225 bucked the regional trend, gaining 0.1 percent to 15,445.92.

Taiwan's Taiex shed 0.2 percent to 9,486.92 and Seoul's Kospi was off 0.4 percent at 2,001.27. Sydney's S&P ASX 200 shed just under 0.1 percent to 5,521.80.

On Thursday, the last U.S. trading day before the Independence Day long weekend, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 0.6 percent to close above 17,000 for the first time. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 and the Nasdaq composite also added 0.6 percent.

"Companies in the U.S. are widely expected to report better earnings after the winter slumber," said Desmond Chua of CMC Markets in a report.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 closed unchanged Friday while France's CAC-40 fell 0.5 percent and Germany's DAX shed 0.2 percent.

Oil shed 3 cents to $104.02 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract tumbled 42 cents in the previous session to close at $104.06.

In currency trading, the euro fell to $1.3584 from $1.3594 late Friday. The dollar rose to 102.14 yen from 102.08 yen.

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