• "Game of Thrones" author George R.R. Martin won't be able to build a seven-sided, castle-style library at his compound in Santa Fe, N.M., that drew objections from neighbors. The city's Historic Districts Review Board this week denied a request to allow Martin to exceed the building height limit in the historic district where he lives, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. The project included a roof deck and an elevator tower. "It is a medieval castle, and I don't understand how we could possibly approve it in this style," board member Frank Katz said. More than 40 neighbors had signed a letter urging the Historic Districts Review Board to reject the request. "The fact remains that the proposed building is still a prominent castle in the middle of a residential neighborhood in Santa Fe," the letter said. "It WILL BE VISIBLE." Mark Graham, who lives south of the property, said residents couldn't "support having a castle in the neighborhood." "With the notoriety of Mr. Martin and 'Game of Thrones,' we absolutely fear that our neighborhood will become the next treasure hunt, that his fans will be looking to find the castle that's in the middle of Santa Fe," Graham said. Officials also denied a similar proposal early this year, saying the project didn't meet height and style standards and didn't fit in with the character of the historic district. Alexander Dzurec with the architecture firm Autotroph Inc. filed the application for the height exemption and said Tuesday that the library was intended to house "a very sizable collection" of literature and "other collectibles."
• For nearly a decade, Michael Cohen was at odds with Rosie O'Donnell in part because his boss -- President Donald Trump -- was engaged in a long feud with the comedian and talk-show host. On Monday, Cohen is launching a podcast, titled "Mea Culpa," with O'Donnell as his first guest. "First episode. First interview. First feud. First family," Cohen said in a phone interview Thursday. Cohen and O'Donnell have become close ever since Cohen, Trump's former lawyer, turned against the president. Trump and O'Donnell have engaged in a lengthy public feud. Challenged during a presidential primary debate in 2015 about how he described some women as "fat pigs," "dogs" and "slobs," Trump responded by saying: "Only Rosie O'Donnell." Cohen, now furloughed to house arrest, was serving time at a New York prison for tax crimes, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations when O'Donnell sent him a six-page letter. "It was filled with kindness and empathy, and just humanity," he said. "The first words in my response to her were, 'I want to begin by apologizing from the depths of my soul for any hurt feelings that I had been involved with during those Trump times.'"