Coronavirus

A Hilton hotel thinks it's smarter than a bunch of 5th graders -- its allegedly trying to rip off a Florida class, but their school is fighting back with its allies ... Kodak Black and his attorney.

Here's what happened ... 5th grade students from Pinewood Elementary School in Florida raised $17k by selling candy and washing cars for a field trip to Washington, D.C. The week-long trip -- slated for mid-March -- was planned and booked well before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

But, once the virus was ravaging the nation, the school canceled the trip and tried to get a refund for about a month, from Homewood Suites by Hilton for their 30 rooms. Kodak Black's lawyer, Bradford Cohen, tells TMZ ... he's repping the Parent Teacher Organization, which got the runaround until the hotel's director of sales sent an email about a hefty cancellation fee of $20,612.

Hilton added, "Since we already received payments of $17,931 [your] balance is $2,681. We will use the credit card we have on file unless noted otherwise." Pretty crappy deal, right?!!?

We're told the principal got involved, and last week, Hilton finally refunded $7k to the kids. Of course, that means it kept $10,931. Hilton says a portion of that could be credited to the class IF it comes to D.C. later this year ... which, of course, is highly unlikely. So, the kids are out $10k.

Enter Kodak. Bradford, who's working pro bono, says Kodak grew up close to the school ... and is willing to pay for the class trip, if Hilton keeps their money. It wouldn't be the first time the jailed rapper's stepped up for kids in that area.

The shark that killed a California surfer was probably feeling really comfortable in those waters, thanks to the recent absence of humans ... according to wildlife biologist Forrest Galante.

The Animal Planet star tells TMZ ... shark attacks are always a case of mistaken identity as they hunt for seals. Forrest says this shark probably hadn't seen a surfer there in ages ... setting the stage for the fatal mistake.

As we reported ... a 26-year-old Ben Kelly was attacked and killed by a shark while catching waves Saturday off the coast of Santa Cruz County.

A photog for KRON-TV in the Bay Area said he spotted 15 great whites swimming near shore the day of the attack, and has been seeing lots of sharks near shore recently.

Forrest says the increase in shark sightings makes sense ... because with most humans in quarantine and less folks venturing into the ocean, sharks are hunting in areas previously packed with people.

We've seen animals starting to reclaim their habitats as humans shelter in place -- from squirrels overrunning a Santa Monica park to goats overrunning a town in Wales ... and the sheep roaming free on an English golf course.

Forrest says sharks are acting just like land animals ... setting up shop in areas previously frequented by humans, which is what he thinks happened to Ben.

California's set to reopen even more beaches for surfing and swimming this week -- so, Forrest told us if there's any reason to be more afraid of entering the ocean.

These stars have chosen to stay away from another mind-melting Netflix marathon by passing the time with a new novel and a cozy reading nook ... proving you can judge a star by its cover.

Book worms like Keke Palmer, Emma Roberts, Kristen Bell and Flea have been proudly sharing photos on social media of their newest reads, as they've made more time for literature during their slower pace of life.

Try not to read between the lines as you get a good look ... front to back ... of all the famous stars relaxing with a good read, by checking out our gallery of stars getting lost in a good book while staying safe at home.

Elon Musk is playing chicken with officials in Cali ... restarting production at a Tesla factory in open defiance of an official order ... daring authorities to handcuff him.

Here's the deal ... the Tesla honcho reopened his factory in Fremont, CA Monday despite Alameda County officials ordering the plant to remain shuttered due to coronavirus restrictions.

Elon seems ready and willing to buck the law ... he says he's willing to be arrested for his act of defiance.

But, law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... authorities are NOT planning to arrest Elon or anyone else working at the plant. We're told cops are aware of Elon's announcement and are currently working on a plan forward.

Musk just tweeted to his 33 million followers, "Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."

As you know ... Elon's beefing with Alameda County over orders to keep the plant closed, and he's already threatened to move the factory to Nevada or Texas and sued the county.

Big news from Eric Trump ... Donald's son has just announced the family is reopening Trump golf courses in L.A. and Miami with new COVID-19 restrictions.

"We are very excited that Trump National Golf Club, Los Angeles and Trump Doral in Miami are reopened," Trump said.

"The courses are absolutely impeccable and our teams are waiting for you!"

Eric -- the executive vice president of the Trump Organization -- also encouraged golfers to call the clubs directly to reserve tee times.

California, Florida and a handful of others are allowing golf courses to operate during the pandemic ... as long as there are strict social distancing protocols in effect.

For example, at both Trump courses players are not allowed to share golf carts -- one rider per vehicle.

Plus, all ball washers and bunker rakes have been removed from the courses so players aren't touching the same, shared equipment.

In other words ... just be smart, keep your distance, wash and sanitize your hands and you can golf your face off.

President Trump has said multiple times he REALLY wants pro sports back in America -- and reopening his own golf courses seem to be a big step in that direction.

A group of L.A.-area prison inmates were eager to contract coronavirus ... because they believed that would be their ticket out ... seriously.

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva made the startling revelation Monday, saying about two dozen inmates at the Pitchess Detention Center in Castaic attempted (and somewhat succeeded, apparently) to infect themselves back in mid-April.

He says their department saw a large spike in confirmed cases out of nowhere -- and when they investigated ... they found a bunch of dudes living in one block appeared to be deliberately trying to infect each other with COVID-19 any way they could from behind bars.

Villanueva played surveillance footage he and his team combed through, and it shows several inmates hanging out in a common area and passing around what AV says is a hot cup of water, as well as one face mask they'd each put on ... all in hopes of achieving sympathy from a judge to spring them from the facility and let 'em chill out on house arrest.

Two men refusing to wear masks inside a Target are now under arrest after triggering a crazy brawl caught on video.

The incident went down May 1 but the video -- first obtained by FOX11 -- is just surfacing ... showing 2 men who were apparently transients entering a Target in the San Fernando Valley without face coverings. The men were confronted by store employees. When the customers refused to wear masks, they were reportedly escorted out of the store.

That's when, out of nowhere, one of the customers assaulted an employee ... triggering a full-on brawl, that included another customer trying to help the employees. The melee led to one of the store employees suffering a broken arm. The alleged suspects got away but were located and arrested over the weekend. They face felony battery charges.

The incident prompted the L.A. County Sheriff's Department to tweet, "Please don’t take it out on businesses and their employees when it comes to wearing face coverings. They are trying to uphold the regulations governing their business being allowed to be open. They are having a rough time too."

A couple dozen people in Florida are pushing back on gym closures by pushing up ... and squatting ... with the scene outside of a courthouse Monday looking like a workout class!

About 30 fed-up fit people took over a sidewalk outside of a Clearwater, FL court to protest COVID-19 gym closures ... and an overhead chopper captured the crazy scene.

Check out the footage ... people screamed for local authorities to reconsider their ban on in-gym workouts -- all while they hit the deck for some push-ups and squats!!

Some of the protesters also held American flags and signs ... but, it should be noted, there weren't face coverings or adherence to 6-feet apart social distancing guidelines for most of the group.

Of course, Florida has allowed several businesses -- including restaurants, retail stores, salons and barbershops -- to open up as lockdown restrictions have eased in the state ... but gyms are still on the banned list.

Florida officials say workout centers will be allowed to re-open in some capacity when they kick off Phase Two ... but no date for that has been set yet.

Dr. Fauci is sounding major alarms about re-starting football in America -- warning the game is the "perfect set up for spreading."

Fauci -- one of the lead doctors on Trump's Coronavirus Task Force -- spelled it all out in a conversation with Peter King's "Football Morning in America."

"This is a respiratory virus, so it’s going to be spread by shedding virus," Fauci explained.

"The problem with virus shedding is that if I have it in my nasal pharynx, and it sheds and I wipe my hand against my nose -- now it’s on my hand. You see, then I touch my chest or my thigh, then it’s on my chest or my thigh for at least a few hours."

"Sweat as such won’t transmit it. But if people are in such close contact as football players are on every single play, then that’s the perfect set up for spreading. I would think that if there is an infected football player on the field -- a middle linebacker, a tackle, whoever it is it -- as soon as they hit the next guy, the chances are that they will be shedding virus all over that person."

Then Fauci added this ...

"If you really want to be in a situation where you want to be absolutely certain, you’d test all the players before the game. And you say, 'Those who are infected: sorry, you’re sidelined. Those who are free: get in there and play.'”

Fauci stressed that if football is going to return, the leagues need to have intense testing plans ... because weekly testing won't be enough.

"If I test today, and I’m negative, you don’t know if I got exposed tomorrow ... there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get exposed and be positive the next day."

He added, "To be 100% sure, you’ve got to test every day. But, that’s not practical and that’s never going to happen. But, you can diminish dramatically by testing everybody Saturday night, Sunday morning, and say, 'okay, only negative players play.'"

So, the big question -- will there be NFL football in the fall?