LAKE BUTLER, Fla. (AP) — Jay North, who starred as the towheaded mischief maker on TV’s “Dennis the Menace” for four seasons starting in 1959, has died. He was 73.

North died Sunday at his home in Lake Butler, Florida, after battling colon cancer, said Laurie Jacobson, a longtime friend, and Bonnie Vent, who was his booking agent.

“He had a heart as big as a mountain, loved his friends deeply. He called us frequently and ended every conversation with ‘I love you with all my heart,’” Jacobson wrote in a tribute on Facebook.

North was 6 when he was cast as the smiling troublemaker in the CBS sitcom adaptation of Hank Ketcham’s popular comic strip that took place in an idyllic American suburb.

Often wearing a striped shirt and overalls, Dennis’ mischievous antics frequently frustrated his retired next-door neighbor George Wilson, played by Joseph Kearns. Dennis’ patient parents were played by Herbert Anderson and Gloria Henry.

The show ran on Sunday nights until it was canceled in 1963. After that it was a fixture for decades in syndication.

Later, North appeared on TV in shows including “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.,” “The Lucy Show,” “My Three Sons,” “Lassie” and “The Simpsons,” and in movies like “Maya” (1966), “The Teacher” (1974) and “Dickie Robert: Former Child Star” (2003).

North is survived by his third wife, Cindy, and three stepdaughters.

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Creating and sharing deceptive media made with artificial intelligence is now a crime in New Jersey and open to lawsuits under a new state law.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation Wednesday making the creation and dissemination of so-called deceptive deepfake media a crime punishable by up to five years in prison, and establishing a basis for lawsuits against perpetrators.

New Jersey joins a growing list of states enacting measures taking aim at media created using generative AI. At least 20 states have passed similar legislation that targets such media involving elections.

As of last year, governors in more than a dozen states had signed laws cracking down on digitally created or altered child sexual abuse imagery, according to a review by The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

New Jersey’s law stems in part from the story of Westfield High School student Francesca Mani, who stood alongside the governor as he signed the bill this week. Mani said she became the victim of a deepfake video two years ago and was told that the only punishment for the person who created it was a short suspension because there were no laws against such media.

“Doing nothing is no longer an option,” said Mani, who pushed for the legislation and was recognized by Time last year as an anti-deepfake activist.

The measure defines a deepfake as any video or audio recording or image that appears to a reasonable person to realistically depict someone doing something they did not actually do.

In addition to prison time upon conviction, the law establishes civil penalties that would permit victims to pursue lawsuits.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Webb Space Telescope has captured pictures of the asteroid that caused a stir earlier this year when it topped Earth’s hit list.

Discovered late last year, the asteroid 2024 YR4 was predicted at one point to have a 3% chance of smacking Earth in 2032. Additional observations prompted scientists to reduce the threat to virtually zero, where it remains. But there’s a slight chance it could hit the moon then. The asteroid swings our way every four years.

NASA and the European Space Agency released the photos — showing the asteroid as a fuzzy dot — on Wednesday. Webb confirm the asteroid is nearly 200 feet (60 meters) across, or about the height of a 15-story building, according to the two space agencies. It’s the smallest object ever observed by the observatory, the biggest and most powerful ever sent into space.

Johns Hopkins University astronomer Andrew Rivkin said the observations by Webb served as “invaluable” practice for other asteroids that may threaten us down the road. Ground telescopes also have tracked this particular space rock over the past few months.

All this “gives us a window to understand what other objects the size of 2024 YR4 are like, including the next one that might be heading our way,” Rivkin, who helped with the observations, said in a statement.