Week of August 22-31, 2009
A reality show
contestant wanted for
murder in the
gruesome death and
mutilation of his ex-
wife was found dead
of an apparent suicide
after hanging himself
in a secluded motel,
authorities said. Police
responded to a call
Sunday from motel
staff about a dead
person in Hope, east
of Vancouver, and
then called
investigators who were part of the massive manhunt for
Ryan Jenkins
, said Sgt.
Duncan Pound of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police border integrity unit. The
motel manager who found Jenkins hanging from the bar of a clothing rack said a
young woman checked him in.
It was a race to the finish for dealers and customers alike as the government's
Cash for Clunkers program headed into its final lap. Over the weekend, car
dealers across the country watched their lots grow empty as crowds rushed to
trade in gas guzzlers after the government said that the $3 billion rebate
program would end at 8 p.m. EDT Monday, two weeks earlier than expected.
Adding to the urgency, some dealers said they would stop Cash for Clunkers
sales even earlier to make sure the government reimbursed them for the
rebates — or because they didn't have enough eligible cars left.
President Barack Obama has moved more forcefully than ever to abandon
Bush administration interrogation policies, approving creation of a special White
House unit for questioning terrorism suspects, as Attorney General Eric Holder
weigh a Justice Department recommendation to reopen and pursue prisoner
abuse cases. A senior administration official told The Associated Press Monday
that Obama has approved establishment of the new unit, to be known as the
High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, which will be overseen by the
National Security Council. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because
the program has not yet been officially announced.
Week of August 22-31, 2009
The Los Angeles County coroner ruled Michael Jackson's death a homicide, a
law enforcement official told the Associated Press on Monday. The official spoke
on condition of anonymity because the findings have not been publicly released.
The federal government faces exploding deficits and mounting debt over the next
decade, White House officials predicted Tuesday in a fiscal assessment far
bleaker than what the Obama administration had estimated just a few months
ago.
Figures released by the White House budget office foresee a cumulative $9
trillion deficit from 2010-2019, $2 trillion more than the administration estimated
in May. Moreover, the figures show the public debt doubling by 2019 and
reaching three-quarters the size of the entire national economy.
The British government says people who illegally download music and films
could have their Internet connections cut off. Treasury Minister Stephen Timms
says the move would allow "swifter and more flexible measures" to clamp down
on piracy. The plans announced Tuesday include blocking access to download
sites and temporarily suspending users' internet accounts. The announcement
drew criticism from some groups, but those representing the music industry were
pleased.
Passing - Sen.
Edward M.
Kennedy,
the liberal lion of the
Senate and haunted bearer of the
Camelot torch after two of his
brothers fell to assassins' bullets,
dies at his home in Hyannis Port
after battling a brain tumor. He
was 77. In nearly 50 years in the
Senate, Kennedy served
alongside 10 presidents — his
brother John Fitzgerald Kennedy
among them — compiling an
impressive list of legislative
achievements on health care,
civil rights, education,
immigration and more.
A suicide bomber hit a Pakistani
security checkpoint Thursday at
Week of August 22-31, 2009
the main border crossing for convoys ferrying NATO supplies into Afghanistan,
killing at least 18 people, police said.The attacker approached on foot and
detonated his explosives at the Torkham border checkpoint in the Khyber region,
local police officer Sadiq Khan said. The blast came just after sunset as security
officers were gathering for a meal to end their Ramadan fast.
A family responded with joy
on Friday after a little girl
kidnapped nearly two
decades ago was found alive,
even as horrifying details
emerged about how she has
lived all those years: kept by a
convicted rapist in his
backyard as a sex slave and
forced to bear two of his
children.
Jaycee Lee
Dugard,
who was 11 in 1991
when she was snatched from her school bus stop, was locked away from the
outside world behind a series of fences, sheds and tents in the back of a
suburban home, police said. Her abductor, investigators said, raped her for years
and fathered two children with her, the first when Jaycee was about 14. Those
children, both girls now 11 and 15, also were kept hidden away in the backyard
compound. Dugard's stepfather, who witnessed her abduction and was a
longtime suspect in the case, described his first reaction as "total shock."
Firefighters tried to hold back a massive wildfire from consuming thousands of
homes and a communications center in Los Angeles County on Monday as they
mourned two firefighters killed when their vehicle rolled down a mountain side.
About 12,000 homes, as well as communications and astronomy centers atop
Mount Wilson, were threatened by fire. At least 6,600 homes were under
mandatory evacuation orders Sunday night and over 2,500 firefighters were
battling the flames. On the blaze's northwestern front, two firefighters were killed
Sunday on Mount Gleason near the city of Acton.
Warner Chilcott Ltd, a specialty drug maker, is acquiring Procter & Gamble Co's
prescription drug business for about $3 billion, two sources familiar with the
matter said.A transaction may be announced as soon as Monday, said the
sources who declined to be identified because the deal is not yet public. Six
lenders led by Bank of America Corp and JPMorgan Chase & Co will provide
up to $4 billion of financing, including $1 billion to refinance Warner Chilcott
debt, the sources said.
Week of August 22-31, 2009
Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman has a message for actor Alex Baldwin, who is
reportedly considering a move to Connecticut to challenge Lieberman in 2012:
"Make my day." Lieberman addressed the issue Sunday on CNN's "State of the
Union." He says that he respects the "30 Rock" star as an actor and comedian.
Miss Venezuela was the fairest of them all once again, winning the 2009 Miss
Universe crown for the second year straight and the sixth time since the
pageant's creation.Dressed in a flowing red gown, 18-year-old Stefania
Fernandez hugged the runner-up from the Dominican Republic and danced in
joy as her victory was announced Sunday. The crown briefly fell to the floor as it
passed from one Venezuelan beauty to the next.
Lindsay Lohan’s
Hollywood Hills
home was burglarized over the
weekend, according to her mother,
Dina. The safe was ripped out of the
wall, and the door was off the hinges
and door handles removed," Dina
told the mag. "Bags, shoes and
jewelry were taken too. Thank God
she wasn't home." According to
Dina, Lindsay discovered the
apparent burglary on Sunday
morning after returning to the
residence - but even before the
incident, her daughter was already
planning on moving out.
The A&E network said its previously
announced documentary about
members of the Jackson family will
be expanded into a reality series.
A&E's official word came only after
"Entertainment Tonight" declared the
Jackson series was a go. But beyond acknowledging its plans for a series, A&E
furnished no details. No premiere date or number of episodes has been
specified.
The original special, which the cable channel announced last May, focuses on
brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon Jackson as they prepare to reunite
for a concert tour.
Week of August 22-31, 2009
A judge on Tuesday sentenced Chris Brown to five years' probation and six
months' community labor for the beating of Rihanna and ordered the R&B singer
to stay away from his former girlfriend for the next five years.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg told Brown that he could be
sent to state prison if he violated any terms of his sentence, including an order to
stay 100 yards away from Rihanna unless they're attending music industry
events.
“One Tree Hill" actor Antwon Tanner has pleaded guilty to selling more than a
dozen Social Security numbers for $10,000. Tanner told a federal judge in
Brooklyn on Friday that he was a middleman, selling numbers someone else
provided. He and his lawyer didn't comment on how he got involved in the
scheme. Tanner is expected to get as much as a year in prison at his sentencing,
set for Nov. 20. The 34-year-old actor was charged in April with selling 16 Social
Security numbers and three bogus Social Security cards. Tanner plays the
character Skills in the CW series.
Paula Abdul might not be on "American Idol" any longer, but the singer is still
surrounding herself with some of music's best singers - and they're all divas! "Hi
guys! im really excited 2 announce ill b hosting this year's "Vh1 Divas"! The show
will be live on Sept 17th @ 9 pm EST," Paula wrote on her Twitter page Monday
night.
Passing - Author Dominique Dunne
- the novelist and investigative
journalist who wrote about crimes
among the rich and famous,
including in the 1995 OJ Simpson
trial, has died. He was 83. The
author's death in his Manhattan
home came after a battle with
bladder cancer.
Pioneering rockabilly guitarist James
Burton led an ensemble of about
800 guitar players Saturday in a
celebration of his 70th birthday, but
failed in his attempt to make the
Guinness Book of World Records. At
the Hirsch Memorial Coliseum in
Shreveport, roughly 30 miles west of
his hometown of Minden, Burton led
a battalion of pickers through the Elvis Presley hits "That's All Right, Mama" and
"Hound Dog." Guinness lists the world's largest guitar ensemble as 1,802
Week of August 22-31, 2009
participants led by Andreas Vockrodt in Germany in 2007. Burton, who is known
for working with the Elvis Presley and Ricky Nelson bands, celebrated his
birthday Friday.
Glenn Beck
returns to Fox News Channel on Monday after a
vacation with fewer companies willing to advertise on his
show than when he left, part of the fallout from calling
President Barack Obama a racist. A total of 33 Fox
advertisers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., CVS Caremark,
Clorox and Sprint, directed that their commercials not air on
Beck's show, according to the companies and Colorofchange,
a group that promotes political action among blacks and
launched a campaign to get advertisers to abandon him.
That's more than a dozen more than were identified a week
ago. While it's unclear what effect, if any, this will ultimately have on Fox and
Beck, it is already making advertisers skittish about hawking their wares within
the most opinionated cable TV shows.
ABC says LaToya Jackson will give her first one-on-one interview since brother
Michael Jackson’s death when she sits down with Barbara Walters next month.
She will discuss her relationship with Michael and account for her belief that he
was murdered, ABC says. The interview is scheduled to air on "20/20" on Sept.
11. Jackson has told ABC News that she looks forward to the day justice is
served "to all the parties involved in my brother's homicide." She will also appear
Sept. 16 and 18 as a guest co-host of ABC's "The View," where Walters is one of
the regular hosts.
Jessica Biel is the most dangerous celebrity on the Web. Security technology
company McAfee Inc. on Tuesday reported that searches for the 27-year-old
actress are more likely to lead to online threats such as spyware and viruses
than searches for any other celebrity. McAfee said fans searching for the actress
have a one-in-five chance of ending up at a Web site designed to damage one's
computer. Its the third annual report on the subject from McAfee, which last year
found that Brad Pitt was the "most dangerous" celeb online.
Ellie Greenwich
, who co-wrote some of pop music's
most enduring songs, including "Chapel of Love," "Be
My Baby" and "Leader of the Pack," died
Wednesday, according to her niece. She was 68.
Greenwich died of a heart attack at St. Luke's
Roosevelt Hospital, where she had been admitted a
few days earlier for treatment of pneumonia,
according to her niece, Jessica Weiner. Greenwich, a
Week of August 22-31, 2009
member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, was considered one of pop's most
successful songwriters. She had a rich musical partnership with the legendary
Phil Spector, whose "wall of sound" technique changed rock music. With
Spector, she wrote some of pop's most memorable songs, including "Da Doo
Ron Ron" and "River Deep, Mountain High." But Spector wasn't her only
collaborator. She also had key hits with her ex-husband Jeff Barry, including the
dynamic song "Leader of the Pack" (years later, Broadway would stage a Tony-
nominated musical with the same name based on her life).
DJ AM
, the sought-after disc jockey
who became a celebrity in his own right
with high-profile romances and a
glamorous lifestyle and survived a
plane crash just months ago, was found
dead in his apartment Friday. He had a
history of drug problems. Police found a
crack pipe and prescription pills in the
Manhattan apartment, said a law
enforcement official, who spoke to The
Associated Press on condition of
anonymity because the investigation
was ongoing. Paramedics had to break
down the door before they found him,
shirtless and wearing sweatpants, in his
bed around 5:20 p.m., the official said.
NBC’s “Today" show has hired
someone with White House experience
as a new correspondent former first
daughter Jenna Bush Hager. Hager, a
27-year-old teacher in Baltimore, will contribute stories about once a month on
issues like education to television's top-rated morning news show, said Jim Bell,
its executive producer. The daughter of former President George W. Bush said
she has always wanted to be a teacher and a writer, and has already authored
two books. But she was intrigued by the idea of getting into television when Bell
contacted her.
Week of August 22-31, 2009
Top TV -
1.
America's Got Talent" (Tuesday)
NBC
2.
60 Minutes
CBS
3.
America's Got Talent" (Wednesday
NBC
4.
NCIS
CBS
5.
Two and a Half Men
CBS
6.
The Big Bang Theory
CBS
7.
The Mentalist
CBS
8.
Big Brother 11" (Sunday)
CBS
9.
Big Brother 11" (Thursday)
CBS
10.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (Monday)
ABC
11.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (Thursday)
ABC
12.
CSI: Miami
CBS
13.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (Sunday)
ABC
14.
Hell's Kitchen
FOX
15.
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CBS
16.
Big Brother 11" (Tuesday)
CBS
17.
CSI: NY
CBS
18.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire" (Wednesday)
ABC
19.
Dateline NBC" (Monday)
NBC
20.
America's Got Talent" (Tuesday
NBC
At the movies -
Inglorious Bastards
GI Joe: The Rise of the Cobra
District 9
Julie & Julia
Time Traveler’s Wife
Shorts
G-Force
The Ugly Truth
Postgrad
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Princ
The Goods: Live Hard Sell Hard
Week of August 22-31, 2009
Ponyo
