Wire
NEW YORK (AP) — Sorry, guys
NEW YORK (AP) — Sorry, guys. Jessica Alba’s “taken” status is legal. The 27-year-old actress quietly wed producer Cash Warren on Monday, her publicist, Brad Cafarelli, said Tuesday in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Cafarelli didn’t give further details. The pair became engaged in late December following Alba’s announcement that she’s expecting a baby with Warren, 31. They met on the set of the 2005 film “The Fantastic Four,” which cost...
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Ask Amy
PARENTS WANT TO PUT BRAKES ON SON’S CROSS-COUNTRY BICYCLE TRIP Dear Amy: I’m a 19-year-old male college student. I’m planning a bicycle trip from Illinois to Oregon with a male friend this summer. My parents are worried about my safety, and they are considering not letting me go. My friend and I are both fairly experienced bicyclists and have planned this trip thoroughly. We’ve talked to people who have done cross-country bicycle trips a...
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Ask Amy
FRIEND’S TROUBLE GETTING ORGANIZED MAY HAVE MEDICAL LINK Dear Amy: My best friend, “Wendy,” would be e-mailing you if she could get herself to do it. Despite the fact that she’s already been through one bankruptcy, she’s in debt again. She’s tried following a budget but admits she doesn’t know how the whole “delayed gratification” thing works. Wendy misses appointments, can’t keep promises and has trouble listening or focusing. I’ve tried ...
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Oddities
Cell phone manager rings up 10K town cell phone bill ISLIP, N.Y. (AP) — An official in charge of managing a Long Island town’s cell phone accounts rang up thousands of dollars worth of personal calls on his own town cell phone. Newsday reported Tuesday that Town of Islip cell phone manager Robert L. Komorski resigned after investigators discovered he had racked up $10,000 worth of personal calls. Komorski confirmed that he had resigned. H...
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Celebrities
NEW YORK (AP) — Katie Holmes is looking to bounce back from a box-office flop with her Broadway debut. The “Dawson’s Creek” star and wife of Tom Cruise, who most recently starred in this year’s “Mad Money” alongside Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah, will hit the stage in a revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” this fall. Fellow castmembers include John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Patrick Wilson. Exact dates and theater will be announced, pr...
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State to get $1.2M from multistate settlement over Vioxx
TOPEKA (AP) — Kansas is receiving $1.2 million from a multistate settlement with the manufacturer of the painkiller Vioxx, and the attorney general’s office plans to use the money for consumer protection programs. Attorney General Steve Six announced Tuesday that his office had filed a judgment in Shawnee County District Court to claim the state’s share. Kansas, 28 other states and the District of Columbia had been investigating Merck & Co...
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Heloise
FOR RELEASE WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2008 Hot Potato Salad EDITOR’S NOTE: IN FIRST HINT, THE WORD “SAUTE” HAS AN ACCENT MARK OVER THE E. Dear Readers: Barbecue season is here! Grilling is a nutritious and easy way to make one or several meals at a time. Planning side dishes can sometimes be tough. But potato salad is always a favorite! Here is my mother’s recipe for Hot Potato SaladHOT POTATO SALADthat goes way back, more than 4...
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Other Editors
The Salina Journal, on the new GI bill: If the new GI bill passes the Senate and survives the president’s threatened veto, it could cost as much as $52 billion over the next 10 years. That’s a lot of money. But the war in Iraq has been estimated to cost $1 trillion to $3 trillion for 2002 to 2008. Estimates are it will cost $12 billion just for this month, or $5,000 a second. That $51 billion is less than the price of five months of war. ...
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Gambling supporters gamble on court ruling
Carl Manning Associated Press TOPEKA (AP) — In the world of gambling, it’s about the odds. Right now, the Kansas Lottery is betting that a law enacted last year allowing it to own and operate four resort casinos and have slot machines at race tracks is constitutional. So is Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, but just to make sure she asked the attorney general’s office to get a definitive ruling from the Kansas Supreme Court to quell any doubts. L...
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Celebrities
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Frank Shamrock, a five-time Ultimate Fighting champion and perhaps the biggest name in the sport, will serve as an analyst and color commentator for the inaugural “CBS Elitexc Saturday Night Fights.” The telecast will be anchored by CBS veteran play-by-play man Gus Johnson, a practicing martial artist and mainstay for the network’s college basketball, NBA and NFL games. He’ll be joined by Mauro Ranallo, who hosts Showtime’s...
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Teen admits writing threatening letters to police in Wichita
WICHITA (AP) — Two letters threatening to shoot police officers have been traced to a 14-year-old boy who said he was mad at his parents and thought the letters would be funny. Police characterized the letters — the first found May 8, the second Thursday morning, both at a Wichita apartment building — as “extremely serious in their content.” “We were very concerned about officer safety, more so than we usually are,” said Deputy Police Chie...
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Oddities
14 tons of spilled Oreo cookies snarl Illinois traffic MORRIS, Ill. (AP) — Got milk? Police say a trailer loaded with 14 tons of double-stuffed Oreos has overturned, spilling the cookies still in their plastic sleeves into the median and roadway. Illinois State Police Sgt. Brian Mahoney says the truck’s driver was traveling from Chicago to Morris on Interstate 80 around 4 a.m. Monday when he fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into the m...
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Kids’ books to take along or read before hitting the road
Leanne Italie Associated Press Writer Heading for the beach, hopping a plane to France or hitting the American road with your kids this summer? Some books to prep or pack: — “Scaredy Squirrel at the Beach” (Kids Can Press, $15.95, ages 4-8) written and illustrated by Melanie Watt. The germophobic and jittery squirrel is back and stressing out over a trip to the beach to hunt down the perfect shell. What about the hazards? Tribes of jelly...
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Hungry bear and cub take refuge on roof of four-story building BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A mother bear and her young cub stopped traffic and caused panic Thursday in central Romania after they roamed through gardens in search of food and finally climbed the stairs of a 4-story building and broke onto the roof
Hungry bear and cub take refuge on roof of four-story building BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — A mother bear and her young cub stopped traffic and caused panic Thursday in central Romania after they roamed through gardens in search of food and finally climbed the stairs of a 4-story building and broke onto the roof. A rescue team tranquilized the mother after failing to steer her toward a nearby forest, officials said. Residents had reported th...
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Signs point to imminent wedding for Simpson, Wentz
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Though Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz are keeping a tight lid on their nuptuals, it’s looking like a wedding is imminent. Aerial photos posted Friday at several celebrity Web sites, credited to the Insight News & Features paparazzi photo agency, purport to show the Simpson family home near Los Angeles dotted with large white party tents. People.com reported that Wentz and Simpson’s father, Joe Simpson, had dinner Thursday ni...
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Being Mr. Mom: Fun and lonely, all at once
Men tend to find themselves isolated in group settings NEW YORK (AP) — Mike Biewenga, a stay-at-home dad for the last four years, noticed something funny when he took his daughter to story time at a nearby library. Gathered around the reader in a circle, mothers sat farther from him than from other moms. “There was a gap, then me, then a gap, then the rest of the circle,” says Biewenga, 33, of Arlington Heights, Ill. “And I mean, I shave, ...
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Heloise
FOR RELEASE SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2008 Pets in the Summertime Dear Readers: It’s time to print important information about pets and the summer heatPETS AND THE SUMMER HEAT. During summer weather, when you head out to shop, don’t leave your pet in the car while you are shopping. A parked car becomes an oven within minutes -- even parked in the shade and with the windows opened a few inches. For example, if it is 85 degrees o...
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Other Editors
Bristol (Va.) Herald Courier, on Paul Gregory House’s death row case: A federal judge ordered Paul Gregory House freed from Tennessee’s death row last week. With the most damning evidence against him refuted by modern science, there is little justification for a retrial. Yet, prosecutor William Paul Phillips won’t let go; he’s bound and determined to take the case before another jury. To what end? House has already served 22 years in prison f...
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Ask Amy
A YEAR LATER, IT’S TIME TO FORGIVE, FORGET DISAGREEMENT ABOUT MOVE Dear Amy: Last summer I began dating “Travis,” a friend. Soon after, I moved a few hours north for a summer internship. He decided to visit me over a particular weekend. However, he had also made plans to help a mutual female friend of ours move in with her boyfriend on the same weekend. Her boyfriend was also helping. Travis told her he wanted to visit me and offered to ta...
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Ellen DeGeneres is putting the California Supreme Court ruling in favor of gay marriage into action — she and Portia de Rossi plan to wed, DeGeneres announced during a taping of her talk show. DeGeneres was taping the episode of “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” on Thursday, the day the state’s high court struck down California laws against gay marriage, and it was to air Friday, a person close to the production said. The perso...
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