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06-02-06 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE
LUDACRIS, KANYE VICTORIOUS IN COURT: Rappers win copyright case in New York.
*A New York court on Thursday cleared rapper Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and producer Kanye West of copyright infringement in a case brought by a New Jersey rap group over Ludacris’ song, “Stand Up.”
The group I.O.F., which stands for It’s Only Family, were claiming that the pair breached copyright laws by stealing lyrics and style from their song "Straight Like That." Lawyers for I.O.F. argued that their clients distributed copies of the song to music executives in 2002 and 2003, months before they say elements of their song were heard in Ludacris' "Stand Up," co-produced by West.
Mel Sachs, a lawyer representing I.O.F., said the group would appeal the judge’s decision on grounds that a music expert they had planned to call as a witness was excluded by the judge as part of sanctions against another lawyer who represented them before.
"The verdict was disappointing but understandable in the wake of this order to preclude the plaintiffs' expert in the case," Sachs told Reuters.
Meanwhile, I.O.F.’s manager, Jeff Billingsley, told Reuters: "Probably Ludacris feels good that he got over this, but he has not gotten away."
OPRAH FILMS NAVAJO POWWOW FOR UPCOMING SHOW: Talk show host visited Navajo capital to showcase culture.
*Cameras for “The Oprah Winfrey Show” captured the talk show queen visiting the Navajo capital of Window Rock Wednesday for an upcoming episode on the Navajo Nation.
Winfrey was given a tour of Window Rock, a geographic feature that gave the community its name. She also watched as children performed a powwow dance, according to a statement released by the tribe.
"Hopefully, Oprah's visit will portray that while we do have social problems, we're still rich in our heritage, our culture and language," said Priscella Littlefoot, the To'Nanees' Dizi Chapter coordinator who organized the event.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. added: "It was a real honor to have such a celebrity grace us with her presence, especially on sacred ground right under the Window Rock. She's a very likable person, of course, very honorable."
LAST CHAPPELLE SHOWS TO AIR IN JULY: Comedy Central will roll out final four under the title ‘Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes.’
*The filmed material left in Dave Chappelle’s dust as he took off from his Comedy Central series “Chappelle’s Show” last year will finally air in the form of four episodes to begin on July 9.
"Chappelle's Show: The Lost Episodes," as the network has titled them, reflects the footage that was filmed for the program’s abandoned third season, before the comedian abruptly walked away from the series, as well as a reported $50 million contract with Comedy Central.
After quitting the show, Chappelle traveled to South Africa, where it was rumored that he suffered a nervous breakdown and entered a treatment facility. The actor eventually emerged to deny all of the rumors and explain that his departure was due to a disappointment with the show’s direction.
"I was doing sketches that were funny but socially irresponsible," he told Oprah Winfrey in February.
"Chappelle's Show" players Charlie Murphy and Donnell Rawlings will introduce the new sketches, according to Zap2it.com, as Chappelle did not film any intros before he took off.
LAWYERS FOR B.I.G.’S FAM RESPOND TO JUDGE’S ALLEGATIONS: Legal team says they did not deceive the court into declaring mistrial.
*Lawyers for the family of slain rapper Notorious B.I.G. have responded to a Los Angeles judge who said last week she was deceived into declaring a mistrial in the family’s wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
According to papers filed in court Tuesday and acquired by the Los Angeles Times, the family attorneys defended their claim that the city withheld a key piece of evidence – a report that suggested rogue cops may have had a hand in the rapper’s killing – during the high-profile trial, despite the city introducing proof to the contrary last week.
According to the Times, lawyers for B.I.G.’s family said the city "gave a really incomplete view of what happened" when accusing them of misleading the court, and claimed the city was engaging in a "desperate attempt to prevent additional discovery" about further officer misconduct.
"I would hope the judge looks at [the filing] and realizes we did nothing whatsoever to misrepresent anything," Perry R. Sanders Jr., one of the family lawyers, told the paper.
In declaring the mistrial earlier this year, Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the city to pay $1.1 million to the late rapper’s family after, midway through the proceedings, a police report surfaced detailing allegations made by a jailhouse informant that rogue ex-LAPD officers Rafael Perez and David A. Mack were linked to B.I.G.’s killing. At the time, Sanders claimed he was never apprised of the report, or given details of the informant's claims, and therefore could not properly prepare for the proceedings. The judge, in turn, declared a mistrial.
Last week, however, lawyers for the city proved in court that the family's attorneys knew of the informants' story since at least November 2002. In response, Cooper went off on Sanders and his team.
"I'm just absolutely outraged, because I feel this court has been totally deceived," she said during proceedings last week. "I believe you absolutely deceived this court into believing that you knew nothing about this. What I don't understand is, how could you have received this report...and then carried on before this court as if a bombshell had just been dropped in your lap."
The judge gave Sanders one week to address the claims. The city now has seven days to respond.
Cooper said that once explanations are heard from both sides, she will "make a determination as to what, if anything, needs to be done."
R. KELLY FILES SUIT TO KEEP HIS GUARDHOUSE: Board denied his request to keep it after failing to obtain the proper permits.
*With his upcoming child pornography trial, a legal tussle with Jay-Z over their scrapped tour and his own promo tour having just wrapped, the last thing on R. Kelly’s mind was the legality of the guardhouse he built in front of his gated Olympia Fields estate near Chicago. The oversight, however, will drag him into yet another courtroom.
The singer never had a permit to build the structure. When Kelly finally got around to getting the proper paperwork and submitting it for approval last month, the village board denied his request.
Kelly filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court in hopes that a judge will reverse the board’s decision, reports Suntimes.com. In the lawsuit, Kelly claims the guardhouse is necessary or his protection, as he is “a nationally known, Grammy award-winning recording artist."
In an already filed lawsuit, the village board requests that the guardhouse be torn down. The lawsuit also accuses Kelly of allowing his dogs to roam the neighborhood, and says he improperly parked buses and trailers in front of his estate, violating local zoning laws.
"It's just one thing after another with this guy," said village president and Kelly neighbor Linzey Jones according to suntimes.com. "He acts as if he doesn't have to live up to the same high standards everyone else lives up to in Olympia Fields."
RWANDA’S PRESIDENT DISMISSES ‘HOTEL RWANDA’: Paul Kagame says Hollywood got the story wrong.
*Rwandan president Paul Kagame has no love for the 2004 film "Hotel Rwanda," saying Wednesday that the Oscar-nominated drama was an attempt by Hollywood to rewrite the history of the country’s 1994 genocide.
Kagame’s main issue is with the depiction of Paul Rusesabagina, the real life hotel manager portrayed as a hero in the film by Don Cheadle. Amidst the massacres, in which some 800,000 minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus were butchered in 100 days of killings, Rusesabagina, in the movie, uses his position to help save more than 1,200 Tutsi refugees.
During a visit to Washington, Kagame told reporters that the film exaggerated Rusesabagina’s impact.
“It has nothing to do with Rusesabagina," Kagame said. "He just happened to be there accidentally, and he happened to be surviving because he was not in the category of those being hunted."
Kagame said people in the hotel were saved in part because U.N. forces occupied the hotel and because the killers wanted to use it as a place to chill and drink beer while plotting their murders for the following day.
Kagame, a Tutsi, said another reason lives were spared is that talks had been underway between his rebel group and the then-interim government to exchange Tutsis in the hotel for Hutu soldiers captured by his group.
"Someone is trying to rewrite the history of Rwanda and we cannot accept it," he said.
As most of the world stood by and watched, the genocide was finally ended by Kagame, who led a rebel army from Uganda to seize power.
STAR JONES VICTIM OF SLOW HOUSING MARKET: ‘View’ co-host has been trying to sell her Upper East Side penthouse for a year.
*Star Jones Reynolds has just lowered the asking price of her New York condo by $250,000 in an effort to get the property sold.
Now listed at $2.25 million, the triplex penthouse located on the Upper East Side has been collecting cobwebs on the market for the past year, according to the New York Daily News. Pictures of the three-bedroom, 2 ½ bath spot are posted on the Corcoran Group Web site, www.corcoran.com.
"The apartment has been listed with Corcoran Group for a year, and all photos on the site are from Architectural Digest's October 2003 issue, which featured her home," a spokesman for Reynolds told the paper’s Lowdown column.
Photos on the Corcoran Web site show the daytime diva’s enormous shoe closet, a gold-tiled bathroom, zebra-upholstered furniture and a pillow with an embroidered star in the master bedroom. The apartment comes with $3,297 a month in taxes and maintenance.
BLACK FILM FESTIVALS: Hollywood Black Film Festival begins June 13; “Nollywood” comes to Hollywood on June 15.
*The 2006 Hollywood Black Film Festival (HBFF), a showcase featuring 104 films as well as panels and workshops, will be held in Los Angeles this month at various venues throughout the city.
Opening night will kickoff June 13 at the Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills with a screening of “Shottas,” a raw urban drama that deals with life in the ghetto. HBFF 2006 wraps on June 18 with “Bastards of the Party,” a documentary co-produced by Antoine Fuqua that examines five decades of gang violence in Southern California between the Crips and the Bloods, the so-called bastard children of the radical 60s Black Panther Party.
HBFF's 2006 Infotainment Conference will be held Thursday, June 15 through Sunday June 18 in the Garden Room at the Le Meridian at Beverly Hills Hotel. The Conference theme asks, “What is Your Path?” with panels designed to guide filmmakers on the road to success. Each year more than 100 top industry experts serve as panelist covering a wide variety of topics ranging from film production, distribution, & marketing to pitching and writing for television and film.
Advance tickets and passes may be purchased online at http://www.hbff.org. For a complete schedule of Hollywood Black Film Festival screenings, exhibits, panels, parties and events, please visit http://www.hbff.org, email: info@hbff.org.
*Meanwhile, Nigeria’s film industry, known as “Nollywood,” will invade the U.S. via “The Nollywood Foundation Convention 2006, African Cinema and Beyond," a film festival to run from June 15 through June 17 at the Omni Hotel in downtown Los Angeles (251 S Olive St.).
Organized by the Nollywood Foundation, Inc. [www.nollywoodfoundation.org], a not-for-profit organization headquartered in Los Angeles, the event introduces Nigerian films and culture to American and international audiences; and provides a platform for Nigerian, U.S. and other international filmmakers to exchange ideas and collaborate on business opportunities within Nollywood.
With over a 1,000 movies churned out yearly and revenues estimated at $200-250 million per year, the almost completely digitally based Nollywood is the third largest film industry behind India's Bollywood and America's Hollywood.
"We hope the forum will be an impetus to advancing the technical and creative standards of the Nigerian film industry and encourage further international collaboration," said Egbe Osifo-Dawodu, President of Nollywood Foundation Inc. "Our goal is to help move the industry to the next level in terms of reach, quality and impact."
CHAMILLIONAIRE RIDES INTO SECOND WEEK ON BILLBOARD: Plus, ‘Idol’s’ Daughtry debuts higher than Taylor Hicks.
*Chamillionaire stays atop Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart for a second week with his latest single, “Ridin’” featuring Krayzie Bone.
Daniel Powter's "Bad Day" holds steady at No. 2, and Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous" featuring Timbaland moves up from 9-3. Fort Minor's "Where'd You Go" featuring Holly Brook jumps 5-4, Rihanna's "SOS" falls 3-5, and newcomer Cassie enters the top 10 climbing 13-6 with “Me & U.” Sean Paul's "Temperature" falls 4-7, Lil Jon's "Snap Yo Fingers" featuring E-40 & Sean Paul Of The YoungBloodZ drops 7-8.
“American Idol” finalist Chris Daughtry may not have won the whole shebang, but he scores the highest debut of the season five contenders. His rendition of Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” debuts at No. 43, while “Idol” winner Taylor Hicks jumps onto Billboard at No. 69 with the Doobie Bros. hit, “Takin’ It To The Streets.”
Also new to the chart are Dem Franchize Boyz' "Ridin' Rims" (No. 92), Sean Paul's "Give It Up to Me" (No. 97) and Busta Rhymes' "I Love My B****" featuring will.i.am & Kelis (No. 98).
Yung Joc's "It's Goin' Down" remains atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for a second week, while Bubba Sparxxx' "Ms. New Booty" featuring Ying Yang Twins and Mr. ColliPark fronts the Hot Ringtones chart for a ninth frame.
KATRINA BITS: Universal picks up first post-Katrina film; Wynton Marsalis to produce TV special; Mayor Ray Nagin sworn in.
*Universal Pictures has picked up the film "Hurricane Season," a post-Hurricane Katrina drama based on an upcoming documentary "Walking on Dead Fish."
Both projects will highlight the football team at East St. John High School, located just outside New Orleans. The team had a difficult time with the integration of displaced students from surrounding high school teams and tried to help rebuild their community following Katrina.
Franklin Martin, a former NBA agent, wrote, directed and produced the documentary, and will produce “Season” along with Mark Gordon. Martin read about the team and decided to spend past five months filming their story for a documentary. When he showed his agents some rough footage, it was decided that he would turn it into a feature pitch. Mark Gordon took to the story and brought it to Universal.
*In other Katrina related news, jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is returning to New Orleans to produce a television special marking the hurricane’s anniversary.
Marsalis and his production partner Lisa Marie Hoggs will team with producers John Cossette and Don Mischer to helm “New Orleans: Rebuilding the Soul of America One Year Later,” a live television special taking place at the New Orleans Morial Convention Center.
Marsalis is expected to announce the venture during a June 6 taping of the Food Network’s “Emeril Live,” where he will also perform with the show’s house band.
The trumpeter is also planning a three-day tribute to New Orleans, from August 27 through the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, to include in the television special. The event will feature the Ambassador of Swing Talent Search at Harrah’s New Orleans Theater, including performances by Marsalis, jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson and some of the hottest local talent in Louisiana and Mississippi; and Cooking with Music, an event featuring Lagasse and Marsalis to welcome back New Orleans school children.
*And finally, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin was sworn into office Thursday to start his second term, ironically, on the first day of the 2006 hurricane season. The 49-year-old won the seat in a May 20 election dominated by discussions of Hurricane Katrina. His term actually began Wednesday, but Nagin was to take the oath of office Thursday afternoon at the Convention Center, a facility that housed thousands of displaced residents without food or water in increasingly squalid conditions once flooding began.
MUSIC BITS: Ziggy at Target; Jurassic 5 tour; Wayne hits the books; MiJac’s witnesses; Lisa Lisa headlines L.A. concert.
*Target stores will be the only place to pick up the new Ziggy Marley album “Love Is My Religion,” due July 4 via Tuff Gong Worldwide. The deal marks the first time the retail chain has secured a one-to-one agreement with an artist, and Marley’s first independent release outside of the larger label infrastructure.
*Jurassic 5 will promote their new album “Feedback” with a three-month U.S. tour beginning in Seattle shortly before the album's July 25 release date. The rap collective will roll through such spots as the Filmore in San Francisco on July 22nd and 23rd; Stubb's BBQ in Austin, Texas on August 1st; the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.; the world famous Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Denver on Sept. 9th, and the House of Blues venues in Chicago (Sept. 1st), Las Vegas (Sept. 13th), and Los Angeles (July 25th and 26th).
*Lil Wayne is taking a psychology course…sort of…at the University of Houston in Texas. The New Orleans rapper says he has a tutor do all of the leg work for him –going to the classes and taking notes – then giving all of the material to him to look over. He tells Blender magazine: "I just glance at them (study material). Same thing with music: I can hear a new song once and tell you at least half of what was said."
*Some of Michael Jackson’s harshest critics during his child molestation trial have ended up on his witness list for a lawsuit brought against him by Marc Schaffel, who claims the King of Pop owes gun $4 million. “Hard Copy” and “Court TV” veteran Diane Dimond and Harvey Levin of the cancelled “Celebrity Justice” are among the reporters due to testify in the trial, which begins in Los Angeles on June 19. According to Fox.com, the journalists are being subpoenaed for their knowledge of Schaffel’s alleged former production of gay porn. How this connects to Jackson’s alleged debt to Schaffel is unknown.
*Lisa Lisa, who along with the Cult Jam had such 80s hits as “Can You Feel the Beat,” “All Cried Out” and “Head to Toe,” will headline the Freestyle Explosion at the Arrowhead Pond Arena in Anaheim, CA on June 3 at 7 p.m. The lineup includes Afrika Bambaataa, the Soul Sonic Force, Debbie Deb, Trinere, Planet Patrol, NewCleus and Johnny O among others. The Freestyle Explosion will also visit Chicago, Boston, and Phoenix throughout the summer.
FILM/TV BITS: FX ‘Tucks’ Lathan; TCA loves ‘Chris’; Will’s ‘Bedroom’; Brangelina’s film; Diesel ‘Furious’ again?; Perrineau action figure is ‘Lost.’
*Sanaa Lathan will star in the upcoming fourth season of FX’s drama “Nip/Tuck.” The actress will play a thirtysomething woman married to a wealthy, much older man. The two wind up buying McNamara/Troy, the Miami-based plastic surgery practice of Dr. Sean McNamara (Dylan Walsh) and Dr. Christian Troy (Julian McMahon). Lathan is also due to reprise her Tony-nominated role from the 2004 Broadway revival of "A Raisin in the Sun" in ABC's upcoming adaptation of the play.
*ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” and UPN’s “Everybody Hates Chris” snagged award nominations Wednesday from The Television Critics Association (TCA). “Anatomy, created by Shonda Rhimes and co-starring Isaiah Washington, was nominated for program of the year, while Chris Rock’s “Chris” and Fox’s “Prison Break” are up for new program of the year. The 22nd annual Television Critics Assn. Awards, chosen by the 200-plus members of the TCA, will be handed out July 23 as part of the bi-annual TCA press tour.
*Will and Jada Pinkett Smith have been voted the “Hottest Celebrity Couple in the Bedroom” in a nationwide poll of Lifetime viewers. The Smiths received 41% of the vote, beating Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher (20%); Eva Longoria and Tony Parker (11%); and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner (7%).
This survey kicks off Lifetime's premiere of its original comedy series, "Lovespring International," a half hour program from "Will & Grace" star Eric McCormack about a dysfunctional dating service, premiering Monday, June 5 at 11 p.m. (ET/PT).
*Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are reportedly filming a documentary about their stay in Namibia, including footage of their new baby, Shiloh. London’s The Sun newspaper says the new parents have been capturing daily activities with a video camera to document their stay in southern Africa. A source is quoted as saying: "Angelina is in love with Namibia and wants fans to learn more about it and experience what she has experienced. Maddox is in the film along with Zahara, and they have agreed to include some footage of their new baby."
*Is Vin Diesel in talks to return to the “Fast and the Furious” film franchise? According to Spanish Web site primerahora.com, the actor appeared at a party thrown by Latino singer Don Omar and revealed he was returning for “Fast and the Furious 4.” Diesel reportedly asked the musician if he wanted to record a song for the soundtrack. The action star appeared in the original 2001 film opposite Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez. The third installment, “Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift,” screeches into theaters on June 16 with star Lucas Black.
*Why are all of the main characters of ABC’s “Lost” getting an action figure except for Michael? The character, played by Harold Perrineau, turned dirty toward the end of last season in order to save his son, but it’s unknown if it played into the decision by McFarlane Toys not to include him in their offerings. The characters of Jack, Kate, Hurley, Locke, Charlie and Shannon will be made into 6-inch tall talking action figures, reports the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. The figures will be available in retail outlets and online with a price tag ranging from $14.99 to $19.99.
THEATER BITS: ‘Color Purple’ actress honored; Fishburne begins ‘Without Walls’ in L.A.
*Felicia P. Fields, known to audiences of Broadway’s “The Color Purple” as Miss Sophia, has been honored with a Clarence Derwent Award for the most promising female performer on the New York stage.
The veteran theater star also received a Tony nomination for the role, which was made famous in the 1985 film by the play’s main producer, Oprah Winfrey.
Fields’ resume includes critically-acclaimed performances in such diverse shows as "The Hot Mikado," "Show Boat," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," "Dreamgirls" and "Sophisticated Ladies."
As a winner of the award, announced this week by Actors' Equity Foundation, Fields will pocket $2,000 and an engraved crystal trophy.
*Meanwhile, Tony Award-winning actor Laurence Fishburne kicks off his run in “Without Walls” at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum (135 North Grand Ave.) on June 11. Previews began on Thursday (June 1).
Set in 1977, Fishburne plays Morocco, "an idealistic and popular drama teacher at a non-traditional high school in Manhattan," according to show materials, who "has great skill in bringing out the best in his students, and he cares deeply about them, perhaps too deeply as is eventually revealed in this sensitive drama about both the power and the fragility of the student/mentor relationship."
Tickets for “Without Walls,” which runs through July 16, can be purchased by calling (213) 628-2772 or on-line at www.TaperAhmanson.com.
RADIO/INTERNET BITS: Whoopi picks a sidekick; lawyer says fired radio host Star was retaliating in his on-air rant; Benny Medina ditches e-mail.
*Whoopi Goldberg has chosen DJ Paul "Cubby" Bryant of New York’s Z-100 to ride shotgun on her new syndicated morning radio show "Wake Up with Whoopi," which will originate from WKTU-FM New York, from 5 to 9 a.m.
weekday mornings. "Like a good, strong cup of coffee, Cubby will get me going in the morning. We're going to have some fun together. I can't wait to get started," Whoopi said of her co-host. "I'd like to think of what we're doing as reflective of what's going on with our listeners. You have to muster yourself up and out the door. You have to muster the kids, the house, your mate -- it's the morning muster."
*Meanwhile, the lawyer representing fired Power 105.1 radio host Star says his client’s vile on-air attack on rival DJ Envy’s wife and child was done only in retaliation. Attorney Ben Brafman told the New York Daily News that Envy’s co-host on Hot 97, Miss Jones, once called Star’s mother a “prostitute” and his father a “tar black Sambo.” Brafman also said Jones called Star an “alcoholic” and a “f***ot who liked boys.” As previously reported, Brafman is seeking to have charges against his client dropped, and feels Jones and Star should have also been arrested for their derogatory comments.
*Don’t try to send an e-mail to Benny Medina. According to the New York Daily News, the manger, who counts among his clients Mariah Carey and Tyra Banks announced, “I will no longer be accepting e-mail. If it's important, call me. I don't do e-mail." Further explaining his decision, Benny told the newspaper: "I'm not making a stand against e-mail, I'm making a stand for the way I like to communicate. Generally, e-mail ends up as a form of communication that can go completely unanswered, with people thinking they've followed up on an outstanding issue when they haven't, and it's bad at communicating a feeling or an emotion." Medina said he will no longer use his BlackBerry either. “I prefer phone calls or a handwritten note. I'm easily found if anyone wants to talk to me," he said.
SPORTS BEAT: FBI to question Bush’s fam; golfer Kevin Hall at Memorial; French Open update; O.J.’s daughter gets community service.
*The Feds are sniffing around New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush. The athlete’s family told the Associated Press Wednesday that the FBI wants to speak with them as part of their investigation into a San Diego sports marketing firm that tried to recruit the Heisman Trophy winner.
Attorney David Cornwell of Atlanta said FBI agents interviewed him about "potential federal crimes" last week by phone and have asked to speak with Bush and his parents. Meanwhile, the NCAA and Pac-10 are looking into the Bush family’s former San Diego residence owned by Michael Michaels, a principal in New Era Sports & Entertainment, while Bush was still playing for Southern California last season. NCAA rules prohibit student-athletes and their families from receiving extra benefits from agents or their representatives.
*Former Ohio State golfer Kevin Hall teed off Thursday at the opening round of the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club near Columbus, Ohio. The 23-year-old, whose has been deaf since the age of 2, is playing in his third event this year, and is a popular player in the tournament because of his inspirational story. Numerous tour players say they've met and been touched by Hall, whose parents taught him he must work harder than everyone else to overcome his hearing impairment. At 16, Hall met Tiger Woods at a clinic in his Cincinnati hometown. Woods worked with him one-on-one, then added, "I'll see you on the tour some day." Hall told The Associated Press through a signer: "If Tiger says something he means it, so I believe him."
*American Shenae Perry trounced Japan’s Akiko Morigami 6-3, 6-0 to advance to the third round of the French Open early Thursday. Her next opponent will be 32nd seed Gisela Dulco. Meanwhile, rain postponed the second round match between James Blake and Spain’s Nicolas Almagro, as well as Jamea Jackson’s third round match against Germany’s Anna-Lena Groenefeld. Should Blake win in today’s rescheduled contest, he will face black Frenchman Gael Monfils, who came back from a break down in the final set to Belgian Dick Norman Thursday to win 4-6 6-3 6-7 6-0 7-5. Venus Williams’ scheduled third round match against Karolina Sprem of Croatia was also suspended due to the rain.
*The daughter of former NFL star O.J. Simpson has followed her father’s footsteps into the wrong end of the legal system. Sydney Simpson, 20, was sentenced Wednesday on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting an arrest without violence after a scuffle with Miami police in 2005. Police say Simpson was attending a basketball game at her younger brother’s school when she started cursing out police officers who were on duty. The cops asked her to quiet down three times as a crowd of more than 15 people gathered, according to the police report. An officer said that while Simpson was being placed into custody, she slapped another officer's hand, leading to the resisting arrest charge. Simpson was not in court Wednesday, but her lawyers were on hand to accept a plea deal of 50 hours of community service.
OTHER NEWS ROUND UP: Florida bans boot camps; black fraternities and sororities sue Converse; black historian challenges post office over black stamps.
*Six black fraternities and sororities are suing Converse Inc., claiming the shoe company used their colors and founding dates on sneakers without permission. According to the Dallas Morning News, the lawsuit in U.S. District Court claims trademark infringement and unfair competition over Converse's GREEKPAK basketball shoes, which it began selling in 2003 and has since discontinued. "Converse is using our trademark just as if they were to put Coca-Cola's marks on a shoe of theirs without asking to use it," Michael Pegues, a Dallas patent attorney and Alpha Phi Alpha leader, told the newspaper. Converse has said the Greek traditional colors and founding years are not trademarked. A Converse spokeswoman said in a statement that the company wants to resolve the matter but did not comment on the specific allegations. The original 2003 suit from groups Alpha Kappa Alpha, Alpha Phi Alpha, Kappa Alpha Psi, Omega Psi Phi, Delta Sigma Theta and Phi Beta Sigma was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle. In April, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned part of the ruling and returned the case to court.
The state of Florida has eliminated the military-style boot camps used to discipline juveniles in the wake of controversy surrounding the death of a 14-year-old boy in one of the state-run facilities. Under a bill that Gov. Jeb Bush signed Wednesday, young offenders will be sent to a residential program that bars physical discipline. They'll go through a full medical exam when they enter and leave their programs and have a hot line they can call in case of trouble. The $11 million program, which counties can voluntarily join, will also offer detainees job skills training, community service and counseling. "No child will have to go through what my child went through," said Robert Anderson, whose son, Martin Lee Anderson, died five months ago at the Bay County boot camp after being punched and kicked by guards.
*As stamp collectors prepare to leave the World Philatelic Exhibition in the Nation’s Capitol tomorrow, historian Lawrence Otis Graham says U.S. stamps ignore black achievements in politics, and that the Postal Service should put forth an effort to correct its historical failure. "The post office has paid tribute to white males in these jobs and quite appropriately created stamps to honor the first woman Senator (Hattie Caraway), as well as Hispanic American Senator Dennis Chavez," says Graham in a statement. "But as stamp collectors gather from around the world this week, we should ask why our nation has created stamps honoring artistic African Americans like singer Otis Redding, boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, and "Gone With the Wind" Mammy actress Hattie McDaniel, but withheld the same honor for blacks who served in distinguished elected offices. While these artists are deserving figures, the black stereotype being advanced by the omission of elected officials and emphasis on athletes and singers misrepresents our community." Graham says he has written letters voicing his frustration to “all 100 Senators.” The World Philatelic Exhibition in Washington D.C. began May 27 and ends Saturday.
