Paris Hilton News Blog

'Big Read' is a community event

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

In a week when it was hard to get away from 24/7 reports on a certain celebutante's release from prison, the National Endowment for the Arts announced a list of cities that are encouraging residents to do something that Paris Hilton probably doesn't: Read literary fiction.

The NEA awarded 117 cities, including Detroit, with grants ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 to promote "The Big Read," in which one of 12 classic American novels is chosen for a community to read together.

The Detroit Public Library picked Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God," the 1937 novel by one of the best-known female writers of the Harlem Renaissance.

Britney says she didn't need to go to rehab

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

Knocking post-jail gal pal Paris Hilton out of the spotlight, celebrity gossip site TMZ reports that pop star Britney Spears didn't need to go to rehab earlier this year, after all. As a result, she feels totally betrayed by her mom, her soon-to-be ex husband, her former manager and Promises, the rehab facility she called home for nearly a month.

TMZ cites sources saying Spears never had a drug or alcohol problem, but was railroaded into rehab by her mother Lynne Spears, ex-to-be Kevin Federline, and then-manager Larry Rudolph.

While Spears cops to having emotional problems after her second child was born and battling what was most likely post-partum depression, she maintains that she was not abusing the hard stuff.

Can Storm make history?

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

Three reasons why the AFL playoffs are worth watching.

Three reasons why the AFL playoffs are worth watching

1. The Storm can make history: Four teams have started 0-5 and rebounded to make the playoffs. None has ever appeared in an ArenaBowl. The Storm is also the first team in league history to start 0-5 and finish with a winning record.

Commentary: Preteen prodigy shouldn't copy Wie

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

SOUTHERN PINES, N.C. — Alexis Thompson's U.S. Women's Open adventure ends today, but the golf world certainly hasn't seen the last of the 12-year-old from Coral Springs.

You can't help but wonder what she and her game will be like when she's in the same age bracket that Morgan Pressel and Michelle Wie are in now.

Boca Raton's Pressel turned 19 a month ago. She returned to Pine Needles, site of her first Women's Open as a 13-year-old in 2001, having already won a U.S. Women's Amateur and a Kraft Nabisco Championship and nearly a Women's Open, too.

Community Voice

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

I am calling in about those crooked Republicans giving themselves another raise while they tax the poor citizens of Hamilton. People can't afford to buy their own medicine and they can tax us to death and give themselves raises ...

Regarding the candidates for Children Services director — 15, I believe — all but a few outshine and outsmart Mike Fox. None of them worked for Bob Taft, which I would consider a negative. Let's see if these commissioners can do the right thing by these children — if the Mike Fox fix is not already in.

The reason the Democrats will not attend a debate on the Fox network is because Fox is nothing but a bunch of Republican cheerleaders. It is not a true news source. They are not fair and balanced. They are completely in the pocket of the Republican Party.

Eat your vegetables

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

The national media's bubble-gum news does a disservice to local news reporters.

Superior Court Judge Gary McCorvey was wrong to close the pre-trial hearings in a Tifton area murder case to news reporters.

However, when listing his justifications for the closure, he did make a point that strikes close to home for us media types.

From Paris To Hollywood, TMZ Corners The Market

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

From Paris to South of the Border

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

You can take those “Free Paris” bumper stickers off your car.

She’s out.

(You know, we don’t remember the media giving this much attention to Nelson Mandela when he was freed.)

Incoming!

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

Pumpkins cover artGuess who's on the cover of the CD import of the Smashing Pumpkins' new single "Tarantula"? Paris Hilton: tinyurl.com/2rspbd. Probably because the upcoming record is called "Zeitgeist." Or maybe because for a brief period, Billy Corgan was the Paris Hilton of indie rock. Or something. Good tipperAsk this waitress for a tip. She beat out the pros in a national stock-picking contest. tinyurl.com/2pz3ec. Shark Week!This year, the Discovery Channel's hard-biting franchise turns 20....

LIVE REVIEW: NPR laughs its way through Portland

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

A little bit of sunshine broke through Portland?s dreary gray clouds last night. This burst of energy shone through as hilarity and joy in the form of National Public Radio's Wait Wait Don?t Tell Me . The nationally syndicated quiz show, hosted by Peter Sagal and announced by Carl Kasell , made a sold-out pit stop last night at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, along with a guest appearance of Columbia Sportswear?s Gert Boyle , for a live recording of the show. The show was so immensely funny, I literally laughed to the point that my face began to hurt.

Each week since 1998, Wait Wait Don?t Tell Me has been playing to audiences across the United States. Apparently, up to 2 million listeners tune in each week to hear people call in to participate in the various quiz shows. By answering correctly questions that pertain to the previous weeks? news, a caller can win Wait Wait Don?t Tell Me?s coveted prize of a recording of Carl Kasell?s voice on their answering machine.

Something about last night was special. From the first moment of the show when Peter Sagal, who was an extra in Michael Jackson?s video Remember the Time , walked onto the stage of the Schnitz, the magic began to set in. The Portland audience greeted Sagal with an avalanche of applause, which Sagal had to literally calm down so he could start the show.

Oprah No. 1 on Forbes' list of celebrities

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

ATLANTA — Media maven Oprah Winfrey is the biggest of big shots in the universe of celebrities, as Forbes (July 2) sees it. With two reality shows in the works for this fall, Oprah ranks at the top of the magazine's annual "Celebrity 100" list. She's in first place not only in sheer influence but in wealth and annual pay.

Behind Oprah is golf great Tiger Woods, followed in the top five by musician Madonna, the Rolling Stones rock group and actor Brad Pitt.

The concept of "celebrity" covers a wide field, according to Forbes. Its list includes real estate magnate Donald Trump, 19th; former President Clinton, 55th; former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, 67th; and celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck, 88th. And lest you be concerned, Paris Hilton is not on the list.

Take Chavez seriously

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

A news story published in the British newspaper The Guardian posed this question: Which celebrity is "insecure, malignantly narcissistic and driven by a need for adulation," while behind "public displays of arrogance and petulance lurks a fear of not being liked? Barbra Streisand? Paris Hilton?"Neither, according to The Guardian, "Step forward Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, as depicted in a psychological profile commissioned by the U.S. Air Force."The angle taken by the news story de...

TMZ: Britney Spears At Odds With Mom Over Kids

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

A videotape showing Britney Spears marching up to her mom and handing her what may be a lawyer's letter was posted on TMZ.com Thursday night.

Spears, dressed casually in shorts and a tank top, walks up to a trailer on a Valencia, Calif., film set where her younger sister Jamie Lynn is working, and hands the papers to her mom.

The singer starts to walk away when her mother, Lynne, calls after her. She turns around, walks back and the two talk briefly as her mom sits down on the stairs to look at the letter.

Universities value Crist's commitment

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

With Gov. Charlie Crist's announcement Friday that the state is anticipating a $1 billion revenue shortfall, the Board of Governors, boards of trustees and the State University System presidents expect to begin identifying 10 percent of their budgets that could be eliminated for the 2007-08 and 2008-09 fiscal years.

This is naturally a setback for our universities. However, on Wednesday, we were encouraged by the governor's support of a "differential" tuition program that, beginning in 2008, will help our three largest universities deal with crowding. We also took at face value Gov. Crist's pledge to work to improve higher-education funding in general.

What's in a baby name? Money!

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:11:57 +0000

People are always saying that you can't put a price on a baby's love, but they're wrong.

It's $184,320. Plus tax.

That's what raising a kid from birth to age 18 runs, according to the latest (2004) U.S. Department of Agriculture figures for a family making $41,700 to $70,200.

Paris Gives Larry King Ratings Boost

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

LOS ANGELES -- CNN's "Larry King Live" drew three times the viewers it normally does Wednesday night -- thanks to Paris Hilton.

The hotel heiress's first television interview after her release from jail pulled more than 3 million viewers. CNN said her appearance gave the show its best ratings of the year for a regularly scheduled telecast.

The program usually draws about 1.1 million viewers daily.

Hilton's & H'wood's big problem: driving

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Paris Hilton promised to become a better person when she got out of jail. The more important issue, though, may be whether she can be a better driver. Will the hotel heiress have the good sense to hand her keys to someone else after a night of club-hopping, or risk another stay at the gray-bar hotel? She says she's wised up, but the intersection of Hollywood and wine (not to mention beer and booze) has long spelled trouble for celebrities who take the wheel, meaning it co...

At least Chardon, county are talking

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

Now that the nasty verbal volleys have stopped, Geauga County and Chardon city officials can

talk about ideas for county space problems in the city.

It won't be easy, since Geauga County owns land in Claridon Township, and city leaders have determined they offer few land options for a city project.

Bush administration's tyranny thwarted - for now

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

The news media seemed too preoccupied with Paris Hilton's detention to notice, but a U.S. appeals court recently struck a major blow for liberty.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Bush administration may not declare a U.S. resident, whether a citizen or not, an "enemy combatant," throw him in a military prison, and hold him without charge indefinitely - all without judicial review. Try him in the civilian courts or let him go, the judges said.

This double affirmation of habeas corpus and defendants' rights is a stunning setback for President Bush's attempt to assert autocratic powers under cover of his "war on terror."

Celeb-a-razzi: Spice Girls reunite for international tour

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

Is this what we want -- what we really, really want?

We'll find out when tickets go on sale for the Spice Girls international reunion tour. The five Brits just announced plans to get together this winter for 11 shows.

The '90s girl group kicks off its tour on Dec. 7 in Los Angeles, followed by shows in Las Vegas; New York; London; Cologne; Madrid, Spain; Beijing; Hong Kong; Sydney, Australia; and Cape Town, South Africa, before the Jan. 24 finale in Buenos Aires.

City Manager offers state of city speech

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

* City Manager Steve Crowell's State of the City address touched on advances in the city, property tax changes, population.

NORTH PORT -- City Manager Steve Crowell began his State of the City address by flashing a picture of socialite Paris Hilton onto large screens in the dining room at Heron Creek Gold & Country Club.

"This is one thing we're not going to talk about today," he said as laughter echoed throughout the room.

Daily dose of favorite newspaper goes with the cappuccino

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

I make no bones about it. Im a newspaper junkie. Always have been. Probably always will be. Cant live without my daily fix of information in a format I will always love far better than the internet or 24-hour cable news or the iPod or whatever new technologies come along in the next week or two.

At the Exponent, we receive four daily newspapers from within the six counties served by the Diocese of Youngstown. Beyond that, Ill pick up a New York Times or a Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post from time to time where I buy my usual blast of cappuccino, the latest of my mercifully non-alcoholic, non-drug-related addictions.

My favorite newspaper happens to be USA Today. I know that there are some among us who look down on what was derided as McPaper when it first came out a couple of decades ago. But even though I understand that the above-mentioned newspapers will always be the ones quoted by the talking heads on television or cited by journalism school professors, USA Today gives me a much better handle on where America seems headed at the moment.

Fan mail helped Paris fill days in jail

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

Reading fan mail that flooded in from all over world -- including letters from soldiers in Iraq -- filled her days while confined in jail, Paris Hilton said Wednesday in her first interview since her release.

"I had no idea I had so much support," the hotel heiress told Larry King on CNN, adding that she received no critical letters. "I was really surprised about that."

Hilton said she spent her three-week sentence in an 8-by-12-foot cell for 23 hours a day and was treated no differently than other inmates in the high-profile security wing of a Los Angeles jail.

Forum focuses on social justice themes

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000

Karl Marx —- yes, that Karl Marx —- held court Thursday in a corner of the Democracy Tent at the U.S. Social Forum, regurgitating the oratory that transformed history.

No matter that the "father of communism" had been dead 124 years. Or that workers remain in the thrall of the bourgeois capitalists who run the world.

Marx gave voice to the economic, political and social fears rampant among the 10,000 determinedly liberal forum-goers in town for five days of workshops, speechifying and networking.

Good week for law but not order

Fri, 29 Jun 2007 05:08:34 +0000