Gov. Trump? No thanks

Gov. Trump? No thanks
ALBANY, N.Y. -- The Donald does not want to be the governor. Donald Trump, mega-developer and star of NBC's "The Apprentice," said he has no interest in running for governor of New York this year. "I'm not going to run for governor because I'm having too much fun doing what I'm doing now," Trump told the New York Post. Trump -- who also told the New York Daily News that "I have no interest in running for public office at this time" -- didn't immediately respond to a telephone message left Tuesday at his New York City office by The Associated Press. Trump had been suggested as a possible Republican candidate for governor by state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. Trump told the Post that Bruno's consideration was "a great honor." Republican Gov. George Pataki announced in July that he would not seek a fourth four-year term this year.
Performing for the troops
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT -- How does an 18-year-old "American Idol" star stay fresh and pretty while traveling to seven countries in seven days to entertain the troops? Diana DeGarmo says you sleep and eat on schedule -- and it helps to bring along your mom. "Some people might call me a party pooper," she told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday on a military aircraft en route to Germany. "But you just have to do it." DeGarmo visited several U.S. bases in the Middle East and eastern Africa to host holiday shows with comedian Reggie McFadden and country singer Michael Peterson. DeGarmo, last season's runner-up to Fantasia Barrino on the Fox "American Idol" reality show, said she had "learned that there's more to this war than sending troops overseas. They're missing so much and risking their lives." The singer, who brought her manager and mother, Brenda DeGarmo, said one of the strangest moments on the trip was performing for dozens of shivering troops at Camp Victory in Baghdad, with helicopters flying overhead and people shouting.
Thompson edits magazine
WOODY CREEK, Colo. -- Hunter S. Thompson's widow will co-edit a new magazine called The Woody Creeker, which is expected to hit newsstands next month. The gonzo journalist shot himself in his kitchen Feb. 20. "We have some good writers already," Anita Thompson told the Aspen Times for its Tuesday editions. Satirist and political commentator P.J. O'Rourke plans a profile of her husband based on interviews in 1987 and 1997, she said. Anita Thompson is working on a book she calls "Hunter's Wisdom," a collection of witticisms, aphorisms and other expressions from Hunter S. Thompson's bibliography of 14 books, along with her personal notes.
Notable deaths
Author and writing teacher Susan Bergman, whose 1994 book "Anonymity" dealt with her father's death from AIDS and her family's traumatic discovery of his long-hidden homosexuality, has died. She was 48. Bergman died Sunday of brain cancer at her home, said her husband, Judson.
Judith Thomas Stark, a dancer turned philanthropist who supported artists and art institutions, died Dec. 1 of a stroke at her home, according to her son, Christopher Thomas. She was 96.
Today's birthdays
Actress Jane Wyman is 92. Actress Barbara Rush is 79. Football Hall-of-Fame coach Don Shula is 76. Former heavyweight boxing champion Floyd Patterson is 71. Actress Dyan Cannon is 69. Country singer Patty Loveless is 49. Rock singer Michael Stipe (REM) is 46. Country singer Deana Carter is 40. Actress-singer Jill Jones is 31.