Lange visits shelter as goodwill ambassador

Lange visits shelteras goodwill ambassador
CANCUN, Mexico -- Actress Jessica Lange met Friday with community leaders and children at a shelter in Cancun in her role as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund.
Lange, 55, who starred most recently in "Big Fish" and "Normal," spent much of the day learning about a local program in which hotel workers and cabdrivers are trained to report suspected cases of child abuse to authorities.
"It is a wonderful collaboration between the private sector and the government," she said.
Lange quickly won the confidence of the children at the shelter, with one child, a 7-year-old girl named Sirena, describing how her stepfather beat her and her mother.
Ashanti says famehasn't changed her
WASHINGTON -- Ashanti is among the performers scheduled to appear on Sunday's "VH1 Divas" special, to air live from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But the singer says she keeps herself very un-diva.
"I'm the same old girl from high school," she told AP Radio. "So I think it's very important once people meet you and they see in real life, yeah, you're a real person; you're normal, just like them."
Ashanti, 23, said she's happy most people feel she still has her feet on the ground.
"The reason why ... you become of such status is because of people and people liking you," she said. "So to me it doesn't make sense to change who you are as a person because you got a little bit of fame."
Nelson's July 4th picnicwill be in Fort Worth
FORT WORTH, Texas -- Willie Nelson will hold his famous Fourth of July Picnic at the Fort Worth Stockyards this year.
"Fort Worth is one of my old hometowns," Nelson told reporters and fans Friday at a news conference. "I've played all of the beer joints here."
The daylong event will be held on a 27-acre concert field dubbed the North Forty. Besides Nelson, performers will include other country music icons, such as Merle Haggard, Ray Price, David Allan Coe and Kris Kristofferson.
Organizers expect about 25,000 people.
Last year's picnic in Spicewood, 35 miles west of Austin, caused a traffic nightmare: There was a reported 11-mile backup with a five-hour wait.
The commute to the Stockyards should be easier because there will be plenty of space for about 12,000 vehicles, officials said.
Nelson's Fourth of July Picnic tradition began in Dripping Springs in 1973. Through the years, Luckenbach, Austin and Carl's Corner have hosted the festival.
2 Estefans to receiveSpirit of Life Awards
NEW YORK -- Emilio and Gloria Estefan have been selected by the Latin Entertainment Industry Group for City of Hope as its 2004 Spirit of Life Award honorees.
The award will be presented Nov. 18 at a gala dinner in the Miami area. Proceeds from the event will benefit City of Hope's research, treatment and education programs for cancer and other life-threatening diseases.
The Spirit of Life Award is presented to individuals who have made a notable contribution to their community and profession. The Latin Entertainment Industry fund-raising group for City of Hope selects honorees who have fundamentally influenced the direction of the Latin entertainment industry.
Today's birthdays
Actress Barbara Hale is 83. Blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown is 80. Actor James Drury is 70. Actor Robert Hooks is 67. Actress Hayley Mills is 58. Actor James Woods is 57. Actress-director Dorothy Lyman is 57. Country musician Walt Richmond (The Tractors) is 57. Country musician Jim Scholten (Sawyer Brown) is 52. Actor Rick Moranis is 50. Actress Melody Thomas Scott is 48. Rock musician Les Pattinson (Echo and the Bunnymen) is 46. Talk show host Conan O'Brien is 41. Actress Jane Leeves is 41. Actor Eric McCormack is 41. Rock musician Greg Eklund (Everclear) is 34. Rhythm and blues singer Trina (Trina and Tamara) is 30. Actress Melissa Joan Hart is 28. Actor Sean Maguire is 28. Actress Alia Shawkat is 15.
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