Bird grounds Winfrey's jet
Bird grounds Winfrey's jet
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- Oprah Winfrey's private jet was forced to return to the city airport after its windshield was cracked in a collision with a bird, officials said.
Winfrey and her boyfriend, Stedman Graham, were not hurt in the collision, which occurred around 12:30 p.m. Monday just after the GulfStream jet had taken off from Santa Barbara Municipal Airport, said Santa Barbara Fire Department spokesman John Ahlman.
"This is not a totally unusual thing," Ahlman said of the cracked windshield. "We see these things pretty frequently."
The plane will remain grounded until its windshield can be repaired, Ahlman said.
Winfrey bought a mansion on 42 acres in the hills of nearby Montecito five years ago. The host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" has won several Emmys and other awards for her work on daytime television.
Bice releases debut album
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- "American Idol" has made Bo Bice a hot property this year, both for his music talent and for his long-haired sex appeal. Now he hopes to cash in.
Bice, 30, finished the TV show's fourth season as the runner-up, but the Alabama native hopes to follow Clay Aiken as the also-ran who actually runs away with it. He's releasing his debut disc "The Real Thing."
Two of 11 tracks on "The Real Thing" were co-written by Bice, and one, "Valley of Angels," is a ballad he wrote several years ago that was given a new instrumental bridge by producer Cliff Magness.
"'Valley of Angels' is about the idea that things aren't perfect," Bice said. "Everyone fumbles and falls and makes mistakes. When you're down, you might not feel there's any place of serenity you can find. It's about finding peace."
Carmichael items stay put
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Indiana University has dropped plans to move a collection of Hoagy Carmichael memorabilia to make room for a biology teaching lab.
Officials decided against moving the Hoagy Carmichael Room from Morrison Hall to the Indiana Memorial Union after the songwriter's family voiced concerns, said Neil Theobald, IU Bloomington's vice chancellor for budget and administration.
Carmichael, the composer of numerous American popular songs and a well-known entertainer who appeared in movies and TV shows, grew up in Bloomington and earned a law degree from IU.
After Carmichael's death in 1981, his family donated materials from his life and career to the Hoagy Carmichael Collection at IU. The Carmichael Room, dedicated in 1986, showcases some of the most prized items in a period setting that also provides a space for meetings and concerts.
Picasso model discovered
GARY, Ind. -- A wooden model of the steel Pablo Picasso sculpture that is a Chicago landmark has been languishing unnoticed inside a Gary school cafeteria. One man hopes it can help Gary reclaim a part of its art history.
James Nowacki said he believed the model could be worth as much as $1 million and wants the city's school board to put it up for sale so it can be housed in a more appropriate setting.
"The people who were aware of it were not aware of its value," he told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville. "The people who were aware of its value were not aware of its existence."
The 162-ton steel "Chicago Picasso" sculpture was unveiled in Daley Plaza in 1967. The wooden piece was used to work out details on the finished steel sculpture and was given to the city of Gary in 1970.
Others aren't so sure.
Valerie Leyva, a marketing associate in a Beverly Hills auction house who has studied classic modern art, said she was unsure the piece would have a high value.
School board members brushed aside the issue during a meeting this month, skeptical about Nowacki's estimates about its value. "I certainly hope that we do not waste our resources, our staff time or anything dealing with such a trivial issue," board member Michael Scott said.
1 book to go, Rowling says
NEW YORK -- J.K. Rowling expects to have a busy 2006, "the year when I write the final book in the Harry Potter series."
The sixth installment of Rowling's fantasy series, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," came out last summer. It has sold more than 10 million copies in the United States alone.
Total worldwide sales of the Harry Potter books top 300 million.
Rowling expects to start on the final book, not yet titled, next month.
Today's birthdays
Actor Lou Jacobi is 92. Bandleader Johnny Otis is 84. Comic book creator Stan Lee is 83. Former United Auto Workers union president Owen Bieber is 76. Rock singer-musician Edgar Winter is 59. Rock singer-musician Alex Chilton (The Box Tops; Big Star) is 55. Actor Denzel Washington is 51. Country singer Joe Diffie is 47. Actor Chad McQueen is 45. Country singer-musician Marty Roe (Diamond Rio) is 45. Actor Malcolm Gets is 41. Actor Mauricio Mendoza is 36. Comedian Seth Meyers is 32. Rhythm-and-blues singer John Legend is 27. Actress Sienna Miller is 24.
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