U2 TAKES STYLIST TO COURT TO RECLAIM MEMORABILIA

U2 takes stylist to court to reclaim memorabilia
DUBLIN, Ireland -- Bono wants his hat back. And his earrings. His sweat shirt, too. Dublin-based rock band U2 went to court Tuesday to recover items from former stylist Lola Cashman, who has a range of memorabilia from her work on their 1987 Joshua Tree world tour. In 2002, Cashman tried to sell some of the items -- including a cowboy hat, sweat shirt, pants and earrings worn by Bono -- at a London auction house. U2's lawyers stopped the sale by telling auctioneers the goods weren't Cashman's to sell. On Tuesday, lawyer Paul Sreenan told Dublin Circuit Court Judge Matthew Deery that Bono and other members of U2 would testify that they hadn't given any of the items to Cashman, who was also accused of claiming inappropriate expenses during the tour. Sreenan said the band hoped the judge would issue a judgment that Cashman should not continue to possess or try to sell any of the materials in dispute, including about 200 photos of the tour. U2 completed a three-night concert stand Monday night in their hometown with an 80,000-seat sellout performance at the city's Croke Park stadium. The band is to take part in the Live 8 concerts on Saturday, playing in the London event in Hyde Park.
Cast unites on the prairie
MESA, Ariz. -- Cast members from "Little House on the Prairie" will reunite this weekend in Tombstone, a town known for its old West roots. Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura Ingalls Wilder, is scheduled to reunite with Dean Butler (Almanzo Wilder) and Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson) during the Tombstone Western Film Festival that runs Friday through July 4. "People watched it, but they didn't want to talk about it," Butler told the East Valley Tribune. "It was almost an embarrassed pleasure." The show, based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, showed the struggles of the Ingalls family and other pioneers in Walnut Grove. The drama ran from 1974-83. Butler said the show's longevity was a credit to Michael Landon, who played family patriarch Charles Ingalls. "Michael Landon understood something about the simple aspirations of everyday people to live a happy life," Butler said. "It was so simple it was genius." The Tombstone festival will feature screenings of the cast members' favorite episodes and question-and-answer sessions.
Actress, historian, chef among book's 100 authors
NEW YORK -- Actress Goldie Hawn, historian David McCullough and chef Jacques Pepin will be among the contributors to "The Book That Changed My Life: A Hundred Reasons to Read, From a Hundred People Worth Reading," to be published in the summer of 2006 by Gotham Books, an imprint of Penguin Group USA. "I do believe that a book can change a life, and sharing this not only encourages people to understand how reading can matter, it adds to our lives and the world," Roxanne Coady, a bookstore owner who will co-edit the project, said in a statement Monday. Hawn, McCullough and the others included in "The Book That Changed My Life" all have made appearances at Coady's store, R.J. Julia Booksellers, based in Madison, Conn. Proceeds will be given to Read to Grow, a literacy organization founded by Coady.
Canadian singers engaged
LOS ANGELES -- Avril Lavigne is reportedly marrying fellow Canadian singer Deryck Whibley, the frontman for punk-pop group Sum 41. Us Weekly reported that Whibley, 25, proposed over the weekend while Lavigne, 20, was finishing up the European leg of her tour. Publicists for both musicians confirmed the engagement to the magazine. The pair began dating in early 2004 and had been friends for several years before that, the magazine said. Whibley and Lavigne both hail from the same province in Canada -- Ontario -- and reportedly bought a home together in Los Angeles last year.
Paula Abdul speaks up for salon sanitation bill
SAN FRANCISCO -- "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul urged California legislators to force nail salons to clean up their act, testifying Monday about her yearlong health ordeal after an unsanitary manicure. Abdul said a trip in April 2004 to a Studio City nail shop that used unclean equipment sent her in and out of the hospital and made her the butt of late-night talk show jokes. "Being a professional dancer, I'm no stranger to pain, but this time the pain was so excruciating that even my hair touching my thumb caused me to scream," Abdul told the California Senate Business and Professions Committee in Sacramento. The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Assemblyman Leland Yee, would establish safety standards for manicure and pedicure equipment and rewrite state regulations mandating that nail shops follow sanitary practices. "I was publicly humiliated," Abdul said in her closing statement. "That is why with an open heart and a selfless agenda, I implore you to pass this bill."
Today's birthdays
Singer Lena Horne is 88. Actor Tony Musante is 69. Actress Nancy Dussault is 69. Singer Glenn Shorrock is 61. Jazz musician Stanley Clarke is 54. Rock musician Hal Lindes (Dire Straits) is 52. Actor-comedian David Alan Grier is 50. Actor Vincent D'Onofrio is 46. Actor Rupert Graves is 42. Boxer Mike Tyson is 39. Rock musician Tom Drummond (Better Than Ezra) is 36. Actor Brian Bloom is 35. Actor Brian Vincent is 35. Actress Monica Potter is 34. Rhythm-and-blues singer Fantasia ("American Idol") is 21.