OFFICIALS DECIDE NOT TO FILE CHARGES AGAINST JOE PESCI

Officials decide not to filecharges against Joe Pesci
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Film tough guy Joe Pesci will not be charged for allegedly punching a fan who photographed him in a shopping center parking lot, officials said.
The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office will not file charges against the "Goodfellas" Oscar-winner because there was no likelihood of conviction, Assistant State Attorney Jill Estey Richstone said.
"The investigating officer was unable to determine who the primary aggressor was and there are no independent witnesses to the incident," Richstone wrote in response to a Boca Raton police warrant request.
College student Juan Carlos Montenegro, 24, told police that Pesci punched him Jan. 22 during an exchange at a Boca Raton shopping center.
Montenegro told police that after encountering Pesci he shook the actor's hand and told him he was a big fan. He then purchased a camera, walked toward Pesci and asked for a picture, but the actor refused, the police report said.
Montenegro kept asking to take a photograph, and when Pesci turned around, Montenegro took the photograph. Pesci then punched him with his right fist, the police report said.
When Montenegro reported the incident, police said his lip was red and slightly swollen, the report said.
An after-hours call to the office of Pesci's attorney, Jay Julien, was not immediately returned.
Sheehan and Stipe teamup for anti-war concert
NEW YORK -- Anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and REM frontman Michael Stipe will headline a New York concert to urge the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.
The "Bring 'Em Home Now!" concert will be held at the Hammerstein Ballroom on March 20, the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Rufus Wainwright and Bright Eyes also will perform, it was announced.
Sheehan, who camped outside President Bush's ranch in Texas last year to protest the Iraq war, will speak during the concert. Her 24-year-old son, Casey, was killed in Iraq in 2004.
Chuck D, Fischerspooner, Peaches, Steve Earle and Devendra Banhart also are scheduled to perform.
"It is impossible not react to the current state of affairs through personal action and artistic production," Casey Spooner of Fischerspooner said in a statement.
Organizers said the concert will be followed by a national "Bring 'Em Home Now!" speaking tour that will feature Sheehan and various authors traveling to 15 U.S. cities in April.
Today's birthdays
Actor Abe Vigoda is 85. Actor Steven Hill is 84. Actor-singer Dominic Chianese is 75. Movie composer Michel Legrand is 74. Actor James Farentino is 68. Actor Barry Bostwick is 61. Actor Edward James Olmos is 59. Singer-writer-producer Rupert Holmes is 59. Actress Debra Jo Rupp is 55. Actress Helen Shaver is 55. News anchor Paula Zahn is 50. Country singer Sammy Kershaw is 48. Singer Michelle Shocked is 44. Movie director Todd Field is 42. Actor Billy Zane is 40. Actress Bonnie Somerville is 32. Rhythm-and-blues singer Brandon Brown (Mista) is 23.