Gary Sinise headlines free concert in Denver park

August 10, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

DENVER — “CSI: New York” star Gary Sinise headlined a free concert aimed at bringing attention to renovation efforts at Denver’s Civic Center Park.

Sinise says the recent renovation of Millennium Park in Chicago, where he is from, inspired him to want to play the concert Saturday for the nonprofit Civic Center Conservancy.

“When they asked me to be a part of this, I jumped on it,” Sinise said.

Local band Opie Gone Bad opens for Sinise’s Lt. Dan Band, named after the character in the movie “Forrest Gump” that earned him an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor.

Conservancy officials say the concert’s goal is to make people aware of restoration and renovation efforts planned for the nearly 100-year-old park.

Ben Stein loses NY Times column over endorsement

NEW YORK — Monotone TV personality Ben Stein has been stripped of his Sunday New York Times business column because of his work as a pitchman for a credit-monitoring company.

New York Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis released a statement Friday that said the newspaper decided it would not be appropriate for Stein to pitch for FreeScore.com while writing his column.

An e-mail requesting comment from the former host of Comedy Central’s “Win Ben Stein’s Money” quiz show was not immediately returned.

Earlier this year, Stein withdrew as the University of Vermont’s commencement speaker over complaints about his critical views of evolution in favor of intelligent design.

Stein famously played the part of a monotone economics teacher in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”

Today’s birthdays

Singer Al Alberts of The Four Aces is 87. Singer-turned-sausage-king Jimmy Dean is 81. Singer Eddie Fisher is 81. Singer Ronnie Spector of The Ronettes is 66. Actor James Reynolds (“Days of Our Lives”) is 63. Singer-flutist Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull is 62. Singer Patti Austin is 61. Actress Rosanna Arquette is 50. Actor Antonio Banderas is 49. Drummer Jon Farriss of INXS is 48. Singer Neneh Cherry is 45. Singer Lorraine Pearson of Five Star is 42. Singer Michael Bivins (Bell Biv Devoe, New Edition) is 41. Actress Angie Harmon (“Law and Order”) is 37. Country singer Jennifer Hanson is 36. Singer Nikki Bratcher of Divine is 29. Actor Ryan Eggold (”90210”) is 25. Actor Lucas Till (“Hannah Montana”) is 19.