Polanski decision due

Polanski decision due

GENEVA — Swiss authorities say they will decide early next year on whether to extradite director Roman Polanski to the United States.

Justice Ministry spokesman Folco Galli says officials are still studying a U.S. extradition request and an argument by Polanski’s lawyers against him being handed over to authorities in Los Angeles for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl. Polanski was released from a Swiss jail Dec. 4 and is under house arrest at his Alpine chalet in Switzerland.

Jonas gets show gig

NEW YORK — Nick Jonas is used to performing in front of screaming fans who know all the words to their favorite Jonas Brothers songs.

Now his new band, Nick Jonas & The Administration, is getting ready to perform as the house band for the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards on Jan. 15 in Los Angeles. The band will be expected to not only entertain but also keep the pace of the show moving.

“I’m excited and honored. ... We’ll be performing a lot of covers. Intros and outros to the commercials. I think we have about 25 songs to learn,” Jonas said in a recent interview. The 17-year-old singer-musician calls his band a side project. They will record an album, Jonas said, but he will continue to record music with his brothers, Kevin and Joe of the Jonas Brothers.

Rocker donates land

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Metallica frontman James Hetfield is donating 330 acres overlooking California’s Lucas Valley for preservation as farmland. The Marin County Board of Supervisors unanimously accepted the donation Tuesday. It follows Hetfield’s earlier gift to the county of more than 400 acres for open space. Both plots of land are around Hetfield’s home.

Hetfield’s land-use consultant, Scott Hochstrasser, says the donations reflect the singer’s desire to maintain privacy and preserve open space.

Meanwhile, county officials say they are close to a deal with Hetfield that would reroute a hiking trail that crosses his property. The project is expected to cost the county more than $200,000. Hetfield recently constructed a fence to block use of the trail.

Today’s birthdays

“Penthouse” publisher Bob Guccione is 79. Actor George Lindsey (“The Andy Griffith Show,” “Mayberry R.F.D.”) is 74. Actor-comedian Eugene Levy is 63. Actor Barry Livingston (“My Three Sons”) is 56. Director-producer Peter Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary”) is 53. Singer Sarah Dallin of Bananarama is 48. Actor Giovanni Ribisi is 35. Actress Milla Jovovich (“Zoolander”) is 34.