NEWSMAKERS

July 21, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

NEWSMAKERS

Beck: Eye disease could blind me

NEW YORK

Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck says he’s been diagnosed with an eye disease that eventually could blind him. The conservative commentator told an audience attending his “American Revival” tour over the weekend in Salt Lake City that a doctor told him he has the degenerative disease macular dystrophy.

Beck says he went to a doctor for testing because he had trouble focusing with his eyes.

Soup shop reopens, had inspired ‘Seinfeld’

NEW YORK

The bisque is back. The soup stand that inspired the Soup Nazi episode on “Seinfeld” reopened in New York City on Tuesday, six years after its famously brusque owner shut it down and licensed his recipes to a franchising company. More than 100 people were waiting in line for the noon reopening of the tiny storefront where soup chef Al Yeganeh once ladled broth and imposed discipline.

Yeganeh no longer owns or operates the store, but company officials say he remains deeply involved in the business.

Davis named to panel

SACRAMENTO, Calif.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed actress Geena Davis to a California commission established to promote women’s equality. Schwarzenegger on Tuesday named the 54-year-old actress to the Commission on the Status of Women. The nonpartisan panel advocates for women and girls in areas such as education and access to health care.

Davis, a Democrat, has worked off screen to reduce gender stereotyping. She is the founder of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in the Media and is a partner with United Nations Development Fund for Women.

She won an Oscar in 1989 for her supporting role in “The Accidental Tourist” and was nominated for best actress in 1992 for “Thelma and Louise.”