newsmakers

October 7, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

newsmakers

Detroit symphony cancels concerts

DETROIT

The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has canceled concerts amid an ongoing musicians strike. Chief Executive and President Anne Parsons made the announcement Wednesday during a news conference at Orchestra Hall in Detroit. The Detroit Free Press says the DSO was to perform today at the Wharton Center at Michigan State University, then open the season at Orchestra Hall on Friday.

The musicians hit the picket line after refusing to accept pay cuts of more than 30 percent demanded by the financially struggling symphony. Management declared an impasse Sept. 1 and began implementing a 33 percent base pay cut for orchestra veterans, from $104,650 to $70,200 in the first year. Musicians had offered a 22 percent reduction in the first year to $82,000, which would increase in subsequent years.

Gibson’s ex says she feared for life

LOS ANGELES

Mel Gibson’s ex- girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva said she feared the Academy Award winner might kill her during a fight earlier this year, giving her first public account of an argument she claims turned violent. The Russian-born musician accuses the “Braveheart” star of hitting and choking her and claims he had a gun during the January confrontation. “I was scared for my life and my daughter’s,” she told People magazine in a story published Wednesday. “I thought he would kill me.”

Grigorieva also told the magazine she did not leak now-famous tapes purportedly of the actor in a series of racist and misogynistic rants. Audio of the actor-director’s rants was leaked to celebrity website RadarOnline.com, which has said the tapes did not come from Grigorieva. The recordings were made a month after the alleged physical abuse.

Nazi papers are put on public view

WASHINGTON

The laws signed by Adolf Hitler taking away the citizenship of German Jews before the Holocaust are on rare public display in Washington. The Nuremberg Laws recently were turned over to the National Archives by The Huntington museum complex near Los Angeles. They are on display through Oct. 18. Previously, they had been displayed only while on loan to the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles.

The documents have a dubious history. U.S. soldiers first found them in a German bank vault and gave them to Gen. George Patton. At the end of World War II, Patton disobeyed orders by taking the papers out of Germany. They should have been evidence in the Nazi war crimes trials. Instead, Patton deposited them at The Huntington.

‘Glee’ tops Beatles for Billboard record

NEW YORK

The “Glee” cast has surpassed the Beatles for the most appearances on the Billboard Hot 100 chart by a non-solo act. The cast of the Fox television musical series about a high school glee club has six debuts on the chart this week.

That gives it a total of 75 songs on the chart to the Beatles’ 71. The show’s soundtrack got a boost after this week’s episode featuring the music of Britney Spears.

Elvis Presley still leads overall with 108 songs to chart on the Hot 100. He’s followed by James Brown with 91, then “Glee.”

The Beatles are sixth, behind Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. Lil Wayne, Stevie Wonder and Jay-Z round out the Top 10.