NEWSMAKERS

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

NEWSMAKERS

Winfrey school case ends in acquittal

JOHANNESBURG

A woman accused of abusing teenagers at Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls in South Africa has been acquitted.

Prosecutors had accused Tiny Virginia Makopo of trying to kiss and fondle the girls. She also was accused of assaulting one of the teens as well as a fellow supervisor.

A spokeswoman from South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority said Monday that Makopo has been acquitted of the charges.

The scandal erupted at Winfrey’s $40 million school soon after it opened in 2007 amid great fanfare.

In a statement Monday, Winfrey said she is “profoundly disappointed” at the trial outcome.

Winfrey said she appreciates efforts by the prosecutor and police in seeking justice and treating the girls with utmost care and respect.

Rhys Ifans cast as ‘Spider-Man’ villain

LOS ANGELES

Rhys Ifans is playing the bad guy in the next “Spider-Man.” But the filmmakers aren’t saying yet which character he’ll be.

Sony Pictures announced Monday that Ifans, widely known as a comic actor in such films as Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant’s “Notting Hill,” will co-star as the villain in the superhero adventure due out July 3, 2012.

The studio’s announcement notes that the “filmmakers prefer to not reveal which character Ifans will be playing.”

The Marvel Comics vaults are loaded with villains that Spider-Man has taken on over the decades.

Whoever he winds up playing, Ifans will be up against Andrew Garfield, who stars as Peter Parker, the ordinary youth transformed by the bite of a mutant spider into the web-slinging superhero.

Synagogue with ties to Dylan is for sale

HIBBING, Minn.

The former Minnesota synagogue where singer Bob Dylan had his bar mitzvah when he was 13-year-old Bobby Zimmerman is for sale.

The owners of the building in Hibbing are hoping the connection to Dylan helps sell it. The building is No. 8 on the Bob Dylan Walk tour.

It hasn’t been a synagogue since the 1980s, when the congregation disbanded and the building was turned into apartments.

Brenda Shafer-Pellinen, who owns the building with her husband, told the Duluth News Tribune she has reached out to Dylan fans on websites. The asking price is $119,000.

Shafer-Pellinen and her husband bought it in 2001 with plans to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast, but the Twin Cities couple haven’t been able to move north.

George Michael released from jail

LONDON

George Michael has regained his freedom. The wayward singer was released from jail Monday after serving almost four weeks for driving under the influence of drugs.

Michael thanked those who had supported him while he was jailed and said outside his north London home: “I just want to start again.”

The former Wham! singer received an eight-week sentence Sept. 14 for crashing his car into a London photo shop in July while high on prescription drugs and marijuana.

The judge ordered Michael to serve four weeks of the sentence in prison and the rest on parole.