newsmakers

newsmakers

Sugarland depositions slated for next week

INDIANAPOLIS

Members of the country duo Sugarland will give video depositions from West Virginia next week in lawsuits over the Indiana State Fair stage collapse that killed seven people and injured dozens of others.

Atty. Ken Allen said Tuesday that Sugarland members Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush will give the depositions April 12 and 13 in Charleston.

The testimony will focus on whether Sugarland resisted delaying the start of their Aug. 13 concert despite threatening weather. The stage and rigging collapsed onto fans amid high winds.

A judge ordered the depositions last month in lawsuits against Mid-America Sound Corp., the company that owns the stage and rigging that collapsed. Allen represents some of the plaintiffs in that case.

Mid-America denies it did anything to warrant the stage collapse.

Sugarland will perform in concert Friday night at Covelli Centre in Youngstown.

Rock Hall kicks off its ‘Walk of Fame’

CLEVELAND

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has kicked off the big lead-up to next week’s inductions in Cleveland by unveiling sidewalk “Walk of Fame” plaques honoring the newest inductees.

The initial plaques were unveiled in a wind-swept ceremony Wednesday afternoon outside the auditorium where the inductions will be April 14.

Plaques will be installed in the next few days honoring all of this year’s inductees, including Guns N’ Roses, the Beastie Boys and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Rock Hall president Terry Stewart says 270 more plaques honoring the remaining Rock Hall members will be installed over the next two years around downtown.

Stewart expects the Guns N’ Roses members to attend the inductions but says there’s been no word on whether they will perform.

2 ‘Housewives’ get own shows on Bravo

NEW YORK

Two of “The Real Housewives” are getting their own shows on Bravo.

The network announced Wednesday that Beverly Hills cast member Lisa Vanderpump will get her own reality show centered on the inner workings of her new Hollywood restaurant, SUR.

Kandi Burruss from the Atlanta “Housewives” will star in “The Kandi Factory,” inspired by a special of the same name that aired in March. Burruss will work with wannabe pop stars with no experience who want to make it in the music industry.

Vanderpump and Burruss will continue to appear on “The Real Housewives” shows.

Residue found in Houston’s hotel room

Detectives found white powdery substances and a spoon with white residue in the hotel room where Whitney Houston died, according to the final autopsy report released Wednesday.

Houston had cocaine throughout her system when she died, the report said, and a “spoon with a white crystal like substance in it, a rolled up piece of white paper from off the top of a counter along the east wall of the bathroom” were found. The report does not specifically identify the substances as cocaine, although the drug was found in toxicology tests in Houston’s heart and extremities.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said he could not discuss how recently Houston may have used the drug.

Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said their investigation is still open and he could not comment on the findings.

Vindicator wire services