newsmakers

newsmakers

Man tries to slit wrists outside NBC’s ‘Today’

NEW YORK

Police say an emotionally disturbed man is in custody after he slit his wrists outside NBC’s “Today” show in New York City.

Authorities say 75-year-old Pak Chong-Mar was in the crowd Thursday morning outside the “Today” studio in Rockefeller Center. Onlookers and police say he was yelling that the government was going to take his house.

“Today” show host Matt Lauer tweeted: “Sorry, a man attempted to harm himself with a knife.” Lauer also explained the situation to viewers.

The man was taken to a hospital, where his mental condition was being evaluated. His physical injuries were not life-threatening.

Judge might unseal Jackson abuse claim

LOS ANGELES

A judge says he is inclined to unseal portions of a choreographer’s court filings alleging he was abused by Michael Jackson but that details of the purported molestation should remain out of public court filings.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff made the comment Thursday to attorneys for Jackson’s estate and lawyers for choreographer and television personality Wade Robson.

Robson has accused Jackson of abusing him for seven years when he was a child, but most of the court filing remains under seal.

Beckloff said he needed to address which elements of Robson’s May 1 filings should be public before he could address whether the choreographer can pursue his claims.

The judge said he believed a psychiatrist’s declaration about Robson’s allegations should be completely sealed.

Airplane drummer Joey Covington dies

PALM SPRINGS, Calif.

Former Jefferson Airplane drummer Joey Covington has died in a Palm Springs car crash.

A Riverside County coroner’s report says the 67-year-old Palm Springs resident wasn’t wearing a seat belt when his car hit a retaining wall about 5 p.m. Tuesday. He died at the scene.

The Palm Springs Desert Sun says police don’t believe alcohol or drugs were involved.

A friend, Keith McCormick, tells the paper that Covington’s wife, Lauren, suspects he had a stroke or heart attack before the accident.

Covington replaced Spencer Dryden as the Airplane’s drummer from 1970 to 1972. Before that, he was with the Airplane offshoot Hot Tuna and played congas on the 1969 Airplane album “Volunteers.”

Covington co-wrote several Airplane songs, including “Pretty as You Feel” and the 1976 tune “With Your Love.”

Vindicator wire services