NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Miss New York wins Miss America title

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.

Nina Davuluri became the second-consecutive contestant from New York to win the Miss America pageant. Davuluri won the title as the nationally televised pageant returned home to Atlantic City.

She succeeds another Miss New York, Mallory Hagan, whose tenure was cut short when the pageant moved back to Atlantic City after a six-year stint in Las Vegas, where winners were chosen in January.

Davuluri performed a classical Bollywood fusion dance for her talent competition. She is the first winner of Indian descent.

Also participating was Miss Ohio Heather Wells, 23, who is from Warren.

‘Insidious 2’ scares up box-office success

LOS ANGELES

Moviegoers had an appetite for fright this weekend, sending “Insidious: Chapter 2” to the top of the box office.

The haunted-house horror sequel debuted in first place with $41 million, more than tripling the opening take of the 2010 original.

Another newcomer, Relativity Media’s Robert De Niro-Michelle Pfeiffer crime caper “The Family,” opened in second place with $14.5 million. That bumped last week’s champ, “Riddick,” to third. “Riddick” earned $7 million.

The Weinstein Co.’s “Lee Daniels’ The Butler” con- tinued its strong performance with a fourth-place finish of $5.58 million that saw North American ticket sales cross the $100 million mark.

The Jennifer Aniston- Jason Sudeikis Warner Bros. road-trip comedy “We’re the Millers” rounded out the top five with $5.4 million.

Phylicia Rashad takes on directing role

WASHINGTON

Phylicia Rashad is best known for starring roles on stage and television, but as a director she decided to commemorate a historic moment that helped spur the civil-rights movement.

The Tony Award- winning actress directed a reading of the play “Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963” at the Kennedy Center on Sunday to mark the 50th anniversary of the bombing at 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. Four girls were killed in the explosion, which was set by white supremacists and helped spur passage of landmark civil-rights legislation.

Rashad, who is recognized for her portrayal as the matriarch on “The Cosby Show” TV series and Broadway’s “A Raisin in the Sun,” said she wanted the reading to emphasize the “sanctity of joy, human existence and the value of all life.”

The play was written by Christina Ham and starred students from Howard University and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Police use pepper spray at Ohio march

COLUMBUS

An annual march in honor of an Ohio musician ended early when Columbus police used pepper spray on the crowd and arrested three people.

The Columbus Dispatch reported about 60 people were walking in an annual march Saturday night to honor Columbus rapper and disc jockey Daymon Dodson when an off-duty officer reported an unruly crowd.

Dodson died in 2006 of an epileptic seizure.

The newspaper reported that police said march organizers received a city permit for the march but were supposed to cancel the march when no police volunteered as escorts.

The Dispatch says police used pepper spray to move the crowd to the sidewalk about 9 p.m. Saturday and arrested three people.

Police did not immediately return a message seeking comment Sunday.

Associated Press