newsmakers

newsmakers

‘Treme’ actor settling profiling suit vs. Macy’s

NEW YORK

A black actor who accused Macy’s of racially profiling minority shoppers after he was stopped and detained at its flagship New York store is settling his civil-rights lawsuit.

Macy’s and actor Rob Brown’s lawyer said Friday they’ve reached a settlement in principle. A judge indicated in a filing Wednesday an agreement was in the works.

Neither Macy’s nor Brown’s attorney would discuss the terms.

The “Treme” star said he was falsely accused of credit-card fraud, held for almost an hour and grilled about a $1,300 watch he’d bought for his mother in June 2013. He wasn’t charged with any crime.

The suit was among several that spotlighted similar allegations. Macy’s says it wants all customers to feel welcome.

Lawyer: Unclear where Kasem’s body is

SEATTLE

A judge has granted Casey Kasem’s daughter a temporary restraining order preventing the famous radio host’s wife from cremating his remains, but it’s unclear where those remains are or whether they’ve already been disposed of.

A lawyer for Kasem’s daughter Kerri Kasem said Friday that when he went to give a Tacoma funeral home a copy of the restraining order, he was informed it no longer had the remains.

“They said they could not disclose where he had gone or where he would end up,” said the lawyer, Scott Winship.

Tim Grant, funeral director at Gaffney Funeral Home & Cremation Services, confirmed Friday that Kasem’s body no longer was there.

“I cannot discuss the actual arrangements themselves, but he’s no longer in our care,” he said.

Kasem’s wife of the past 34 years, Jean Kasem, filled out a death certificate dated July 15 listing an address in Jerusalem, according to a copy filed in Pierce County Superior Court. The document listed “removal from state” as the intended means of disposing the remains, the Urgel Bourgie funeral home in Montreal as the place of disposition, and July 14 as the date of disposition.

A man who answered the phone at Urgel Bourgie on Friday evening said it had disposed of no such remains and had no one by the name of Casey Kasem in its computer system.

Teruyuki Olsen, a lawyer for Kasem’s wife, refused to comment Friday or provide any information about what happened to Kasem’s body.

White House crasher fails to make ballot

RICHMOND, Va.

One-time White House party crasher and former reality-television figure Tareq Salahi has failed to submit enough valid signatures to qualify for the ballot as an Independent Green Party candidate for outgoing U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s seat in Congress.

The Virginia State Board of Elections sent Salahi an email earlier this month saying Salahi submitted 2,051 signatures. But only 480 of them were from individuals who live in the 7th Congressional District in the Richmond area that Cantor currently represents. Salahi needed to submit 1,000 valid signatures. A copy of the email was provided to The Associated Press.

Associated Press