NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Bruno Mars confirms Super Bowl gig

SAN FRANCISCO

Bruno Mars finally has confirmed he will perform at Sunday’s Super Bowl halftime show with Coldplay and Beyonce.

The pop singer posted a photo on Instagram on Friday of himself at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., where Super Bowl 50 will take place.

Mars wrote, “It ain’t a party if Mr $how Up & $how out doesn’t show up,” along with the hashtag “confirmed.”

The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter-producer had a show-stopping performance at the 2014 Super Bowl in East Rutherford, N.J.

The Denver Broncos will take on the Carolina Panthers at the Super Bowl.

Judge who presided over Martha Stewart’s NY trial dies at 86

NEW YORK

A federal judge who presided over Martha Stewart’s criminal trial in New York has died. Judge Miriam Cedarbaum was 86.

Manhattan U.S. District Court Chief Judge Loretta Preska says Judge Cedarbaum suffered a severe stroke last week and died Friday.

Judge Cedarbaum was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1986, when there were only two other district judges in Manhattan. She presided over hundreds of cases, including the trial of a man convicted in a failed plot to set off a car bomb in Times Square and the trial of domesticity expert Stewart.

Stewart was convicted of lying to the government about a stock sale. She declared her innocence and served five months in prison.

Judge Cedarbaum is survived by her companion, two sons and four grandsons.

Rapper Meek Mill gets 3 months’ house arrest for probation violation

PHILADELPHIA

A Philadelphia judge is giving Robert Williams at least three months to earn back his status as rapper Meek Mill.

Common Pleas Judge Genece Brinkley on Friday ordered Mill to serve 90 days on house arrest, effective March 1, for violating the terms of his parole in a 2009 drug and gun case.

Mill was found in violation of his parole in December. He blamed his erratic concert schedule, but Philadelphia prosecutors linked the problem to his romance with Nicki Minaj, who sat in the front row for Friday’s hearing.

Before the judge issued his sentence, Mill – who has alternately complained about probation and credited the judge with helping him succeed – thanked her for giving him a chance, regardless of her decision.

“I just want to ask you for a chance to turn that corner and be a changed man,” he said. “You said you saw something in me. ... I want to prove you right. I believe I can be the bright star you intended me to be.”

Mill cannot work during the three-month period and must do daily community service with groups serving adults, not the young people who idolize him.

In the seven weeks since his last court hearing, Mill has visited several high schools, including a local boys’ charter school, where he urged students to work hard before letting them take photographs with him.

Judge Brinkley also sentenced Mill to six more years of probation. The judge has kept tight reins on the 28-year-old Mill after giving him a break in his initial case. She once sent him back to jail and this time threatened to send him to state prison for two years.

Prosecutors described violations that include unapproved travel to New York for a benefit concert and efforts to join Minaj in various cities. They also said he turned in cold water instead of urine for a drug test, making the judge question if a prior problem with painkillers was at issue.

Minaj told the judge in December that she was trying to help her boyfriend become more organized and responsible. They frequently have been seated courtside at the Philadelphia 76ers games for the past two months, since Judge Brinkley ordered Mill not to leave the Philadelphia area.

Associated Press