NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Rapper The Game sentenced for punching LA officer

LOS ANGELES

The Game has been sentenced to 120 hours of community service for assaulting an off-duty policeman during a pick-up basketball game in Hollywood.

The 37-year-old rapper, whose real name is Jayceon Taylor, also received a six-month suspended jail term Monday and was ordered to attend anger management counseling.

He may have to do the time if he gets into any more trouble.

Prosecutors say during a game in 2015, Taylor threatened, intentionally fouled and sucker-punched the officer, who’d stolen the ball from him and made a basket.

Taylor also pleaded no contest to stealing a camera from a paparazzi who filmed him being served with legal papers after the officer sued him.

Taylor pleaded no contest to felony grand theft and misdemeanor counts of making criminal threats and battery.

Jamie Lynn Spears’ daughter, 8, injured in ATV accident

HAMMOND, La.

The 8-year-old daughter of actress and singer Jamie Lynn Spears was injured when an all-terrain vehicle she was driving fell into a pond in Louisiana on Sunday, according to authorities and a spokesman for the family.

Jeff Raymond, a publicist for Spears, who is the younger sister of pop star Britney Spears, said the family is asking for people to “respect their privacy during this time and appreciates all the prayers and support for their family.”

Britney Spears tweeted Monday, “Need all the wishes and prayers for my niece.”

The Tangipahoa Parish Sheriff’s Office said the child was submerged inside the ATV and family members who were nearby couldn’t free her from a seatbelt and the safety netting until an ambulance service arrived and pulled her out. The sheriff’s statement said the child is in stable, but critical condition.

Minnesota cops invoke Bieber against drunken drivers

WYOMING, Minn.

A Minnesota police department threatened to force drunken drivers to watch a Super Bowl ad featuring Justin Bieber.

The police department in the city of Wyoming tweeted during the Super Bowl that anyone caught driving drunk Sunday night would be forced to watch the pop star the entire way to jail.

Bieber starred in a T-Mobile ad doing his version of a celebratory end zone dance.

The original tweet was retweeted at least 10,000 times and liked at least 16,000. The department later tweeted thanks to everybody for spreading their message against drinking and driving.

Police Chief Paul Hoppe tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press all the attention may have resulted in up to 1 million impressions.

And he says his department made no drunken-driving arrests Sunday night.

Melania Trump re-files Daily Mail lawsuit in NY

ROCKVILLE, Md.

First lady Melania Trump has re-filed a libel lawsuit against the corporation that publishes the Daily Mail’s website, this time in New York.

Trump previously had filed the lawsuit against Mail Media Inc. in Maryland, but a judge earlier this month ruled the case shouldn’t be filed in Maryland and dismissed it.

The lawsuit now filed in New York, where the corporation has offices, seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $150 million.

Trump had sued Mail Media Inc. along with blogger Webster Tarpley for reporting rumors that she worked as a high-end escort. Trump filed the lawsuit in Maryland after both Tarpley and the Daily Mail issued retractions.

The lawsuit against Tarpley has been allowed to move ahead in Maryland.

Associated Press