NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Valerie Harper, TV’s Rhoda, has died at 80

LOS ANGELES

Valerie Harper, who scored guffaws, stole hearts and busted TV taboos as the brash, self-deprecating Rhoda Morgenstern on back-to-back hit sitcoms in the 1970s, has died.

Longtime family friend Dan Watt confirmed Harper died Friday, adding the family wasn’t immediately releasing any further details. She had been battling cancer for years, and her husband said recently he had been advised to put her in hospice care.

Harper was a breakout star on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” then the lead of her own series, “Rhoda.” She was 80.

‘Dog’ Chapman wants viewers to see late wife’s bravery

NEW YORK

Duane “Dog” Chapman has had a difficult past year. But following in his wife’s example, he presses on.

His wife, Beth Chapman, passed away in June after fighting lung cancer. Their television series, “Dog’s Most Wanted,” airs Sept. 4 on WGN America.

It will not only follow their bounty hunter chronicles as they search for convicts, but also Beth’s journey as she starts chemotherapy and fights cancer.

On Beth’s decision to keep working, Chapman says, “It helped her.”

Prosecutors: R. Kelly isn’t in solitary confinement

CHICAGO

Federal prosecutors say R. Kelly has had a cellmate for some time, refuting a claim by the singer’s attorneys in which they are seeking Kelly’s release from what they described as “cruel and unusual punishment” in solitary confinement.

In a Friday court filing, prosecutors say Kelly has had a cellmate for some time at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago where he’s being held on sexual misconduct and other charges. They also say Kelly “has had more than one cellmate so far” and even refused an order last month to take a cellmate.

Associated Press