Donna Summer.

Donna Summer, who earned the tag Queen of Disco for her era-defining music but who had transcended the genre over the years, has died in Naples, after a private battle with lung cancer – her family said.
Summer was 63 and had recently been in meetings at her Los Angeles home with producer Jay Landers. The pair had planned to work on an album of duets with contemporary dance acts she had influenced and, with Barry Manilow, an album of songs devoted to the Detroit music scene.
“She had the regal quality of a singer who transcends the genre they are best known for – a fancy way of saying she could really sing the phone book” – Landers, a senior vice president at Universal who has worked with Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion and Carly Simon, said in a telephone interview Thursday from Los Angeles. “We planned to invite some of the leading dance contemporary artists like Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry, Madonna and others who Donna had cut a path for. I was totally floored when I read the news because she looked great and was in great spirits.”
Her family, which includes husband Bruce Sudano, their daughters Brooklyn and Amanda, and her daughter Mimi from a previous marriage, said they “are at peace celebrating her extraordinary life and her continued legacy.”
“Words truly can’t express how much we appreciate your prayers and love for our family at this sensitive time” – the family statement read.
Though Summer came to prominence just as disco was emerging from New York nightclubs in the mid-1970′s, and came to define the glittery era with a string of No. 1 hits including “MacArthur Park,” “Hot Stuff” and “Bad Girls”, she was first inspired by Janis Joplin. Her debut album in 1974, Lady of the Night, revealed her considerable rock roots. Though released only in Europe, the album paired her with a producer/songwriter with whom she’d make musical history, Giorgio Moroder.

It started with sex.
Donna Summer’s breakthrough record, 1975’s “Love to Love You Baby,” titillated and amused the world with her deep-breathing approximation of an epic orgasm, a sound that served as both the song’s musical hook and its talking point.
Yet, even on that record, Summer was far from a cheap gimmick. Her voice had a muscularity and a purity that made it the perfect vehicle for the driving disco rhythms idealized by her great producer Giorgio Moroder.
In Summer’s long string of hits, both with Moroder and without him, she established a daringly forthright sound. Her vocal style indulged no fancy runs and required no showy melismas. Instead she sang every note straight on the melody, trusting the power of her tone alone to tell the story. That tone told a tale full of confidence, awareness and, yes, sex too.
While Summer rose to power in the eroticized world of disco and dance-club culture, her voice had a gospel power and a pop clarity. In truth, she could sing anything and often did during her long career.
Her earliest exposure came in musical theater, performing in the German version of “Hair” in the late 60′s. She also performed in the Euro versions of “The Me Nobody Knows,” “Godspell” and “Showboat.” In addition, she sang with the Viennese Folk Opera in Munich.
Her fine diction and sense of musical economy made her ideal for a wide range of styles. But it was a seeming novelty record in ’75 that put her at the forefront of what then ranked as the cutting-edge world of disco.
She concocted the “Love to Love You” refrain while Moroder matched it to a throbbing, and very new, electronic sound that would ignite a revolution. By the bicentennial year of 1976, the outrageous song became a sensation in this country and in many others.
The subsequent long string of singles Summer sang had finely realized melodies on their side – from the grace of “Last Dance” to the strut of “Hot Stuff.” But they wouldn’t have had nearly their commercial potency, or emotional resonance, without her declarative style. She sang each note emphatically, luxuriating in the rhythmic sharpness of the diction and the directness of the language.
In the two-part structure of “Last Dance,” she rang every bit of urgency from the lyric, peaking into loneliness while grasping for a final chance at fleshy connection. In the smash “Enough Is Enough,” she had the force and moxie to go head-to-head with Barbra Streisand, matching her shout for shout in the single’s wildly escalating chorus.

Aimee Copeland.

Copeland said his daughter was frustrated by being unable to speak and therefore communicate with him and other family members.
“I tell her not to worry, I tell her to concentrate on breathing, I ask her to pray and meditate on healing. I hold her and pray while she prays” – he wrote. “This is all we can do now and I can honestly say it works quite well.”
Meanwhile, a post on the website of the University of West Georgia psychology department, where Copeland is a masters student, read – “Aimee will suffer the loss of her fingers, however physicians have hope of bringing life back to the palms of her hands, which could allow her the muscle control to use helpful prosthetics.”
“They are awaiting a safe time before embarking on surgery for this” – the post read, according to NewsCore.
Necrotizing fasciitis infects the deep layers of the skin and spreads quickly.
When Aimee Copeland initially presented at the emergency room at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton, doctors closed her wound with 22 staples and gave her pain medication.
However, days later a friend drove the “pale and weak” student to the hospital, where an emergency room doctor diagnosed her with necrotizing fasciitis.
She was airlifted to JMS Burn Center in Augusta, where doctors amputation of her left leg at the hip.
She also suffered cardiac arrest, but the doctors were able to resuscitate her.

Aimee’s mother is more cautious about her daughter’s future.
‘We want to think that way, but it can just change’ – she said. ‘It’s like a rollercoaster every day.’
Miss Copeland was kayaking along the Little Tallapoosa River in Carrollton, Georgia, when she stopped to ride a home-made zipline. The line snapped, and she suffered a gash to her left calf, which required two dozen staples to close.
After initially being turned away several times from medics with nothing more than pain killers and antibiotics, horrified doctors realised an aggressive flesh-eating bacteria (aeromonas hydrophila) had invaded the increasingly agonising wound.
Medics were forced to amputate the young woman’s leg on Friday night, and she remains in a critical condition at the JMS Burn Center in Augusta.
Andy Copeland told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his daughter, who is a graduate psychology student at the University of West Georgia, attended the emergency room at Tanner Medical Center in Carrollton after cutting her leg.
Doctors there closed the wound with 22 staples, and told her to take Motrin and Tylenol for the pain.
The next day, she returned complaining of severe pain and was given a prescription for painkillers.
Her father said this alleviated her symptoms, but the pain continued to build on Thursday.
‘Aimee went to the doctor and received a prescription for antibiotics and posted a clean MRI report’ – he said. ‘Again, she was treated and released.’
On Friday morning the student was driven to the emergency room by a concerned friend. Pale and weak, she received a shocking diagnosis – She was suffering from necrotizing fasciitis, a rare flesh-eating bacteria that can destroy skin, fat and muscle.
Physicians told the young woman the infection had already spread to her thigh and hip, and that her whole leg would have to be amputated.
Miss Copeland was flown to the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta, where doctors performed a high-hip amputation of her left leg and removed further infected tissue from her abdomen.
‘The surgeons advised me that they wanted to try to save her leg, but at this point saving her life took precedence’ – Mr Copeland said on Facebook.
‘They removed all of the infected tissue and advised that she would have limited, if any use of her leg.’
‘Aimee [cardiac] arrested when they moved her from the operating table, but they were able to successfully resuscitate her’ – he added.

Chris Andersen.

Mr. Anderson is currently responsible for overseeing the food and beverage department of the Bluff View Art District, managing over 150 employees. He is the elected executive committeeman to the Tennessee Democratic Party for District 10.
Mr. Anderson is also the vice-chair of the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Health Council.
He is an appointed member of the city of Chattanooga Board of Sign Appeals.
Focusing on safe streets, good jobs, and strong neighborhoods, Mr. Anderson said Chattanooga “faces a bright future but also some big tasks. I intend to focus on creating sustainable growth and building the infrastructure that will draw high-tech jobs to the city.”
Additionally, he said he is putting an emphasis on reducing crime in the entire city, from the shopping districts to residential neighborhoods. Citing a well-equipped and trained police force as well as community involvement, Anderson said public safety is a big priority.
“Moving forward, our dedicated police force must be properly funded and managed so that it can safeguard every neighborhood in Chattanooga, not just a select few” – said Mr. Anderson. “We must not consider further annexation without developing a detailed plan for how to adequately fund public safety.”
He said he also plans to work with city officials and community leaders to build strong neighborhoods relationships. By bringing together involved citizens to solve problems, Mr. Anderson said he plans to promote inclusive growth that creates a better Chattanooga for everyone.
“I’m looking forward to this campaign because Chattanooga deserves safe streets, good jobs, and strong neighborhoods” – Mr. Anderson stated. “Chattanooga needs a representative who understands the challenges presented in our district–someone who can balance the competing interests and ensure equity in government for everyone. I’m excited about the opportunity to represent the people of District 7.”
Mr. Anderson will be holding a kick-off event for his campaign on Wednesday, May 23, at 5:30 p.m. at The Camp House, 1427 Williams St.

Mark Bryant (who serves as Andersen’s agent and attorney) said – “At this time, I respect the process and I have no further comment to protect the integrity of everyone involved. We’ll proceed from there.”
A message left at Andersen’s home wasn’t immediately returned Thursday to The Associated Press.
Andersen is in his seventh season in Denver, although his playing time dropped dramatically this season as young players gobbled up more minutes.
Andersen has a history of helping out charities during his time in Denver and New Orleans, where he played from 2004-08. According to the Nuggets’ media guide, Andersen raised money for Mount Saint Vincent, a home for troubled and abused children, and was honored at the home’s 2009 Silver Bell Ball. He’s also involved with Alliance for Choice in Education, which provides scholarships for low-income families to use in private schools.
His middle name is Claus, and he dressed up as Santa to raise money for ACE in 2009, according to his media guide bio. He also helped with hunger initiatives while with the Hornets.
With his colorful tattoos and high-flying, shot-blocking act, Andersen has long been a favorite with the fans in the Mile High City.
Andersen began his career in Denver in 2001, before bolting to New Orleans three seasons later. He had a breakout season with the Hornets in 2004-05, only to have his career derailed by drugs. He was kicked out of the NBA on January 27, 2006, for violating the league’s drug policy.
Following a ban that lasted more than two years, Andersen returned to New Orleans late in 2008, playing in five games and blocking four shots.
Andersen then rejoined Denver for the 2008-09 season, providing a spark off the bench and swatting 175 shots in the regular season. His play around the rim helped the Nuggets make a run to the Western Conference finals, where they fell to the Lakers in six games.
Andersen parlayed that big season into a five-year deal he signed with Denver in July 2009.

Carl Beane.

Red Sox public address announcer Carl Beane, whose warm baritone welcomed “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” to Fenway Park for nearly a decade, died in a one-car crash in Sturbridge Wednesday afternoon after suffering a heart attack while driving. He was 59.
Beane (who became just the fifth PA announcer in franchise history when he won a competition for the job before the 2003 season) was pronounced dead at Harrington Hospital in Southbridge a short time after the crash.
Golfers from nearby Hemlock Ridge Golf Course called police at 12:39 p.m. to alert them to the crash, according to Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early.
A preliminary investigation showed that Beane’s 2004 Suzuki was traveling northbound when it crossed double solid lines, left the road, and hit a tree and a wall. There were no passengers in the car.
Red Sox personnel, in Kansas City, Mo., for a series with the Royals, turned somber upon receiving the news.
“I’m shocked, just shocked. I know it was his dream job, very similar to me” – said Don Orsillo, the Red Sox’ play-by-play voice on NESN.
“Every time I’d pass him in the hall, he’d always say: ‘We have the coolest jobs in New England.’ And I’d always say to him: ‘Yeah, we do. This is great.’
“To me, it’s going to be such a weird thing at Fenway Park not to have his voice, because I’ve been there 10 years and there’s been no other PA announcer than Carl Beane. His voice resonated.”
Beane unabashedly cherished his role as the “Voice of Fenway Park” and took pride in following in the footsteps of the iconic Sherm Feller, who served in the role from 1967 until his death in 1994.

As a boy growing up in Agawam, Carleton “Carl” Beane had three dreams. He wanted to play for his beloved Red Sox and win the World Series; he wanted to be in the Baseball Hall of Fame; and he wanted a part in a movie about baseball.
When he died yesterday in Sturbridge, the 59-year-old had accomplished all three — just not in the way he had planned.
Mr. Beane, from Holland, was pronounced dead at Harrington Hospital in Southbridge at 2:30 p.m. following a single-vehicle crash on Holland Road in Sturbridge reported at 12:39 p.m. by golfers at Hemlock Ridge Golf Course. The Red Sox, in a press release, said Mr. Beane suffered a heart attack while driving.
Worcester District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr. issued a statement saying the accident remains under investigation, and the medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
In 2003, Mr. Beane became the public address announcer at Fenway, a place where he’d spent years covering the Red Sox for Central and Western Massachusetts radio stations and newspapers. His trademark booming voice at the start of every home game — “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway Park” — was featured in the 2005 movie “Fever Pitch,” and his is the lead-off voice in “The Baseball Experience,” at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y.
As a tribute to his team, he wore red socks every day and ordered them by mail in bulk – he once said.
While Mr. Beane’s voice was heard around the world, people in the small towns where he got his start knew him from WARE 1250 AM where he has continued to cover high school sports, even though he’d hit the big time.
“That was part of what he did so well was to remember where he came from” – said Wayne Higney, who covered high school basketball with Mr. Beane for years at the Palmer-based radio station. “He was always happy to come back.”

George Lindsey.

George Lindsey (who made a TV career as a grinning service-station attendant named Goober on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Hee Haw”) has died. He was 83.
The Marshall-Donnelly-Combs Funeral Home in Nashville said Lindsay died early Sunday after a brief illness.
Lindsey was the beanie-wearing Goober on “The Andy Griffith Show” from 1964-68 and its successor, “Mayberry RFD,” from 1968-71. He played the same jovial character on “Hee Haw” from 1971 until it went out of production in 1993.
“America has grown up with me” – Lindsey said in an Associated Press interview in 1985. “Goober is every man; everyone finds something to like about ol’ Goober.”
He joined “The Andy Griffith Show” in 1964 when Jim Nabors, portraying Gomer Pyle, left the program. Goober Pyle, who had been mentioned on the show as Gomer’s cousin, replaced him.
“At that time, we were the best acting ensemble on TV” – Lindsey once told an interviewer. “The scripts were terrific. Andy is the best script constructionist I’ve ever been involved with. And you have to lift your acting level up to his; he’s awfully good.”
In a statement released through the funeral home, Griffith said, “George Lindsey was my friend. I had great respect for his talent and his human spirit. In recent years, we spoke often by telephone. Our last conversation was a few days ago. … I am happy to say that as we found ourselves in our 80′s, we were not afraid to say: ‘I love you.’ That was the last thing George and I had to say to each other. ‘I love you.’ ”
Although he was best known as Goober, Lindsey had other roles during a long TV career. Earlier, he often played a heavy and once shot Marshal Matt Dillon on “Gunsmoke.”

George Lindsey, the Southern-born character actor who played dim hayseed Goober Pyle, the genial gas station auto mechanic on “The Andy Griffith Show” and “Mayberry R.F.D.,” died early Sunday morning. He was 83.
Lindsey, who later was a regular on the long-running country music comedy show “Hee Haw,” died at a healthcare center in Nashville after a brief illness – said his manager and booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed.
“George Lindsey was my friend” – Andy Griffith said in a statement. “I had great respect for his talent and his human spirit.”
Noting that he had his last conversation with Lindsey a few days ago, Griffith said: “I am happy to say that as we found ourselves in our 80s, we were not afraid to say: ‘I love you.’ That was the last thing George and I had to say to each other. ‘I love you.’ ”
“The Andy Griffith Show,” the classic 1960′s situation comedy starring Griffith as the kindly sheriff of Mayberry, N.C., was in its fourth season in 1964 when Lindsey first appeared as the cousin of naive gas station attendant Gomer Pyle, played by Jim Nabors.
Lindsey’s character became more prominent after Nabors left the show to star in the spin-off series “Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.” in 1964.
As Goober, Lindsey wore a brown felt beanie with turned-up scalloped edges and had a tire gauge, pens and pencils stuffed into the pocket of his work shirt and a rag hanging out of the back pocket of his high-wasted pants.
“I had a lot of trouble with that part” – he said in a 2005 interview with Alabama’s Montgomery Advertiser newspaper. “I’d been playing a lot of heavy character roles. I’d done them on ‘Alfred Hitchcock,’ and ‘Twilight Zone’ and some others, and at first I found myself just doing an impersonation of Jim Nabors doing Gomer. I finally said, ‘Look, tell me about this guy and who he is.’ ”
Lindsey often recalled that Griffith told him, “Goober’s the kind of guy that would go into a restaurant and say: ‘This is great salt.’ ”
“Andy Griffith turned out to be the greatest teacher I’ve ever had,” Lindsey, an Alabama native, told The Times in 1968. “He kept tellin’ me to play myself, to let it happen to me, instead of trying to be funny.”

Super moon 2012.

A lunar light show circled the globe Saturday, rewarding many moongazers with bright, crisp detail of the full moon’s craters and basins.
Called a “perigee” moon by scientists, the annual phenomenon occurs once a year.
NASA said the moon appears about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than other full moons.
That’s because it will be as close to Earth as it will get for a while – just over 221,000 miles away.
CNN iReporter Halldor Sigurdsson snapped the yellowish-ochre orb perched on the shoulder of a mountain overlooking Reykjavik, Iceland.
“The colors were spectacular” – wrote Sigurdsson (47). “The weather here for viewing the moon rise could not have been better.”
Residents of the mainland United States received similar conditions at 11:34 p.m., ET, the peak of this year’s “super moon.”
The best time to see the event is just as the moon crosses Earth’s horizon. The moon always looks biggest then, although the reason why is a bit of a mystery. Viewing the moon behind buildings and trees creates an optical illusion so it appears even larger, making it a perfect time to try to grab some beautiful pictures.

People in several parts of the world have already sighted the much-awaited super moon 2012. In Asia and many other areas, people have witnessed the biggest and brightest full moon of 2012 on Saturday night. In many other parts of the world including the North America, stargazers are eagerly waiting for the super moon. It is the time the moon comes closest to the earth on its orbit. Stargazers are quite excited about the event, which will show the moon 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than other full moons this year.
Pakistan’s Daily Times reports that people in the country have witnessed the full moon on Saturday night with great excitement. Enthusiasts gathered in streets, river banks and terrace tops to have a gaze at the year’s fullest moon in Lahore and other cities. “A number of people witnessed Saturday night’s ‘super moon’, which was bigger and brighter than usual, with their friends, family members and loved ones” – says the newspaper.
What is Super Moon? NASA says that super moon happens when the moon comes slightly closer to the earth than the regular situations. The super moon is noticeable as it reaches the nearest side of the earth as a full moon. The scientific term for the occurrence is “perigee moon.” It is because the closest side of the moon’s orbit (50,000 kms) is named so, when the distant side is called ‘apogee.’ Well, the super moon occurs when the moon hits the closest side. In other words, it happens when the moon is on the perigee side of the Moon’s orbit.
“Such is the case on May 5th at 11:34 pm Eastern Daylight Time when the Moon reaches perigee. Only one minute later, the Moon will line up with Earth and the sun to become brilliantly full. The timing is almost perfect” – says NASA on its web site. The time of super moon will naturally vary for each geographical location across the world. Anyway, it is the best time for you to watch the moon in its full light and brightness this year. Since the phenomenon happens only once a year, you will have to wait for next year to have a view of the super moon if you miss it this time around.
According to NASA, super moon will bring some changes in the nature; it is normal because moon is that much related to the climate of earth. “For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging Moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects” – NASA says. Dogs will bark long and seas will rise up as the moon comes closer to the earth.

Adam 'MCA' Yauch.

Yauch (known as MCA in the legendary group, was diagnosed with cancer in 2009) and had been in treatment.
Yauch formed the Beastie Boys in 1979 with Adam (AdRock) Horowitz and Mike (Mike D) Diamond. On Friday, a posting on the band’s website expressed “great sadness” at the loss of the musician, rapper, activist and director.
The rapper had recently become a vegan on the recommendation of Tibetan doctors, and had undergone radiation therapy and surgery for his cancer, which affected his salivary gland and a lymph node.
Yauch’s death comes just two weeks after the Brooklyn hip-hop icons were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Yauch was notably absent when the Beastie Boys were honoured at the ceremony on April 14 in Cleveland.
His bandmates attended, though they declined to perform out of respect for their absent friend.
The band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will air on HBO tonight.
The Beastie Boys’ current album, Hot Sauce Committee Part 2, was released in April 2011. At the time, it seemed that Yauch’s cancer treatment had been a success. Unfortunately, Yauch revealed that same year that he was still far from 100 per cent. In a 2011 blog post on the Beastie Boys website, Yauch wrote – “Hello My Friends While I’m grateful for all the positive energy people are sending my way, reports of my being totally cancer free are exaggerated. I’m continuing treatment, staying optimistic and hoping to be cancer free in the near future.”
The Beastie Boys have released eight albums since 1979.

Adam “MCA” Yauch was co-leader of the Beastie Boys, a New York City trio that transformed hip-hop. But just as significantly, the group and especially Yauch transformed themselves, providing a model for how artists can mature and grow as people without losing their credibility or relevance.
“Role model” – Yauch, who died Friday at age 47 after a three-year battle with throat cancer, would have hated that term. But he became one almost in spite of the Beastie Boys’ early reputation as foul-mouthed innovators.
“To become this gentle Buddhist soul who literally would not step on a fly was something else” – said his friend, Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, shortly after the news of Yauch’s death was announced. “His commitment to social justice and especially to Tibet’s freedom put it on the map for an entire generation of people.”
Michael “Mike D” Diamond, Adam “Ad-Rock” Horowitz and Adam “MCA” Yauch were still in their mid-teens when they formed a hardcore punk band in New York City during the early 80′s, before crossing over into hip-hop.
At the time, it wasn’t exactly commonplace for white kids to be rapping, but the cultural implications “didn’t really occur to us at the time” – Diamond once told the Tribune. “The early rap shows we did were in front of all-black audiences. We’d be in small clubs in Queens or Brooklyn, opening for Kurtis Blow or somebody like that, and they’d look at us like we were nuts.”
They hooked up with Rick Rubin, a New York University student who would start the Def Jam label out of his college dorm room. Their first full-length album, “Licensed to Ill,” was issued in 1986 and met with a mix of acclaim and derision, equal parts Led Zeppelin, Grandmaster Flash and a more explicitly politically incorrect Marx Brothers. The headline over the Village Voice’s lead review said it all: “Three Jerks Make a Masterpiece.”
It went on to become the first hip-hop album to top 5 million sales while bridging the chasm between rock and rap. Essential to its appeal was the perception that the trio were, in fact, jerks: arrogant, loud, snotty, foul-mouthed. Transgression has always been a lynchpin of pop culture, and the trio’s demand – “You gotta fight . . . for your right . . . to party!” – became an 80′s MTV generation anthem. Their rhymes were clever, hilarious and sometimes just plain idiotic – forming a lethal combination with Rubin’s stockpile of rock guitar riffs. On a massive arena tour with Run-D.M.C., the Beastie Boys helped bust hip-hop out of the inner-city and storm the suburbs.
The 1989 follow-up, “Paul’s Boutique,” was a radical left turn and confirmed that the Beastie Boys were much more than just a one-hit wonder. With dense, sample-heavy production by the Dust Brothers, the Beastie Boys made an album that has often been described as hip-hop’s answer to the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” splicing together the history of funk and soul with countless pop-culture references and audacious, tag-team rhymes.
The group’s subsequent albums, including “Check Your Head” (1992) and “Ill Communication” (1994), affirmed the Beastie Boys’ place as a key band in alternative rock’s rise. They began blending live instrumentation with their expanding grasp of hip-hop’s roots, exploring everything from organ-fueled jazz instrumentals to rampaging hard-core.

Chris Harrison.

The break-up curse of “The Bachelor” has stuck its host. Chris Harrison, who has been hosting the reality TV dating show since 2002 and and its spin-offs “The Bachelorette” since 2003, has just announced that he and his wife, Gwen, are separating after 18 years of marriage.
The estranged couple confirmed the news through a joint statement released Thursday, April 3. “Though we have made this incredibly difficult decision to separate, our love and mutual respect remain, and we look forward to sharing in the lives of our wonderful children” – so they said.
Chris and Gwen met as students at Oklahoma City University. They have two children together, 9-year-old son Joshua and 7-year-old daughter Taylor. According to In Touch Weekly, they have been separated for a while now, but “they are still really close and remain the best of friends.”
An inside source added: “They’ve been taking turns with their kids so they can both see them as much as possible.” The insider also ruled out third party involvement. “It has been really amicable, with no other parties involved” – the source stated, “and Chris has been a total professional while filming ‘The Bachelorette’.”
Back in February 2010, Harrison was accused by “Bachelor” contestant Rozlyn Papa of making a pass at a producer’s wife while taping the show in New Zealand. The 40-year-old TV host has since brushed off the allegation by calling it “a cheap shot.” He insisted to PEOPLE: “I had nothing to hide. My wife was there.”

Guess who’s a bachelor once more?
“The Bachelor” host Chris Harrison and his wife, Gwen Jones, announced their decision to split after 18 years of marriage Thursday, People reports.
“Though we have made this incredibly difficult decision to separate, our love and mutual respect remain, and we look forward to sharing in the lives of our wonderful children” – the couple tells the magazine in a joint statement.
Harrison and Jones have a son, Joshua, 9, and a daughter, Taylor, 7.
Harrison, 40, has been the longtime host of the reality TV dating show and its offshoot, “The Bachelorette,” which premieres May 14.
Though the news may be shocking for fans of the show, the couple has actually been separated for some time, sources tell In Touch magazine.
“They are still really close and remain the best of friends” – a source tells the magazine. “They’ve been taking turns with their kids so they can both see them as much as possible.
“It has been really amicable, with no other parties involved, and Chris has been a total professional while filming ‘The Bachelorette.’ ”
Last February, Harrison was accused of inappropriately hitting on a producer’s wife by show contestant Rozlyn Papa, but the host brushed off the “cheap shot,” telling People that he had “nothing to hide.”
“My wife was there” – he added.
Harrison and Jones were high school sweethearts, E! News reports.

Junior Seau.

The smile. Who ever will forget Junior Seau’s magnetic, coast-to-coast smile?
Or his greatest passions in life: football, family, the disenfranchised.
Shock, dismay and unremitting grief descended upon family, friends, former colleagues and NFL fans at the notion that Tiaina Baul Seau Jr. suddenly had vanished from their lives, quicker than a lightning bolt.
Police in Oceanside, Calif., confirmed that the former San Diego Chargers superstar linebacker (one of the most highly regarded, beloved players in NFL history) was found dead Wednesday at his home from a gunshot wound, apparently self-inflicted, police say. He was 43.
If it was a suicide, no one seemed to know what might have precipitated such a final act of desperation. Those who spent time with Seau recently said he did not act depressed. If he was deeply troubled, Seau concealed his private misery to most, even to family members who desperately sought answers to confounding questions.
“I don’t understand who (did) this to my son” – said his distraught mother, Luisa, who wept outside his home as she was comforted by well-wishers. “I pray to God — take me, not my son. … Monday, Tuesday (he was) talking to me, joking. Junior, why you never tell me?”
Many of those close to Seau (pronounced SAY-ow) groped for answers for his sudden, mysterious demise. Seau was discovered wounded and unconscious in his home, just north of San Diego, by his girlfriend, but no suicide note was found, police said.
As word of Seau’s death spread, fans began assembling at Seau’s The Restaurant, an eatery and sports bar in Mission Valley that he founded during his playing days. The restaurant was supposed to open for lunch at 11 a.m. But a computer-generated “Closed” sign was placed on the front door by an employee. Some people left flowers; others stood in disbelief.
“What he meant to me was that if you do something with all your heart, you can be successful” – said Lido Ortuno, 38, wearing a No. 55 Chargers jersey in Seau’s honor. “He played the game the way it was played in the ’50s and ’60s. He didn’t care about his body; he just wanted to win.”

The death of legendary linebacker Junior Seau, as sad as it is for many, is nothing new for the remaining members of the 1994 San Diego Chargers.
Seau, who was found dead Wednesday of an apparent suicide, is now the eighth player of that team to die.
The 1994 Chargers (a group of gritty overachievers) are the only edition of the team to make the Super Bowl. But instead of that feat being the team’s legacy, many are wondering about the string of freakish deaths that have haunted the AFC championship team.
“Not again” – former Chargers running back Natrone Means told the San Diego Union-Tribune after one of the deaths in 2008. “It’s crazy, just crazy, that we’ve had so many guys who have fallen. I can’t make any sense of it. I’ve given up trying. You just hope you quit getting these random messages out of nowhere that another teammate has passed away.”
* In 1995, about five months after the Chargers lost to the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl, linebacker David Griggs died in a car crash. He was 28.
* In May 1996, running back Rodney Culver died in a plane crash. He was 26.
* In July 1998, linebacker Doug Miller died after being struck by lightning while camping. He was 28.
* In May 2008, center Curtis Whitley was found dead of a drug overdose. He was 39.
* In October 2008, defensive end Chris Mims died of complications from an enlarged heart. He was 38.
* In February 2011, defensive tackle Shawn Lee died of a heart attack. He was 44.
* In December, linebacker Lew Bush died of a heart attack. He was 42.
Then Wednesday tragedy hit that team and the NFL community again when Seau was found dead in a bedroom of his Oceanside, California, home. A handgun was found near his body. He was 43.

Tyler Perry.

A multiple-alarm fire broke out Tuesday night in a building at the Tyler Perry Studios in southwest Atlanta, a fire official told CNN.
It was subsequently extinguished, but firefighters were still checking the area for hotspots. It was not immediately clear what started the blaze.
One building partially collapsed – said Captain J.L. Bundrige with the Atlanta Fire Department. The fire was reported at 8:54 p.m., he said.
There were no reports of injuries.
The studios sit on 60 acres and include five sound stages, a 5-acre pond, a theater, a chapel, a commissary, a gymnasium, Perry’s office, an art department where sets are designed, hair and makeup facilities, a wardrobe department, set decoration, a post-production facility and a backlot named 34th Street, “as in Miracle on 34th Street” – according to a video posted on the studio’s website.
Perry’s credits include work as director, writer, producer, actor and playwright.
His TV shows “Meet the Browns” and “House of Payne” are huge moneymakers, as are Perry’s wildly popular movies.
Last year, Perry topped Forbes’ “Entertainment’s Highest-Paid Men” list, raking in 130 million dollars in 12 months beginning in May 2010.

A spectacular blaze that brought a response from dozens of firefighters was quickly brought under control Tuesday night at Tyler Perry Studios in southwest Atlanta, and investigators were at the scene late into the evening seeking the cause of the fire.
“The fire’s out, but the cause remains under investigation” – Capt. Jolyon Bundrige with the Atlanta Fire Department told the AJC just before 11 p.m.
Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to one building in the center of the 30-acre complex owned by Atlanta filmmaker Perry – Bundrige said.
The first report of a fire came in at 8:41 p.m., and before it was over, more than 100 firefighters had responded to a blaze that quickly escalated to four alarms.
The fascia of the affected building collapsed, but its structural integrity was not compromised, Bundrige said. No injuries were reported.
Though the flames were extinguished within an hour, many firefighters remained for several hours putting out hot spots. Several units were still there around midnight conducting a damage assessment, including salvage and overhaul.
Perry was at his Continental Colony Parkway complex Tuesday night and spoke with Fire Chief Kelvin Cochran, but did not talk to reporters gathered nearby – Bundrige said. Employees leaving the studio grounds after the fire told reporters they were instructed not to speak to the media.
Efforts were being made to reach a spokesman for the studio.
Dorothy Ware, a resident of the Asbury Harris Epworth Towers senior housing apartments next door, said she first learned of the fire from a guard who came around to alert residents.
The guard told anyone who had cars parked along the fence next to the studios to move their vehicles so fire engines could get in, Ware said. She went outside and described the scene.
“It was all in flames” – she said. “The building started popping. Whatever the fire was hitting, was blowing up. There were plenty of sparks coming over here where we are.”
The flames shot as high as the nearby trees, roughly six stories in height – she said.