Country stars to help rebuild Music City

Nashville, Tennessee (News Today) - As Nashville bails out from catastrophic flooding, the country music community will be leading the charge to rebuild Music City.

Radio fundraisers are taking place, and star-studded benefits are in the works after 19 people died in weekend storms in Tennessee.

Among the events is a telethon Thursday with Vince Gill for NBC affiliate WSMV-TV to benefit the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Second Harvest Food Bank.

"Nashville is a community of great spirit," country superstar Keith Urban told CNN's Rick Sanchez via Skype from the Nashville-area home he shares with his wife, Nicole Kidman, and their daughter.

"I went through this in Australia in 1974. I was very young, but we had this kind of 100-year flood in my city, and it's just unfathomable," Urban said. "It's possible that as much as I haven't lost what everybody else has, I've probably lost all of my road equipment, and all my guitars, and amp and everything."

Like many artists, Urban had been storing his gear at Soundcheck, a rehearsal facility on the edge of the swollen Cumberland River.

JoDee Messina was on the road promoting her new album when the storm hit. She returned to find a swimming pool inside her home in Franklin, a Nashville suburb that's been hard hit.

"There is as much water in [the] house as in the pool," she said via Twitter. "Thank God for our neighbors letting us borrow pump. Thx to franklin police 4 getting us home."

"Big" Kenny Alphin probably won't be hosting any dinner parties anytime soon. The tall, liberal half of the duo Big & Rich hurt his back siphoning off 4 feet of water from his dining room and wine cellar.

His partner, John Rich, is breathing a sigh of relief after a boat rescued his grandmother, "Granny Rich," from her Ashland City home.

In the meantime, Dierks Bentley is back on the road after canceling two concert dates due to impassable roads. A photo he posted on Twitter showed what he was doing during his days off -- bailing out his flooded basement with a bucket.

Flooding also has affected two Nashville cultural institutions. "The Grand Ole Opry" has been forced to move this week's shows to other venues. Its longtime home, the Grand Ole Opry House, is under 6 feet of water. The last time performances had to be relocated were in 1975 -- also due to flooding from the Cumberland River.

The Country Music Hall of Fame is closed for the next few days as well. The downtown museum sustained no damage to its collections -- which are housed above the first floor -- but water seeped into its basement-level theater up to the third row.

Even so, the Hall of Fame is ready to welcome guests at any time. "As soon as the power grid is back on, we're open for business," spokeswoman Liz Thiels said.

The Country Music Association also is proceeding with its annual CMA Music Festival on June 10-13. The three-day event brings in more than $22 million to the Nashville economy each year and supports music education in public schools.

"We cannot think of a better way to help our local economy at this time of great need than to continue the 39-year tradition of the CMA Music Festival," the organization said Tuesday.

Headliners for this year's extravaganza include Carrie Underwood, Tim McGraw, Reba McEntire and Urban -- although the latter may have his hands full in the immediate future.

According to Thiels, Urban has volunteered to come down to the Country Music Hall of Fame with a broom to help with the cleanup.

Source : CNN

Read More

Betty White draws the line at nudity

(News Terupdate) - Important Mother's Day Reminder: Betty White will finally make her long-awaited "Saturday Night Live" debut this coming weekend, along with musical guest Jay-Z.

"Isn't that something?" White, speaking on Monday's Today show, said of the guest-star pairing, also predicting -- modestly -- that the rapper will be the one to help boost Saturday's ratings. "He's tremendous."

And while there will be singing, dancing and comedy come Saturday night, White has put her foot down: No nudity.

Well, "Very little nudity," she promised "Today's" Meredith Vieira. "Here and there" some nudity, she teased. "Mostly here."

"Golden Girls" favorite White, 88, landed the hosting gig after a fervent Facebook campaign by fans.

Pressed to explain her sudden career resurgence, a perplexed White answered, "I didn't know I'd ever been away ... It's phenomenal. And I love working."

As for her Oscar-winning costar in last year's summer comedy hit "The Proposal," Sandra Bullock, White gushed, "She is so wonderful, one of the most delightful human beings. I love her."

When asked about Bullock's personal turmoil of late, as well as the happy baby news, White responded: "I think her business is her business, and I try never to comment on it. All I can do is love her and wish her well."

Saturday's special Mother's Day episode of the NBC comedy show is also expected to reunite six former female SNL cast members, most of whom happen to be moms: Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Molly Shannon, Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer and Rachel Dratch. No word yet on whether they draw the line at nudity, too.

Source : CNN

Read More

Sister: Despite 'throbbing' brain, Bret Michaels sounds good

(News Terupdate) - Bret Michaels "sounds like Bret" nearly a week after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage, his sister told a radio show Wednesday.

"He sounded good -- as good as you can when your brain's throbbing," Michelle Sychak said in a interview with the "Todd N Tyler Radio Empire." "He seems very coherent to me and like he knew what he was saying."

Michaels' recovery is going well enough that his concert tour could resume in a month, according to a statement on his website.

The rock singer and reality TV star, hospitalized since last Friday, is in critical condition in an intensive care unit, his road manager said.

Doctors will "explain his condition, treatment and prognosis" at a news conference next Tuesday, according to a statement posted on his official website.

His sister's call to the Omaha, Nebraska-based radio show was one of the few times a family member has spoken publicly about Michaels' illness.

"He's doing good," she said. "He's not by any means out of the woods, but he is getting better every day."

Road manager Janna Elias, who has been posting daily updates for fans on Michaels' official website, wrote Wednesday evening that his band could resume its tour in a month.

Elias said the plan is for Michaels' tour to resume May 26 in Fort Smith, Arkansas, "provided there are no further complications or setbacks."

"Even though yesterday was a minor setback, doctors remain hopeful for a full recovery and plan to release more specific information next Monday," Elias said.

Tuesday's statement from Elias disclosed that Michaels suffered a side effect from the brain hemorrhage called "hyponatremia, a lack of sodium in the body which leads to seizures." Doctors still have not pinpointed the "exact cause of the rupture" in Michaels' brain, she said.

"He is responding well to tests and treatments," Elias said.

Doctors told Michaels "is very lucky as his condition could have been fatal," she said.

"With further testing and rehabilitation, they are hopeful that Bret will gradually improve as the blood surrounding the brain dissolves and is reabsorbed into his system, which can be a very painful recovery and take several weeks to months," she said.

Michaels, 47, was hospitalized Friday after suffering the hemorrhage. Citing security reasons, his manager and publicist have not disclosed the hospital or even the city where the singer is being treated.

Michaels was the lead singer for the '80s glam-metal "hair band" Poison. He became a reality star by headlining the VH1 show "Rock of Love with Bret Michaels." He has also appeared on "Celebrity Apprentice."

Source : CNN

Read More

'70s musician faces new sex charges

(News Terupdate) - A musician who played in the 1970s pop music group KC & the Sunshine Band will be in court Friday to face an indictment on 16 sex charges involving "multiple male juveniles," an Ohio prosecutor said.

Richard Finch was arrested last month in Licking County, Ohio, after a 17-year-old boy said he had sexual contact with him. Investigators said they were looking into other possible victims.

A grand jury indictment this month charges Finch with 10 counts of sexual imposition. Assistant prosecutor Tracy Van Winkle said the charges involve having sex with someone when it is harmful to them.

Finch also faces three counts of compelling prostitution involving offering money to minors for sex, Van Winkle said. Two counts involve asking a minor to engage in sex, and one count is a charge of sexual contact with a minor, she said.

A teenager said he had sexual contact with Finch at Finch's house in Newark, Ohio, the Licking County Sheriff's Office said in a statement after the arrest.

During an interview with detectives, Finch "disclosed that he did in fact have sexual contact with the juvenile, along with multiple other male teenage juveniles as well ranging from ages 13 to 17," the office said.

A pretrial hearing will be held Friday. Finch is in the Licking County jail; no trial date has been set, she said.

A statement from Finch and his lawyer was posted on his website soon after his arrest: "They would like to remind everyone that these are just allegations and that Mr. Finch is presumed innocent."

A more recent posting asking fans to donate to his legal defense fund said Finch had to cancel his plans for "an impending tour" and "a catastrophic economic hardship has taken their place."

"Those revenue generating possibilities are now gone, and as of this time, Mr. Finch's attorneys are in the early stages of their investigation," it said.

Finch played bass and drums with KC & the Sunshine Band. The group is known for hits such as "That's the Way (I Like It)," "Get Down Tonight" and "I'm Your Boogie Man." He co-wrote many of the band's biggest hits with Harry Wayne "KC" Casey. He left the band in 1980.

Casey disputed that Finch co-founded the band, saying that he started it in 1973 and Finch joined a year later. However, singles from the band's first album, "Do It Good," were released in 1973 and feature Finch.

Source : CNN

Read More

Robot musician improvises, jams with humans

Atlanta, Georgia (News Terupdate) - The ad might read, "Percussionist wanted, preferably marimba player, for jazz-influenced band. Must be able to improvise, bob head and wear metal."

And the perfect candidate? It may be Shimon, a marimba-playing robot that, despite having four arms, is remarkably human. It has a shiny aluminum-steel head that bobs with the music and acknowledges other people when they're nearby.

Like any jazz impresario, Shimon can listen to music, analyze its structure and improvise with other musicians. But instead of lifelong musical training, Shimon relies on complex algorithms to identify tempo, beats, chord progressions and melodic dissonance and consonance.

"We interact with this [robot] very differently [than with humans]," said Ryan Nikolaidis, a PhD student at the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology. Nikolaidis programs Shimon, whose name means "one who hears" or "one who is heard" in Hebrew.

"Having the presence, having a head that bobs. ... It looks at you when you're soloing and looks at itself or looks at the other players. It's really a different level of social interaction," he said.

John Coltrane. Thelonious Monk. Shimon can improvise like the best of them. The robot morphs the styles of these jazz masters to produce novel, surprising arrangements that both inspire and challenge Shimon's human bandmates.

"We're interested in improvising like a human but playing like a machine," said Nikolaidis, who also performs with the robot on his piano keyboard in a constant feedback loop of teach and learn.

"Being able to shift between different influences and create a rich vocabulary that's nothing like any human would ever play ... hopefully this then inspires us to play differently as well, play something that we wouldn't play with other humans," he said.

Gil Weinberg, director of the Georgia Tech Center for Music Technology, built Shimon two years ago with help from his colleague Guy Hoffman and Roberto Aimi of Alium Labs. The National Science Foundation helped fund the project.

Shimon isn't Weinberg's first foray in making robotic maestros. He and his students developed Haile, a robot drummer, in 2006. Like Shimon, Haile learns, performs and improvises alongside flesh-and-blood musicians.

Weinberg also helped pioneer the popular iPhone app ZOOZbeat, which helps anyone -- regardless of musical talent -- create songs by waving and shaking their phones.

In December, a group of musicians in Japan used the app to jam remotely with Shimon as it played at Georgia Tech. The performance was billed as the first intercontinental musical interaction between humans and robots.

Source : CNN

Read More

M.I.A. music video elicits strong online response

(News Terupdate) - If singer/rapper M.I.A.'s purpose was to get people talking about her new single "Born Free," she succeeded.

The Sri Lankan-born artist debuted the graphic video on Monday. Immediately, fans took to social media to debate its scenes of military force, violence and brutality.

"M.I.A. is a provocateur and someone who tries to rile people up in a variety of ways," said Saul Austerlitz, author of "Money for Nothing: A History of the Music Video from the Beatles to the White Stripes."

"I think one of the main routes that she takes to that end is the political, and this video has a lot of political resonances, things like Guantanamo, the Iraqi insurgency and the Taliban all sort of jumbled together and rebranded."

The almost nine-minute video for the song from her upcoming album includes nudity as well as scenes of brutality. Directed by filmmaker Romain Gavras, the video revolves around the rounding up of red-headed young men by a group of military commandos.

At one point, a boy is shot point-blank in the head and another young man is blown to pieces. YouTube reportedly yanked the video in light of its content.

Sasha Pasulka, managing editor for pop culture website "Evil Beet," said M.I.A. couldn't have played the publicity game better.

"It's much better for her that YouTube pulled it because now she gets to rant about that," Pasulka said.

And rant the artist did. She took to her official Twitter account to berate her record label, Universal Music Group, for the video being pulled.

"(Expletive) UMG WHO WONT SHOW IT ON YOUTUBE!" she wrote before tweeting four minutes later "OK NOT UMG FAULT!"

A request by CNN for comment from M.I.A.'s publicist did not receive a response.

Pasulka said M.I.A. is following the tradition established by artists such as Michael Jackson in using a longer video as a means of artistic expression. And while it is not clear exactly what message M.I.A. is trying to get across, Pasulka said it is obvious she is trying to provoke thought among viewers.

"If you look at M.I.A.'s life, there is a history of political activism," Pasulka said. "She's the daughter of a revolutionary who fought for an independent state in Sri Lanka, so she is obviously trying to make a political statement."

On Twitter, fans like one who goes by the moniker "ziggy0stardust" appealed to the artist for her inspiration by writing "@ M.I.A. can u tell us what u were tryin (sic) to say wiv (sic) the born free vid please" while other reactions ranged from those like "Hadge" who wrote "I just watched M.I.A.'s new music video for "Born Free" and now I feel like throwing up. What an awful, awful video" to those like SEFGray who tweeted "M.I.A's Born Free video blew me away, along with the actors."

MTV.com writer James Montgomery hailed M.I.A. for the unflinching video.

"Yes, it's brutal and at times a bit overly dramatic, but it's also a form of political protest, a downright subversive bit of art created by an artist on a major label, Interscope," Montgomery wrote.

Austerlitz pointed out that the video's director is the son of Costa Gavras, a noted filmmaker whose work has also blended politics and entertainment. M.I.A.'s video also took inspiration from the 1971 film "Punishment Park," written and directed by Peter Watkins, Austerlitz said.

"['Punishment Park' is] a movie about a totalitarian state where young people are rounded up, brought out to a deserted area and essentially told if they could outrun the police, they could live, but that the police would basically be hunting them," Austerlitz said.

"It's sort of a dystopian look at late '60s American protests and student movements," Austerlitz added. "It's clear that the second half of the video has been taken almost shot for shot from that film.

In an age where so many musicians are trying to break free from the pack and be viewed as artists with something to say, Pasulka said M.I.A. may have succeeded in generating even more buzz than the industry's current poster girl for all things provocative -- Lady GaGa.

"I would say she out-GaGaed Lady GaGa," Pasulka said. "This has the potential for even more coverage than all of the interest that surrounded 'Telephone.' "

Source : CNN

Read More

Publicist: Bret Michaels still in critical condition

(News Terupdate) - Rock singer and reality TV personality Bret Michaels remained in critical condition Sunday in a hospital intensive care unit, his publicist said.

Michaels suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and was hospitalized Friday, spokeswoman Joann Mignano said at the time, confirming a People.com report.

"Everyone at Michaels Entertainment would like to thank all fans and friends for their continued thoughts and prayers through this difficult time," Mignano said in a statement Sunday. "At this point, Bret remains in ICU in critical condition. He is under 24-hour doctors' care and supervision.

"We are hopeful that further tests will locate the source of the bleeding, which still has not been located. As we all know, Bret is a fighter, and we are hopeful that once all is complete, the slurred speech, blurred vision and dizziness, etc., will be eliminated and all functions will return to normal."

More information will be provided as it becomes available, Mignano said. The location of Michaels' hospital was not disclosed.

Michaels, 47, was the lead singer for the '80s glam-metal "hair band" Poison.

He became a reality star by headlining the VH1 show "Rock of Love with Bret Michaels." He has also appeared on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice."

Source : CNN

Read More

Oprah Winfrey responds to 'so-called biography'

(News Terupdate) - Oprah Winfrey made her first public remarks about Kitty Kelly's controversial new book about her, deriding it as a "so-called biography."

Winfrey spoke Monday at The New York Women in Communications Matrix Awards, where she presented an award to pal Gayle King.

Winfrey skipped the red carpet but wasted no time when she took the stage bashing Kelly's book, which includes reports the daytime diva abused drugs and questions the extent of Winfrey's longtime claim of being sexually abused as a child.

Winfrey described King as a friend who "sometimes cares about my life more than I do," and told the audience last week "was a rough one" for King when a "so-called biography came out."

"Gayle got herself worked out with all my new daddies coming out," said Winfrey of Kelly's claims in the book that Vernon Winfrey is not her biological father.

While the audience responded with loud applause, Winfrey smiled and concluded, "This, too, shall pass."

Praising King before presenting her with her award, Winfrey thanked her longtime confidante for teaching her "what true love really is." Winfrey described King as "her best friend who always wants the best for me" adding, "She's never been jealous or envious of me a single moment of my life except when I was on stage singing with Tina Turner."

Source : CNN

Read More

U.S., Russia to meet Monday on adoptions

Washington (News Terupdate) - U.S. officials will travel to Russia next week for meetings on the adoption issue, a State Department official said Friday.

Department spokesman P.J. Crowley, however, seemed unsure about the state of adoptions from that country since Russian officials said they had suspended adoptions of Russian children to U.S. parents..

"I don't think the system has stopped," Crowley said. "It is very possible the system is slowing down as we work through these issues."

Crowley said a U.S. delegation from the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security would travel to Moscow this weekend to meet Russian officials on Monday despite upheaval in international travel after an Icelandic volcano shot clouds of ash into the air.

"Right now, as far as I know, they (members of the U.S. delegation) are still planning to travel," Crowley said. "If there is any impact of the current (volcanic ash) situation on this team, we will let you know."

Moscow has sent mixed signals in recent days, following the uproar over a Tennessee woman sending home a 7-year-old Russian boy she had adopted. Artyem Saveliev's American adoptive family put him on a solo, trans-Atlantic flight from the United States to Moscow. They hired a Russian driver to deliver the boy from the airport to the Russian Ministry of Education.

Officials at private U.S. adoption agencies say families trying to adopt Russian children were deeply concerned by the uncertainty. Janice Goldwater, who runs a Silver Spring, Maryland, agency called Adoptions Together, said she is working with two dozen families trying to finalize Russian adoptions.

"I know families that were about to get on an airplane, have court dates scheduled, and they don't know if they should be crying or dancing with relief," Goldwater told CNN in a telephone interview. "What should I do, should I be finishing the nursery, getting the toddler toys or should I be keeping myself safe and protected by doing nothing? So it is a very difficult time for families."

On Friday, the United States said some U.S. adoptions were still being acted on in Russia.

"There are cases that are still moving forward. There are cases that have been postponed. Does this represent a blanket suspension -- the answer is 'no,'" Crowley said at his Friday afternoon briefing.

"Does this mean there could be some instances where cases are held up for a period of time as we try to clarify what's happening and see if we can strengthen the processes that are in place -- yes, there well may be delays," Crowley said.

"The Russians have mentioned to us they want to reach a bilateral agreement," Crowley said. "We share the same objective to find improved ways to process these adoptions while making sure these adoptions move forward so we will see what this meeting produces next week."

Source : CNN

Read More

Feds: Jilted boyfriend exposes actress' sham marriage

Los Angeles, California (News Terupdate) - A well-known Mexican soap opera star and her American husband face federal charges of entering a sham marriage so she could get legal residency in the United States.

The government said the fake marriage was exposed when a jilted boyfriend, fashion photographer Markus Klinko, called the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

"This actor should have realized that posing as a bride for immigration purposes could land her a role in a real-life crime drama," Special Agent Miguel Unzueta said.

The 28-year-old Romero appeared in at least 15 television shows and films since 2005, according to the Internet Movie Database, when prosecutors allege she paid Kent Ross, a pizza delivery man and musician, to marry her.

Romero appeared before a U.S. magistrate on Friday and was released on a $50,000 signature bond. She was ordered to surrender her passport and not to leave Southern California. Her activities will be monitored electronically.

The prosecutor in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Left, said Romero could get between 15 and 21 months in prison if convicted, though such cases usually produce shorter sentences.

Ross appeared before a U.S. magistrate on Friday and was released on $25,000 bond.

The case is unusual because marriage fraud charges are usually litigated by immigration authorities rather than prosecuted as criminal cases.

A federal complaint filed Thursday accused Romero of paying Ross, 28, to "marry" her on June 12, 2005, but alleges they never lived together as a couple.

Romero began dating Klinko a month later, and they lived together for several months, the complaint said. After Romero dumped Klinko, the photographer "presented ICE with evidence that Romero was in a sham marriage," the government said.

The complaint names Michael Ball, founder of the Rock & Republic jeans company, as a target of the federal investigation, alleging that he helped arrange the sham marriage while Romero was modeling for his company.

The judge barred Ball from helping Romero post bond on Friday.

Romero's publicist did not return calls seeking comment Friday.

Her biography posted on her IMDB page listed Klinko as one of several photographers "who noticed her on-camera appeal, opened Fernanda's eyes to acting opportunities in Hollywood."

Romero's show business career began in Mexico at age 16 when she joined the ensemble Frizzby, the biography said. The group toured Mexico and Central America, releasing two top 10 singles, it said.

She started hosting television shows and appearing on commercials in Mexico when she was 18, it said.

Romero has appeared in print and TV ad campaigns for Rock and Republic, Clean and Clear, Pepsi, Apple and JC Penney , it said.

"She was cast in Telemundo's original production 'Wounded Soul,' where she was not only a lead actress, but also a lead singer, performing two songs in the soap-opera's soundtrack," her biography said.

Source : CNN

Read More

Bride-to-be Chelsea Clinton on crutches

(News Terupdate) - Chelsea Clinton is walking on crutches and wearing a medical boot after breaking her heel, but a source tells PEOPLE she's expected to recover in time for her summer wedding to investment banker Marc Mezvinsky.

It's not known exactly how and when the former First Daughter hurt herself, but New Yorkers first spotted her using crutches on April 3, posting comments about it on Facebook and Twitter.

Source : CNN

Read More

Cousins questioned in Haleigh search

(News Terupdate) - Acting on a lead, authorities were searching an area near Satsuma, Florida, for a second day Wednesday as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Haleigh Cummings.

"The Putnam County Sheriff's Office has started the second day of a search in the waterway and woods in the Satsuma area," sheriff's spokesman Lt. Johnny Greenwood said in a statement.

"This area is being searched as the result of one of the many leads received thus far in this case. It can be reported that as the result of yesterday's search, the status of this investigation has not changed."

The sheriff's office denied Wednesday afternoon that it has anyone in custody in connection with the investigation.

Deputies from four counties and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement began searching the St. Johns River south of Satsuma on Tuesday morning, CNN affiliate WJXT-TV in Jacksonville reported. The search lasted until about 8 p.m. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials told the station nothing was found.

In addition, Sheriff Jeff Hardy told WJXT that he met with Haleigh's family earlier Tuesday but would not divulge what was discussed.

"We're going to continue this investigation until we can bring it to a logical conclusion," he said

Authorities said the purpose of the meeting was to update relatives on the status of the investigation and inform them of the search.

"Sheriff Hardy would like Haleigh Cummings' family, the citizens of Putnam County and the media to know, if and when any factual information is obtained in this case that will either explain what happened to Haleigh Cummings or identify who is responsible for her disappearance, he will make a formal release to the public," Greenwood said Wednesday.

Haleigh was 5 when she disappeared February 9, 2009, from the Satsuma mobile home where she lived with her father, Ronald Cummings, and his girlfriend at the time, Misty Croslin. Croslin later married Cummings, but the couple has since split.

Cummings called police and reported Haleigh missing when he returned from work at dawn.

Croslin told police she tucked Haleigh and her 4-year-old brother into bed about 8 p.m. and went to sleep two hours later. She said she awoke at 3 a.m. to find Haleigh missing and a cinder block propping open a back door.

An attorney representing Joe Overstreet, Croslin's cousin, said Florida officials questioned his client Tuesday.

Overstreet is from Nashville, Tennessee, but was in the Satsuma area when Haleigh disappeared, said attorney Shawn Sigo. Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents flew into Nashville on Tuesday to question him, Sigo said.

Overstreet maintains he had nothing to do with Haleigh's disappearance, Sigo said, adding that he is "broken over this" and "knows he is being used by people whose story keeps changing."

Putnam County authorities said in August that "the evidence and investigatory effort has minimized the likelihood that Haleigh's disappearance is the work of a stranger." Police have said Cummings and Crystal Sheffield, the girl's mother, are not considered suspects.

Jail records show that Croslin was removed from the St. Johns County Jail, where she is being held on suspicion of drug trafficking, for a short time Tuesday, WJXT said. The sheriff told the station she was brought to Putnam County for an interview.

Investigators have said they believe Croslin "continues to hold important answers in the case" but has not provided "any sort of detailed accounting of the hours during the late evening and early morning of Haleigh's disappearance." Authorities have said physical evidence contradicts Croslin's account of the events that night.

However, police have stopped short of naming Croslin a suspect in the case. In televised interviews, Croslin has said she does not know what happened to Haleigh but believes "the other side of the family" knows where she is.

Croslin and Cummings were both arrested in January along with three others after allegedly selling about $3,900 worth of drugs to undercover officers, authorities said.

After their arrests, Greenwood said, "Even though these are totally separate, they are parallel cases, and there's no doubt in my mind these cases will cross someday. I hope that somewhere through this, the investigators in the Haleigh case will find the information they need."

Source : CNN

Read More

Bret Michaels has emergency appendectomy

(News Terupdate) - Bret Michaels tried to ignore the pain in his stomach Sunday night, hoping he could make the stage for a show in San Antonio, Texas.

But by 1 a.m. Monday, the 47-year-old rocker and contestant on "The Celebrity Apprentice" had to be rushed to the hospital with what he thought was a severe case of the flu. Instead, he underwent an emergency appendectomy.

Michaels "remains in the hospital, is doing well and beginning the recovery process," his rep says.

"Michaels, who has been known to perform under extreme conditions that would make most performers cancel, will unfortunately have no choice but to reschedule some of his April tour dates," the rep adds.

Theformer Poison frontman who went on to become a reality star on VH1's "Rock of Love" is no stranger to medical woes. A diabetic, he's been frequently hospitalized, gives himself insulin shots and checks his blood sugar four to six times a day.

He also suffered injuries, including a broken nose, when he was hit by a set piece during the 2009 Tony Awards.

Source : CNN

Read More