Fans prevalent at Jackson trial

Santa Maria, Calif. – Michael Jackson showed up early Friday to greet fans before the third day of testimony in a $21 million lawsuit claiming he backed out on concerts.

Carrying an umbrella to shadow himself from the sun and sporting a black leather jacket and sunglasses, he waved to admirers and flashed a “peace” symbol. Above, Jackson uses a magnifying glass to study a court document Thursday.

Court officials held a lottery to dole out a handful of courtroom seats to spectators.

Jackson is being sued for $21 million by his longtime promoter, Marcel Avram, for allegedly backing out of two millennium concerts scheduled for New Year’s Eve 1999. Jackson maintains that it was Avram, not he, who canceled the shows over concerns they would not be profitable.

Country star is proud new dad

Nashville, Tenn. – Troy Gentry of the country music duo Montgomery Gentry is a new father.

Gentry’s wife, Angie, gave birth Wednesday to Kaylee Alexandra Gentry in Nashville, spokeswoman Darlene Bieber said.

Both mom and 5-pound, 1-ounce Kaylee are doing well, Bieber said.

Gentry and Eddie Montgomery won the Country Music Association’s best vocal duo award in 2000, the first time in nine years that Brooks & Dunn didn’t win it.

’40s star ‘Mr. Wally’ dies at 87

Montclair, Vt. – Eddie Bracken, a stage and film comedian who spent more than 70 years in show business, died Thursday from complications after surgery. He was 87.

Born and raised in New York, Bracken was best known for his roles in “The Miracle of Morgan’s Creek” and “Hail the Conquering Hero,” both released in 1944 and directed by Preston Sturges.

After moving to Hollywood in 1940, Bracken signed with Paramount. His female co-stars included Betty Hutton, Dorothy Lamour and Veronica Lake.

Bracken moved back to New York in the 1950s and earned a Tony nomination for his co-starring role in “Hello, Dolly,” with Carol Channing.

In 1983, Bracken played Mr. Wally in “National Lampoon’s Vacation” with Chevy Chase :quot; a role for which he was often recognized, his family said.

Vonnegut revisits past

Indianapolis – Kurt Vonnegut is spending a few hours in a building his grandfather designed, an event some say could be the last public appearance by one of American literature’s most revered writers.

Vonnegut was back in Indianapolis to speak at an event Saturday at the Athenaeum, the downtown building Bernard Vonnegut designed more than a century ago. It now houses a German restaurant, a theater and a YMCA.

Born in Indianapolis in 1922, Vonnegut is best known for his 1969 novel “Slaughterhouse Five.”