Love to stand trial in drug case

Beverly Hills, Calif. — A judge Thursday ordered rocker Courtney Love to stand trial on felony drug charges after hearing testimony alleging that she gave police officers a baggie full of pills.

Superior Court Judge Elden Fox ordered Love to appear for arraignment April 30.

“I’m on tour,” the singer protested. But her lawyer conferred with her and said she would be there.

Before the judge took the bench, Love smiled at reporters and pointed to her bare shoulders.

“Strapless,” she said, referring to her black dress. “It’s a silly case. Silly dress.”

Athletes honor shark victim

Honolulu — Bethany Hamilton, the 14-year-old surfer from Kauai who lost her left arm in a shark attack last October, is now an honorary member of the U.S. Triathlon Team.

USA Triathlon presented Hamilton with an official uniform and bicycle Wednesday.

“You embody the spirit that everybody across the nation admires,” said U.S. triathlete and 1996 Olympic swimming gold medalist Sheila Taormina.

The athletes urged Hamilton to try a triathlon, which combines distance swimming, bicycling and running.

Hamilton thanked the athletes and welcomed them to Hawaii.

JFK Jr. memorabilia looted

New York — A warehouse worker has been charged with looting personal items that belonged to John F. Kennedy Jr., including a Father’s Day card from 1963.

Patrick Gallagher, 50, of Queens, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to grand larceny and possession of stolen property. He was released on $5,000 bail.

Authorities accused Gallagher of stealing nearly three dozen items that had been stored in a Sotheby’s warehouse in upper Manhattan since Kennedy’s death in 1999. The defendant sold the belongings for $5,000 to pay a debt to a bookie, prosecutors said.

A call to Gallagher’s lawyer was not immediately returned.

Sotheby’s vice president Diana Phillips said all the items had been recovered. Gallagher has been suspended pending the outcome of the case.

Campaign takes youthful turn

Perth, Australia — He’s got bling-bling, and he wants your vote.

Opposition Labor Party leader Mark Latham made a play for the youth vote in elections expected later this year by promising in a lighthearted interview to give young people more “bling-bling” — a rap music term for flashy jewelry, or glamour.

“Youth of Australia, Labor’s policy is bling-bling,” Latham said Wednesday on West Australian youth radio station Nova. “Bling-bling for everyone.”

The station presented the Labor leader with a T-shirt emblazoned with the moniker “Lath-Daddy.”

As part of the hip-hop makeover, Latham, 46, also received a baseball cap and a rap theme song: “Lath-Daddy’s in the house. Which house? The Lower House.”