Fever sidelines Lohan

Los Angeles — “Mean Girls” star Lindsay Lohan was recovering at a hospital after being admitted with a high fever and headache, her publicist said.

Lohan, 18, has been in Los Angeles filming the upcoming movie “Herbie: Fully Loaded.” She was hospitalized Thursday with a 103-degree fever, publicist Leslie Sloane Zelnik said.

“She’s resting and getting better,” Zelnik said Tuesday.

The illness forced Lohan to postpone taping a cameo role on “That ’70s Show,” the sitcom that features her boyfriend, Wilmer Valderrama.

Viewers grant reprieve

New York — “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” viewers gave the villainous character Nicole Wallace, played by Olivia d’Abo, a stay of execution Sunday.

During the Oct. 17 episode of the NBC drama series, audiences on the East Coast witnessed the bad gal’s escape from police Detectives Robert Goren (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Alexandra Eames (Kathryn Erbe), while West Coast viewers saw Wallace dead. Visitors to the network’s Web site could then see both endings and vote whether the character would live or die.

On Sunday’s episode, it was revealed that Wallace didn’t bite the dust. According to the Web site, there were 62,074 votes for her to live while 54,224 wanted to see the character dead.

Cronkite weighs in

Santa Barbara, Calif. — Veteran newsman Walter Cronkite said Americans aren’t any safer because of the U.S.-led war on Iraq.

“The problem, quite clearly, is we have excited the Arab world, the Muslim world, to take up arms against us,” Cronkite said Saturday, adding that this excitement far exceeds the anger that existed among terrorist groups prior to the war.

Cronkite made the comments after receiving an award from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation during the group’s gala in Santa Barbara.

The 87-year-old retired news anchor, dubbed “the most trusted man in America,” was given the foundation’s Distinguished Peace Leadership Award for “courageous leadership in the cause of peace.” Past recipients include the Dalai Lama, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jacques Cousteau and Jordan’s King Hussein.

Born to help Kerry run

Los Angeles — Going above and beyond his participation in the Vote for Change tour, Bruce Springsteen will join Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry at a handful of upcoming rallies, reports Billboard Online.

The Boss is expected to speak and perform at stops in Wisconsin and Ohio, the latter being one of the swing states in which he and his E Street Band shared a concert bill earlier this month with R.E.M., John Fogerty and Bright Eyes.

The first appearance will be Thursday on the Ohio State University campus in Columbus, and the State Capitol Square in Madison, Wis.