McBride to help construct good times in hometown

Nashville, Tenn. — Martina McBride is teaming with Home Depot to build a playground near her hometown in Kansas.

McBride, 38, and volunteers from the home improvement retailer will build the playground with help from the nonprofit group KaBOOM! today in Medicine Lodge, about 10 miles from her hometown of Sharon, Kan., according to a spokeswoman for Home Depot.

The playground will replace outdated equipment in City Park and serve more than 300 children who live in the area.

“The City Park is the source of many happy memories for me and my family,” McBride said. “I grew up playing on its playground, and we had countless family reunions and gatherings there.”

The project honors the country singer’s selection as the 2004 recipient of the Home Depot Humanitarian Award. McBride received the fan-voted award at the 39th Annual Academy of Country Music Awards last May.

Florida court refuses to hear Limbaugh appeal on records

West Palm Beach, Fla. — The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday declined to consider an appeal from commentator Rush Limbaugh claiming his privacy was violated when his medical records were seized for an investigation of whether he illegally purchased painkillers.

Limbaugh’s attorney also had objected to the use of search warrants to obtain the medical records in 2003. The documents have remain sealed, pending the outcome of Limbaugh’s appeals.

A prosecution spokesman declined to say when his office might begin reviewing the records.

The court said it would not consider any motions for a review of the order, so it was unclear whether Limbaugh has any further legal recourse to stop the investigation.

Prosecutors seized the records after learning that Limbaugh had received about 2,000 painkillers, prescribed by four doctors over six months, at a pharmacy near his oceanfront mansion in Palm Beach.

The conservative commentator has maintained his innocence while acknowledging an addiction to painkillers.

CNN losing anchor Woodruff

New York — Judy Woodruff, the anchor of CNN’s “Inside Politics,” is leaving the network when her contract expires in June.

Woodruff, 58, said Thursday that she hoped to teach, write and work on long-form documentaries. She’ll also be a consultant and occasional contributor to CNN.

“This gives me the opportunity to sit back, take a deep breath and think about what I want to do,” Woodruff said. “I do want to stay in journalism. I’m not leaving journalism. I’m just leaving daily journalism.”

CNN offered Woodruff a new contract, but she had decided to leave before those discussions began.

Woodruff was chief White House correspondent for NBC News from 1977 to 1982, and covered Washington for the “Today” show. She left NBC for the PBS documentary series “Frontline with Judy Woodruff” and reported for the “MacNeil/Lehrer News Hour.”

She joined CNN in 1993.

Birthdays

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 51. Actor Daniel Day-Lewis is 48. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 47. Actress Eve Plumb is 47. Actress Uma Thurman is 35. Tennis player Andre Agassi is 35. Rapper Master P is 35.