Orchestra musicians unite for free community concert

St. Louis — Musicians from 14 orchestras will join members of the St. Louis Symphony Sunday for a free concert to thank the community for its support during a two-month strike.

The program will feature more than 80 musicians directed by Benjamin Zander, conductor of the Boston Philharmonic.

The concert originally was planned as a fund-raiser for the St. Louis musicians, who walked off the job after rejecting a contract offer that called for pay cuts.

But when they accepted a new contract that provides modest pay increases over the next 3 1/2 years, it was decided to keep the concert but make it free, said Carl Moskowitz, a spokesman for the musicians.

Singer files protection order against former fiance

Franklin, Tenn. — Tanya Tucker has filed an order of protection against her former fiance, whom she claims has harassed and assaulted her.

Tucker, 46, alleges that Jerry Laseter has harassed her before shows, grabbed her by the throat, given her a black eye and threatened her.

The order was signed by a Williamson County judge last week. A hearing is scheduled for April 1 at the county courthouse.

Laseter has denied the allegations, saying he’d never been physically abusive.

Police have been called to the country singer’s home nine times in the last two years. Five of those calls involved domestic disputes, according to records at the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office.

McMahon hospitalized after falling in home

Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s former sidekick, was hospitalized after a fall in his Beverly Hills home left him with a mild concussion and a gash in his head that required stitches, reports The Associated Press.

“Mr. McMahon’s prognosis is excellent, and he is expected to be released from the hospital in the next few days,” spokeswoman Susan DuBow said. The name of the Los Angeles area hospital wasn’t disclosed.

McMahon, who turned 82 on Sunday, tripped and fell Friday afternoon, DuBow said.

He was taken to a hospital where he received several stitches in his forehead, she said, adding that he had suffered a mild concussion.

Backstreet Boy arrested in drunken driving incident

Huntington Beach, Calif. — Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys was arrested last weekend for alleged drunken driving, police said.

Carter, 25, was behind the wheel of a vehicle observed committing a traffic violation when police stopped him Saturday night in downtown Huntington Beach, police Lt. Dave Bunetta said.

Carter was arrested and booked for investigation of drunken driving and his vehicle was impounded, Bunetta said. The type of vehicle wasn’t disclosed.

“Nick Carter deeply regrets the current situation. He is on doctor-prescribed medication and was unaware of its interaction possibilities,” Carter publicist Juliette Harris said in a statement Monday.

Supermodel named U.N. ambassador

Geneva — Liya Kebede, best known for her ad campaign for Estee Lauder, was named a goodwill ambassador for maternal, newborn and child health by the World Health Organization.

She will take part in the global World Health Day celebrations in New Delhi on April 7.

The Ethiopian-born model said she hoped her efforts for WHO would raise awareness of the difficulties mothers and children face in the developing world, where millions die each year, often from easily preventable conditions.

WHO estimates that each year over 500,000 women die during pregnancy and childbirth, and some 11 million children die before reaching their fifth birthday, mostly in the world’s poorest countries.

Arrival of Grammy award leads to triumphal tour

Dakar, Senegal — Youssou N’Dour made a triumphal tour through Senegal’s capital, holding his new Grammy Award aloft to cheers from thousands of fans.

N’Dour won the Grammy for best contemporary world music album for “Egypt,” released after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks to show the gentler side of Islam as practiced in his west African homeland.

His prize was delivered last week.

While “Egypt” had been ready for years, it wasn’t released until after the Sept. 11 attacks that N’dour says have unfairly sullied Islam’s image in the West.

Witness describes walking in on Jackson molesting brother

Santa Maria, Calif. — The younger brother of Michael Jackson’s accuser described for jurors in graphic detail Monday how he twice saw the pop star grope the child while the young boy lay sleeping in Jackson’s bed at his Neverland Ranch.

The brother also testified that Jackson showed them Internet sex sites, gave them wine, slept in bed with them and appeared before them naked and sexually aroused at the pop star’s Neverland ranch.

Speaking calmly, directly and unemotionally, the 14-year-old said the molestation occurred shortly after Jackson had shown the boys sexually explicit magazines that he kept in a suitcase in his bedroom.

Dist. Atty. Tom Sneddon projected on a courtroom screen the covers of magazines including one called Barely Legal, which depicted an extremely young woman with her breasts exposed.

The defense has said Jackson had “girlie” magazines in his house but never showed them to children.