The Killers ask federal judge to dismiss ex-manager’s suit

Las Vegas – The Killers and their lawyer-manager have asked a federal judge to throw out a $16 million breach-of-contract lawsuit from the band’s former manager.

In documents filed Monday in U.S. District Court, members of the rock band and their manager, lawyer Robert Reynolds, accused former manager Braden Merrick of Los Angeles of incompetence and dishonesty.

Merrick’s lawsuit, filed Feb. 21, alleges that he was fired in May, after the Las Vegas-based band became successful. The two sides had been negotiating a settlement.

In a separate action filed Friday, the band asked the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement to void any agreements between The Killers and Merrick.

A spokeswoman at the agency’s San Francisco headquarters said Monday she wasn’t immediately aware of the band’s petition and didn’t know when a hearing would be scheduled.

Merrick’s lawyer, Howard King of Los Angeles, said the band’s contract with Merrick, which was to have run through 2007, was in Nevada.

Singer Barry Manilow makes quick commutes to Las Vegas

Palm Springs, Calif. – Barry Manilow soars high above the traffic five days a week on his commute to the Las Vegas Hilton.

From his home in Palm Springs, the 59-year-old singer travels by jet to Sin City.

“There’s just no quiet in Vegas,” Manilow told the Los Angeles Times for a story Sunday.

But he embraces the five-shows-a-week gig, where his loyal fans – “Fanilows” – make up the bulk of his nightly audience.

He’s also flying high on the success of his latest album, “The Greatest Songs of the Fifties,” which debuted at No. 1 on U.S. pop charts.

Not even “Copacabana” did that.

“I was floored,” he said. “It’s unreal, absolutely unreal.”

Alec Baldwin, others lobby Capitol Hill for arts funding

Washington – Actor Alec Baldwin joined other professional artists Tuesday on Capitol Hill to kick off Arts Advocacy Day and lobby Congress for arts funding.

Speaking to a standing room only crowd of members of lawmakers and state arts officials, Baldwin commended Congress for several years of funding increases to the National Endowment for the Arts. In 1996, the Republican-controlled Congress slashed the agency’s budget by 39 percent and voted to phase out all funding.

“If you told me back in 1996, we would have a Republican president and Republicans in charge of both houses of Congress, and the NEA would be flourishing and would be safe, it wouldn’t be possible,” Baldwin said. “But we do have some work to do.”

Nina Ozlu, government adviser for Americans for the Arts, said one of the key points of the meetings Tuesday would be concern about the proposed elimination of $35 million in arts in education funding in the 2007 presidential budget.

“In the past we’ve relied on the Senate to help restore funding,” she said. “We want the House to take a leadership effort to getting that funding restored.”

Americans for the Arts, along with the Congressional Arts Caucus, organized the breakfast event. Other speakers included Tony Award-winning actor Brian Stokes Mitchell and American Ballroom Theater founder Pierre Dulaine.

Former TV game show host, wife die in small plane crash

Santa Monica, Calif. – A former TV game show host and his wife were killed Monday morning when their small plane crashed into Santa Monica Bay shortly after takeoff on a volunteer flight for a medical charity, authorities said.

Divers called off a search for a third person late Monday after authorities concluded only two people were on board.

The bodies of Peter Tomarken, 63, host of the hit 1980s game show “Press Your Luck,” and his wife, Kathleen Abigail Tomarken, 41, were identified by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

The plane was on its way to San Diego to ferry a medical patient to the UCLA Medical Center, said Doug Griffith, a spokesman for Angel Flight West, a nonprofit that provides free air transportation for needy patients.

Peter Tomarken, the pilot, was a volunteer for the group.

The third person authorities initially believed was on board may have been the patient, said Coast Guard spokesman Tony Migliorini.

The plane apparently had engine trouble and was headed back to Santa Monica Airport, located about two miles inland, but went down about a half-mile southwest of the Santa Monica pier, authorities said.

“Press Your Luck” was known for contestants shouting the slogan “Big bucks! No whammies!”