Usher cancels wedding

New York – The wedding between Usher and his pregnant fiance has been canceled, his publicist told The Associated Press on Saturday.

The wedding between the multiplatinum singer and his longtime girlfriend, Tameka Foster, was scheduled for Saturday. The pair are expecting their first child together sometime this fall.

However, a statement released by publicist Patti Webster exclusively to the AP read: “It was announced today that the wedding ceremony for Usher Raymond, IV and Tameka Foster was canceled.

No additional information will be given regarding the circumstances of the cancellation, but we hope the privacy of this matter will be respected.”

Foster and Usher announced their engagement earlier this year, and later, that she was expecting his first child. She has three other children from a previous marriage.

Webster would not comment on whether the two were still engaged or even a couple.

Carell ‘honored’ to play Smart in movie remake of TV show

San Diego – Steve Carell knows how to use a shoe phone.

Not only did he grow up watching “Get Smart,” but he’s made calls with the device as secret agent Maxwell Smart in the movie remake of the 1960s TV show.

Carell told a crowd of Comic-Con fans Friday that he’s “very psyched” about the film, which he described as a “comedic ‘Bourne Identity.'”

“It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had doing anything in my life,” said the 43-year-old actor. “I have such respect for Don Adams and what he did, and I think we’re all trying to honor the original and take absolutely nothing away from it.

“Frankly, I don’t think I could ever be as good as he was. I’m just trying to do the best that I can within the context of the movie and it’s an honor to be able to do it.”

The film, due next summer, retains the feel of the original TV show, said director Peter Segal.

“That show was born in the Cold War era, but we’ve got a lot of political things to satirize today,” he said.

The “Get Smart” cast includes Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, Alan Arkin as The Chief, Terence Stamp as Sigfried, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Agent 23 (a new character) and Masi Oka as Bruce “the gadget guy.”

Case dropped in wounding of Kinks founder Davies

New Orleans – Prosecutors have again dropped charges against a man accused of shooting Ray Davies during a holdup in the French Quarter, and for the same reason: Davies wasn’t in court.

The lead singer and co-founder of The Kinks said prosecutors notified him only a few days earlier that trial was scheduled for Thursday. He just didn’t have time to get to New Orleans from London, he told The Times-Picayune.

“I am very disappointed with the way this case has been handled,” Davies said Thursday. “I intend to pursue it further.”

Davies was shot in the leg Jan. 4, 2004, when he chased the man accused of stealing a friend’s pocketbook.

It was the second time Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan’s office dismissed armed robbery and aggravated charges against Jerome Barra, 28, because of Davies’ absence from court.

The first was in 2005. That time, prosecutors reserved the right to resume prosecution. This time, they closed the case.

How much for the sink?

Los Angeles – The man who bought Jerry Garcia’s house 10 years ago is selling everything, including the kitchen sink.

Henry Koltys – who sold the deceased Grateful Dead guitarist’s toilet and other fixtures last year – said Friday he was clearing out the last of his Grateful Dead inventory, offering up the kitchen sink, Jacuzzi, stereo speakers and several other items on eBay.

The toilet, from the master bedroom suite, fetched $2,500 at a similar auction last year.

Like that auction, this one will benefit the Sophia Foundation, a San Francisco Bay area nonprofit that aids children and families during marital separations and divorces, Koltys said.

“This charity auction allows me to combine my interest in protecting and helping these families and my love for Jerry Garcia’s music,” said Koltys, who is the foundation’s chairman and developer of KidsFirst! software.

The items will be auctioned on eBay on Aug. 12-19, he said.

Garcia died of a heart attack in 1995 at age 53.