People in the news

Spears must provide lab with good phone number

Los Angeles – Britney Spears must provide a single, working telephone number to be called in for drug testing, a court commissioner ruled Thursday after her ex-husband’s attorney said she has repeatedly failed to respond to calls for the court-ordered screenings.

Of the 14 such calls placed to Spears, she failed to respond eight times, Kevin Federline’s attorney, Mark Vincent Kaplan, told Superior Court Commissioner Scott Gordon earlier in the day.

Spears attorney Anne Kiley argued that Spears hadn’t responded within an hour, as ordered by the court, because she was sleeping, and asked that she be given a six hour timeframe instead. But Gordon said time wasn’t the problem, noting that Spears had lost telephone numbers and changed numbers.

“There needs to be one number that the testing facility calls that she responds to,” Gordon ruled. He added that she can change phones, as long as everyone involved is notified.

Jennifer Lopez finally admits she’s pregnant

Miami – Jennifer Lopez has confirmed what has become increasingly obvious: She’s pregnant.

Lopez, who is touring with her husband, Marc Anthony, made the announcement to South Florida concertgoers Wednesday night.

“Marc and I are expecting,” the 39-year-old singer told the crowd in Miami. Lopez didn’t say when she is due to give birth.

After her announcement, Anthony kissed his wife’s belly.

“I didn’t know she was going to talk,” he said.

Lopez and Anthony, 38, were married in 2004.

Last month, Roberto Cavalli, who created free-flowing outfits for Lopez, said the singer was pregnant.

Asked what types of clothing he designs for celebrities, Cavalli told People magazine: “Well Jennifer Lopez, at this moment, she requests something very special because she is waiting for the baby.”

Woman says she married James Brown in 1953

Columbia, S.C. – A Georgia woman who claims to have married James Brown in 1953 says in court papers they were never divorced and she wants to be part of his estate.

Velma Warren Brown, 73, filed a sworn statement in Aiken County court Wednesday claiming she was never served with divorce papers and didn’t sign any agreement severing her marriage to the late soul singer. Brown died Christmas Day at age 73.

However, at least two attorneys involved in disputes over Brown’s estate and trust discounted the woman’s claim, and said she had remarried.

“If Ms. Brown believed that she was not divorced, she’s admitting to having herself committed bigamy,” said Louis Levenson, an attorney representing several of the singer’s children.

The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle also reported Thursday on its Web site that it had obtained court documents showing a judge had granted a divorce in 1969.

A message left for Velma Brown’s attorney, David Bell, wasn’t immediately returned.

Duane ‘Dog’ Chapman apologizes for racial slur

Los Angeles – Duane “Dog” Chapman says he can be taught new tricks – and one of them is never to use the “N-word” again.

Chapman, 54, has apologized to blacks and to all Americans for repeatedly using the racial slur during a March phone call to his son, Tucker, urging him to break up with a black girlfriend. The recent Web release of the recorded conversation by The National Enquirer led the A&E television network to put Chapman’s reality show indefinitely on hold.

Chapman, who had issued a written apology, followed it up in his first interview since the scandal broke by remarking: “Never again. This dog learns.”

In the interview with Sean Hannity for Fox News’ “Hannity & Colmes” show Tuesday, Chapman denied being a racist and said he used the N-word conversationally when talking to black acquaintances.

“I thought that I was cool enough in the black world to be able to use that word as a brother to a brother,” he said. “I’m not. I didn’t really know until three or four days ago what that meant to black people.”

“I now learned I’m not black at all,” Chapman said. “And I never did it out of hate.”

Snipes alleges racism, seeks venue change

Ocala, Fla. – Wesley Snipes claims a central Florida county is too racist to allow him to get a fair trial on tax evasion charges.

An October 2006 federal indictment charges Snipes with fraudulently claiming refunds totaling nearly $12 million in 1996 and 1997 for income taxes already paid. The 45-year-old star of the “Blade” trilogy and other films also was charged with failure to file returns from 1999 through 2004.

He is scheduled to go on trial in Ocala in January.

In a motion filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Snipes’ attorney argued that the U.S. Attorney’s Office willfully selected the Marion County seat of Ocala because prosecutors “deliberately chose the most racially discriminatory venue available to the government with the best possibility of an all-white Southern jury where Snipes has never resided.”

Mickey Rourke arrested on suspicion of DUI

Miami Beach, Fla. – A scooter-riding Mickey Rourke was arrested Thursday on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Rourke, star of “Sin City” and “Diner,” was arrested at 4:20 a.m. and booked at the Miami-Dade County Jail, said Janelle Hall, a jail spokeswoman. He was released on a $1,000 bond, she said.

A telephone message left at the office of Rourke’s agent wasn’t immediately returned.

A Miami Beach police report said Rourke made a U-turn with a red light and then swerved several times while on a scooter.