Spears pal agrees to stay away

Los Angeles – Britney Spears’ friend Sam Lutfi has agreed to stay away from her for at least another month, delaying a hearing that could have made a restraining order against him permanent, The Associated Press learned Sunday.

Lutfi and conservators for Spears’ estate agreed to have the restraining order extended for 30 days, said a person close to the pop star who spoke on condition of anonymity because the extension had not yet been formally approved.

A judge was expected to approve it today.

Lutfi did not return a phone message Sunday seeking comment. Phone messages and e-mails to lawyers for Spears and her estate co-conservators, which include her father, also were not returned.

A Superior Court commissioner last month ordered Lutfi to stay 250 yards from Spears and her home.

Spears’ mother, Lynne, requested the order based on allegations that Lufti – Spears’ frequent companion and sometime manager – had held the singer hostage in her own home, drugged her and taken over her finances.

Spears’ father, James, was named one of two co-conservators of her estate after the singer was hospitalized twice in January. The conservatorship has been extended until July 31.

Bluegrass star to get honorary doctorate

Nashville, Tenn. – Bluegrass star Ricky Skaggs is getting an honorary doctorate from Boston’s Berklee College of Music.

Skaggs is slated to receive the honor Tuesday during a performance at the Grand Ole Opry, putting the 53-year-old singer in the company of luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Sting, B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Loretta Lynn and Paul Simon.

“I was elated,” Skaggs said. “It’s a really, really amazing honor because many great musicians have come out of Berklee.”

Berklee President Roger Brown said that by saluting Skaggs, “we shine a light on the present and future of bluegrass; its heritage and its infinite potential. And besides that, the man can pick.”

A child prodigy, Skaggs began performing with his family and by 17 was playing with Ralph Stanley’s Clinch Mountain Boys. After stints in J.D. Crowe’s New South and Emmylou Harris’ Hot Band, he was regarded as one of the genre’s finest young talents.

He switched to mainstream country in 1980 and scored 10 No. 1 hits between 1982 and ’86, including “Highway 40 Blues,” “Don’t Cheat in Our Hometown” and “Country Boy.”

In 1997, he returned to bluegrass, releasing “Bluegrass Rules!” Since then, he’s won a string of awards for his music.

Chinese crack down on Connick song list

Beijing – Chinese authorities, who were peeved early this month when Bjork showed support for Tibetan independence, have now forced Harry Connick Jr. to change his show because his song list did not match the list he had initially sent to China when he requested a performance permit.

Connick was forced to make last-minute changes to his show the weekend of March 8-9 because an old song list was mistakenly submitted. Chinese authorities insisted he play the songs on that list, even though his band did not have the music for them. Connick therefore spent much of the evening performing solo at the piano.