Bill Cosby urges ‘no more cuts’ for schools

Harrisburg, Pa. — Comedian Bill Cosby finds nothing funny about cutting school funding.

Public education can make the difference between success and failure in life for many children, and cutting school funding makes the task more difficult, Cosby said Wednesday at a packed rally in the Capitol Rotunda in Harrisburg.

“No more cuts!” Cosby declared at the beginning and end of a short speech that was part of a celebration marking the steady improvements in Pennsylvania students’ test scores in math and reading.

The Philadelphia native, a well-known education advocate, joined Gov. Ed Rendell and educators at the event designed to put pressure on the state Senate’s Republican majority to support more money for public schools.

Unapproved TV spots land Hatch in jail

Providence, R.I. — The lawyer for “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch said Wednesday that her client was taken to jail because he granted two TV interviews without getting the required permission from the federal Bureau of Prisons.

Hatch had been serving the remainder of his prison term for tax evasion on home confinement at his sister’s home in Rhode Island. He granted three television interviews this week — to NBC’s “Today” show, NBC affiliate WJAR-TV and the NBC-owned “Access Hollywood.”

In the interviews, Hatch accused the prosecutor of misconduct and said the judge in the case discriminated against him because he was gay.

The Bureau of Prisons would not comment on Hatch’s case, but spokeswoman Traci Billingsley said prisoners on home confinement cannot grant interviews without first getting permission. Approval typically takes a few days, she said.

Hatch’s lawyer, Cynthia Ribas, said she had thought the permission Hatch got extended to all NBC properties, but federal rules consider each media outlet separate.