Hanna wards off grizzly with pepper spray

Columbus, Ohio — TV host and zookeeper Jack Hanna says he took his own advice and used pepper spray on a grizzly bear headed toward him.

The Columbus Zoo keeper and frequent David Letterman guest said he was with his wife and other hikers in Montana’s Glacier National Park on Saturday when a bear cub, weighing about 125 pounds, charged them. Hanna told The Columbus Dispatch that he held up a canister of pepper spray, which he takes routinely on hikes.

“At about 30 feet, I unload my pepper spray, and the wind takes it,” he told the newspaper.

But the bear kept coming. Hanna sprayed toward the animal again, but it kept coming.

“Then the third time I unload that pepper spray right in his face,” Hanna said. The bear fled.

Hanna said he’s been carrying pepper spray on hikes for 15 years, but Saturday was the first time he’s used it.

Aretha and Rice make music at Philly concert

Philadelphia — The Queen of Soul and a former U.S. secretary of state have teamed up in a rare joint concert in Philadelphia to raise money for inner-city youth.

The Aretha Franklin-Condoleezza Rice extravaganza Tuesday night featured Rice on the piano accompanying Franklin’s “I Say A Little Prayer” and “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.” Rice, who is trained as a classical pianist, also performed Mozart’s piano concerto in D Minor with the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Franklin also included songs from her new album, “A Woman Falling Out of Love,” to be released later this year.

Their aim was to raise money for children from Detroit and Philadelphia, as well as awareness for music and the arts.