A man accused of stalking Linda Ronstadt for nearly a decade has been ordered by an Arizona judge to stay away from the singer.
Ronstadt has upcoming concerts and fears for her safety because of Bernie Salazar Ortiz's history of stalking her and his mental illness, court documents indicate. Ortiz has schizophrenia, Tucson authorities have said.
Judge John Davis issued a preliminary injunction against Ortiz last week at the request of Ronstadt's attorneys. The injunction says Ortiz cannot appear at any of Ronstadt's concerts, come within 300m of her or contact her in person -- by phone or in writing. He also can't deliver, directly or indirectly, any cards, packages, flowers or other items.
Ortiz pleaded guilty to attempted stalking in May 1998 and received probation, but he was sent to prison for violating the probation.
Ronstadt, a native of Tucson, is known for hit albums such as What's New, Heart Like a Wheel and Simple Dreams.
Osama bin Laden's niece has signed a deal with a TV producer to develop a reality show about her life in New York, according to a media report.
Wafah Dufour Bin Ladin, the daughter of bin Laden's half brother, Yeslam Binladin, has inked a deal with publisher and producer Judith Regan to shop a show to networks that would follow the aspiring singer as she shoots for stardom, the New York Post reported.
``It's the story of Wafah trying to make it as a singer and the many cultures she comes from,'' Regan told the Post.
``Here's the thing: [Wafah] is related to [Osama], but she is not him,'' she said. ``Just because she carries the name doesn't mean she's in any way representative of what he's about.''
Yeslam and Osama are among 54 children of the late Saudi construction magnate Mohammed bin Laden and his 22 wives. Binladin intentionally spells his name differently from his half brother.
Former Creed singer Scott Stapp expressed gratitude that prosecutors didn't charge him with public drunkenness for an incident at Los Angeles International Airport, and he promised to get his life together and start keeping his name out of the tabloids.
Stapp, 32, and his wife, former Miss New York Jaclyn Nesheiwat, were on their way to Hawaii for their honeymoon when he was arrested Feb. 11 for allegedly being drunk in public. The two were married in Miami the day before.
``No charges have been filed by the LA district attorney's office, and for that I am appreciative,'' Stapp said in a statement. ``I have said it before, but we all make mistakes and the day will come soon enough where you no longer read of mine in the tabloids.''
Former teen idol Leif Garrett was ordered to remain in a strict live-in drug rehabilitation program for another month, despite telling a judge he was ``going down the right path'' after spending 42 days there.
The 44-year-old former pop star asked a Superior Court commissioner last week for permission to return to an outpatient treatment program so he could be with his mother, who is suffering from an undisclosed illness.
Garrett agreed to enter the program for violating probation in a cocaine case stemming from a 2004 arrest.
Garrett faces felony heroin possession charges after officers who stopped him Jan. 14 for allegedly trying to ride a Los Angeles subway train without a ticket said they found suspected narcotics. He has pleaded not guilty in that case.
Standing outside the courthouse with his mother and his attorney, Garrett blamed his recent drug arrest on his concerns for his mother's poor health.
Michael Jackson was ordered to shut down his Neverland Valley Ranch last week by California authorities who have fined the pop star US$169,000 for failing to pay his employees or maintain proper insurance. Jackson's sprawling ranch in the central California foothills was closed, at least temporarily, by an agent of the State Labor Commissioner after the office discovered that his worker's compensation policy had lapsed in January.
Sept.16 to Sept. 22 The “anti-communist train” with then-president Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) face plastered on the engine puffed along the “sugar railway” (糖業鐵路) in May 1955, drawing enthusiastic crowds at 103 stops covering nearly 1,200km. An estimated 1.58 million spectators were treated to propaganda films, plays and received free sugar products. By this time, the state-run Taiwan Sugar Corporation (台糖, Taisugar) had managed to connect the previously separate east-west lines established by Japanese-era sugar factories, allowing the anti-communist train to travel easily from Taichung to Pingtung’s Donggang Township (東港). Last Sunday’s feature (Taiwan in Time: The sugar express) covered the inauguration of the
The corruption cases surrounding former Taipei Mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) head Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) are just one item in the endless cycle of noise and fuss obscuring Taiwan’s deep and urgent structural and social problems. Even the case itself, as James Baron observed in an excellent piece at the Diplomat last week, is only one manifestation of the greater problem of deep-rooted corruption in land development. Last week the government announced a program to permit 25,000 foreign university students, primarily from the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia, to work in Taiwan after graduation for 2-4 years. That number is a
In a stark demonstration of how award-winning breakthroughs can come from the most unlikely directions, researchers have won an Ig Nobel prize for discovering that mammals can breathe through their anuses. After a series of tests on mice, rats and pigs, Japanese scientists found the animals absorb oxygen delivered through the rectum, work that underpins a clinical trial to see whether the procedure can treat respiratory failure. The team is among 10 recognized in this year’s Ig Nobel awards (see below for more), the irreverent accolades given for achievements that “first make people laugh, and then make them think.” They are not
This Qing Dynasty trail takes hikers from renowned hot springs in the East Rift Valley, up to the top of the Coastal Mountain Range, and down to the Pacific Short vacations to eastern Taiwan often require choosing between the Rift Valley with its pineapple fields, rice paddies and broader range of amenities, or the less populated coastal route for its ocean scenery. For those who can’t decide, why not try both? The Antong Traversing Trail (安通越嶺道) provides just such an opportunity. Built 149 years ago, the trail linked up these two formerly isolated parts of the island by crossing over the Coastal Mountain Range. After decades of serving as a convenient path for local Amis, Han settlers, missionaries and smugglers, the trail fell into disuse once modern roadways were built