SAMUEL L. JACKSON: A CLEANING JOB IN MEMPHIS
   MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Did you hear about Samuel L. Jackson’s
cleaning job in Memphis, Tennessee? It was for a very good cause.
The actor was among a team of volunteers who helped spruce up the
National Civil Rights Museum. The museum is built around the former
Lorraine Motel, where Doctor Martin Luther King was shot to death
on April 4th, 1968. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the
assassination. During his time on the site, Jackson helped put a
new coat of paint on a balcony railing near where King fell
mortally wounded after the shooting. Jackson is in Memphis working
on a movie.

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DIDDY: SETTLES PUNCH LAWSUIT
   LOS ANGELES (AP) — Diddy’s lawyers aren’t magicians. But they
sure managed to make a lawsuit against the rap entrepreneur
disappear. Diddy has reached a settlement with a man who claims the
rapper punched him after a post-Oscar party outside a Hollywood
hotel. Diddy claims any contact he made with the man came as a
result of the man’s forward motion into Diddy’s hand. Terms of the
deal weren’t disclosed in court papers posted on the celebrity Web
site TMZ.com

THE ROOTS/ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT: PLAYING EARTH DAY
   WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s been said the whole world is a stage.
That will definitely be the case come Earth Day, at least in the
part of the world that belongs to the United States. The nation
will have a series of Earth Day concerts, spanning several major
cities. The April 20th concerts are set for New York, Chicago,
Washington, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Miami and San Francisco.
The main show will be on the National Mall in D.C. Organizers have
invited acts like The Roots, Arrested Development and others to the
event. It’s hoped the concerts will help cause people to think more
deeply about global warming.
  
WYCLEF JEAN: BRINGING VIDEO GAME TO LIFE, AND VICE VERSA
   FOSTER CITY, Calif. (AP) — Wyclef Jean (ZHAHN) says there are
basically two things artists do while on their tour bus: record
music and play video games. And now, he has a way to put both of
those pastimes together. The video for his latest single, “Fast
Car,” has a close tie-in with the Sony PlayStation 3. In the
video, he gets a message on his video game system and ends up being
transported into the game world as part of the “Burnout Paradise”
title. The video will be available for download starting tomorrow
on the PlayStation store Web site.
  
AMERICAN IDOL: MUSIC IS “BORN” AGAIN
   LOS ANGELES (AP) — He didn’t moonwalk. But “American Idol”
contestant David Cook sure managed to put his own stamp on Michael
Jackson’s song “Billie Jean.” He performed the song over a track
that sounded a lot like the Moody Blues song “Nights in White
Satin.” Whatever he ended up with, it turned out to be a hit with
the judges. Randy Jackson, no relation to the Jacksons, says Cook
“might be the one to win” the whole competition. Also drawing
raves was Kristy Lee Cook, who has languished at the bottom of the
voting tallies the last three weeks. That’s likely to change now.
Not only did she go “country,” she went the whole U.S.A. route,
performing the Lee Greenwood song “God Bless the USA.” Simon
called it “the most clever song choice in years.” Last night,
contestants performed songs from the year they were born. Shyesha
Mercado did “If I Were Your Woman” while Chikezie performed “Let
Me Take You Home.”
  
MARIO/JASON TAYLOR: SAFE FOR ANOTHER WEEK
   LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mario and Jason Taylor will live to dance
another week. They were among the contestants on “Dancing With The
Stars” who survived last night’s vote-off show. Not as fortunate
were magician Penn Jillette and tennis champ Monica Seles. They are
the first stars eliminated from this year’s crop of season-six
hoofers. In this case, the voting audience was in lockstep with the
judges. The acts that were voted off were also the ones with the
two lowest judges’ scoring totals.
  
DANCING WITH THE STARS AND AMERICAN IDOL DOMINATE RATINGS
   NEW YORK (AP) — Dancing + Singing
that seems to be working these days for the TV networks. The latest
Nielsen ratings saw ABC get a boost from the return of its
celebrity-studded show, “Dancing With the Stars.” The two
editions of the show were the second-most-popular shows last week.
Number 1? “American Idol,” which has been a ratings leader
throughout most of its run. But “Dancing” gave “Idol” a run for
its money, drawing 17 million viewers for its Tuesday show, which
gave a little competition to Idol when they aired in the same time
slot.

RICK FOX: HE’S NO “BASSETT” HOUND
   LOS ANGELES (AP) — Athletes tend to admire actors and actors
often look up to sports stars. So what happens when a former NBA
star turned actor ends up working opposite one of the top leading
ladies in Hollywood? Seems like both Rick Fox and Angela Bassett
had to take steps to avoid problems. Fox says Bassett was able to
keep him from thinking like a fan. How? By telling him that when
she was on the set, she was Brenda, her character — and not Angela
Bassett, the star. For his part, Fox jokes he had to make sure not
to tower over Bassett, since he stands 6-foot-7 — while Bassett is
somewhat shorter than that.
  
  
PHIL SPECTOR: JUDGE REFUSES TO RECUSE HIMSELF
   LOS ANGELES (AP) — The judge handling the Phil Spector murder
trial is still on the case. Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler
has rejected a defense motion to have him disqualify himself from
dealing with the retrial in the shooting death of an actress.
Fidler has signed a declaration that he was not biased or
prejudiced against any party in the case. The defense had claimed
in a 44-page motion last week that there were numerous alleged acts
of bias by the trial judge. Spector’s first trial ended in a hung
jury last September. Prosecutors plan to try him again for the
death of actress Lana Clarkson, who was shot to death at Spector’s
mansion on February 3rd, 2003. No date has been set for the
retrial.

KWAME KILPATRICK: DETROIT MAYOR, FORMER AIDE, PLEAD NOT GUILTY
   DETROIT (AP) — You know your city’s mayor is having a rough time
when one of the items on his schedule is to appear at an
arraignment — and it’s his own. That’s the deal with Detroit Mayor
Kwame Kilpatrick, now formally accused of lying under oath about an
affair with his former chief of staff. Both Kilpatrick and
Christine Beatty entered not guilty pleas at their formal hearing
yesterday. They face charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of
justice and misconduct in office. Attorneys for both predict they
will be cleared of the charges.