Rapper Lil Wayne Sentencing Postponed

The rapper Lil Wayne was supposed to begin serving his one-year jail term but it has been postponed due to a basement fire at a Lower Manhattan courthouse. In October, he pleaded guilty to attempted criminal possession of a weapon after police found a loaded gun on his tour bus in July of 2007.

Rapper Juvenile Arrested

On Thursday, the rapper Juvenile, whose real name is Terius Gray, and his music producer, named Leroy Edwards, were arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana after neighbors told the police that they smelled pot coming from a house being used as a recording studio in Louisiana. Gray was booked at a jail in St. Bernard Parish southeast of New Orleans. He and his music producer were released later that night on bond.

Actor Charlie Sheen Arrested

The actor Charlie Sheen was arrested on Christmas Day on allegations of domestic abuse after police responded to a 911 call from house in a ski resort town in Denver, Colorado because of a domestic violence situation. An ambulance went to the house, but nobody was taken to the hospital. Sheen was taken to Pitkin County jail and booked for investigation of second-degree assault, menacing, and criminal mischief. He was released late in the afternoon after posting a $8,500 bond and being advised by a county judge on the conditions of his release. A court date is set for February 8th. The identity of the person accusing him has not been released but Sheen is currently married to real estate investor Brooke Mueller Sheen since May of 2008. The couple has twin boys that were born in March.

Rapper T.I. Released from Prison

The rapper T.I. was released from a federal prison in Arkansas on Tuesday December 22nd. Last May, be began serving his year and a day sentence for illegal possession of firearms and possessing a gun as a convicted felon. After being released from prison, he had to go to Dismas Charities halfway house in Atlanta and will be there for up to three months.

Singer Michael Jackson Sues Auction House

On Wednesday, the singer Michael Jackson filed a lawsuit against Julien's Auction House to halt the scheduled sale of thousands of his personal items. The lawsuit claims that the founder Darren Julien promised to send Jackson an inventory of sale items, but Jackson hasn't given the permission to move them all. Many of the items that are up for auction are also considered priceless and irreplaceable. The attempt to sell them was described as malicious, fraudulent, extreme, outrageous, and without any legal justification as described in the lawsuit.

In December, Julien's Auction House announced that it would hold a five day auction in April for more than 2,000 of Jackson's personal items, including awards, clothing, celebrity signed items, a customized Harley Davidson, a Rolls Royce limousine, and artwork. Jackson's company authorized the auction house to remove the items from Neverland Ranch but not to sell them without Jackson's permission.

Singer Madonna Settles Divorce

The singer Madonna has settled the divorce with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie for more than $76 million. The settlement is in the range of $76 million to $92 million as apart of the divorce agreement. This amount includes their country home in western England. The couple's west London pub would also go to Ritchie. The couple is supposedly worth around $525 million and most of that belongs to Madonna. Richie's worth is about $35 million. The couple have two children together. Madonna also has a child from previous relationship and a child that she had adopted from Malawi in 2006.

GM to Temporarily Close 20 Plants

On Friday, General Motors Corp. stated that it will temporarily close 20 of its factories across North America and reduce vehicle production while it tries adjust to the decline in automobile demands. The company will cut 250,000 vehicles from its production schedule for the first quarter of 2009. They normally produce 750,000 automobiles for that quarter. Many of the plants will be closed for the whole month of January and employees will be temporarily laid off and will receive part of their normal wages. They could be able to apply for state unemployment benefits. GM reported that its sales are down 41 percent for November and are down 22 percent for the first 11 months of 2008.

General Motors currently trying to obtain Government loans to be able to stay in business. The White House says that it might go into its $700 billion Wall Street Bailout fund to help GM and Chrysler. The entire automobile industry is having to make cuts due to the decline in the demand of automobiles.

Dead Woman Found Outside Singer Paula Abdul's House

A body was found inside of a car a few houses away from singer Paula Abdul's Home. The body was a former contestant on the show "American Idol" named Paula Goodspeed. She was a big fan of Abdul and died from a drug overdose. It appears that the woman had been stalking Abdul for a while and cops had been to the house several times before to deal with her. Abdul was not home at the time that the body was found.

Singer Jennifer Hudson’s Nephew Found Dead

The singer’s Jennifer Hudson’s 7 year old nephew named Julian King was found dead in the back of a SUV on Monday. The SUV was found about 10 miles from the house where the other homicide victims were found. This ends a search for the child that began after Hudson’s mother and brother were found shot to death in their Chicago home on Friday. The boy has been found to have been shot to death. The medical examiner’s office has an autopsy planned for Tuesday. The motive for the recent killings is still unsure and the person who did it most likely was not a stranger to the family.

Police consider the case domestic-related and the main suspect is a man named William Balfour who is the stepfather of the child. He was taken into custody for questioning on Friday for the homicides and on Sunday he was transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections for his parole violations. He had previously spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking, and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Kid Rock Sentenced to Probation

On Monday, Kid Rock was sentence to serving a year of probation and was fined $1,000 for his part in a fight at an Atlanta Waffle House this past fall. He was also sentenced to six hours of anger management counseling and 80 hours of community service. He pleaded no contest to one count of simple battery and four counts of battery were dropped.

Five members of his entourage were also arrested because of the fight. Two of them pleaded no contest and also received probation and community service. Charges were dropped against the other three people since the court decided that they weren't involved in the altercation after viewing the videotape.

James Brown’s Belongings Ready to be Auctioned

A judge in South Carolina gave the okay for the auction of the late singer James Brown’s belongings. The judge lifted a temporary stay that could have held up the auction. Christie’s auction house has it planned for the auction to take place on Thursday and there would be 320 items up for sale, which would include a red jumpsuit and a blue satin cape. James Brown had died on Christmas Day of 2006 at the age of 73 of heart failure.

Jessica Alba Has New Baby Girl

The actress Jessica Alba has given birth to a baby girl. She married her boyfriend Cash Warren just a few weeks ago on May 19^th at a Beverly Hills courthouse. The couple met on the set of the movie “Fantastic Four” back in 2004. She announced in December that she was pregnant and engaged to Warren.

Amy Winehouse Arrested On Suspicion of Assault

Amy Winehouse has been arrested on suspicion of assault after reports that she got into a scuffle with two men during a wild night out. She was sent to a central London police station to answer questions that related to the situation. A man stated in tabloid newspapers that he was hit by her when he got in her way while she was playing pool at a bar and she then head-butted another person who was trying to hail a cab for her early Wednesday morning.

Jackson’s Neverland Ranch Ready to Be Sold

A public auction of Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch has been scheduled for May 14^th. Jackson recently went into default on the $24.5 million that he owes on the 2,500-acre property. Jackson is currently considering whether he wants to refinance or sell the property before the auction happens. He already moved out of the property more than two years ago.

The High Costs of Raising Children

It is found that the average cost of raising a child to the age of 21 is $338,000. Providing shelter will cost about $105,000 until the age of 18. Food will cost about $41,400 and health care costs will be about $17,400. The overall average cost also includes the cost of college.

Strange Man Arrested at Brad Pitt’s Home

A man who said that he was a freelance reporter was arrested outside of Brad Pitt’s Los Angeles home. A housekeeper called the police about noon on Wednesday after she saw a car blocking the driveway. The man got out of the car and asked whether the house belonged to Brad Pitt. The reporter was arrested for investigation of trespassing and was taken into custody. The housekeeper will be the one to decide whether or not to press charges. Neither Pitt nor Angelina Jolie was home at the time.

Couple Catches Burglar and Makes Him Clean Their Home

In Montgomery, Al a couple named Adrian and Tiffany McKinnon came home to find a thief had broken in and had taken almost everything they owned. Adrian sent his wife her sister’s house while he inspected the house. When he walked back into their sunroom, the thief walked in from the back door straight into him. Adrian held the man at gunpoint and made him clean up the mess that he had made, which was piles of stuff that was thrown out of the drawers and cabinets to the floor, until the police arrived. When the police arrived the thief complained about being made to clean up at gunpoint.

The thief is being charged with burglary and theft. He is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Facility on a $30,000 bond.

Drunken Man Arrested After He Attacks Inflatable Ghosts and Pumpkin

In Lloyd, NY a drunken man, named John Odee, attacked his neighbor’s inflatable display of three ghosts and a giant pumpkin and then smashed his head through her window.

Dawn Garcia says she heard the man yelling and swearing and when she looked outside she saw him struggling with the giant pumpkin angrily. She yelled at him to go away but he then charged at the house and busted his head through the window. Garcia grabbed her three kids and ran out the back door and called 911 from another neighbor’s house. The police found Odee inside of her house and arrested him. He was charged with burglary and is being held on a $25,000 bond.

Pets Thrown Off Bridge In Puerto Rico

In San Juan, Puerto Rico, Animal Control Workers seized and collected dozens of dogs and cats from housing projects and killed them by throwing them from a bridge. The animals were suppose to have been taken to a shelter.

The city hired Animal Control Solution to raid three housing projects after they warned the residents about the no-pet policy. People saw the animal control workers inject the animals with something that they said was a sedative before they took the animals away. The animals were supposed to be taken to a shelter but instead they were thrown 50 feet from a bridge in a neighboring town before dawn on Tuesday. Some of the animals were already dead buy the rest were alive when they were thrown. Some of the animals were able to survive and climbed to the highway badly injured. About 50 animals stayed there dead.

The mayor of the city says that he would cancel the city’s contract with Animal Control Solution and city lawyers are considering a lawsuit.

Moldy Homes Can Cause Depression

A new health study links damp, moldy homes to depression. To conduct the study the World Health Organization went to thousands of homes and asked residents a series of questions. They asked if they had depressive symptoms, such as decreased appetite, low self-esteem, and sleeping problems. They visually checked each household and looked for spots on walls and ceilings that indicated mold. The study concluded that a how healthy and clean a home is can affect a person’s health and well being.