Plans for Michael Jackson's Memorial

The memorial service for the singer Micheal Jackson will be held at the Staples Center on Tuesday at 10:00 A.M. There will be 11,000 tickets that will be distributed for free to the general public. On that Tuesday, a motorcade will go from Forest Lawn Mortuary in L.A. to the Staples Center complex in downtown Los Angeles where the public memorial will take place.

Jennifer Hudson Asks for Help Finding Nephew

Jennifer Hudson is asking for help from the public in finding her 7 year old nephew who has been missing since her mother and brother were shot to death in their home. An Amber Alert has remained in effect Sunday for the boy, named Julian King, who disappeared on Friday. Police don’t have a motive for the killings and abduction but they consider it domestic-related.

A man named William Balfour, the estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, named Julia Hudson, has been in police custody and is a suspect in the shooting. Julia Hudson is also the mother of the missing child. Balfour has been transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections based on his active parole violations unrelated to the homicides and abduction. He will remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looks at his case.

Singer Lyfe Jennings Involved In High Speed Police Chase

Today, the R&B singer Lyfe Jennings was arrested in Georgia for shooting off a gun, taking police on a car chase in a Corvette, and refusing to take a DUI test. The police chase ended when Jennings’ car eventually crashed. He was charged with felony weapon possession by a convicted felon, attempting to elude, discharging a firearm near a public highway, and refusing to take the sobriety test.

Restaurant Smoking Bans Decrease Teen Smoking

A recent study shows that restaurant smoking bans help to persuade teenagers not to become smokers. Teens who lived in towns with strict bans were 40 percent less likely to become regular smokers than teens that lived in communities without bans or that had weak bans. Smoking bans discourage tobacco use and sends out the message that smoking is not healthy. The ban also reduces the amount of smoke that teens are exposed to in public places.

Having a parent or close friend that smokes can be an influence as to whether or not a teenager experiments with cigarettes but strong bans in public places play a bigger role in whether a not the teen will develop a smoking habit. The study also found that the bans had a greater effect on younger teens than older teens.

Singer Toni Braxton Hospitalized

The singer Toni Braxton has been hospitalized in Las Vegas. She has an illness that hasn’t been revealed to the public yet but isn’t life-threatening. She was taken to the hospital on Monday night but is expected to be released this afternoon. She is in Las Vegas to do a show at the Flamingo hotel but Tuesday’s show is expected to be canceled.

France Steps Up Citizen Surveillance

The president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, has decided to increase the amount of surveillance in public places in an effort to keep citizens safer by installing more police video cameras on city streets and sidewalks. There are already 300,000 of cameras set up in public places but Sarkozy wants to triple that number in the next few years.

The French government also has granted itself access to information every citizen’s bank cards, Internet searches, subway cards, electronic tollbooth passes, and more. Most citizens in France don’t know about the secret tracking devices and people have even been refused loans and lost their jobs due to errors that they have caused.

Couple Tries to Flee From Police on Horseback

It is reported that two people who were drunk tried to escape from the police on horseback. They were caught when one had gotten knocked off his horse from riding into a utility wire and the other one fell off her horse.

The man was caught causing a scene at a local convenience store and left the scene with his girlfriend on horseback. When the police were called and caught up with them they fled through a backyard. That is where they fell of their horses.

The couple were charged with riding a horse on a highway after dark without proper reflective material, being drunk in public and obstruction of justice. The man also was charged with attempted unlawful wounding. The man was held on a $2,500 bond and the woman was released.

Beyonce Becomes American Express Rep

It is reported that American Express has chosen Beyonce to be their next A-list celebrity representative. Beyonce’s ad campaigns for the company are set to launch to the public this later this year. She has already shot some print advertisements and she'll be in Manhattan on Aug. 6 to shoot her first commercial.

American Express also uses other celebrities such as, Tiger Woods, Ellen DeGeneres, Robert De Niro, Kate Winslet, and Venus Williams in their advertising.