Posted: 10:48 a.m. Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Dog Owner Surrendering; Michael Jackson Estate Signs Record Record Deal; Feds On Facebook; James Brown NOT 'Missing'
By Veronica Waters
- The owner of the two dogs that attacked an eight-year-old Lithonia girl surrenders to DeKalb Police today. Twyann Vaughn faces a misdemeanor reckless conduct charge, and she's been cooperating with police. Her bond's been set at $5,000. 8-year-old Erin Ingram has lost part of her arm and remains in critical condition.
- Six people are jailed, thanks in part to neighbors in Alpharetta helping thwart a burglary. After spotting the crooks kicking in a back door, one resident of Broadwell Oaks Drive used his cell phone to record the suspects' car, as another jotted down the license plate number. All this, as two kids ages 10 and 17 who were in the home at the time ran upstairs and called 911. Two suspects were nabbed on the scene, four others later. Police found 10 pounds of marijuana at their Gwinnett County apartment.
- Michael Jackson is breaking records--even in death. The King of Pop's estate has landed him the biggest recording deal in history: they signed for $200 million guaranteed with Sony Music Entertainment, for 10 projects over seven years. His 1979 "Off The Wall" solo debut album will be re-released with exclusive new material, which Jackson had talking about wanting to reissue. Also exepected, an album of never-before-released music to come out in November, as well as DVD videos and a videogame. Sources say ultimately, the deal could be worth as much as a quarter of a billion dollars.
Rob Stringer, the chairman of Columbia Epic Records, the Sony division expected to handle the releases, said the recordings will "span across different projects. There may be theater. There may be films and movies. There may be computer games -- or multimedia platforms that I don't know about today that will happen in 2015."
Jackson's most lasting and valuable asset is the 50 percent stake in Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a company that owns publishing rights to music by The Beatles and numerous other artists, including Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan. Split with Sony Music, the copyright catalog itself is estimated to be worth $2 billion. - If you're on the FBI's Most Wanted list, maybe you should get off Facebook. The feds are signing on to Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Twitter, going undercover to talk to suspects and investigate crimes. The Justice Department says it's legal, but observers note that they're using the same tactics that got a Missouri woman charged with computer fraud in a cyber-bullying case after she made up a phony MySpace profile.
- In KISS news about your health: there's yet another reason to stop smoking. Research shows smokers who quit have healthier arteries a year later, and lower their risk of heart disease as a result. Doctors say the benefit comes even though smokers who kicked the habit gained an average of nine pounds.
- The peeping Tom who secretly shot nude hotel room peephole videos of ESPN reporter Erin Andrews is headed to prison for 2.5 years. Michael Barrett, a 48-year-old insurance exec, cried as he apologized in court. Andrews called him a sexual deviant and says while she's glad he's going away, 30 months isn't enough. She says she's traumatized every day because her nude body is all over the Internet. Andrews' lawyer vows to go after anyone still posting the videos.
- Toyota isn't calling it a hoax, but it is dismissing the story of a California man who said his Prius sped out of control. The automaker has ruled out an electrical problem and says the gas pedal and brake system work fine.
- Another woman gets arrested visiting someone at the Gwinnett County Jail. Saturday, Donna Sue Harber of Lawrenceville was charged after a deputy said he spotted her in a visitation booth, flashing her privates to an inmate. In December, a woman was arrested smuggling marijuana in her boots.
- A South Carolina funeral director is denying claims by one of James Brown's children that the singer's body was missing from its crypt. LaRhonda Pettit, one of several children born to Brown outside of his four marriages, told a London tabloid that she had "no clue where it was taken." But Charlie Reid, director of the funeral home that oversaw James Brown's memorial, said, "There's no truth to that." He says the body remains in a two-tier mausoleum in the Aiken County front yard of Brown's daughter Deanna Brown Thomas, and that if someone had wanted to move it, a permit from police would've been needed, and apparently none was issued or requested. The Aiken County sheriff's office also denied the report, and Deanna Brown Thomas sounded bewildered when she talked to the Village Voice, saying she did "not know where Ms. Pettit would have received such information." RIP, Godfather of Soul.
- The KISS 104.1 weather forecast: a mix of sun and clouds, with a breezy high of 59.
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