Security stepped up for Jackson court date
SANTA MARIA, Calif., April 29 (UPI) -- On the eve of his California court date, Michael Jackson's new legal team is replacing Nation of Islam security with guards from a private firm.
CNN said security is expected to be tight at the Santa Barbara County courthouse in Santa Maria when the entertainer arrives Friday to hear the charges a grand jury returned in a sealed indictment against him last Wednesday.
The grand jury was investigating seven felony counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14 and two counts of giving the child an intoxicating agent.
The singer pleaded not guilty to those counts in an initial arraignment in January.
A statement on Jackson's Web site promises free "Keep the Faith Caravan" buses will transport fans to the courthouse.
The Santa Maria Police Department, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department and Santa Barbara Superior Court are coordinating security for what is expected to be a massive crowd.
Acclaimed poet Thomas Gunn dead at 74
SAN FRANCISCO, April 29 (UPI) -- British poet Thomas Gunn, who published more than 30 books, has died at his San Francisco home of an apparent heart attack. He was 74.
Gunn, considered to have written some of the best poetry of his time, died Sunday in his sleep, said Mike Kitay, Gunn's partner of 54 years, BBC reported Thursday.
"I thought he was possibly the best living poet in English," said Wendy Lesser, an author and editor of the literary journal The Threepenny Review. "Unlike most poets, he was equally at home in rhyme and non-rhyme, in free verse and patterned rhythms."
Gunn, part of a group of British poets known as The Movement, along with Philip Larkin and Kingsley Amis, published his first book, "Fighting Terms," at age 25.
Gunn received many literary awards, including the prestigious David Cohen British Literature Prize last year.
Gunn, born in 1929 in Kent, England, moved to San Francisco in 1954. He taught at the University of California at Berkeley, Calif., from 1958 to 1966 and from 1973 to 1990.
'Trading Spaces' star gets own NBC show
LOS ANGELES, April 29 (UPI) -- "Trading Spaces" star Vern Yip may be getting his own home makeover show on NBC, The Hollywood Reporter said Thursday.
One of the TLC show's most popular interior designers, Yip has been offered a one-hour special/backdoor pilot called "Design Intervention," the trade paper said
Each episode of the show would be about a family who began building their house by themselves or bought an older house to renovate themselves, but wasn't able to finish it and is now living in a giant mess.
Yip and his team of experts will rescue the family and complete the project.
Production on "Design Intervention" is scheduled to begin in June.
Yip is the second "Trading Spaces" star to get a primetime show on a major U.S. broadcast network. Former "Trading Spaces" carpenter Ty Pennington is the star of ABC's breakout hit, "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."
Animal activists upset over 'Batman' film
LONDON, April 29 (UPI) -- Animal rights activists in London are reportedly outraged over plans to film the latest "Batman" flick at an animal-research facility.
Director Christopher Nolan said he will use North London's National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill as a location for his upcoming star-studded prequel, "Batman Begins," the World Entertainment News Network said Thursday.
"We felt this building offered a unique visual element for our movie," said a Warner Brothers spokesperson. "Neither Warner Brothers Pictures, nor the filmmakers, cast or crew of 'Batman Begins' wish to endorse or condemn any social or political position by choosing to film the facade of the institute."
Members of the Mill Hill Anti-Vivisection Alliance, however, have vowed to disrupt filming at the facility.
Alliance member Pat Kinnunen told the Hendon Times: "It is extremely sad that this has to go ahead. I believe this institute is all about cruelty to animals and it is an awful shame that this is the location that has been chosen to shoot the 'Batman' film."
