Telethon raises $65M, sets record
LAS VEGAS, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Entertainer Jerry Lewis helped raise a record $65 million in pledges and contributions through his 43rd annual MDA Labor Day Telethon in Las Vegas.
Lewis performed his signature song, "You'll Never Walk Alone," during the 21 1/2-hour broadcast, which benefits the Muscular Dystrophy Association. The entertainment and fundraising program was carried by 180 stations throughout the country.
The 2007 edition raised $63.8 million, telethon organizers said in a news release.
The MDA said telethon contributions enable it to "fund research to find treatments and cures for muscular dystrophy and related diseases. Funds also support hundreds of MDA medical clinics, send thousands of children to MDA summer camp and provide assistance with the purchase of equipment such as wheelchairs and leg braces."
"Each year I tell myself: 'This has got to be it. There's no way we can do better.' Then, the following year, I'm astounded to see that generosity driven by love and compassion has a greater capacity than I thought possible," Lewis, MDA national chairman, said in a statement. "I am awed and humbled by this response."
Voice artist Don LaFontaine dead at 68
LOS ANGELES, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- U.S. voiceover artist Don LaFontaine has died at the age of 68, his agent said.
FoxNews.com said LaFontaine's memorable voice was heard in thousands of movie trailers, as well as in nearly 350,000 commercials.
Best known for his catch phrase, "In a world...," LaFontaine recently appeared in a Geico Insurance commercial in which he was described as "that announcer guy," the news Web site said.
ET.com reported that LaFontaine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles Monday of complications from a collapsed lung. FoxNews.com said Tuesday no official cause of death had been released.
LaFontaine is survived by his wife, singer and actress Nita Whitaker, and three children -- Christine, Skye and Elyse.
Radio journalist Goodman arrested at RNC
ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Amy Goodman, the host of Pacifica Radio's "Democracy Now!," has been arrested while covering protests at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Goodman and two producers were arrested Monday, The Washington Post reported. Goodman was held for about three hours before being released but the producers were still in custody Monday night, the newspaper said.
Goodman, 51, the best-selling author of "The Exception to the Rulers," said she was on the convention floor interviewing delegates when she got word that producers Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar had been arrested. She said when she got to the scene of the protest, she was arrested as well.
"(Police) seriously manhandled me and handcuffed my hands behind my back. The top ID (at the convention) is to get on the floor and the Secret Service ripped that off me. I had my 'Democracy Now!' ID too. I was clearly a reporter."
St. Paul police arrested 284 people Monday in reported incidents of violence and road obstruction by a few demonstrators in what the Star Tribune newspaper in Minneapolis said was an otherwise peaceful crowd estimated at 10,000.
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman said police exercised restraint but an observer for the National Lawyers Guild, Gina Berglund, said the police action was "completely out of proportion."
V&A Museum buys iconic Stones lips
LONDON, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- London's Victoria and Albert Museum has reportedly bought the original design for The Rolling Stones' iconic tongue and lips logo for about $100,000.
Inspired by the mouth of Stones front man Mick Jagger, the symbol first appeared on the band's "Sticky Fingers" album.
The Daily Telegraph said the V&A museum of decorative arts and design paid about $100,000 at an auction in the United States for the original image created by Royal College of Art student John Pasche in 1970.
The Art Fund put up 50 percent of the logo's price tag, while the museum paid for the rest and is expected to install the piece in its permanent collection, the newspaper said.
"The Rolling Stones' Tongue is one of the first examples of a group using branding and it has become arguably the world's most famous rock logo," Victoria Broakes, head of exhibitions of the V&A Theatre and Performance Collections, told the Telegraph.
"We are delighted to have acquired the original artwork, especially as it was designed at the Royal College of Art right here in South Kensington by a student who used to visit the V&A's collections for inspiration. We are very grateful for the Art Fund's support in helping us acquire this exciting addition to our collections."
