A legend has passed. . .

Comedian Richard Pryor Dies At 65
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 10, 2005
(AP) Richard Pryor, the caustic yet perceptive actor-comedian who lived dangerously close to the edge both on stage and off, died Saturday. He was 65.

Pryor died shortly before 8 a.m. of a heart attack after being taken to a hospital from his home in the San Fernando Valley, said his business manager, Karen Finch. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system.

"We loved him and will miss you," his ex-wife, Flynn Pryor, said from her Florida home.

Pryor was regarded early in his career as one of the most foul-mouthed comics in the business, but he gained a wide following for his expletive-filled but universal and frequently personal insights into modern life and race relations.

His audacious style influenced an array of stand-up artists, including Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and Damon Wayans, as well as Robin Williams, David Letterman and others.
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Smoking ban almost reality in Chicago is Springfield next

Today the Chicago City Council is expected to approve an indoor smoking ban, while the city of Springfield also contemplates a similar action.

Deal to ban smoking in restaurants

December 7, 2005

BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter

Chicago would join the growing ranks of smoke-free cities -- immediately in restaurants and other indoor areas and within three years or less in taverns and restaurant bars -- under a long-awaited compromise hammered out Tuesday with a nudge from Mayor Daley.

A change of heart by Daley and last-minute intervention by the mayor's legislative point-man John Dunn sealed the deal that avoids putting aldermen on the political hot seat.

They will no longer be forced to choose between a tough smoking ban championed by Health Committee chairman Ed Smith (28th) and the American Cancer Society and one exempting bars and taverns that was favored by downtown Ald. Burton F. Natarus (42nd) and the Illinois Restaurant Association.

UP IN SMOKE

SMOKING LAWS

Currently in Chicago: Since 1994, Chicago restaurants have been required to designate at least 30 percent of their tables for nonsmokers.

Under proposed ordinance: Beginning Jan. 1 or April 1, smoking will be banned in restaurants and virtually all indoor public places -- except for taverns and restaurant bars, which could have as long as three years to comply.

WHERE CAN YOU LIGHT UP?

Under the proposed ordinance, you won't be able to smoke in restaurants, stadiums, shopping malls, grocery stores, public elevators, public transportation facilities -- including buses, trains, cabs -- convention facilities, libraries, museums, office buildings.

For probably the next three years, you'll be able to smoke in restaurant bars and taverns. Private homes and cars are exempt from the ordinance. Smoking will be allowed in 25 percent of hotel rooms.

Aldermen are expected to put aside months of acrimony and distrust and ratify the agreement at today's City Council meeting.
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Click here for entire Sun-Times story.

Meanwhile in Springfield. . .

Smoking ban tabled
Davlin: See what state, county do

By CHRIS WETTERICH
STAFF WRITER

Published Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Mayor Tim Davlin got to do something he loves at Tuesday's Springfield City Council meeting: present a proclamation honoring the Sacred Heart-Griffin High School football team for its recent state championship.

Then, he and the rest of the council had to confront an issue that has vexed the city since May: whether to ban smoking in almost all indoor workplaces.

Davlin's answer? Punt it to the Illinois General Assembly and Sangamon County.

An evenly divided city council, with Davlin casting the deciding sixth vote, first declined to strip more than half a dozen exceptions that a committee had attached Monday to Ward 10 Ald. Bruce Strom's smoking-ban ordinance.

Then, on a 6-4 vote, the aldermen agreed to Strom's motion to table the watered-down ordinance.

For the first time Tuesday night, Davlin committed himself to voting for Strom's comprehensive smoking ban, but only if the legislature allows Sangamon County to do the same.
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Click here for entire State Journal Register story

Update on Chicago's smoking ban

Here is the latest from the potential Chicago smoking ban courtesy of the RedEye.

Dragging ash

By Maegan Carberry
RedEye
Published December 6, 2005

After more than three years of butting heads, aldermen could finally vote Wednesday to ban smoking in restaurants, bars or both.

Activists on both sides are tired of waiting and say decision time is now.

"It's Chicago politics at its finest," said Dan Rosenthal, owner of Trattoria No. 10 and spokesman for Chefs and Owners United for Good Health--a group of 120 restaurants that support a comprehensive smoking ban. "It's clout over caring. Personal benefit over personal health. It's absolute insanity. Every major city in the country should be laughing at the process we're going through."

The smoking ban debate "makes me want to puke," Rosenthal said.

Opponents of a comprehensive ban also say it's time to act.
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Jenna Bush loses ID

It appears our favorite first daughter has run into a little trouble again.

FLUSTERED JENNA LOSES WALLET

December 5, 2005 -- FUN-loving First Daughter Jenna Bush apparently lost her wallet at Lower East Side hotspot Happy Endings while fleeing from a would-be suitor.

The 23-year-old blonde is said to have left a billfold stuffed with $1,000 in cash and her University of Texas at Austin student ID card at the watering hole some time last week, reports Travis Poston, proprietor of Web site tbirdshow.com.

Poston, whose brand-new site features interviews with ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, rapper Method Man and Conan O'Brien bandleader Max Weinberg, was shooting footage at Happy Endings last Tuesday night when a twentysomething man approached him and showed him Bush's ID.

The man said he ran into a tipsy Jenna at the bar a few nights before, and he began flirting with her. She rebuffed his advances and soon left.

"He said on camera that she left her wallet there and that he took $1,000 in cash from it," Poston told PAGE SIX. "I have him showing me her ID on video. It's crystal clear — it's definitely her ID." Poston says he is mulling whether or not to post the footage on his Web site.

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Pimps protested in Maywood, Bishop Don Magic Juan a no show?

On Saturday, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell wrote about an upcoming "Players Ball" hosted by the infamous pimp Don Magic Juan. According to Mitchell:

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After a meet-and-greet downtown, the pimps will gather at Mariella, which by the way is located directly across the street from the Maywood Police Department, and party.
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According to The Bishop's Web site, VIP tickets to the event cost $300. At those prices, you'd think the pimps would strut their stuff at the Hilton or Fairmont or Palmer House hotels.

The fact that The Bishop is coming to Maywood could mean only one of two things: Either Maywood is coming up in the world as an entertainment destination, or the unseemly fascination with pimps and ho's has finally run its course, and The Bishop, who is usually seen hanging out with Snoop Dogg and Ice-T, is on his way down.
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Click here for Mitchell's December 3, 2005 column

Who knew the Bishop had a website (windycitywatch.com was unable to find it via google), but what was surprising it appears the attention and the resulting protests scared him and others away as today's Sun-Times reports:

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As the ball was across from the Maywood Police Department, a handful of officers were already outside the banquet hall when the protest began shortly after 5 p.m. Police remained outside after all but a few of the protesters had left by 7:30 p.m. "We're going to be very observant," said acting Police Chief Donald Mobley, who said he supported the protesters. "If we find any illegal activity, we're going to act on it."

As of late Saturday, there were no problems, police said. By 10 p.m. only a couple dozen partygoers had arrived. "The Bishop" was not among them, police said.
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Click here for entire story

One alleged player chose to defend the party.

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One partygoer, who called himself Mighty Brown, defended the party. "Everybody participating in this is an entrepreneur, a businessman as far as helping people eat," said Brown, who wore a wide-brimmed tan hat and a light brown suit with a knee-length coat. "Women, or ladies of the night, are doing it because they want to do it. It's a lot of misconception about us guys."
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Update: Cheerleader sued for delivering beatdown following alleged saphic bathroom romp

It appears that the woman who was punched by a Carolina Panther cheerleader accused of a "lesbian sex act" has sued her.

Lawsuit Filed in Alleged Cheerleader Lesbian Sex Scandal



By Jim Roberts
Dec 4, 2005

Former Carolina Panthers cheerleaders Renee Thomas is being sued by a woman she allegedly punched in a bar in Tampa in early November.

Melissa Holden, 26, of Tampa, was waiting in line in the bathroom of a Tampa bar on Nov. 6 when Victoria Renee Thomas punched her, police said, according to an AP report.

Thomas was accused by some patrons of engaging in a lesbian sex act with fellow Carolina Panthers TopCat cheerleader Angela Keathley in the bathroom stall.

She later denied having sex with Angela.
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Oh oh, Brad to become "baby daddy" to Angelina's kids

Will they still deny that they are romantically involved?

Brad Pitt moves to adopt Jolie children: reports
Sat Dec 3, 2005 4:13 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Brad Pitt has filed legal papers in Los Angeles to adopt the children of actress Angelina Jolie, news media reported on Friday, adding that this might be a step leading to the couple's marrying.

Life & Style magazine said Pitt, 41, has filed to become the legal adopted father of Jolie's two children, Maddox, 4, and Zahara, 10 months. They will go by the last name of Jolie-Pitt when the legal steps are completed, the magazine said, quoting a representative for Pitt.

Jolie, 30, adopted Maddox from Cambodia and Zahara from Ethiopia.

"The ink isn't even dry on the adoption papers, and Brad is literally jumping for joy," the magazine quoted an unnamed "insider" as saying. "He's calling friends and telling them the great news."
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