Massachusetts

LONDON (AP) ― Will Smith charmed the crowd, Amy Winehouse wowed them just by showing up, but Nelson Mandela proved to be the biggest star of all at a concert Friday in honor of the South African statesman’s 90th birthday.

Acts including Queen, Razorlight, Leona Lewis and a host of African stars joined more than 40,000 music fans for the outdoor show in London’s Hyde Park, hosted by movie star Smith and held to mark Mandela’s birthday on July 18.

Josh Groban and the Soweto Gospel Choir also performed at the event, which comes 20 years after a 70th birthday concert for an absent Mandela at London’s Wembley Stadium. Mandela, an anti-apartheid activist, had at that point been imprisoned in South Africa for 25 years. (Read the full post about ‘Nelson Mandela’s Birthday Is Jubilant Show’…)

(CBS News) Just when you thought it was safe to come out after the Paul McCartney-Heather Mills divorce, it seems there’s another aging rocker’s split to wallow in.

The marriage of Madonna and British film maker Guy Ritchie was always as unlikely as it was tempestuous, observes CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. And now, he says — if you believe the headlines — it’s becoming very publicly unstuck.

“More telling” than media reports, Early Show entertainment contributor and People magazine Executive Editor Jess Cagle said Saturday, “is the fact that the Madonna camp is issuing a ‘no comment.’ I think, if it wasn’t true, or if something wasn’t going on, they would have issued a denial.”

Behind the headlines, Phillips says, “the usual nameless friends” are quoted saying the couple “had simply drifted apart” and “were leading increasingly separate lives.”

That things were a little tense was obvious when the couple were in India earlier this year. (Read the full post about ‘Madonna May Be Headed To Divorce Court’…)

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. (CBS) ― She’s a superstar, no doubt. We’re talking about Jennifer Lopez. Now the actress-singer is being sued for millions. And it’s all because her guard dog may be too good at his job.

A flight attendant says the German shepherd attacked her, and now she wants $5 million for it.

The lawsuit has many in Lopez’s Long Island community jumping to the entertainer’s defense.

Lopez, her husband and their twins live on Long Island’s north shore in an estate monitored by local police and neighbors who protect the privacy of the megastars. J. (Read the full post about ‘J. Lo Sued For $5 Million Over Dog Bite’…)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― MTV isn’t ruling out giving viewers more Britney Spears at this year’s Video Music Awards. “Everyone deserves a second or third chance, right?” Van Toffler, president of MTV Networks Music Group, playfully told The Associated Press during a telephone interview Friday. When asked if he was just joking, Toffler said “sorta.”

“Who knows?” he said.

Spears’ out-of-it “Gimme More” comeback performance during last year’s MTV Video Music Awards at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas was one of the most-talked televised moments of 2007. The drama-filled VMAs drew 7.1 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. (Read the full post about ‘VMAs Would Consider Second Chance For Spears’…)

HYDE PARK, VT (AP) ― For years, people have stopped by Applecheek Farm to buy milk — straight from the cow.

They consider it more nutritious than pasteurized milk. Now, a new law allows farmer John Clark to sell even more — up to 50 quarts a day — and to advertise it, but he hopes one day it will be more.

“Hopefully, it can expand so consumers can have a choice and farmers can have a choice,” said Clark. “Farmers can have the choice to sell it and consumers can have the choice to buy it without limitations, and let it be a consumer and farmer relationship choice and not a bureaucratic choice.”

Demand for unpasteurized milk has grown in recent years as consumers — worried about chemicals and hormones used in traditional dairy farming — seek alternatives. (Read the full post about ‘Law Lets Farmers To Sell More Unpasteurized Milk’…)

BOSTON (WBZ) ― The young man who was arrested during the Celtics victory celebrations earlier this month has died.

David Woodman, 22, of Southwick was pronounced dead at Beth Israel Medical Center Sunday afternoon.

Woodman was in the Fenway area with a group of four other men, when police say officers tried to question him about an open container they believed contained alcohol. They say Woodman tried to run away, but was stopped by officers.

“The suspect began struggling with the officers as they attempted to handcuff him. At that time, officers realized that he was in medical distress; they immediately began to administer CPR,” Boston Police said in a written statement. (Read the full post about ‘Fan Hospitalized After Celtics Win Dies’…)

BOSTON (AP) ― A new Massachusetts commission will study the mental health effects of military service and make recommendations about how the state can help returning veterans.
 
The “Wounds of War” commission will look at whether the state should create a mandatory mental health treatment program for national guard members who engage in combat.

The commission will also look at the potential benefits of a military family leave policy for caregivers and a statewide education training program to assist police, corrections officers and first responders about the early warning signs of post traumatic stress disorder.

The 19-member commission is set to meet for the first time this week. (Read the full post about ‘Mass. Commission To Study Mental Health War Wounds’…)

FOXBORO (WBZ) ― An 18-year-old girl was killed after her car went off the road in Foxboro and then crashed into a fence and a tree.

Foxboro police said Jackie Thomas and her passenger were rushed to Norwood Hospital with serious injuries. “She wasn’t breathing when they got to her, from what I’m told. And then they did resuscitate her and bring her back to life, so they were working really hard at that,” said Glen Hedderig, who lives near the crash scene on Cocassett Street.

Thomas was pronounced dead just after 2 a.m. at Norwood Hospital. Her passenger’s name and condition is unknown.

Only hours after the accident, at a safe driving course for teens, some of Thomas’ friends received the news. (Read the full post about ‘Teen Girl Killed When Car Crashes Into Tree’…)

DORCHESTER (WBZ) ― A 29-year-old man was shot to death in Dorchester around 2:30 a.m. Saturday.

The man was shot in the chest and was rushed to Carney Hospital where he later died, Boston police officials said.

The shooting happened at 113 Ames Street at the Franklin Field Housing development.

Police are investigating the circumstances around the shooting.  No arrests have been made.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to contact police at 617-343-4470.  Anonymous tips can be placed at 1-800-494-TIPS.

(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc.

(Read the full post about ‘Man Killed In Dorchester Shooting’…)

In two important opinions released this morning, the Supreme Court has:

• held (by a 5-4 vote) that the 2nd Amendment creates a limited individual right to own a gun.  From SCOTUSblog:
  

  the Court nullified two provisions of the city of Washington’s strict 1976 gun control law: a flat ban on possessing a gun in one’s home, and a requirement that any gun - except one kept at a business - must be unloaded and disassembled or have a trigger lock in place.  The Court said it was not passing on a part of the law requiring that guns be licensed.  It said that issuing a license to a handgun owner, so the weapon can be used at home, would be a sufficient remedy for the Second Amendment violation of denying any access to a handgun.

(Read the full post about ‘Supreme Court strikes down DC’s gun ban; says Millionaire’s Amendment goes too far’…)