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ENTERTAINMENT
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN FRIDAY, AUGUST 24, 2007
CRIME
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers speaks during a news conference at the Beverly Hills Court on Thursday. Lohan reached a plea deal on misdemeanor drunk driving and cocaine charges that called for her to spend one day in jail, serve 10 days of community service and complete a drug-treatment program.
Lohan avoids felony charges
BY SANDY COHEN ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Lindsay Lohan was charged with seven misdemeanors Thursday stemming from two drunken-driving arrests, avoiding more serious felony drug charges because tests showed there wasn't enough cocaine on her to warrant them.
The district attorney charged the 21-year-old actress with two counts each of driving under the influence, driving with a blood-alcohol level
above .08 percent and being under the influence of cocaine, along with one count of reckless driving.
Police found cocaine on Lohan during the arrests on May 26 in Beverly Hills and July 24 in Santa Monica. In each incident, the amounts tested were below the 05 grams required for felony charges, according to the district attorney's office.
Lohan's arraignment was scheduled for Friday but a conference with a Los Angeles Superior Court judge in Beverly Hills was set for later Thursday. A disposition on the
charges could be reached during the hearing, according to Deputy District Attorney Danette Meyers.
The maximum penalty for a single misdemeanor DUI conviction in California is 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Conviction on a second DUI charge could draw a penalty of up to one year in jail.
Lohan's legal problems come on the heels of two other high-profile celebrity DUI cases in Los Angeles that resulted in jail time. Paris Hilton served 23 days behind bars after she was found guilty of driving on a suspended license while on probation
for an alcohol-related reckless driving case. Nicole Richie was ordered to serve four days in jail stemming from a December DUI arrest.
Lohan's publicist did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment about Thursday's charges.
Lohan crashed her Mercedes Benz into a tree on Sunset Boulevard in May and fled the scene to seek medical treatment. Police tests revealed that a white powder found in Lohan's purse was 04 grams of cocaine.
Lohan checked into the posh Promises rehabilitation facility in Malibu after the incident. She left the facility July 13 after six weeks of treatment. She was photographed wearing an alcohol-monitoring ankle bracelet after her release.
Lohan was arrested again on July 24 following a 911 call by Michelle Peck, the mother of Lohan's former personal assistant. Peck told police she was being chased by an SUV. Police later said Lohan was the driver.
Lohan's blood-alcohol level was between 0.12 and 0.13 percent when police found her, officials said. Police also found a white powder in her pocket that was determined to be .02 grams of cocaine.
After the incident, Lohan said in an e-mail to a host for the celebritynews show "Access Hollywood" that she was "innocent" and the drugs found in her pocket during a prebooking search were not hers.
A woman who was a passenger in Michelle Peck's vehicle sued the actress this month for assault and negligence.
She has reportedly been in a Sundance, Utah, rehab center in recent weeks.
Tracie Rice's suit seeks unspecified damages and payment of medical and other expenses related to emotional distress.
》 HEALTH
Early detection gives co-host good prognosis
BY KATHY HANRAHAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
JACKSON, Miss. — Robin Roberts' prognosis is "quite good."
"The cancer is out of my body and I'm healing from the surgery," the "Good Morning America" cohost told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Thursday, "Hopefully, the plan now is to keep it out."
She announced on ABC's morn-
She almost
show July 31 that she
had been diag-
nosed with breast cancer
and underwent
surgery Aug. 3.
that it is going to be fine. The road getting there is going to be a little bumpier than 1 anticipated and they anticipated, I am better off than so many people who find it so late and that is why I am grateful and that again is why my battle cry is early detection."
Roberts, who grew up in Pass Christian, Miss., said her mother "was fussing at me" for returning to work less than two weeks after her surgery.
The 46-year-old Roberts said doctors would wait several weeks for her to heal before having her undergo more treatment, which may mean chemotherapy. Roberts said she did not want to be specific about her treatment until she was certain what it will be.
"When it comes to cancer it is personal. It's not one size fits all. You have to do what is right for you."
ROBIN ROBERTS
"Good Morning America" co-host
She added that not every person who undergoes the surgery could make the decision to return that quickly to work.
"The prognosis is quite good," she said. "I did find it in the early stages. I am very confident and they (doctors) are very confident
"When it comes to cancer it is personal. It's not one size fits all. You
have to do what is right for you" she said.
Since being diagnosed with the disease, Roberts said it felt like her life was moving at "90 mph." After the surgery, the former sportscaster described the weeks between the next step in treatment as "half-time."
AMERICAN IDOL
BY ERIN CARLSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
'Idol'winner releases first single,'Tattoo'
ing pressure to make her own mark on the music world.
NEW YORK — Given the multiplatinum, Grammy-winning successes of fellow "American Idol" winners Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood, Jordis Sparks is feel-
It's a lot to live up to.
"They've risen the bar so high and I'm like, 'I hope I can reach it,'" the bubbly 17-year-old told The Associated
seal of approval from the beginning. It was love at first listen.
Sparks, the youngest winner in the Fox show's six seasons, said her
"Right after I heard the first chorus, I was like,'I wanna sing that song. I have to have it. I wanna sing it.' "
"Right after I heard the first chorus, I was like, 'I wanna sing that song. I have to have it. I wanna sing it,' she said.
JORDIN SPARKS
'American Idol' winner
Press on Wednesday. "I'm trying to reach it! I just really hope that when (my CD) comes out it'll be great and maybe as good as theirs. And hopefully it'll sell well and people will like it."
She offers a taste of the disc with her new single, "Tattoo," to be released on AOL's PopEater music blog Friday and to radio stations Monday. The poppy tune on ending a romance had the Sparks
debut album,
set for Nov.
20, would be
a musical mixture of styles including poprock — in the edgy key of Clarkson, one of her role models — and the dramatic ballads that made her stand
out on the "Idol" stage. She hope to add some country, too.
This girl's got goals — among them, to "maybe win a couple Grammys ... Maybe be happy with somebody. Maybe act in a movie. Maybe do Broadway."
Sparks is still coming to terms with celebrity. Seeing her picture in glossy magazines is surreal. But shed rather be in the spotlight than out of it.
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