Stars converge in Palm Springs to celebrate year’s best films, Emma Stone’s career

Stars converge in Palm Springs to celebrate year’s best films, Emma Stone’s career

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Emma Stone reflected on her career highlights and Meryl Streep praised Billie Eilish and “Barbie” with saving the movie industry Thursday during one of the first stops of Hollywood’s awards season. Stone, Streep, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Cillian Murphy were among the A-listers who descended on the … Read more

Cher is denied an immediate conservatorship over son’s money, but the issue isn’t done

Cher is denied an immediate conservatorship over son’s money, but the issue isn’t done

LOS ANGELES — A judge on Friday declined to immediately put Cher’s son into the legal conservatorship that she is seeking and he is opposing, but the court will take up the issue again within weeks. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jessica A. Uzcategui ruled that Cher’s attorneys had not given Elijah Blue Allman and … Read more

A push to expand Medicaid has Kansas governor embracing politics and cutting against her brand

A push to expand Medicaid has Kansas governor embracing politics and cutting against her brand

TOPEKA, Kan. — Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly is more aggressive and openly political in pushing to expand Medicaid in Kansas as the Republican-controlled Legislature prepares to open its annual session Monday following five years of failed efforts to provide state health coverage to another 150,000 people. Kelly faces leaders of GOP supermajorities whose priorities are … Read more

Pedro Pascal, Melanie Lynskey, the Obamas among nominees at creative arts Emmy Awards

Pedro Pascal, Melanie Lynskey, the Obamas among nominees at creative arts Emmy Awards

LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Pedro Pascal and Melanie Lynskey are up for two of the most coveted Emmy Awards on Jan. 15, but both are also among this weekend’s nominees at the creative arts Emmys. Pascal, nominated for best actor in a drama for “ The Last of Us,” is up for … Read more

Defense Secretary Austin hospitalized due to complications after minor procedure

Defense Secretary Austin hospitalized due to complications after minor procedure

WASHINGTON — WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized since Monday, due to complications following a minor elective medical procedure, Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, said Friday. It was the department’s first acknowledgement that Austin had been admitted — five days earlier — to Walter Reed National … Read more

Radio reporter fired over comedy act reinstated after an arbitrator finds his jokes ‘funny’

Radio reporter fired over comedy act reinstated after an arbitrator finds his jokes ‘funny’

A reporter who was fired for his standup comedy has been reinstated to his job at a Philadelphia-based public radio station through an arbitrator, who agreed that his jokes were, in some part, funny. Jad Sleiman, 34, is to be fully reinstated to his position with WHYY, a Philadelphia-based NPR station, after an arbitrator determined … Read more

Nigel Lythgoe stepping aside as ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ judge after sexual assault allegations

Nigel Lythgoe stepping aside as ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ judge after sexual assault allegations

LOS ANGELES — TV producer Nigel Lythgoe said Friday that he is stepping aside as a judge on “So You Think You Can Dance” after lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault, including one from Paula Abdul. Lythgoe is also co-creator and executive producer of the Fox dance competition series, whose 18th season is set to … Read more

David Soul, the actor who portrayed the blond half of TV’s ‘Starsky and Hutch,’ dies at 80

David Soul, the actor who portrayed the blond half of TV’s ‘Starsky and Hutch,’ dies at 80

LONDON — Actor-singer David Soul, a 1970s heartthrob who co-starred as the blond half of the crime-fighting duo “Starsky & Hutch” and topped the music charts with the ballad “Don’t Give Up on Us,” has died at the age of 80. His wife, Helen Snell, said Friday that “David Soul – beloved husband, father, grandfather … Read more

Jo Koy ready to fulfill childhood dream of hosting Golden Globes with hopes of leaving positive mark

Jo Koy ready to fulfill childhood dream of hosting Golden Globes with hopes of leaving positive mark

LOS ANGELES — LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jo Koy remembers watching major award ceremonies like the Golden Globes with his mother on their living room sofa trying to guess the winners. It was a ritual that Koy cherished as a child. Since then, he’s grown as a comedian with various stand-up specials and several acting … Read more

Kentucky governor backs longer list of conditions eligible for marijuana treatment

Kentucky governor backs longer list of conditions eligible for marijuana treatment

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Access to medical marijuana in Kentucky should expand to include a longer list of severe health conditions, Gov. Andy Beshear said Thursday in advocating a change that would make hundreds of thousands more people eligible for treatment when the program begins next year. The measure passed by the GOP-led legislature in 2023 … Read more