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In the news
Compiled from Times wires Poundstone loses battle over probation termsA California judge refused to change probation terms for comedian Paula Poundstone in a child abuse case. Superior Court Judge Bernard J. Kamins denied a defense motion to modify her probation conditions, her attorney, Mark Werksman, said Friday. "We're trying to get this court to allow the dependency court to take over all decisions" regarding the reunification of Poundstone with her foster children, the attorney said. Poundstone lost custody of her three adopted children after pleading no contest last year to a felony count of child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of infliction of injury on a child. The endangerment charge involved driving while drunk with children in her car. The children were placed with a friend of Poundstone's who is a court-approved foster parent. Poundstone, 42, sees the children daily but the visits are monitored, her attorney said. Stone ready to return to the big screenSharon Stone, who suffered a near-fatal brain hemorrhage eight months ago, is preparing to make her big screen return, reports Variety. The Basic Instinct star, 44, is in negotiations to play the female lead in a Walt Disney thriller called Cold Creek Manor, also starring Dennis Quaid. The movie (which she would begin filming in early August) will be her first major studio movie since 1998's Sphere. Cold Creek Manor, to be directed by Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas), tells the story of a family who moves to the country, only to have their dream of a peaceful life shattered when the previous owner returns from prison and wants his house back. Seagal target of extortion plotAction star Steven Seagal apparently had a run-in with some goodfellas, and it wasn't part of a movie scene. According to court papers filed in New York last week in connection with a 68-count federal racketeering indictment that snared 17 mob figures, Gambino crime family associates tried to extort hundreds of thousands of dollars from the tough-guy actor. Although the papers did not identify the victim, Knight Ridder Newspapers reported that law enforcement sources said it was Seagal, 50, whose films include Marked for Death, Under Siege and Exit Wounds. Investigators said Seagal was so shaken that he paid $700,000 to the mobsters. Wiretapped conversations show Julius Nasso, Seagal's producer, apparently took part in the extortion scheme.
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From the wire |
