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In the news
By Times staff writer Sunday night's season premiere of The Sopranos beat all the broadcast networks and scored the highest ratings in HBO's three-decade history. This is the first time a premium cable show -- available in only a third of American homes -- beat all the offerings on the traditional TV networks. An estimated 13.4-million viewers tuned in for the one-hour premiere, compared with 11.3-million for the third-season debut in March 2001, according to Nielsen Media Research numbers. The closest Sunday night competitor was an NBC rerun of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, with an estimated 3-million fewer viewers. Trial date set in Ryder caseNegotiations for a plea bargain in Winona Ryder's shoplifting case have fallen apart, so a judge on Wednesday set a trial date. Deputy District Attorney Ann Rundle didn't describe the offer made to the actor or say why it was withdrawn. Superior Court Judge Elden Fox then set Oct. 7 for a trial. Ryder, 30, is charged with second-degree burglary, grand theft, vandalism and possession of a controlled substance. She could face three years in prison if convicted. Judge rules for Rowling in plagiarism lawsuitA federal judge has rejected claims by Camp Hill, Pa., writer Nancy Stouffer that she was plagiarized by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and fined Stouffer $50,000, saying she "perpetuated a fraud." U.S. District Judge Allen G. Schwartz, in New York, found only minimal similarities between the multimillion-selling fantasy series and Stouffer's books. The ruling was a summary judgment on claims and counterclaims dating to 1999. Stouffer's attorney, Thomas McNamara, said he was considering new filings. Stouffer has said she wrote several books in the '80s, including The Legend of Rah and the Muggles, and a series of Larry Potter stories. Rowling's first Potter book, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, came out in 1997. Tickets go on sale for Tony Hawk arena tourTickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday for Tony Hawk's Boom Boom Huckjam Arena Tour, with skateboarders, BMX bikers, Motocross riders and music by Good Charlotte. The tour comes to the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa at 7 p.m. Nov. 16. Tickets are $25, $40 and $75 and available at the box office (813) 223-1000 or Ticketmaster (813) 287-8844 or (727) 898-2100. Macon honors Otis ReddingOtis Redding, the soul singer best known for (Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay, has been honored in his hometown of Macon, Ga., with a 7-foot bronze statue that shows him sitting on a dock, playing his guitar. His widow, Zelma Redding, attended the unveiling ceremony over the weekend in Gateway Park on the banks of the Ocmulgee River. "Today, he would say, 'I finally got all the respect I deserved,"' she told the Macon Telegraph. Redding was killed in a plane crash on Dec. 10, 1967.
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From the wire |
