Philharmonic gets reprieve

The Florida Philharmonic Orchestra will have one more week to try to pull itself out of a multimillion dollar deficit, but has been authorized to file for Chapter 11 reorganization, the group's board of trustees concluded Friday.

During a three-hour meeting in Fort Lauderdale, the board granted the delay as the orchestra seeks about $4-million of relief to recover from a $2.9-million deficit.

Friday's meeting was initially set to decide the fate of the cash-strapped Florida Philharmonic and its 81 musicians, but despite the one-week reprieve, the orchestra may still be headed toward bankruptcy.

"Unless there is a groundswell of public support providing immediate commitments of at least $4-million, the board of trustees ... has authorized management to shut down the Florida Philharmonic as early as May 10," executive director Trey Devey said.

Sluggish ticket sales and a steep dropoff in donations have contributed to the orchestra's money woes.

The Florida Philharmonic is the largest cultural organization in South Florida, with an annual budget of about $10-million. It performs concerts in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Academy Awards overseers plan to write new rules to restrain Oscar campaigning, which has become more aggressive as distributors target the industry with ads and events to plug their films.

Frank Pierson, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Thursday the group's board is appointing a committee to draft new guidelines that should be in place well before awards season begins late this year.

The new rules might include harsher penalties for violations, Pierson said. The most common penalty now is to reduce a studio's allotment of tickets to the Oscar ceremony, which Pierson said amounts to a "slap on the wrist."

Current academy rules are intended to minimize efforts to influence Oscar voters and maintain a level playing field between studios with big awards budgets and smaller distributors with less to spend during Oscar season.

Hard time calls for hard rock - at least that's the view of Metallica, who performed a free hourlong concert at California's San Quentin State Prison.

The heavy metal band, which is based just up the road in Marin County, agreed to perform Thursday for about 800 inmates after spending 18 hours at the prison Wednesday filming the video for the title track to its new album, St. Anger.

A spokesman for Metallica's record company, Elektra Records, said prisoners and guards appeared as extras in the video, which was shot inside a cell block and in the outside yard during a lunch break.

"It was a humbling day for everyone," Joel Amsterdam said. "The song talks about the good and bad ways to release anger, and what that can do to you if you don't do it correctly. So it's sort of the perfect song to play for the inmates."

Other musicians who've played at San Quentin include Bonnie Raitt and Carlos Santana.

After a six-month investigation into the cause of a fire at her Oakland County, Mich., mansion, Aretha Franklin now has 10 days to clean up the mess.

"The investigation is complete, and now it is time to clean up the property," Kaye Chartier, Bloomfield Township's code and ordinance director, told the Oakland Press for Thursday's editions.

Investigators ruled that the Oct. 25 fire at the Bloomfield Township mansion was arson. No charges have been filed.

Franklin, who was in Texas at the time of the fire, has 10 days to clean up the site and 30 days to inform the township of her plans either to renovate or demolish the house, Chartier said.

"If she doesn't cooperate, the township can take legal action," said Chartier, adding that she expects the singer to fully cooperate.

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