Faces & Names: Reyelts named to broadcasting hall

A second member of the Northland’s NewsCenter team in Duluth has been named to the Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

The museum announced Thursday that Barbara Reyelts would be honored as one of its new members for 2011. The museum said Reyelts will join her friend and colleague Michelle Lee among the all-time greats in Minnesota radio and television.

Reyelts and fellow inductees will be honored Oct. 15 at the 11th annual Museum of Broadcasting Hall of Fame Gala at the Metropolitan Ballroom in Golden Valley.

Teacher, reporter and news anchor, award-winning investigative journalist Reyelts is now news director at KBJR TV

Info: museumofbroadcasting.org or (952) 926-8198.

Moore to undergo brain tumor surgery

A representative for Mary Tyler Moore says the veteran sitcom star will have surgery to remove a brain tumor. Spokeswoman Alla Plotkin said Moore’s doctors recommended the elective procedure after monitoring the tumor for some time. Plotkin did not say when the surgery would take place.

It would remove a meningioma, a slow-growing tumor in the membranes that cover the brain. Meningiomas usually occur in older adults and are mostly benign.

The 74-year-old Moore gained stardom as a modern suburban housewife on the 1960s comedy “The Dick Van Dyke Show,” then went on to headline her own successful series as a single woman pursuing a career.

PBS’ Lehrer to retire as regular anchor

Jim Lehrer has been delivering the news each weeknight to PBS viewers since the Gerald Ford administration. Now he says it’s time to step away.

He announced Thursday that he’s leaving the “News-Hour” as a regular anchor effective the week of June 6.

Lehrer’s 77th birthday is next week. He said he will still appear many Fridays to moderate an analysis of the week’s news with columnists Mark Shields and David Brooks, and offer

behind-the-scenes advice to the show’s executive producer, Linda Winslow.

“It’s not that I’m sick or tired or anything,” said Lehrer. “It’s just that I wanted to step back.”

The “NewsHour” has steadfastly remained a serious newscast as changes to television journalism swirled around it. Lehrer was originally partnered with Robert MacNeil on a Washington-based newscast in 1975. MacNeil retired in 1996, leaving Lehrer as the sole anchor.

Local singers in St. Paul’s Skylark Opera productions

Three Duluth theater regulars have landed roles in upcoming productions by a St. Paul opera company.

Local singers Jeffrey Madison and Vicki Fingalson will star in the Skylark Opera’s fourth annual Summer Festival June 10-19 at E.M. Pearson Theatre. The husband and wife duo team up for “The Vagabond King,” Rudolf Friml’s comedic story of romance, swords and political intrigue in which the hero has 24 hours to defeat the Duke of Burgundy, save the French monarchy and decide between the two women who are after him.

Meanwhile, Sarah Lawrence of Duluth is in the Skylark production of “On the Town” by Leonard Bernstein, directed by Robert Neu.

Lawrence is co-director of Lyric Opera of the North in Duluth,

Madison, a baritone, and Fingalson, a soprano, teach voice at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and perform operas around the country.

For more information on tickets, dates and times of shows, go to skylarkopera.org.

Elton John photos wanted, too

On Monday, still smarting a bit from having our photographer denied entrance at the Sheryl Crow concert (we failed to arrange it far enough ahead of time, her promoters said), the DNT asked those who did make it into the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center performance to send in their shots. Several of you did, with their images being posted in an online photo gallery today.

But let’s not leave out Elton John, whose people didn’t seem to object much to what had to have been thousands of flashing cell phone cameras at his DECC performance. Send your pictures from either concert to

cityeditors@duluthnews.com and we’ll add the gallery.

Now, can you feel the love in that?

Lohan glad theft case resolved

A lawyer entered a no contest plea Wednesday for Lindsay Lohan in the theft of a necklace, setting the stage for a summer of confinement, counseling and community service.

Defense attorney Shawn Holley made the plea for the actress, who did not appear in court in the misdemeanor case involving a $2,500 necklace taken from an upscale shop in the Venice area of Los Angeles.

Lohan, 24, did not acknowledge guilt through the plea, but the court will log the case as a conviction.

She said later in the day in a written statement that she was glad to put the case behind her and has already started her 300 hours of community service at a shelter for women.

Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner ordered Lohan to serve a 120-day jail sentence and remain on probation in a 2007 drunken driving case while she completes 480 hours of community service and undergoes psychological counseling.

Along with the women’s shelter, she will do 120 hours of community service at the coroner’s office, with the remainder to be decided.

Williams joins Karmaloop TV

Rapper-producer Pharrell Williams is expanding his focus to include a new TV network aimed at the online generation.

Karmaloop TV said Monday that Williams has been named creative director for the network scheduled to launch later this year. Karmaloop will feature original productions along with movies that have shaped the 18-to-34-year-olds who grew up with the Internet.

Williams, frontman for the rap-rock trio N.E.R.D. and half of the production duo The Neptunes, said the “progressive youth culture” is underserved by what’s available in the marketplace.

Gaga to debut songs on FarmVille

Lady Gaga is turning to an unusual method to cultivate her fan base: The pop icon is releasing songs from her new album on a section of the popular online game “FarmVille” before they can be heard anywhere else.

The singer, known for her outrageous styles and hits such as “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance,” will allow singles from “Born This Way” (due out May 23) to be heard within a specially-created farm, called “GagaVille,” in the game. Players will have to complete tasks to hear one exclusive new track per day streamed online from May 17 to 19. Starting on May 20, players also will be able to unlock additional songs that aren’t exclusive.

“FarmVille” is one of the most popular games on Facebook, played by about 46 million people worldwide each month.

Houston voluntarily enters rehab

Whitney Houston is back in rehab. A representative for the superstar singer confirmed Monday that Houston is undergoing treatment. Kristen Foster says Houston is in an out-patient program for drug and alcohol treatment. She says it is a voluntary measure and part of Houston’s “long-standing” recovery process.

The 47-year-old, one of the most successful singers in pop music history, has battled problems with drug addiction for years. But in 2009, as she released a comeback album, she declared herself healthy and clean.

However, her 2010 tour overseas was troubled: Houston canceled some dates due to illness and received negative reviews from fans who were disappointed in the quality of her voice and performance.

Lohan expected to plead no contest in jewelry theft case

Actress Lindsay Lohan is expected to enter a no contest plea this week to a misdemeanor theft charge in connection with an incident four months ago, sources familiar with the case said Monday.

Lohan is accused of stealing a $2,500 necklace from a Venice, Calif., jeweler.

One source familiar with the case said Lohan’s attorney Shawn Holley may enter the plea Wednesday during a scheduled pretrial hearing. Lohan, 24, is not required to be present before the judge because it is a misdemeanor offense.

Last month, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner reduced the charge in the case from a felony to a misdemeanor, a move that could significantly reduce the amount of time Lohan would spend behind bars if convicted. The judge said she thought the reduction of the charge was justified and that it occurs all the time in less high-profile cases.

Sautner already has sentenced Lohan to 120 days in jail for violating her 2007 drunken-driving probation by taking the necklace. That sentence was appealed by the actress.

Cosby tells grads to help tornado victims

Comedian Bill Cosby encouraged graduates of Birmingham’s Miles College to help rebuild the tornado-ravaged communities in Alabama.

Cosby told the graduates Saturday to look for ways to help the survivors of the April 27 storms that killed more than 200 people across the state. He said the graduates need to “work it, rebuild it.”

He told the 207-member graduating class: “This is Alabama. This is you.”

Cosby spent Friday touring the damage with college president George French and other officials. He also received an honorary doctorate from the historically black college.

Nicks shares solo album inspiration

Stevie Nicks found inspiration everywhere before digging into her first solo album in 10 years.

She sat down at a piano in an Australian hotel and declared: “I’m ready to make a record now.”

“I really don’t care if anybody buys it, and I really don’t care if everybody steals it,” she said during an interview at her Pacific Palisades home. “What I need is to make a record for me, the artist. I need to create something now. So I am going to close my eyes to the music business and its problems, and go forth with a good heart and great belief and make a record.”

The result, “In Your Dreams,” was released last week.

The album features a song Nicks wrote in 1975, right after joining Fleetwood Mac. She never shared it with the band, “which is crazy because this is a very easy, simple, precise song that Lindsey Buckingham would’ve loved, and Fleetwood Mac would’ve loved,” she says. “I put it away right after I joined the band, and for some reason, I never put it on any of my records either.”

Last year, she remembered the track that she’d stuffed into a box in her parents’ Phoenix home: “Something in my head, I saw the cassette in my head with the little ink that said, ‘Secret Love.’ ”

It’s the first single from “In Your Dreams.”

Charges to be dropped in Bieber N.Y. mall frenzy

Justin Bieber has agreed to record a public service announcement on cyberbullying in order to resolve misdemeanor charges filed against one of his managers and a record executive after a frenzy at a New York mall.

The case stemmed from an incident in 2009, when thousands of unruly girls turned up at a clothing store on Long Island to see the teen pop star sign autographs.

Bieber manager Scott Bruan and Def Jam Records executive James Roppo were charged after police said they refused to help disperse the crowd.

Prosecutors told a judge Friday that they are dropping those charges. The record company and a management company pleaded guilty to fire code violations.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that having Bieber educate kids about bullying is “invaluable.”

Attorney: Cage won’t be prosecuted

An attorney for Nicolas Cage says the actor won’t face criminal charges stemming from his April 16 arrest in New Orleans.

New Orleans police said Cage was arrested in the French Quarter after he grabbed his wife’s arm and pounded on cars in a drunken argument about whether a nearby house was the one they were renting. He was booked with domestic abuse, disturbing the peace and public drunkenness.

Attorney Harry Rosenberg said that the Orleans Parish district attorney’s office refused the charges and no prosecution would occur.

District attorney spokesman Christopher Bowman said prosecutors determined “the conduct did not amount to criminal conduct.”

Cage had been free on $11,000 bond put up by bail bondsman Duane Chapman, known as “Dog the Bounty Hunter” to reality TV fans.

Sinise: Truman role changed my life

Actor Gary Sinise says playing President Harry Truman in a movie changed his life.

Sinise, the star of CBS’ “CSI: NY,” was in Kansas City Thursday to receive the Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award. He says playing Truman in a 1995 HBO film prompted him to begin working on international relief programs, including People to People in Kansas City.

People to People administers Operation International Children, an aid agency co-founded by Sinise. He received the award for those efforts and work for veterans and active military members.

Sinise also announced a new program to send school supply kits to more than 2,500 children in Haiti as part of a larger effort coordinated by the U.S. Southern Command after the 2010 earthquake.

Have an event that just happened that you’d like to share? Pictures, perhaps, or other goings-on from the Northland to Hollywoodland? Send them to facesandnames@duluthnews.com.

Tags: arts and entertainment, news, entertainment, movies, life