People talk 1/15/03

Fire at Aretha Franklin home called arson

BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- A fire that destroyed a 12-bedroom home belonging to Aretha Franklin last year was intentionally set, investigators said.

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing a report on the arson early Oct. 25 that burned through the singer's unoccupied, 10,000-square-foot home in this Detroit suburb.

"No one's in custody, but we believe we know who set it," Bloomfield Township police chief Jeffrey Werner told The Detroit News.

Prosecutor David Gorcyca told The Oakland Press of Pontiac that charges could be issued as early as Tuesday.

"There are three separate points of origin in one room in the house," Gorcyca said. "The chemicals are similar to, and may be, lighter fluid. A known accelerant was used."

Rock legend's sister drops criminal chargesLONDON -- The sister of rock 'n' roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis has withdrawn harassment allegations against singer Van Morrison, a court said Tuesday.

Linda Gail Lewis, 54, had lodged two claims -- one of sexual harassment and one of wrongful dismissal -- against Morrison, her former employer.

An employment tribunal in Cardiff, Wales, rejected the wrongful dismissal claim in July 2002, and announced Tuesday that Morrison and Lewis had settled the other claim.

Morrison's lawyer, Paul Tweed, said he couldn't reveal terms of the agreement, but said Lewis had dropped her allegations and apologized to the singer, whose hits include "Moondance" and "Brown Eyed Girl."

"Mr. Morrison remains very disappointed that the legal process has taken almost two years to reach this stage," Tweed said after the hearing.

"However, he is pleased that these claims before the employment tribunal have finally been withdrawn, and he has now accepted a full apology and comprehensive retraction, which represents a complete vindication of his stance from the outset."

Jerry Lewis shares pain of comedy-caused injuryCLEVELAND -- Jerry Lewis, who suffered for years from intense back pain until last April, is spreading his message that chronic pain does not have to lead to a sense of helplessness.

The 76-year-old said years of comic pratfalls caused his back problems, but he got relief when surgeons in Houston implanted a battery-powered spinal cord stimulator that blocks pain. Lewis became a spokesman for Medtronic Inc., the device's manufacturer.

"There is hope, and I have been blessed. They told me I might get 60 to 70 percent relief. I got 100," he said during a tour of the Cleveland Clinic hospital's pain management center.

Lewis, known for hosting the annual telethon for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, called his back problems "the most diabolical pain."

"For 37 years I couldn't breathe," said the actor, who co-starred with Dean Martin in more than a dozen comedy classics in the 1940s and '50s.

Lewis had a bout with spinal meningitis a few years ago and was diagnosed in 2001 with pulmonary fibrosis, an increase of fibrous tissue in the lungs. He has gained weight from a steroid treatment. He also has diabetes.

Kidman gets her 'icing' with star in HollywoodLOS ANGELES -- Nicole Kidman showed off her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, saying she'd "never been so excited to have people walk all over me for the rest of my life."

"I love to act and this is sort of the icing on the cake," she said at Monday's ceremony. Her star went on display alongside the theater where the Oscars are presented.

"I can't believe that this is happening in terms of the work and in terms of the films being embraced," she told KCAL-TV of her recent string of successes. "My New Year's resolution is to savor it."

--From wire reports