It’s a Saturday afternoon, and “Hairspray” is in rehearsal at Signature Theatre . Robert Aubry Davis, the longtime classical music DJ and face of WETA-TV’s arts roundtable “Around Town,” dances gingerly, practicing moves in a mirror. He is wearing his trademark sweater vest, pinned with the green “S” varsity letter he earned for theatrics back in the day at Springbrook High School in Montgomery County. But in a brazen bit of local celebrity casting, soon he’ll strap on a Size 54 EEE brassiere to play Edna Turnblad — the drag role immortalized by Divine, Harvey Fierstein and John Travolta. Read full article > >

Read the original here:
Robert Aubry Davis, from critic to musical star

Finally, Penn State Coach Joe Paterno is moving in a good direction . He’s beginning to take appropriate action. After failing to do the right thing for so long, Paterno plans to retire at the end of the season. Deservedly under fire for not doing enough to stop Jerry Sandusky, his longtime friend and former top lieutenant, who has been charged with molesting eight young boys between 1994 and 2009 , Paterno announced Wednesday he will step down after completing his 46th season leading the Nittany Lions. Read full article > >

See the rest here:
Joe Paterno retiring at season’s end isn’t enough

PHOENIX — Bil Keane’s “Family Circus” comics entertained readers with a simple but sublime mix of humor and traditional family values for more than a half century. The appeal endured, the author thought, because the American public needed the consistency. Keane, who started drawing the one-panel cartoon featuring Billy, Jeffy, Dolly, P.J. and their parents in February 1960, died Tuesday at age 89 at his longtime home in Paradise Valley, near Phoenix. His comic strip is featured in nearly 1,500 newspapers across the country. Read full article > >

Originally posted here:
Bil Keane, creator of ‘Family Circus’ that entertained for nearly half-century, dies at 89

JERUSALEM — Twenty-five Egyptians left a jail in southern Israel on Thursday and were being bused to the border with Egypt ahead of a swap for a U.S.-Israeli citizen jailed in Cairo on suspicion of espionage. The June arrest in Egypt of U.S.-born Ilan Grapel set off new fears in Israel that relations with the Egyptians would sour after the ouster of their longtime president, Hosni Mubarak, in February. Read full article > >

Follow this link:
Egyptian prisoners leave Israeli jail ahead of swap for US-Israeli citizen held in Egypt

CAIRO — Al-Qaeda’s new leader is calling on Libyan fighters who overthrew Moammar Gaddafi to set up an Islamic state and urges Algerians to revolt against their longtime leader in remarks in a new Internet video. Ayman al-Zawahiri warns Libyan revolutionaries to protect their gains against “Western plots,” claiming NATO will demand that Libyans give up their Islamic faith. Read full article > >

Go here to see the original:
Al-Qaeda chief calls on anti-Gaddafi fighters to set up Islamic state, Algerians to revolt

BOSTON — The FBI says it has paid a $2.1 million reward to tipsters for information leading to the arrest of fugitive Boston mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger (BUHL’-jur) and his longtime girlfriend. Bulger was captured in June in Santa Monica, Calif., where he’d been living with Catherine Greig (grehg). Bulger, a longtime FBI informant, was wanted in connection with 19 murders. Read full article > >

Go here to read the rest:
FBI: $2.1M reward paid to tipsters in arrest of Boston mob boss ‘Whitey’ Bulger, girlfriend

Annapolis is dominated by history and water. Tourists come to see the wooden dome of the State House, visit the U.S. Naval Academy, wander down cobbled streets past 18th- and 19th-century houses or take a pleasure cruise on one of the many boats moored at the city’s docks and yacht clubs. ¶ Amid the guided tours and Colonial landmarks, though, Annapolis has even more to offer: seriously great seafood, a night-life scene that ranges from wine bars to local sailors’ pubs, alfresco art events and stylish boutiques. ¶ It’s funny how the city grows with you: As a kid, I ate peanut butter ice cream at Storm Brothers on the City Dock and ran through the gardens of the William Paca House downtown with my brother. Decades later, I come back for leisurely afternoons on the water and to visit dives that serve crab balls alongside cans of Natty Boh. ¶ Here’s a guide to our longtime favorites and recent discoveries. Read full article > >

Continue reading here:
Neighborhood Guide: Annapolis

President Obama announced Thursday that he is seeking a two-year extension of Robert S. Mueller III’s term as FBI director, saying he cannot afford to lose the longtime FBI chief at a time of terrorist threats. The request for Congress to extend Mueller’s 10-year term comes as the White House had been searching for a candidate to succeed him. Mueller, 66, is facing mandatory retirement in September after a decade in which he oversaw the crackdown on terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, along with the bureau’s ongoing transformation into an intelligence-driven agency. Read full article > >

Read the original:
Obama seeks extension for Robert Mueller as FBI director

Arnold Schwarzenegger addressed his separation from his longtime wife, Maria Shriver, at an event in Los Angeles. “We both love each other very much … and we are taking it one day at a time,” he said, noting that he had spoken to her just an hour…

Follow this link:
Schwarzenegger Speaks Out on Separation

Michael Hirsh, the longtime economics correspondent for Newsweek , now serves as chief correspondent for National Journal. In his new book, Capital Offense: How Washington’s Wise Men Turned America’s Future Over to Wall Street, and a current feature he traces the economic crisis of 2008 back to its roots in Washington economic policy from the era after Reagan, arguing that the policy process in Washington was captured by the financial industry. I put six questions to Michael about his book: . . .

View post:
SCOTT HORTON—Capital Offense –Six Questions for Michael Hirsh

When Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis appeared before a gathering of coal mine owners in the fall, she signaled a sharp change in the relationship between the mining industry and the federal agency charged with protecting workers.

Read this article:
Longtime tug of war on mine safety

In what’s shaping up to be the wedding of the year, the nuptials of Prince William and his longtime girlfriend, Kate Middleton, may have a special performer: Elton John. Yes, the 63-year-old British singer, who gave an emotional performance at the 1997…

Read the rest here:
Elton John: I’d Perform at Royal Wedding

Seth Rogen is getting serious. The Knocked Up star is now engaged to his longtime girlfriend, writer and actress Lauren Miller, Life & Style exclusively reports. Rogen popped the question after the couple visited family in Boston, one of the actor’s…

Read the original:
Seth Rogen Engaged