TRAINING FIELD FOR ANGELS NAMED AFTER GENE AUTRY
The late Gene Autry had a training field in Tempe, Ariz., named for him at the spring training home of the Anaheim Angels.Autry owned the baseball team from the time the expansion franchise began play in 1961 until he sold a controlling interest to the Walt Disney Co. in 1996. He died Oct. 2 at age 91.
Shortly after Autry's recording of "Back in the Saddle Again" was played over the Tempe Diablo Stadium public address system Thursday, Mayor Neil Giuliano presented a "Gene Autry Field" plaque to Angels general manager Bill Bavasi. The plaque was to be forwarded to Autry's widow, Jackie.
FREE OF 'FALCON CREST,' ACTRESS LEFT TO OWN DEVICE
Susan Sullivan learned a thing or two from unemployment.
After the end of the hugely popular 1980s hit, "Falcon Crest," on which she played Maggie, Sullivan was left with a challenge.
"I would get up in the morning, and the good news was that I got to create my life. The bad news was that I got to create my life," she told USA Today this week. "That's when I realized you have to develop other parts of your life."
Now the 55-year-old New York City native plays an uptight mother-in-law on the ABC sitcom "Dharma & Greg," a role for which she nabbed a Golden Globe nomination.
"If someone had told me in my 30s that things would be so fabulous for me in my 50s, I never would have believed them," she said. "I couldn't be happier."
MEMBER OF R&B'S DRU HILL QUITTING TO SING GOSPEL
Dru Hill, the popular R&B quartet, is now a trio. James "Woody" Green has left the group to pursue a career in gospel music, the band's publicist said this week. Green leaves as the Baltimore-based group prepares for a nationwide tour to support its second album, "Enter the Dru," which has sold more than 2 million copies.
ROYAL FAMILY STILL PLAYING VITAL ROLE IN NEW ZEALAND
Although Queen Elizabeth II won't be opening the 2000 Olympics in Australia, the royal family will maintain a "hugely important" role in neighboring New Zealand, Prime Minister Jenny Shipley said.
Shipley greeted Princess Anne on Parliament's front steps in Wellington. The queen's daughter was in New Zealand on a four-day visit.
"For many New Zealanders, the royal family has a hugely important role in the past, and I believe will continue to have in the future," the prime minister said.