California
Court: Anna Nicole's estate won't get any oil fortune
SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court ruled Friday that Anna Nicole Smith's estate will get none of the more than $300 million the late Playboy model claimed a Texas billionaire to whom she was briefly married meant to leave her after he died.
The ruling came in a 15-year legal battle that started in a sleepy Houston probate court and stretched all the way to the U.S Supreme Court.
It initially pitted Smith against the son of J. Howard Marshall over the $1.6 billion estate the oil tycoon left after his 1995 death at age 90. J. Howard Marshall had wed Smith the year before when she was 26.
Marshall's son E. Pierce Marshall died in 2006 and Smith perished after a drug overdose in 2008. Their heirs and lawyers kept up the legal fight that included one ruling awarding Smith $474 million.
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Kent Richland, who represents the Smith estate, said he would appeal the latest ruling.
Octomom may be evicted
LA HABRA - Octuplets mom Nadya Suleman could be kicked out of her Southern California home.
The mortgage holder says he is starting foreclosure proceedings on the $565,000 La Habra residence. Amer Haddadin says the family hasn't kept up the payments.
His friend and adviser, Ramsey Masso, said Friday that Haddadin signed over the home to Suleman's father last year. Ed Suleman, who leased the home to his daughter, was supposed to pay about $4,000 a month and a final balloon payment of $450,000 that was due earlier this month.
Masso says the family was late on recent payments and also missed the balloon payment. He says Haddadin is worried because he owes monthly bank payments.
Mississippi
DeGeneres presents gay teen with $30,000 scholarship
JACKSON - A lesbian high school student embroiled in a legal flap over her school's prom policy has received a $30,000 scholarship on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
Constance McMillen was speechless Friday when the talk-show host pulled out an oversized check from the Web site Tonic.Com, a digital media company.
DeGeneres says she admires McMillen for challenging Itawamba County School District rules that would prevent her from escorting her girlfriend to the prom. The school district canceled the April 2 prom after McMillen's request.
A hearing is scheduled Monday in federal court in Aberdeen on American Civil Liberties Union efforts to force the district to hold the prom.
Pennsylvania
Oprah, schoolgirls to testify
PHILADELPHIA - Oprah Winfrey and several schoolgirls allegedly abused at her academy in South Africa are expected to testify in a trial over a defamation lawsuit brought by the school's former headmistress, whose performance Winfrey criticized.
When news of the scandal broke in 2007, Winfrey said she had "lost confidence" in headmistress Nomvuyo Mzamane and was "cleaning house from top to bottom." Mzamane, who said she didn't know about any sexual abuse, had trouble finding another job afterward.
The case is headed for a two-week jury trial in federal court in Philadelphia starting March 29.
Winfrey plans to defend her remarks about Mzamane on free-speech and other grounds, arguing that she merely voiced her opinions.
The Associated Press
