Feud fatigue for judge in Connery lawsuit

People

New York State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman is tired of a series of lawsuits and countersuits between Sean Connery and his Manhattan neighbor, Burton Sultan, over a years-long series of renovations that Connery, 77, has been making to his half of a six-story 1869 town house he and his wife share with the Sultan family. Sultan, who said he is sick of the noise, fumes and other nuisances caused by the work, alleges in one suit that Connery is "a bully who ignores norms of neighborliness and decency." Friedman has thrown out most of Sultan's claims but has chided the Connerys for their part in the dispute. She has barred both sides from filing any more lawsuits without her permission.

Winehouse wanted

Amy Winehouse has been summoned to appear in court in Bergen, Norway, after appealing her fine for marijuana possession. The 24-year-old British singer-songwriter and her husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, were arrested in Bergen on Oct. 18, held overnight and released the next day after paying fines. Winehouse later claimed she had been tricked into signing the charges.

Bottoms up

Bubbly in Belgium

Belgians are the world's top champagne drinkers, the Flemish newspaper De Morgen said Thursday. Last year Belgium imported a total of 9.3 million bottles of champagne. This year the population of 10.3 million is expected to beat its previous record by quaffing 10 million bottles of bubbly, the newspaper said. Global champagne sales have increased with over 400 million bottles of it sold this year. Just eight years ago, a total of 327 million bottles of champagne were sold.

Critters

Traveling monkey dies

A small monkey that was stashed in a man's hat during a flight from Lima, Peru, to New York in August has died, but federal health authorities don't know why. The fist-size tamarin showed no signs of illness during a quarantine period, federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spokeswoman Shelly Diaz said. The agency had lifted the quarantine and was trying to find the animal a permanent home when it died, she said.

Stamp of approval

Star treatment for Davis

Ten-time Oscar nominee Bette Davis will be honored next year on the 100th anniversary of her birth with a commemorative stamp. Davis, who won two Oscars, for "Dangerous" (1935) and "Jezebel" (1938), will be the 14th star in the U.S. Postal Service's Legends of Hollywood series.

Passages

Roger Marshutz, 78, a photographer whose images of a young Elvis Presley reaching out to his fans, Marilyn Monroe at the height of her fame and other celebrity shots appeared in fan magazines, on posters and in movie-publicity kits during the 1950s and '60s, died Dec. 15 at his Los Angeles home of pancreatic cancer.

Today in History

1694: Queen Mary II of England died after more than five years of joint rule with her husband, King William III.

1832: John Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down over differences with President Jackson.

1945: Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.

1987: The bodies of 14 relatives of Ronald Gene Simmons were found at his home near Dover, Ark., after a shooting rampage by Simmons in Russellville that claimed two other lives. (Simmons was later executed.)

Today's Birthdays

Actor Lou Jacobi, 94. Comic-book creator Stan Lee, 85. Actress Dame Maggie Smith, 73. Actor Denzel Washington, 53. Comedian Seth Meyers, 34. Singer John Legend, 29. Actress Sienna Miller, 26.

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