Illness sidelines former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow

People

Illness sidelines Snow

Former White House press secretary Tony Snow, 52, diagnosed with colon cancer three years ago, canceled a speaking appearance at Ohio's Ashland University scheduled for today because of an unspecified illness, a university spokesman said Wednesday. Snow became White House press secretary in April 2006 and served until August. In April, he was hospitalized in Spokane and canceled a lecture at Eastern Washington University.

Dourdan pleads guilty

Actor Gary Dourdan, 41, pleaded guilty to two of three counts of felony drug possession Wednesday but will not face prison after his April 28 drug arrest outside Palm Springs, Calif., according to his lawyer, Shawn Chapman Holley. The "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" co-star could have served up to three years and eight months behind bars. "Once Gary completes 30 hours of a diversion program, his case will be entirely dismissed," Holley said. Dourdan played Warrick Brown, who was recently shot and killed in the eighth-season finale.

Craig is writing book

Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, is writing a book that will reflect on the turmoil after his arrest last year in an airport sex sting. Craig, 62, is retiring in January after 18 years in the Senate and a decade in the House. He told KTVB-TV in Boise, Idaho, the book will focus on "the state of politics" in Washington but also will review his career, including his arrest by an undercover officer in a men's room at the Minneapolis airport.

Pop singer expecting

Newlywed pop singer Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz say they are expecting a baby. Simpson, 23, and Fall Out Boy bassist Wentz, 28, were wed earlier this month at Simpson's parents' Los Angeles-area home. Sister Jessica was the maid of honor.

Awards

7 share 1st Kavli prizes

Three prizes worth $1 million apiece were awarded Wednesday to seven scientists, the first recipients of the Kavli prizes, named after, and funded by, entrepreneur and philanthropist Fred Kavli. The award for neuroscience was shared by Dr. Sten Grillner, of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden; Thomas Jessell, of Columbia University, and Dr. Pasko Rakic, of Yale University. The astrophysics prize was split by Donald Lynden-Bell, of Cambridge University, and Maarten Schmidt, of the California Institute of Technology. The other prize, in nanoscience, was shared by Louis Brus of Columbia and Sumio Iijima of Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan.

Passages

Jimmy McGriff, 72, a popular jazz and blues organist, died Saturday in Voorhees, N.J., of complications from multiple sclerosis.

Sophie Altman, 95, television producer who created the long-running quiz show "It's Academic," pitting teams of high-school students against each other, died Saturday at a hospital in Washington, D.C.

Today in History

1913: The ballet "The Rite of Spring," with music by Igor Stravinsky and choreography by Vaslav Nijinsky, had its chaotic world premiere in Paris.

1943: Norman Rockwell's portrait of "Rosie the Riveter" appeared on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post.

Today's Birthdays

Singer Rebbie Jackson, 58. Singer LaToya Jackson, 52. Actress Annette Bening, 50. Actor Adrian Paul, 49. Singer Melissa Etheridge, 47. Actress Lisa Whelchel, 45.

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