"Runway" boots Blayne

Update

"Runway" boots Blayne

Seattle barista Blayne Walsh was among two contestants knocked out of Bravo's "Project Runway" on Wednesday night. Walsh, 23, attended the Art Institute of Seattle and works at a West Seattle coffee shop. The Yakima native, who has been the subject of numerous blog entries, both good and bad, sports his clothing line at the coffee shop where he works. He was one of 16 contestants to compete in the fifth season of the series.

Law & disorder

Con man pleads guilty

Italian businessman Raffaello Follieri, 30, who once dated actress Anne Hathaway and claimed to have friends in high places at the Vatican, pleaded guilty in New York on Wednesday in a multimillion-dollar real-estate fraud case. Follieri agreed not to appeal any sentence of up to five years and three months in prison for his plea to wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy. Sentencing was set for Oct. 3. Prosecutors said Follieri posed as the Vatican's representative to the United States, telling investors the church would sell him property at a steep discount.

Groundbreakers

Pope enters chat room

Pope Benedict XVI has taken on the online pseudonym "Bxvi" to chat on Catholic forums in his first foray into Internet chat rooms, the Vatican's official newspaper l'Osservatore Romano reported. Benedict's Web debut took place on www.xt3.com, the social-networking site for World Youth Day, which the pope attended this year in Sydney, Australia. The event, held every three years, was established by Pope John Paul II in 1986 to inspire the next generation of Catholics.

People

Ramsey forgives media

John Ramsey said he has forgiven the news media for the "cyberspace lynching" he and his wife endured until prosecutors cleared them in the 1996 killing of their daughter, JonBenet, 6. He appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," broadcast Wednesday. The interview is Ramsey's first national TV appearance since prosecutors cleared his family in July. Ramsey's wife, Patsy, died of cancer in 2006.

Chesney tops CMA list

Kenny Chesney, the Country Music Association's two-time reigning entertainer of the year, dominated the CMA Award nominations Wednesday with seven, including album of the year. He also was nominated for entertainer of the year again. Other nominees for the award included Brad Paisley, Keith Urban, George Strait and Sugarland. The CMA awards are set for Nov. 12 and will air on ABC.

Nuptials

Sarkozy's son weds

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's son has wed an heiress of an electronics-vending empire. Jean Sarkozy, 22, married former high-school classmate Jessica Sebaoun-Darty in a civil ceremony Wednesday in the town of Neuilly-sur-Seine. The younger Sarkozy was elected this year to a regional council representing a section of Neuilly, where his father served as mayor for 19 years. Sebaoun-Darty is among the heiresses of the Darty retailing empire.

Passages

Gregory Mcdonald, 71, whose "Fletch" mystery novels were made into films, died of cancer Sunday at his cattle farm in Pulaski, Tenn.

Ralph Plaisted, 80, an insurance salesman-turned-explorer who in 1968 led the first expedition that indisputably reached the North Pole over the ice, died at his Wyoming, Minn., home. The 1909 attempt to reach the North Pole by explorer Robert Peary, long credited as the first to make it there, never was validated by anyone outside Peary's party.

Today in History

1789: Alexander Hamilton was appointed the first Treasury secretary.

1973: Chilean President Salvador Allende died in a violent military coup.

1985: Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds collected career hit No. 4,192, eclipsing the record held by Ty Cobb.

2001: In the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil, nearly 3,000 people died when two hijacked jetliners crashed into New York's World Trade Center, causing the twin towers to collapse; a commandeered jet smashed into the Pentagon; and a fourth hijacked plane crashed in Pennsylvania.

Today's Birthdays

Director Brian De Palma, 68. Singer-musician Leo Kottke, 63. Actress Amy Madigan, 58. Singer-songwriter Diane Warren, 52. Actress Virginia Madsen, 47. Actress Kristy McNichol, 46. Musician-composer Moby, 43. Singer Harry Connick Jr., 41. Actress Laura Wright, 38. Rapper Ludacris, 31.

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