Ryan O'Neal, son booked on suspicion of narcotics

PEOPLE

Father-and-son act

Ryan O'Neal and his son were being booked on suspicion of narcotics possession Wednesday morning after a probation search at the actor's Malibu, Calif., home, authorities said. Deputies found Redmond O'Neal, 24, in possession of methamphetamine while a vial of the drug was found in Ryan O'Neal's bedroom, said Los Angeles County Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore. The father and son will be held in lieu of $10,000 bail, he said.

Jersey legends

Actor Jack Nicholson, rocker Jon Bon Jovi and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal are among 30 nominees to the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Members of the public will help select the 10 inductees for the hall's second class by voting online through Nov. 30. This year's nominees include political activist Paul Robeson, writers F. Scott Fitzgerald, Walt Whitman and Philip Roth, entertainers Jerry Lewis, Count Basie and Bud Abbott, and athletes Althea Gibson and Carl Lewis. Last year, the hall inducted 15 members into its inaugural class, including Bruce Springsteen, Yogi Berra and Frank Sinatra.

Pitt donates $100,000

Brad Pitt has donated $100,000 to fight California's November ballot initiative that would overturn the state Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage. It's the first time voters will be asked to ban same-sex marriage in a state where gay couples already have won the right to wed. Same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts and California. "Because ... discrimination has no place in America, my vote will be for equality and against Proposition 8," Pitt said Wednesday.

Honors

City showcased

The French port city of Marseille, France's second-largest city, won the bid to become European Capital of Culture in 2013, beating its rivals Bordeaux, Toulouse and Lyon. Kosice in Slovakia was also chosen yesterday. Athens in 1985 was the first European capital of culture. Liverpool in the United Kingdom and Stavanger in Norway were chosen for 2008.

Oops!

Up in the air

Bulgaria's prime minister Sergei Stanishev and other government officials were trapped for about an hour Wednesday when cable cars malfunctioned during the inauguration of a new ski resort, south of the capital Sofia, according to a radio report. No one was hurt, but the officials were stuck in the packed gondolas about 100 feet above the ground before being rescued by emergency services.

Passages

Norman Whitfield, 67, Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer who co-wrote a string of Motown classics, including "War," "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" and "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday. He suffered from complications of diabetes.

Today in History

1793: President Washington laid the cornerstone of the U.S. Capitol.

1850: Congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act, which created a force of federal commissioners charged with returning escaped slaves to their owners.

1851: The first edition of The New York Times was published.

1961: United Nations Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia.

1970: Rock star Jimi Hendrix died in London at age 27.

1975: Newspaper heiress Patricia Hearst was captured by the FBI in San Francisco, 19 months after being kidnapped by the Symbionese Liberation Army.

Today's Birthdays

Actor Robert Blake, 75. Singer Frankie Avalon, 68. Actress Anna Deavere Smith, 58. Actor James Gandolfini, 47. Actress Holly Robinson Peete, 44. R&B singer Ricky Bell, 41. Actress Aisha Tyler, 38. Actress Jada Pinkett Smith, 37. Actor James Marsden, 35. Rapper Xzibit, 34. Actor C.J. Sanders, 12.

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