Anger, music echo at Ike Turner's memorial

Gardena, Calif.

The memorial service Friday for rock 'n' roll pioneer Ike Turner was much like the life of the troubled star: rich in music and applause, defensive about the nature of his legacy and, for good or bad, most memorable for its moments of controversy.

Phil Spector, fabled record producer and recent celebrity defendant, decried Turner's defining public persona as the abusive former husband of Tina Turner, a reputation largely shaped by the 1993 film "What's Love Got To Do With It," which Spector called "that piece of trash movie that made up things about him." He also insisted, "Ike made Tina the jewel she was."

Spector also took potshots at Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg and Tina Turner, all of whom he said contributed to demonizing Turner, who died Dec. 12 at 76.

Other speakers included Little Richard and members of the Turner family, including Ike Turner Jr., who brought his father's two Grammy Awards on stage. "He made billions and billions and billions of people happy," he said. "He had the best life."

The nearly three-hour remembrance at Greater Bethany Community Church City of Refuge in Gardena also featured Turner's eight-piece band, the Kings of Rhythm, which performed rollicking renditions of some of the musician's greatest hits, including "Nutbush City Limits" and "Proud Mary."

Phoenix

Judge rebuffs bid to block hiring law

A federal judge Friday refused to block the Jan. 1 implementation of an Arizona law that penalizes businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Neil Wake said that those who would suffer the most from blocking the law would be legal low-skill workers who lose jobs and get depressed wages due to competition from illegal immigrants.

Business interests and other advocacy groups challenging the law have asked the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an injunction blocking the law.

Under the law, employers who knowingly hire unauthorized workers can face suspensions of their business licenses for up to 10 days. Repeat violators would have their licenses revoked.

Washington

Mars probe delay to cost $40 million

NASA will wait two years longer than planned and spend an additional $40 million to launch a $475 million probe to Mars because of an unspecified conflict of interest in the purchasing process, officials said Friday.

The Mars Scout program had scheduled a 2011 launch of the $475 million Mars probe and was going to choose proposals for the mission from two research firms: one in Colorado and the other in Texas.

But a "serious" conflict of interest in one of the proposals forced NASA to disband the board formed to pick the proposal, officials said, declining to elaborate. The agency created a new panel, and that caused a delay in awarding the contract, Mars Exploration Program Director Doug McCuistion said.

Rock Springs, Wyo.

Early gift opening ends in stabbing

A woman stabbed her husband with a kitchen knife after an argument that began when she accused him of opening a Christmas present early, authorities said Friday.

Misty Johnson, 34, was arrested and charged with aggravated assault and battery, a felony, and misdemeanor domestic battery. Her husband, Shawn Fay Johnson, 34, was treated at a hospital for a wound to the chest after the incident early Wednesday, police said.

Police Detective David Thompson said he didn't know what the present was, or if it was intended for the husband.

Seattle Times news services