Greece legalizes cremation

Greece's highest court has approved a government petition to legalize cremation, as well as a list of guidelines on how the ashes may be scattered by relatives. The country's powerful Orthodox Church opposes cremation, saying it is contrary to the notion of the resurrection of the dead.

People

A new job for Brockovich

The legal crusader portrayed by Julia Roberts in the Oscar-winning film "Erin Brockovich" is working for Weitz & Luxenberg, a Manhattan personal-injury law firm that specializes in asbestos cases. Erin Brockovich, 48, will be involved in soliciting cases and investigating claims.

Burned DJ released

A spokeswoman for DJ AM said the celebrity disc jockey has been released from a Georgia hospital after suffering severe burns in a fiery plane crash a week ago. Jenni Weinman said Friday that DJ AM, whose real name is Adam Goldstein, had been released from the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta. DJ AM and former Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker were hospitalized last week after their Learjet crashed after takeoff from a Columbia, S.C., airport. Barker remains in the hospital. Two pilots and two other passengers were killed in the crash.

Law & disorder

One scary question

Police said a Long Island, N.Y., bank teller had a simple question for a would-be robber: Are you serious? The question was apparently enough to spook the woman, who fled the Roslyn Savings Bank in Centereach on Thursday without a dime.

No charge for West

Los Angeles County prosecutors said they will not file charges against megastar Kanye West, who was arrested Sept. 11 at Los Angeles International Airport on suspicion of criminal vandalism. West was captured on video facing off against a photographer, grabbing his photo equipment and breaking a flash on the floor. The case has been referred to the City Attorney's Office, where officials said they will decide whether to file a lesser charge.

Passages

Miroslav Havel, 86, for more than four decades the chief designer for Waterford Glass, died in Waterford, Ireland, on Sept. 5 of heart failure. Havel, born in what is now the Czech Republic, made crystal chandeliers for Westminster Abbey in London and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Connie Haines, 87, a peppy, big-voiced singer with a zippy, rhythmic style who most famously teamed up with Frank Sinatra as lead vocalists with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and went on to a prolific career of her own, died Monday in Clearwater Beach, Fla., of myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular disease.

Today in History

1854: The first great disaster involving an Atlantic Ocean liner occurred when the steamship Arctic sank with 300 people aboard.

1964: The government publicly released the report of the Warren Commission, which found that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone in assassinating President Kennedy.

1979: Congress gave final approval to forming the Department of Education, the 13th Cabinet agency in U.S. history.

Today's Birthdays

Actress Jayne Meadows, 88. Actress Sada Thompson, 79. Actor Wilford Brimley, 74. Producer Don Cornelius, 72. Rock singer Meat Loaf, 57. Singer Shaun Cassidy, 50. Actor Patrick Muldoon, 40. Actress Gwyneth Paltrow, 36. Rapper Lil Wayne, 26. Singer Avril Lavigne, 24.

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