Another Friday Eve 7/10/08

Today was wonderful thanks to your calls and please come back tomorrow as we do it all again. Last day of Mattlessness. Matt will be back on Monday at Carolina Country Cruizin' is back together again.

The estate of late super stuntman Evel Knievel is facing a $64 million lawsuit in connection to a
judgment made in 1981. Sheldon Saltman was awarded a $13 million settlement 27 years ago after Knievel hit him with a baseball bat. Saltman claims he still hasn’t been handed the cash, so he filed legal papers against the Knievel estate earlier this month. He’s seeking $64 million in compensation – a figure he claims has been adjusted for inflation over the years since the original ruling was made.

The Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum will honor country music’s first female superstar, Kitty Wells. “Kitty Wells: Queen of Country Music” is a biographical exhibit that opens August 15th for a 10-month run. The exhibit will run through June 14, 2009

Red Roof Inn will team up with Phil Vassar and Little Big Town for a series of promotions including commercials, broadband films and radio contests. Great American Country has also jumped on board and will air the 30-second promos. Learn more at http://www.redrooflovescountry.com/

Larry the Cable Guy will star in a holiday special for CMT. “Larry the Cable Guy’s Star Studded
Christmas Extravaganza” will be taped July 30th at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in
Nashville. The special is scheduled to include appearances by Toby Keith, Montgomery Gentry,
Tony Orlando, Fred Willard, comedian Lewis Black, ventriloquist Terry Fator and comedienne Victoria Jackson. A DVD of the special will be released later.

Some people see Grand Junction, Colorado’s, annual music festival as “fertile” ground for country music fans, because it allegedly drives up the number of pregnancies in the city each year. Nurse- Family Partnership supervisor Wanda Scott says referrals to her agency from the county health department quadruple every year after the “Country Jam.” Scott said that on average the health clinic sees 25 to 30 pregnancies a month. But five weeks after the festival, that number jumps to almost 80. The festival ran from June 26th-29th. Performers included Tim McGraw, Clay Walker and Sugarland.

Who would you call if you got ripped off buying crack? Max Minnefield called police in East Hartford, Connecticut, and got busted. Max told officers he never got his $8 worth of crack after paying a woman. Police charged him with criminal attempt to commit possession of narcotics. At his arraignment yesterday, a judge asked Minnefield if he really thought the officers were going to go after the crooked crack dealers. Minnefield’s public defender noted no drugs were ever found and prosecutors later dropped the charges.

John Austin is ready for war – cubicle war that is. Austin is a former toy designer who has written a book on practical jokes in the office called “Cubicle Warfare.” He says an office prank is like a gift – sometimes you receive them and sometimes you give them. But Austin warns not to try any pranks on your boss! He also says if you want to avoid being on the receiving end of a cubicle attack, keep personal items on your desk to a minimum.

United Airlines said a flight from Denver to Des Moines was delayed for six hours after passengers found three ticks in the cabin of the plane. Part of the delay was to allow United to have a replacement aircraft prepared to take the passengers to their destination while the tick-infested plane was checked for other possible pests. The remainder of the delay was due to severe thunderstorms. United still doesn’t know how the ticks managed to get aboard the plane.

Police said a woman’s fingertip was bitten off during a fight with another customer at a Tampa,
Florida, meat market. Investigators said Jacqueline Wimbush, 39, was treated at a hospital, but her condition was not released. Officers said Wimbush and another woman, Pamela Bumpers, 33, were waiting for service at Aliana Meat Market when they began arguing about whose turn it was to approach the counter. The argument turned physical after Bumpers bumped into Wimbush. The fight ended with Bumpers biting off Wimbush’s fingertip. Bumpers was charged with felony battery and freed on $2,000 bail.

A Belleville, Illinois, man who has been jailed several times for stealing women’s socks has been
arrested again. James Dowdy was charged with a felony count of residential burglary after he
allegedly entered a basement through a window and stole a pair of socks early Monday morning. His bail is set at $100,000. Dowdy was sentenced to prison in 2004, 1997 and 1994 for burglary-related charges tied to his sock fetish. His mother says she wants a court to order her son committed to a mental-health hospital.

Wanna buy a bridge? The Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department wants to give away two highway bridges that are being replaced. Since the bridges are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places, federal law requires the state try to save them. The state will even help pay the relocation costs. A highway department spokesman says an area Girl Scout council is interested in one of the bridges for their summer camp.

In planning for the switch from analog to digital TV broadcasting, officials apparently forgot about millions of portable, battery-powered analog TV owners. The small sets are often used in case of power failures or at sports events and cannot be attached to converter boxes because the boxes themselves require a power source. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 8 million homes rely on hand-held TVs in case of an emergency, all of which will become obsolete on February 18th. However, one converter box maker, Winegard, plans to offer a $20-$25 battery pack for its models next month.

Eddie Murphy's sci-fi alien comedy Meet Dave opens on Friday. Murphy tells us, "I don't know if it would be cool being an alien at all. If you came here with all of the differences we have on this planet, an alien would be in trouble. An alien would get his [butt] whipped. That's why I know there are really no aliens. Somebody would have found him and whipped his [butt] by now and taken his [stuff]."

Paris Hilton reportedly took a slug at a Hollywood nightclub on Tuesday night. We're not talking about a shot of vodka, we're talking about a slug to the face! The heiress was photographed leaving the Coco de Ville club with a bruise near her left eye. Witnesses say a female club patron punched the Simple Life star during a cat fight.

The French hospital where Angelina Jolie is holed up -- waiting to pop out those twins -- is advising people not to believe paparazzi photos of the mom-to-be parading around her hospital room. In a statement, Nice's Lenval hospital says it has outfitted the windows with special coverings that are "totally impossible" for camera lenses to infiltrate. The hospital warns that "any pictures released are either posed fakes set up by paparazzi or they are pictures of other patients. We hope this is clearly understood out of respect for all patients in this clinic."

A Rapid City, South Dakota citizen has filed a citizen's complaint against Toby Keith's bus driver citing reckless driving for an incident that took place June 25th. According to an item in the Rapid City Journal, driver Willie Bryant has been accused of driving erratically, including speeding and tailgating on I-90 near Sturgis. It has not been determined if Toby was on the bus at the time, which was heading to Georgia from a date in Canada, but he is not commenting on the incident. A court date has been scheduled for next Wednesday.

Jessica Simpson, who's celebrating her 28th birthday today, has turned a corner in her life. She's been putting her high-profile past behind her and carving out a successful career in country music -- which is much closer to her Texas roots. Jess says, "This is the first time in my life where I feel like the timing is perfect and I feel like I can just be me and it's okay."

Kenny Chesney is at the halfway point in his Poets and Pirates Tour, but instead of coasting down the home stretch, he's busy planning next year's shows. Kenny, who always strives to make each year better, thinks that by planning in advance he can relax when he gets off the road. He says, "It allows us to have the off time and really mentally have some off time."

Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman are planning baby Sunday Rose's first road trip. According to Keith's mum, Marienne, the family is making the long journey to Australia in the next few weeks. She tells Australia's Courier Mail, "Possibly at the end of this month. I believe they may be coming back at the end of the month. We are just excited about the birth and that's all we needed to know." Keith is off the road for now, but returns July 19th for Kenny Chesney's Poets and Pirates show in Philadelphia.

An 80's band is being linked to some crimes -- but only in name. A Texas man suspected of holding up 14 Texas banks in the past four years has been dubbed the ZZ-Top bandit because he has a beard and wears a large hat. The man hit the American National Bank in San Marcos, Texas on Monday morning. He was armed with a gun and fled with an undisclosed amount of cash. The man is believed to have robbed more than a dozen banks in three Texas cities since 2004. But so far, the bandit hasn't struck in La Grange, the Texas town mentioned in a 1973 ZZ Top hit.

That's it for this Friday Eve! Join me tomorrow as we kick of the weekend together. Matt will be back with me on Monday!

Keep it rolling on Wheelz 100.5!

*All stories provided by Premiere, Jones and Metro networks*