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Fitness fanatic Richard Simmons wants America's kids to get physical, and is threatening to take up public office to see his vision through. Simmons exercised Congressional ears Thursday, speaking about his new project to prevent childhood obesity. The flamboyant aerobic personality traded in his famous short shorts and tank top attire for a conservative dark suit while speaking before the House Education and Labor committee, though he did tell reporters that he was wearing his shorts underneath his suit.



A pet rabbit is credited with saving a couple from a fire that swept through their home in Melbourne, Australia. Officials said the husband returned home from the night shift early Thursday and heard the family pet, named “Rabbit,” scratching at the couple’s bedroom door after he had gone to bed. The man discovered a fire in a back room and smoke spreading through the house. He was able to escape the house with his wife unharmed.


A New Zealand Judge ordered that a 9-year-old girl named Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii be given a new – and less insane – name. The judge made the girl a ward of the court so that her name could be changed. The new name was not made public to protect the girl’s privacy. Other crazy names submitted to New Zealand Name Registration Officials include Fish and Chips, Violence, Yeah Detroit and Sex Fruit.


After catching one of two people wanted in a series of break-ins, deputies in Catawba County, North Carolina, let their fingers do the chasing to catch the second suspect. When deputies caught a 16- year-old suspect, they confiscated his cell phone. While they had it, a text message came across asking him if he had been caught. The deputies responded “no,” and after a few more messages, the sender said he would try to pick up his partner. While waiting in an area where several break-ins occurred, deputies arrested the 17-year-old after finding him in a car with three other people. Both
teens face several charges, including larceny and breaking and entering.


If you vote by mail, but die before Election Day, does your vote count? It depends on where you lived. Oregon counts ballots no matter what happens to the voter. So does Florida. But in South Dakota, if you die before the election, so does your vote. With mail-in ballots becoming more popular, the question of whether your vote counts if you die after voting but before the election is being moved to the front burner. Laws in at least a dozen states are evenly split between tallying and dumping the votes.


About 2 million Americans got a raise yesterday as the federal minimum wage rose 70 cents to $6.55. Unfortunately, the raise is already gone – thanks to higher food and gas prices. The increase, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour, is the second of three annual increases required by a 2007 law. Next year’s boost will bring the minimum wage to $7.25 an hour. Twenty-three states and D.C. have laws making the minimum wage higher than the federal requirement, a group covering 60% of U.S. workers.


A South Carolina woman's attempt to seek treatment for alcohol addiction landed her in jail. According to the "Myrtle Beach Sun News," 23-year-old Michelle Massey was arrested recently for leading officers on a 15-mile chase. Authorities say Massey was seen speeding near the Myrtle Beach area, and cops began to follow her. When she finally stopped her car, Massey reportedly got out of her car and screamed that she was late for an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. Massey is being held on eleven-hundred-28-dollars bail.


More and more people carry their laptops with them these days so it should come as no surprise that many of them are lost. A survey by Ponemon Institute found that airports are one of the places where people often misplace their computers. The institute reports that more than ten-thousand laptops are misplaced in the 36 largest airports in the U.S. every week. Nearly 70 percent of those laptops are never claimed by their owners. The areas most likely to lose a laptop are security checkpoints, departure areas and passenger clubs or lounges. Among the business travelers who take their laptops with them, 53 percent say they have confidential information on them. Among those travelers, 65 percent say they do not take any measures to secure the information that is contained on their laptop.


A Georgia man now knows that breaking off a planned wedding can be a costly proposition. RoseMary Shell filed suit against Wayne Gibbs for breaking off their engagement and won the case in a court of law. Shell left an 81-thousand-dollar a year job in Florida where the two got engaged in 2006. She moved to Gainesville, Georgia where Gibbs lived but he later changed his mind. Shell says he left a note for her in their bathroom a few months later saying he had cold feet and called the wedding off. Shell is now making 31-thousand-dollars a year and sued Gibbs with a jury ruling in her favor after three hours of deliberations. Gibbs was ordered to pay he 150-thousand-dollars.


A 5-year-old boy slipped out of his child care center unnoticed Tuesday afternoon. The boy crossed two busy streets and wandered into a Hooters restaurant. Employees at Hooters in Denton, Texas, found the child after he crossed an Interstate service road, bought a soft drink at a service station and walked to the restaurant. An employee found him in the parking lot and called police. Deborah Pugh, who owns the child care business, said the boy asked to go to the bathroom and then slipped out a fire exit door, which must, by law, remain unlocked.



Picking up hitchhikers can be risky, but one in Pennsylvania was a bird of a different feather. Jerry Dimick and a friend were driving near Clarks Summit on Wednesday when they spotted a peacock standing by the edge of the road. Dimick said he stopped and “went ‘smooch, smooch, smooch, smooch’ and the bird came over,” so he “reached out and grabbed him.” With no room in the back of his truck, Dimick put the peacock in the front seat. “The bird was sitting in between the two of us,” Jerry said. Dimick took the bird to his home in Taylor and is trying to find it a safe place to live.


AskMen.com has unveiled the results from its Great Male Survey. More than 70,000 readers took the survey, which was broken down into five sections: Lifestyle, Dating, Sexuality, Power & Money and Men. The survey contained over 150 questions. You can view the full results at www.AskMen.com. Highlights include:
· 60% of men are nostalgic for the days when a handshake in business meant something.
· 77% of men look for girlfriends with “wife potential.”
· 69% of men would never cheat on their partner.
· 57% of men cook at home and enjoying doing it.
· 56% of men said that being a good father or husband makes a man “manly.”
AskMen.com also partnered with Yahoo! Shine to ask readers to help define the modern day woman. Those findings include:
· 20% of women admitted to having had more than 15 sex partners; only 17% of males have had more than 15 partners.
· 34% of female respondents said they would not change a thing about their lovers, while only 17% of men said the same.
· 23% of females are completely satisfied with their sex lives, versus only 14% of males.
· Only 17% of the female respondents have lied to a partner about their sexual experiences, while 31% of men have lied.



Billy Ray Cyrus certainly has a popular daughter. "InStyle" reports that Miley Cyrus fans began lining up yesterday outside NBC's studios to see her performance this morning on "Today."


Jessica Simpson was recently in New York to film a T-V commercial for Macy's department stores. E-Online reports that in addition to Jessica, Martha Stewart, Kenneth Cole and Tommy Hilfiger will be featured in the spots, which were filmed on a set in Brooklyn. The commercial is expected to air around the holidays


Craig Morgan's as-yet-untitled upcoming C-D will hit stores on October 7th. He says the project isn't a huge departure from his previous releases. Craig tells us, "I've got another song on this record called 'Sticks' that's just like 'Redneck Yacht Club' and 'International Harvester,' and I've got my current single, 'Love Remembers,' that's kinda like 'I Got You.' There's a lot of that same stuff I just feel like we've done it better."


Trace Adkins will head overseas in September to entertain U-S troops in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan. This will be Trace's second U-S-O tour -- his first was in 2002 when he spent Thanksgiving performing for our soldiers in Southwest Asia.


Matt LeBlanc thinks the former business manager suing him for breach of contract is nuts -- seriously. The former Friends star has filed a motion seeking a court-ordered mental examination of Camille Cerio, who claims that LeBlanc stiffed her out of a million dollars in commissions from his work on Friends and Joey. Matt's lawyer has an answer if Cerio objects -- he says she brought her own mental state into play by claiming she was under "mental duress" when she signed a 1995 termination agreement with the actor.


Brooke Hogan is apologizing for making public allegations that her father Hulk abused her mother. “I did it under significant pressure from my mother,” Hogan said. “It was only after I learned all the facts that I realized I made a big mistake.” Brooke is now living with her father and is not on speaking terms with her mother. Meanwhile, Brooke is reportedly considering baring all for Playboy. She’s confirmed the mag has approached her but her rep says, “No decision has been made at this time.”


Get ready for the release of the “Beer for My Horses” soundtrack on August 12th. Toby Keith’s new film, a comedy with Keith and Rodney Carrington playing sheriff’s deputies attempting to capture two criminals, is set for release on August 8th.


Reba McEntire is hosting a new show. “Toddling Toward Reading” looks at the critical years before kindergarten and what educators are doing to get toddlers reading. The show will begin airing on PBS in September.


Trace Adkins’ new single “Muddy Water” will be released August 4th. Adkins is also booked for three appearances at the Grand Ole Opry this summer. He’s slated to play there July 29th, August 12th, and August 23rd.


Not only did Randy Travis release his first new country album in eight years on July 15th, but he made a little personal history too. Travis hit the Country charts at No. 3 with “Around the Bend,” making his new album release his highest selling first week ever. To promote his release, Travis has been hitting the television scene hard. Travis recently launched his new fan club, Randy’s Ranch, at www.randytravis.com.


Chris Cagle has been found innocent of domestic violence charges stemming from an altercation with girlfriend Jennifer Tant in May. A court hearing and trial were held yesterday (Thursday) in Nashville. Chris's attorney, Bill Ramsey, said, "It's a shame these charges were ever brought... Chris is relieved the accuracy of the matter has been revealed and the ordeal is over."


Neal McCoy, who's nearing his 50th birthday, isn't as crazy on stage as he once was. He tells Ohio's Toledo Blade, "I don't climb anything anymore. I'm too old." Perhaps he's channeling that energy into his home life. He tells us, "My wife and kids would be the first ones to tell you that I work, whether that's folding clothes or mowing the yard or taking care of the house. I'm always doing something... Yet I need to pull back off, and I'm starting to see that." The lanky country star is on the road supporting his hit single "Rednectified."


This new Web site can help you locate a cruise themed on whatever interests you. There are cruises dedicated to golf, cruises about religion, and cruises featuring performances and concerts from rock to country and gospel. The ThemeCruiseFinder.com site lists more than 570 cruises, searchable by type of cruise. www.themecruisefinder.com


New movies
“Step Brothers” (Wide) (R)
Stars Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, Adam Scott, Mary Steenburgen and Kathryn Hahn.
“The X-Files: I Want to Believe” (Wide) (PG-13)
Stars David Duchovny, Gilliam Anderson, Xzibit, Amanda Peet and Billy Connolly.




Have a wonderful weekend and join Carolina Country Cruizin' on Monday morning. Remember keep it rolling all weekend long on Wheelz 100.5!




*Information from Preimer, Jones and Metro networks*