Playwright, College of Law to discuss immigration rights for gays and their partners

UApresents and the UA College of Law will present an in-depth community dialogue tonight about U.S. immigration rights for gay people and their partners. The panel discussion, "Banned in the USA," will be moderated by UA law professor Andrew Silverman, and will include writer and performer Tim Miller. Miller's one-man show, "Glory Box," plays at Muse, 516 N. Fifth Ave. Feb. 7-8 and 15-16.

Among other issues, Miller's show explores immigration rights, focusing on the problems he faced getting immigration rights for his own Australian-born partner.

The lecture, which will also features attorney Marcy Janes and Raquel Rubio Goldsmith, an adjunct lecturer in the department of Mexican-American studies, is at 7:30 p.m. in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering auditorium.

Backstreet Boy agrees to counseling after back street brawl

Associated Press

Backstreet Boy Nick Carter has agreed to enter a counseling program and perform community service to resolve a misdemeanor charge stemming from a nightclub brawl.

After Carter, 22, completes the misdemeanor intervention program and his community service, the charge of resisting/opposing a law enforcement officer without violence will be dropped, prosecutor Pam Bondi said Friday.

Carter was arrested Jan. 2 at the Pop City nightclub. Police said he was told to leave more than 10 times but refused even after he was warned he would be arrested if he remained after "the count of three."

Carter insisted his fame got him in trouble.

"I truly believe my celebrity motivated the officer to arrest me," he said.

Winona Ryder may become girl, incarcerated

Associated Press

Winona Ryder was charged Friday with four felony counts stemming from her shoplifting arrest at a Saks Fifth Avenue store in December.

The Oscar-nominated actress was charged with theft, burglary, vandalism and possession of a controlled substance. Although she is free on $20,000 bond, prosecutors recommended raising the bail to $30,000.

She is scheduled to be arraigned in Beverly Hills on Friday.

The 30-year-old actress was arrested Dec. 12 for stealing merchandise worth $4,760 and possessing painkillers without a prescription.

Beverly Hills police said store security officers saw her remove security tags from the store items, place them in her bag and leave the store.

Ryder's attorney, Mark Geragos, contended after the arrest that the "Girl, Interrupted" star was merely carrying items between store departments, not trying to steal them. He said she had receipts for other items she bought in the store and a valid prescription for the painkillers.

"We are shocked at what appear to be grossly exaggerated charges," Ryder's publicist, Mara Buxbaum, said in a statement Friday. "We look forward to the opportunity to explain and resolve these allegations."

Ryder earned Oscar nominations for playing the heroines in period films "Little Women" and "The Age of Innocence." She also won acclaim for depicting a troubled young woman in "Girl, Interrupted" and starred in "Heathers," "Beetlejuice" and "Reality Bites."

Ryder has maintained a grueling film schedule that she has blamed for causing occasional mental breakdowns. She has been hospitalized several times for exhaustion and has told reporters she has sometimes tried to drown her anxiety attacks and depression in alcohol. She lost a pivotal role in 1990's "The Godfather: Part III" days before filming began because of anxiety and exhaustion.