MILEY CYRUS, LIAM HEMSWORTH ARE ENGAGED: NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — It turns out "The Last Song" was only the beginning for Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth.
The couple who met on the set of that movie in 2009 announced their engagement Wednesday morning. Publicist Jeff Raymond confirms a People Magazine report of the news.
Hemsworth, the 22-year-old Australian star of "The Hunger Games," and Cyrus, the 19-year-old "Hannah Montana" star and singer, were engaged on May 31. Hemsworth proposed with a 3.5-carat diamond ring, People reports.
The magazine report also said Cyrus is recording a new album while Hemsworth is scheduled to shoot two movies before tackling "The Hunger Games" sequel.
WAS ANIMAL SHELTER CASH A GIFT OR MISTAKE? RANCHO SANTA FE . (AP) — The Helen Woodward Animal Center is trying to determine if $1,600 found in a donated pet crate was a gift or an accident.
Animal care technician Amy Barnes says she was sorting through donations recently when the cash bundle fell out of a crate.
Officials at the shelter in Rancho Santa Fe, north of San Diego, tells the North County Times Tuesday all the bills were new $100s.
Barnes took the money to supervisors, who are trying to trace it back to the original owner. If it's a donation, they'd like to say thanks. If it was a mistake, they want to return it.
Barnes says she would love it if the money could be used for the animals, but not if it means someone can't pay their rent.
LA REVOKES WWII JAPANESE INTERNMENT RESOLUTION: LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles County leaders have revoked the resolution that forced Japanese-Americans into internment camps during World War II.
City News Service reports Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said Wednesday the nation's largest population of Japanese Americans, about 37,000 people, lived in Los Angeles County during internment.
Approved a month after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the original ordinance called on the federal government to remove people of Japanese descent from Los Angeles County by force.
In 1942, President Franklin D. Roosevelt ordered the detention and isolation of about 110,000 Japanese-Americans. The camps stayed open for about three years.
Dozens of Japanese Americans, including actor George Takei, talked Wednesday of being taken to the camps, where he saw machine guns and barbed wire fences while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in school.
SEQUOIA WILDERNESS FIRE HOLDS STEADY AT 1800 ACRES: SEQUOIA NATIONAL FOREST (AP) — A six-day-old fire in a wilderness area of Sequoia National Forest appears to be under control.
Officials said Wednesday morning the fire is holding at 1,800 acres and is now 55 percent contained. Some of the 979 firefighters will be let go today to make them available to battle other blazes in the U.S.
The fire is creeping east in the Golden Trout Wilderness, an area of steep, rugged terrain.
It started June 1 in the Freeman Creek Giant Sequoia Grove, but the trees were not damaged. Investigators are asking for help from the public, as they try to determine the cause.
SCOUTS TO REVIEW BAN ON GAYS; NO CHANGE IMMINENT: NEW YORK (AP) — The Boy Scouts of America will review a resolution that would allow individual units to accept gays as adult leaders, but a spokesman says there's no expectation that the ban on gay leaders will in fact be lifted any time soon.
The resolution was submitted by a Scout leader from the Northeast in April and presented last week at the Scouts' national meeting in Orlando, Fla., according to BSA spokesman Deron Smith.
Smith said Wednesday it would be referred to a subcommittee, which will then make a recommendation to the national executive board. The process would likely be completed by May 2013, according to Smith, who said there were no plans at this time to change the policy.
HAWAII CRUISE ADMITS SERVING VODKA TO TODDLER: HONOLULU (AP) — A company that manages a Hawaii dinner cruise has acknowledged mistakenly serving alcohol to a 3-year-old boy.
Army Spc. Bingyan Cai said her son Michael's orange juice contained vodka while they were aboard the Alii Kai Catamaran on May 26. She noticed her son turning red, acting unruly and mumbling, the active duty mom stationed on Oahu told Hawaii News Now.
"He just got really red and he just kept mumbling, 'Momma it's hot, it's hot,'" she said. "He was just so wild, full of energy and tried to run here and there but couldn't even stand straight."
She tried his drink and tasted alcohol, even offering it up to family members and nearby tourists for confirmation. She notified the boat staff and was given bottled water but was told not to make a fuss as to not ruin the ride for tourists, Cai said.
