NBC’S MICHAELS ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED DUI : SANTA MONICA (AP) — NBC Sports announcer Al Michaels was arrested over the weekend in Southern California on suspicion of drunken driving, authorities said Sunday.
Michaels was pulled over at about 9:30 p.m. Friday after officers manning a DUI checkpoint witnessed him make an illegal U-turn, Santa Monica police Sgt. Richard Lewis said.
Michaels, the play-by-play man for “Sunday Night Football,” was taken to the station, where he registered a blood alcohol level over the .08 percent legal limit, according to Lewis.
He was booked for suspicion of DUI and held for about five hours before being released on his own recognizance, Lewis said.
“We are aware of the situation and we’ve been in contact with Al,” said Greg Hughes, a spokesman for NBC Sports. “We have no further comment at this time.”
A call Sunday by The Associated Press to Michaels’ agent was not immediately returned.
Michaels was ordered to appear in court June 26.
An Emmy Award winner and broadcaster on “Sunday Night Football,” the 68-year-old Michaels spent nearly three decades at ABC Sports before moving to NBC in 2007.
Michaels worked NFL games and other sports for ABC, and called “Monday Night Football” for nearly 20 years. He also is known for his call of the U.S.-Soviet Union “Miracle on Ice” game at the 1980 Winter Olympics and the earthquake-interrupted Game 3 of the 1989 World Series.
STOCKTON HAS LOWEST GAS IN STATE: CAMARILLO (AP) — The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped 11 cents over the past two weeks.
The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.54. Midgrade costs an average of $3.72 a gallon, and premium is $3.86.
Diesel was down seven cents to $3.98 gallon.
Of the cities surveyed in the lower 48 states, Tulsa, Okla. has the nation’s lowest average price for gas at $3.21. Chicago has the highest at $3.97.
In California, the lowest average price was $3.77 in Stockton. The highest was in San Francisco at $3.96. The average statewide for a gallon of regular was $3.90, down nine cents.
SAN DIEGO POLICE DETECTIVE PLEADS GUILTY TO DUI: SAN DIEGO (AP) — A San Diego police detective has pleaded guilty to drunken driving charges after crashing his patrol car into a roadside utility box.
Detective Jeffrey Blackford faces up to six months in jail when he is sentenced Monday.
The 11-year department veteran was driving an unmarked vehicle in December when he lost control and slammed into a utility box.
Court records show Blackford called several of his officer friends after the accident, delaying the launch of a formal investigation.
The district attorney’s office is reviewing the actions of four other officers who were called to the scene.
JUDGE REMOVES BPA FROM LIST OF TOXICANTS: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A Sacramento judge has ordered that Bisphenol-A — a controversial chemical used in plastics and metal food containers — be removed from the state’s list of reproductive toxicants.
A preliminary injunction issued Friday comes as the chemical industry seeks to convince Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Raymond Cadei that the chemical does not cause birth defects.
Last week the state’s Environmental Protection Agency listed bisphenol-A — or BPA as the chemical is commonly known — under Proposition 65, a consumer-safety law that mandates the state publish a list of chemicals that cause cancer or birth defects.
Products with hazardous amounts of those chemicals are required to carry warning labels.
A spokeswoman for the American Chemistry Council described the order as a minor victory, while an attorney for the San Francisco-based Natural Resources Defense Council termed the decision a temporary setback.
FORMER OC SHERIFF SETTLES WORKERS’ COMP CASES: SANTA ANA (AP) — Former Orange County Sheriff Michael Carona, who is serving a federal prison term, has settled two workers’ compensation cases for more than $37,000.
Carona was examined by a doctor before start of his prison term in 2011. The doctor found the lawman once dubbed “America’s sheriff” suffered injuries on the job.
The newspaper reviewed Carona’s documents after filing a public records request.
The settlement was approved last year by a workers’ compensation administrative law judge.
Carona is serving 5 1/2 years in a Colorado prison for witness tampering.
5 UNHURT WHEN GUNMAN OPENS FIRE ON CAR: SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Police say five people inside a car escaped injury when a gunman opened fire on the car outside a San Jose nightclub but hit no one inside the car.
Several rounds hit the car outside the Fiesta Nightclub around 2 a.m. Sunday. The driver of the car drove a short distance away and police were called.
Investigators are trying to determine if the shooting was sparked by an argument inside the nightclub that might have continued outside as the club was closing.
No suspects have been identified in the incident.
JUDGE RULES LESBIAN IMMIGRANT CAN CHALLENGE DOMA : LOS ANGELES (AP) — A lesbian couple facing immigration troubles has the standing to challenge the federal Defense of Marriage Act because it violates the constitutional rights of immigrants in same-sex marriages, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Consuelo Marshall also ordered Friday that the lawsuit, filed last year on behalf of Philippines citizen Jane DeLeon and her spouse Irma Rodriguez, can proceed as a class-action case.
DeLeon claimed in the lawsuit that she was eligible to obtain a green card, but wasn’t able to get a waiver she needs to obtain residency here because the U.S. government doesn’t recognize her same-sex marriage to an American.
Peter Schey, president of the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law, which filed the suit, said he hopes the decision will lead the government to reconsider visa applications by same-sex couples.
DeLeon asserted in a statement Saturday that her visa application was denied “solely because we have a same-sex marriage.”
“Hopefully our long ordeal is now close to an end and we can stop living in fear of being forced to leave the country,” she said.
The case is one of a number of challenges brought by same-sex couples — some of them facing immigration troubles — over the 1996 law that prohibits the U.S. government from recognizing same-sex marriages. It is now under review by the Supreme Court.
CLINTON, ‘NORMAL’ HONORED AT GLAAD AWARDS: LOS ANGELES (AP) — NBC’s sitcom “The New Normal,” FX’s thriller “American Horror Story: Asylum” and NBC’s daytime drama “Days of Our Lives” took home top TV honors at the 24th annual GLAAD Media Awards held Saturday night in Los Angeles.
The GLAAD awards pay tribute to “inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.”
The event, hosted by actress-producer-director Drew Barrymore, boasted such Hollywood heavyweights as presenters Jennifer Lawrence, Charlize Theron, Betty White and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Other winners included “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” which was named outstanding film: wide release, and former President Bill Clinton was given the first advocate for change award.
