President Bush: An ‘Awfully Special’ Wedding Weekend May 12, 2008

As tiny Crawford, Texas, and surrounding towns emptied of wedding guests on Sunday, President Bush pronounced the weekend an “awfully special” one. And, by all accounts, an emotional one for the First Family.

“Our little girl, Jenna, married a really good guy,” the president told reporters on the tarmac before boarding Air Force One with First Lady Laura Bush and his parents for the return trip to Washington, D.C.

The ultra-private wedding on Bush’s gated ranch was the president’s first turn at playing Father of the Bride. In a suit and tie (Jenna, aiming for a more “natural” and casual affair, didn’t want black-tie), Bush walked his 26-year-old daughter down the aisle to a limestone altar topped by a 4-ft. cross where she and Henry Hager, 30, exchanged vows just as the sun set. The bride’s twin sister and maid of honor, Barbara, did a reading during the ceremony, as did their grandfather, George H.W. Bush.

The former president later joked that he’d had a whole speech planned. “It was supposed to be 40 minutes but they cut me back to 20,” he kidded reporters aboard Air Force One before stopping himself, noting that he had been told not to talk about the wedding.

Wedding singer Tyrone “Super T” Smith of Nashville evidently missed that memo. He happily told PEOPLE how Jenna and Henry gazed into each other’s eyes during their first dance, to Taj Mahal’s “Lovin’ In My Baby’s Eyes.” And he described a poignant father-daughter dance to the Joe Cocker ballad, “You Are So Beautiful.” And when the band played “Sugar Sugar,” the president hit the dance floor again, Smith said. “He was right there. He got down. He got down!”

Asked at his Sunday appearance, just before noon, whether he’d been up late partying, the president just winked.

‘We’re Mighty Blessed’
“The wedding was spectacular. It’s just — it’s all we could have hoped for,” Bush said. “The weather cooperated nicely; just as the vows were exchanged the sun set over our lake and it was just a special day and a wonderful day and we’re mighty blessed.”

Back in Crawford and nearby Salado, where many of the guests had booked rooms at the quaint inns and B&Bs, it was time to pack up and clean up. One twentysomething man checking out of the Old Salado Celebration Center & Retreat, where Friday’s rehearsal dinner had been held, told PEOPLE: “The wedding was a great party. It was beautiful, incredible, outstanding.”

Jamie Burgess, who manages the Red Bull Gift & Gallery in Crawford, sounded like she was going to miss the nuptial hubbub. “We’ve had over 100 tourists and media people in here just in the last couple of days,” Burgess enthused. But in this one-stoplight hamlet that boasts not one motel, she added, “A lot of people say they wish they’d thought to rent out their houses.”

California Hotel Packages, From $152 May 12, 2008

It wouldn’t be summer without a little fun in the sun. These hotel packages factor in time for biking, volunteering, and chilling out at the beach.

MAMMOTH LAKES

Mammoth Mountain Resort, from $152 per room per night
With the Stay & Bike package, you’ll be treated to accommodations and an All-Day Bike Park Pass. The bike pass gives each person access to 90 miles of trails around the resort, which is located in central California, on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range and near Yosemite National Park. In winter, ski bunnies abound on the slopes, but the summer months are perfect for biking; you can get up the hill by bike, or opt for the gondola, the shuttle, or the ski lift. There’s also a full service repair shop, and Kona bike rentals are available. Rates start at $152 per room per night. When June 20-Sept. 22, 2008. Details Based on double occupancy; single bookings start at $120 per room per night. Does not include taxes of 13 percent. Bike rentals start at $40 per day. Contact 800/626-6684, mammothmountain.com.
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Loews Coronado Bay Resort (Courtesy Loews Coronado Bay Resort)

SAN DIEGO

Loews Coronado Bay Resort, from $259 per room per night

The Volunteer Vacation package at the 440-room resort on the San Diego Bay lets you kick back at the beach—and do your part to keep the area clean for others. You’ll take a tour of Silver Strand State Beach (with direct access from the hotel) to learn about the wildlife, led by a state park educator, and participate in a beach cleanup or planting project. Accommodations in a deluxe room and two boxed lunches are also included. During your stay, you can take advantage of the resort’s spa, swimming pools, tennis courts, and herb garden. Rates start at $259 per room per night. When Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 28, 2008. Details Double and single bookings available. Does not include hotel taxes of 9 percent. Contact 619/424-4000, loewshotels.com.
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OXNARD

Embassy Suites Mandalay Hotel & Resort, from $275 per room per night

When you book the family-friendly Summer Getaway package, you’ll get three nights’ accommodations in a two-room, two-bath suite at this southern California resort with 248 suites and beach access. You’ll start each day with a full complimentary breakfast and get one in-room movie or hour of Nintendo play, two bike rentals, a $50 credit at Capistrano’s Restaurant at the resort, parking, and drinks at the resort’s nightly happy hour. Oxnard is about 60 miles northeast of L.A. and hosts a Salsa Festival in July. Rates start at $275 per room per night, or $825 for the required three-night stay. When June 1-Sept. 7, 2008. Details Single and double bookings available. Children under 18 stay for free. Does not include hotel taxes of 10.1 percent. Contact 805/984-2500, www.mandalaybeach.embassysuites.com.

Is Edie Gone From Desparate Housewives? May 12, 2008

NEW YORK (AP) — When Edie packed up and left Wisteria Lane at the end of Sunday’s “Desperate Housewives,” viewers were caught by surprise.

Nicollette Sheridan’s character, Edie, finds herself ostracized on Sunday’s episode.

The sudden exit of the neighborhood’s blond troublemaker has fans wondering how this plot twist will affect the ABC hit series, and whether Nicollette Sheridan, who has played Edie during its four seasons, will be back.

For weeks, rumors swirled that Sheridan was out of the show. Both ABC and Sheridan’s publicist, Nicole Perna, have been tight-lipped in response to inquiries about her imminent departure.

But creator and executive producer Marc Cherry was slightly more forthcoming. Yes, Edie’s gone, he told The Associated Press on Friday. Then he added: “She won’t be back for a few years.”

What could that mean? Hadn’t Cherry already announced he will bring his series to a close at the end of the 2010-11 season, just three years from now?

“We do three more seasons and then it’s done,” he said with a chuckle. “I will tear down all the sets personally.

“I want to be sure that when we leave the air, people still care.”

But right now, what viewers really care about is Edie’s future — if any. Could her return in what Cherry carefully described as “a few years” have anything to do with another recent rumor that “Desperate Housewives” will adopt a “flash-forward” narrative device (akin to the storytelling style on “Lost”), which could restore Edie to the show as seen a few years hence?

“I only address one rumor at a time,” Cherry replied.

Edie bolted on Sunday’s episode when the titular four housewives — Susan, Lynette, Bree and Gabrielle — faced her down after she had pulled one too many schemes against them.

“We’re done,” Susan (Teri Hatcher) told her. “From now on, you are invisible.”

“And we’re gonna make sure every woman in a five-mile radius knows the kind of [stuff] you pull,” said Gabrielle (Eva Longoria).

Edie tried to apologize.

“Did you hear something?” Bree (Marcia Cross) said as the women strode away. “Neither did I.”

A few minutes later, viewers saw Edie toss a suitcase into her sports car and drive away.

“A climactic scene,” Cherry told the AP.

But as the show nears its two-hour season finale next Sunday, fans are desperate to know: Is Sheridan done? Or is she still part of the show?

“We’ll have to wait until next season and see,” Cherry replied.

It’s Official: Jennie Garth Joins the New 90210 May 12, 2008

Kelly Taylor is returning to that exclusive zip code, 90210.

As was rumored, Jennie Garth will make special guest appearances on the CW’s new spinoff of Beverly Hills, 90210, playing a guidance counselor at her alma mater, West Beverly High, the network announced Saturday.

Garth is the first original cast member to sign on to the spinoff — though many former stars (including Tori Spelling and Ian Ziering) are lobbying for parts. Since the announcement was made last month, the cast has been rapidly filling up: Lori Loughlin has signed on to play Debbie Mills, wife of the high school principal who returns to take care of his alcoholic mother.

The high school principal has not yet been cast.

‘Survivor: Micronesia’ winner named May 12, 2008

Parvati Shallow was the last woman standing on “Survivor: Micronesia — Fans vs. Favorites.

 

The 25-year-old boxer and charity organizer from Los Angeles outwitted, outlasted and outplayed her competitors — both “favorite” former castaways and “fan” contestants — to claim the title of “Sole Survivor” and the CBS reality show’s $1 million prize during Sunday’s live finale. She previously came in sixth place on “Survivor: Cook Islands.”

Shallow received five votes over three for runner-up Amanda Kimmel, the 23-year-old former beauty queen and aspiring fashion designer. She also bested 37-year-old nurse Cirie Fields and 32-year-old bartender Natalie Bolton. It marked the first time in the reality competition’s 16-season history that four female contestants made it to the end of the game.

“I couldn’t have done it without the girls that I was with,” Shallow said during the finale.

At the beginning of the season, a tribe of former contestants competed against a tribe of new players. When the teams merged, Shallow helped form an alliance of female competitors from both sides. The alliance shocked several contestants with their eliminations, including Erik Reichenbach, who gave up immunity he won to Bolton and was subsequently voted out.

During the finale, Kimmel won both immunity challenges, choosing Shallow to accompany her at the final tribal council. That last deliberation featured two players vying for votes from an eight-person jury of cast-off competitors — unlike the three previous “Survivor” seasons, which featured three contestants angling for winning votes.

“The fact that it’s a final two and not a final three was almost poetic,” Fields said when she learned about the finale’s twist. “I mean, we’ve been blindsiding people left and right, and essentially we got blindsided. We thought we had it made. I guess what goes around, comes around.”

At the end of the finale, host Jeff Probst revealed the series will return to Africa for its 17th season and feature 18 contestants living among wildlife. “Survivor: Gabon — Earth’s Last Eden” will premiere in the fall. The third “Survivor” season was filmed in Kenya

Australian Man Fights Off Great White Shark May 12, 2008

SYDNEY (AFP) - An Australian man has described how he escaped from the jaws of a great white shark by poking it in the eye as it dragged him under water.

Jason Cull, 37, told reporters from his hospital bed that he saw a dark shape approaching as he swam about 80 metres (yards) off the popular Middleton beach in Western Australia on Saturday.

At first he thought it was one of the dolphins he had been swimming with, but realised it was a shark as the four-metre (12-foot) monster closed in, local media reported Monday.

“It banged straight into me… and it grabbed me by the leg and dragged me under the water,” said Cull, a schoolteacher and father of two.

“I just remember being dragged backwards underwater. I felt along it, I found its eye and I poked it in the eye, and that’s when it let go.”

A volunteer at the local surf club, Joanne Lucas, 50, heard Cull’s cries for help as she arrived at the beach and immediately dived in to rescue him.

“Instinct just kicked in,” she told reporters. “I didn’t even have to think about it, which is amazing really.

“I got to him and he said, ‘Thank God. Thank you so much — a shark has attacked my leg.’

“He had huge chunks taken out of his leg, his calf and the knee,” Lucas said.

Cull underwent surgery at a regional hospital and doctors said he was expected to make a full recovery.

Middleton beach remained closed Monday as at least three great white sharks cruised offshore, avoiding efforts to herd them away, fisheries officials said.

A teenaged surfer was killed in a shark attack last month, bringing the death toll in Australia since 2000 to 12, according to the US-based International Shark Attack File.

Jenna Bush Wedding Photos May 12, 2008

Death Toll in China May Top 5,000 May 12, 2008

CHONGQING, China - Chinese state media say 3,000 to 5,000 people have died in one county in Sichuan province alone from a massive earthquake.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Monday that another 10,000 people were believed hurt in Beichuan county after the 7.8-magnitude quake.

Nearly 900 students were trapped after their school collapsed about 60 miles from the epicenter. Photos showed heavy cranes trying to remove rubble from the ruined school.

The earthquake struck in the middle of the afternoon when classes and office towers were full.

The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported that four of the dead were ninth-grade students killed when their high school collapsed. Photos showed heavy cranes trying to remove rubble from the ruined school. Xinhua did not say how many of the students were feared dead.

It said its reporters in Juyuan township, about 60 miles from the epicenter, saw buried teenagers struggling to break loose from underneath the rubble of the three-story building “while others were crying out for help.”

Two girls were quoted by Xinhua as saying they escaped because they had “run faster than others.”

The earthquake comes less than three months before the start of the Beijing Summer Olympics, when China hopes to use to showcase its rise in the world.

The earthquake struck in the middle of the afternoon when classes and office towers were full, about 60 miles northwest of Chengdu. There were several smaller aftershocks, the U.S. Geological Survey said on its Web site.

Calls into the city did not go through as panicked residents quickly overloaded the telephone system. The quake affected telephone and power networks, and even state media appeared to have few details of the disaster.

“In Chengdu, mobile telecommunication convertors have experienced jams and thousands of servers were out of service,” said Sha Yuejia, deputy chief executive officer of China Mobile.

Although it was difficult to telephone Chengdu, an Israeli student, Ronen Medzini, sent a text message to The Associated Press saying there were power and water outages there.

“Traffic jams, no running water, power outs, everyone sitting in the streets, patients evacuated from hospitals sitting outside and waiting,” he said.

Xinhua said an underground water pipe ruptured near the city’s southern railway station, flooding a main thoroughfare. Reporters saw buildings with cracks in their walls but no collapses, Xinhua said.

The earthquake also rattled buildings in Beijing, some 930 miles to the north, less than three months before the Chinese capital was expected to be full of hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors for the Summer Olympics.

Many Beijing office towers were evacuated, including the building housing the media offices for the organizers of the Olympics, which start in August.

“I’ve lived in Taipei and California and I’ve been through quakes before. This is the most I’ve ever felt,” said James McGregor, a business consultant who was inside the LG Towers in Beijing’s business district. “The floor was moving underneath me.”

In Fuyang, 660 miles to the east, chandeliers in the lobby of the Buckingham Palace Hotel swayed. “We’ve never felt anything like this our whole lives,” said a hotel employee surnamed Zhu.

Patients at the Fuyang People’s No. 1 Hospital were evacuated. An hour after the quake, a half-dozen patients in blue-striped pajamas stood outside the hospital. One was laying on a hospital bed in the parking lot.

Skyscrapers in Shanghai swayed and most office occupants went rushing into the streets.

In the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, 100 miles off the southeastern Chinese coast, buildings swayed when the quake hit. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

The quake was felt as far away as the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, where some people hurried out of swaying office buildings and into the streets downtown. A building in the Thai capital of Bangkok also was evacuated after the quake was felt there.

A magnitude 7.8 earthquake is considered a major event, capable of causing widespread damage and injuries in populated areas.

The last serious earthquake in China was in 2003, when a 6.8-magnitude quake killed 268 people in Bachu county in the west of Xinjiang.

China’s deadliest earthquake in modern history struck the northeastern city of Tangshan on July 28, 1976, killing 240,000 people.