Celebrity news
Former game show host and longtime animal-rights activist Bob Barker has made a personal appeal to the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians in North Carolina to stop exhibiting bears in pit-like enclosures at three local zoos. Barker met Tuesday with Michell Hicks, principal chief, and five members of the Tribal Council. He called the bears’ conditions inhumane and asked that they be turned over to a sanctuary in California. Hicks told the Asheville Citizen-Times (N.C.) that the tribe follows federal regulations in caring for the bears. (AP)
Vampire replacement
Bryce Dallas Howard is sinking her teeth into a role in the “Twilight’’ series. Howard has been cast as the vampire Victoria in “Eclipse,’’ the third film in the franchise. She’s taking over for Rachelle Lefevre, who played the part in the first two movies, the 2008 smash “Twilight’’ and the upcoming “New Moon.’’ Summit Entertainment says Lefevre isn’t returning because of scheduling conflicts. (AP)Singer to start label
Gretchen Wilson plans to start her own record label, and she’d like to call it, naturally, Redneck Records. Wilson, 36, who became a country sensation with her 2004 down-home anthem “Redneck Woman,’’ said yesterday that if things go well she’ll release a new single in September and a new album in November. (AP)
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