Expecting twins, Bandini to leave job
Caterina Bandini, the evening co-anchor at WHDH-TV, announced yesterday that she plans to leave the station in the fall because she's expecting twins. The anchor, who married local businessman Dan Schwinn last summer, has worked at Channel 7 for 11 years, five of them as a principal anchor with Randy Price. Yesterday, she said she doesn't feel she can continue her 2 p.m. to midnight shift with infants at home. ''This is very bittersweet for me because I love my work," she said. ''But I'm 38 and I'm having two babies. It's a big thing." Since she's been married, Bandini said her hours have been a strain on her relationship with Schwinn, president of the Lincoln-based Avidyne Corp., which makes flight deck equipment for small aircraft. ''He's already very busy. He tries to stay up for me and then he's running ragged. Now is the time for me to make a sacrifice for him and these babies." WHDH said a replacement anchor has not yet been named. . . . Meanwhile, at CBS4, news reporter Peg Rusconi and her husband, Dan Hoard, the play-by-play announcer for the Pawtucket Red Sox, welcomed their first child, a son, Samuel Theodore Hoard, who weighed 7 pounds, 2 ounces. Rusconi was reporting a story and Hoard was in Ottawa with the team when she went into labor. Dad made it home in time for the baby's arrival.
Director Affleck scoping out Southie
He won't bark ''action!" for another week or so, but Ben Affleck's managing to stay busy. The Cambridge-bred actor, who's back in town to direct the film version of Dennis Lehane's whodunit ''Gone, Baby, Gone," was outside the Laboure Center in South Boston yesterday. Clutching a coffee from Dunkin' Donuts -- a large Turbo Ice, if you must know -- Affleck was yukking it up with a few folks on West Broadway. ''Geez, I wish he had come in and said hi," said Katie Callahan, a receptionist at the Laboure Center. As he prepares to shoot the Dorchester-based detective flick, Affleck's been showing up all over Southie in recent days. Word is he was hoping to shoot one scene from atop a building in Perkins Square, but the owner didn't want the hassle and said no.
Damon praises Bush’s AIDs efforts
Just back from a six-day trip to Africa, Matt Damon had -- get this -- kind words for President Bush. That's right, the left-leaning actor who has never concealed his contempt for the commander in chief actually praised the president's AIDS relief effort. ''The work that's being done and the people that I met who are on the front lines there, I just came away feeling like we're going to beat this," said the ''Bourne Identity" star. Damon spent most of his time in Zambia, which had an HIV/AIDS prevalence rate of 16.5 percent in 2003, according to the CIA's World Factbook. ''You walk into these clinics; you're surrounded by people who are alive and well because of the president's plan and because of this money," he said.
Lockhart pops up at Copley Plaza
Just moments after finishing the first concert of his 12th season with the Boston Pops, conductor Keith Lockhart made his way over to the Fairmont Copley Plaza hotel with his date Emiley Zalesky, a Ropes & Gray lawyer, and his parents, Newton and Marilyn Lockhart, in from North Carolina. . . .
Country singer Kenny Rogers was at WKLB-FM (99.5) yesterday with brass from the Boston Fire Department and the State Fire Marshal's office to help kick off an auction of low-numbered license plates to build a memorial to honor fallen firefighters in Massachusetts. . . . Multi-platinum rockers Fuel, who are managed by Medford native Paul Geary, who also guides the career of chart-toppers Godsmack, want ''American Idol" reject Chris Daughtry to be their lead singer. The band's bassist Jeff Abercrombie and songwriter/guitarist Carl Bell told ''Extra" yesterday that Daughtry's rendition of their hit ''Hemorrhage" was enough for them. ''Chris, if you're watching," Bell said, ''we've talked about this before, if you wanna entertain it again, we'll entertain it again and go!" . . . ''Tuesdays With Morrie" author Mitch Albom will be the commencement speaker at Emmanuel College's graduation ceremonies tomorrow. Stacey Lucchino, wife of Red Sox CEO Larry Lucchino, is among three women receiving honorary degrees. . . . Celebrated Haitian novelist Edwidge Danticat is at MassBay Community College campus next week to mark the inauguration of Carole M. Berotte Joseph, who's the first Haitian-American to become president of a US college.
Suzanne Ryan of the Globe staff contributed. Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253. 