Newsmakers for Aug. 1

Scout Willis receives community service

NEW YORK — Scout Willis, the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis, can do community service to resolve her public-drinking and fake-ID case, a judge said Tuesday.

Willis, who is now 21, was excused from court as a Manhattan judge agreed to dismiss her misdemeanor case if she does two days of service.

She didn’t have to enter a plea in the case, which took a curious detour into the Pakistani beer industry.

Her attorney, Stacey Richman, said prosecutors “took a logical approach to assessing the situation.”

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. The arrangement in Willis’ case, technically known as an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal, is often offered to defendants in first-time misdemeanor cases.

The Brown University student was arrested June 4. A court complaint said she was sipping an eight-ounce can of “Pakistani beer” in Manhattan’s Union Square in violation of an open-container law.

Willis, who was then 20, also gave police an ID with the name Katherine Kelly before ultimately showing her real ID, according to a criminal complaint. Those allegations led to a misdemeanor impersonation charge.

Richman took aim at the charges in court papers earlier this month, saying she had contacted Pakistan’s sole brewery and found it didn’t make an eight-ounce can of any alcoholic beverage and didn’t have permission to export products to the United States.

Scout Willis is pursuing a career in music while studying and pursuing various extracurricular activities at Brown, Richman said in her court papers.

Comedian Gervais
to launch Web series

NEW YORK — Ricky Gervais wants to teach you English.

The comedian announced Tuesday on his blog that he’s working on a Web series called “Learn English with Ricky Gervais.” It co-stars Gervais’ frequent collaborator and foil Karl Pilkington.

Though Gervais didn’t describe the series, it can be expected to be more comedic than educational.

The comedian said he had finished the pilot episode and he would post it online for free.

After that, he said he may charge a few dollars from viewers or seek sponsorship. Gervais said he hopes to subtitle the show in “as many languages as possible,” including a Klingon version.

ä On the Internet:
http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php

Artist Christo delays river project timeline

DENVER — The artist Christo is once again delaying the timeline for exhibiting his “Over the River” project amid legal challenges against agencies that have given approvals for it.

Christo’s team had projected that “Over the River” could be displayed as early as August 2015. It would suspend 5.9 miles worth of shimmery fabric panels over parts of a 42-mile stretch of the Arkansas River and take 28 months to install.

Christo said Tuesday that given pending legal challenges, it will be impossible for a 2015 display. He didn’t say when he thinks the project could be completed. Christo and his late wife, Jeanne-Claude, first got the idea for “Over the River” in 1992.

Opponents have cited concerns about how the project would affect wildlife, traffic and visitors’ safety.

Compiled from
The Associated Press