DEMANDED: Martha Stewart, now serving five months in prison for lying to federal investigators over a stock sale, has petitioned for a new trial, claiming she was denied the right to challenge statements her former Merrill Lynch & Co. broker, Peter Bacanovic, made about their case to federal investigators. Stewart, 63, told a U.S. appeals court she was deprived of her Constitutional right. Stewart's lawyers filed an 87-page appeals brief Wednesday in New York. "The Confrontation Clause, it is now clear, barred use of Bacanovic's testimonial statements for their truth value against Stewart," her legal papers state.
APPEALED: Ricky Martin, 32, went to United Nations in New York Wednesday to appeal to governments to declare war on tourists who sexually exploit children around the world, the Associated Press reports. "This is war. This is a battle we need to win," Martin said at a luncheon attended by U.N. ambassadors and activists trying to end the practice. The singer's 10-year-old Ricky Martin Foundation helps children in need, and recently the singer initiated the People for Children Project as one of its endeavors to try to end child sex tourism and other illegal practices.
CANCELED: ABC has dropped Miss America, leaving the famous beauty pageant without a TV outlet for the first time in 50 years. The network, which had carried the annual telecast since 1997 with a series of one-year contracts, notified Miss America Organization officials that they will not pick up the option this year, "We are now free to pursue other parties who have expressed interest in our organization, and we are excited at the limitless opportunities that are now available for us to grow our brand," the pageant's acting president and CEO, Arthur McMaster, said Wednesday. The Sept. 18 pageant drew a record low of 9.8 million viewers, AP reports.
BORN: Access Hollywood coanchor Billy Bush, 33, and his wife, Sydney, 32, welcomed their third daughter, Lillie, Oct. 17 in L.A., PEOPLE reports in its latest issue. She joins sisters Josephine, 6, and Mary, 3.
ANTICIPATED: Actor Mark Ruffalo (13 Going on 30), 32, and his wife, actress Sunrise Coigney, 36, are expecting their second child, PEOPLE also reports. Their son Keen is 3. … Jonathan Davis, 33, lead singer for the metal band Korn, wed model Deven Davis, 25, Oct. 10 in Kona, Hawaii. The newlyweds are expecting a baby in March. It's the second marriage for the singer, who has a 9-year-old son.
RENEWED: Further fueling speculation that "Nightline" with Ted Koppel may be riding into the sunset at some point, ABC has picked up Jimmy Kimmel Live through early 2006, Variety reports. The network has also hiked the ad rates for its hot No. 1 new show, Desperate Housewives, from about $160,000 to $300,000 for 30 seconds. … In other TV news, the Hollywood Reporter says Glenn Close, 57, will join the FX police drama The Shield as a regular for its upcoming fourth season. She'll play a new captain at the Farmington precinct where she will oversee Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis).
WON: The Boston Red Sox beat the usually unbeatable New York Yankees Wednesday night in the Bronx, 10-3, thus claiming this year's American League pennant – and possibly ending the longtime "Curse of the Bambino" that reputedly began in 1920, when the Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yanks. In a remarkable comeback, the Red Sox became the first Major League team to win a best-of-seven series after trailing 3-0. Boston will now face either the St. Louis Cardinals or the Houston Astros (the National League pennant is to be decided Thursday night) in Saturday's Game 1 of the World Series.
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