J.R.Martinez

Saturday 17 December 2011

He nabbed a mirror ball trophy on Dancing With the Stars last month, but the biggest and best prize is yet to come. J.R. Martineztells PEOPLE exclusively that he and girlfriend Diana Gonzalez-Jones are expecting their first child next spring.  
J.R. Martinez Is Going to Be a Dad

"We found out just last week it's a girl and we are over the moon," Martinez, 28, says. "Diana has a little baby bump now and it's the cutest thing ever. With the holidays coming up, this is the biggest and best gift we could get."  

The Iraq war vet and Gonzalez-Jones met when he landed a role on All My Childrenin 2008. At the time, she was working as an assistant to the soap's executive producer. The two became close friends, but it wasn't until last year that the pair decided to take their friendship to the next level. 

"We were so good as friends that romantically, we just clicked right away.  There was no adjustment period," Gonzalez-Jones told PEOPLE earlier this year.  

Impending fatherhood "is sinking in" Martinez says, admitting that he can't believe all of the good things that have happened in the past year.   

"2011 has been full of a lot of surprises and opportunities and ultimately, a lot of blessings," says Martinez. "Diana and I were just asking ourselves, 'How is 2012 going to top 2011?'  Well, we have our answer!"
READ MORE - J.R.Martinez

Reno fire expands to over 2,000 acres

Friday 18 November 2011


A cloud of grayish-white smoke settled over upscale homes and horse pastures at Reno's edge Friday as firefighters from across Nevada came close to taming a sudden wildfire that sent 16 people to hospitals and destroyed or damaged 25 houses.
The unexplained blaze also gave a firefighter first- and second-degree burns and was blamed for the death of a 74-year-old man who had a heart attack while trying to flee, but authorities said the worst was likely over as growing snow flurries and falling temperatures stoked hopes that the remaining showers of ember and ash would die down.
Reno Fire Chief Mike Hernandez said firefighters had largely contained the blaze that sent nearly 10,000 people from their homes in the middle of the night and sent flames licking the edges of the region's mountain roads.
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"We are actually backtracking and going over areas that have burned and extinguishing hot spots," Hernandez said.
The cause of the blaze wasn't known, but a downed power line or homeless encampments in the area might be to blame, Hernandez said. He said the region is also a popular area for teenagers who might have started the fire to stay warm.
At least 400 firefighters from as far as 260 miles away flocked to Reno early Friday as multiple fires roared from the Sierra Nevada foothills in northwestern Nevada and spread to the valley floor. Flames reached 50 feet high and embers pushed by the wind traveled up to a mile.
Police went house-to-house, pounding on doors and urging residents to evacuate in the dark of the night.
Hernandez said residents ran from their homes dressed in pajamas, frantically trying to grab as many possessions as possible. One elderly man dressed in his underwear ran out with a blanket wrapped around his body.
"The people are in a state of shock and are hanging in there," Gov. Brian Sandoval said.
Dick Hecht said that when he escaped from his home with his wife, "the whole mountain was on fire," and it was so windy he could barely stand.
"It was so smoky, you couldn't hardly see," Hecht said.
The couple tried to return to their home before morning, but they were turned back by high winds and erupting flames. As they made their way back down the mountain roads, flames burned less than 40 yards from their vehicle.
Gusts of up to 60 mph grounded firefighting helicopters and made it difficult for firefighters to approach Caughlin Ranch, the affluent subdivision bordering pine-forested hills where the fire likely began after 12:30 a.m.
The strong winds, combined with the area's dry terrain, helped the fire spread from 400 acres to 2,000, or more than 3 square miles. Firefighters said their efforts spared 4,000 homes but that the disaster would likely cost many millions of dollars.
The gusts were comparable to the Santa Ana winds that often aggravate and spread wildfires in the hills surrounding Los Angeles, officials said.
"The wind is horrific," said Reno spokeswoman Michele Anderson. "We just watched a semi nearly blow over on the freeway."
More than 150 people had filled two shelters set up at area high schools by midmorning.
John and Maggie Givlin were among those watching a television at Reno High School, scanning the screen for details on whether the home they left behind was safe. They already were preparing to flee when a police officer knocked on their door at about 1:30 a.m.
"I smelled smoke and got out of bed, and the electricity was out," said John Givlin, a retired civil engineer who has lived there about eight years. "I looked out the front window and saw the glow over the hill before us."
He and his wife made their way out of their home with a flashlight. Outside, flames billowed in every direction.
More than 4,000 NV Energy customers lost power as poles and electrical wires were scorched and knocked down, said spokeswoman Faye Andersen. Utility workers were not allowed into the fire area.
Roughly 100 Nevada National Guard members assisted local law enforcement in checking homes and keeping people out of the evacuated region.
"These next 24 hours, with all the power lines down and everything else, it is still a very, very dangerous area," Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said.
Evacuees could return to their homes at noon Saturday, Cashell said. A number of local hotel-casinos were also offering discounted rooms to displaced residents.
At least 90 schools were closed for the day to clear the roads of school traffic and make way for emergency workers.
The U.S. Postal Service suspended delivery to the area for the day, and the state high school athletic association moved its football playoffs from Friday night to Monday.
Most of the 16 people who went to hospitals were treated for smoke inhalation. Health officials urged residents to stay inside and reduce physical activity, warning that the dust and smoke could cause health problems for those in the affected regions and downwind neighborhoods
READ MORE - Reno fire expands to over 2,000 acres

Tebow's late TD run lifts Broncos over Jets

DENVER – When Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow arrived for his postgame press conference Thursday after an extended wait, he apologized "for taking so long."
He could have been talking about the game itself, in which he once again saved his best for last, leading Denver to a 17-13 victory over the New York Jets with a 95-yard scoring drive capped by his 20-yard touchdown run at the 58-second mark.
Broncos fans likely would tell him: No apology needed.
Since Tebow replaced Kyle Orton as the starting quarterback last month, the Broncos (5-5) have won four of five games, three of them in down-to-the-wire fashion, to climb within a half-game of Oakland in the AFC West.
"I like winning, but I wish it wasn't quite that stressful," Tebow said.
Broncos fans, many of whom clamored for Tebow as Denver began the season 1-4, are learning that when time — and hope — seem to be running out, it's Tebow Time.
"He's super competitive," Broncos coach John Fox said. "He never lays his sword down. He's going to fight you to the death."
His effort Thursday was helped greatly by the Broncos' defense, which, until the winning drive, had scored Denver's only touchdown on a third-quarter interception return by cornerback Andre Goodman.
The defense also snuffed the Jets' efforts at a comeback in the last 58 seconds, with rookie linebacker Von Miller sacking New York quarterback Mark Sanchez midway through the drive. Sanchez's last-second pass attempt fell incomplete as time ran out, extending the misery and further dampening the playoff hopes of the Jets (5-5), who just four nights earlier lost 37-16 to the New England Patriots.
"We made too many mistakes to win a game," Jets coach Rex Ryan said Thursday.
Denver's offense was far from perfect through the first 54 minutes of the game. The winning drive was the Broncos' only sustained series.
Until that point, Tebow was off the mark and off his vaunted running game. He had just 11 yards rushing and 69 yards passing (completing six of 15 attempts) coming into the fourth quarter.
The Jets broke a 10-10 tie early in the fourth quarter on a 45-yard Nick Folk field goal. The score was still 13-10 when the Broncos took over at their own 5-yard line with 5:54 remaining in the game.
"When we were in the huddle, what we were talking about as an offense is that you want opportunities like this, because this is an opportunity for greatness as an offense," Tebow said. "We said, 'We haven't done anything this whole game, but we have an opportunity to do something special right now.' "
Broncos receiver Dante Rosario remembered not so much what was said as what he saw.
"You could just tell he was very amped up, very emotional, but in control," he said of Tebow. "He had that excitement in his eyes like he knew what was about to happen."
Tebow completed three of five passes, including a right-on-target 18-yarder to Rosario, and ran for 57 yards on six carries.
The Jets "blitzed everybody" on the last play of the drive, Tebow said, which created an opening to the end zone.
"Tim Tebow did it," said Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, who earlier in the week said no NFL team could be successful over the long haul primarily running an option offense, as the Broncos are doing with Tebow. "He shocked me."
Week by week, Tebow is quieting his detractors and turning up the volume on "Tebow-mania."
He earned the starting job by leading the Broncos to 16 fourth-quarter points in a Oct. 9 loss to San Diego. The rally fell short only on the game's last play, when the Chargers knocked down a would-be touchdown pass.
In his first start, Tebow willed the Broncos to a 18-15 overtime win against Miami. Last Sunday, he threw a 56-yard, fourth-quarter scoring strike to Eric Decker to lift the Broncos past Kansas City.
"I put that pressure on myself to try to make something happen," Tebow said. "Ultimately, that's the best part about being a quarterback. That's why I've wanted to be a quarterback since I was 6 years old, watching guys like John Elway and Steve Young have game-winning drives."
READ MORE - Tebow's late TD run lifts Broncos over Jets

Authorities reopen probe into Natalie Wood's 1981 drowning death

Actress Natalie Wood drowned near California's Catalina Island after an argument with her husband, actor Robert Wagner.
Los Angeles (CNN) -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office is reopening its investigation into the death of movie star Natalie Wood, who drowned in 1981 while boating off Catalina Island near the California coast, authorities said Thursday.
Homicide investigators are taking a new look at one of Hollywood's most enduring mysteries after they were contacted by people who claimed they had "additional information" about the drowning, the sheriff's department said in a statement.
Authorities didn't provide further details late Thursday and said a news conference on the matter will be held Friday at 11 a.m. (2 p.m. ET).
Last year, the actress' sister, Lana Wood, and the captain of the yacht on which Wood sailed with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, had asked the sheriff's office to reopen the case.
On Thursday, L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy Benjamin Grubb couldn't say whether the sister and the yacht captain have prompted the renewed investigation.
"I don't know if that's related, but that's what the press conference is about tomorrow," Grubb told CNN.
Natalie Wood once said in a televised interview that her greatest fear was of dark seawater. On November 29, 1981, she drowned in the Pacific Ocean off the isthmus of Catalina Island.
Wood's body was found floating in the water about a mile away from the yacht.
According to police reports, Wood was found wearing a long nightgown, socks, and a down jacket.
The autopsy report shows Wood had two dozen bruises on her body, including a facial abrasion on her left cheek, and bruises on her arms.
"My sister was not a swimmer and did not know how to swim, and she would never go to another boat or to shore dressed in a nightgown and socks," said Lana Wood.
Although the county coroner's office ruled that Wood's death was an accident, others say the case hasn't made sense.
In 2010, Lana Wood told CNN she believes a highly charged argument between her sister and husband on the yacht's back deck preceded Wood's drowning. She told CNN last year she does not suspect foul play.
"I just want the truth to come out, the real story," she said last year.
Dennis Davern, the former captain of the yacht Splendour broke his long silence with a detailed account in "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour," a book he wrote with his friend Marti Rulli. It was published in September 2009.
Davern has said he believes Wood's death was a direct result of the fight with Wagner.
Lana Wood and Davern couldn't be reached immediately for comment Thursday.
Wagner's publicist Alan Nierob issued a statement saying the actor's family "fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death."
Nierob said no one from the sheriff's department has contacted Wagner or anyone in his family about the case.
In a lengthy interview with CNN in 2010, Davern said he now believes the investigation of Wood's death was incompetent and suggested there was a cover-up. He said he regrets misleading investigators by keeping quiet at Wagner's request.
Wood and Wagner married in 1957, divorced in 1962, then remarried in 1972. They often sailed their yacht off the coast of California and they invited Wood's "Brainstorm" co-star, Christopher Walken, to join them on a sail on Thanksgiving weekend in 1981.
Walken and Wood had been filming "Brainstorm" at the time and the Hollywood rumor mill was abuzz with speculation that Wagner was jealous over Walken, but authorities have said Walken witnessed only the events leading up to an argument between the couple.
Walken couldn't be reached immediately for comment Thursday.
Wagner admitted his jealousy in his book "Pieces of My Heart," also published in September 2009. He acknowledged that there had been a fight with Wood, writing that he smashed a wine bottle on a table.
After Wagner argued with Walken and broke the wine bottle, Wood left in disgust and went to her stateroom, Davern told CNN last year. Walken also retired to a guest room, Davern added, and Wagner followed his wife to their room. A few minutes later, Davern said, he could hear the couple fighting.
Embarrassed, Davern said he turned up the volume on his stereo. At one point, Davern recalled, he glanced out of the pilot house window and saw both Wagner and Wood on the yacht's aft deck. "They'd moved their fight outside ... you could tell from their animated gestures they were still arguing," he said.
A short time later, Wagner, appearing to be distraught, told Davern he couldn't find Wood. Davern searched the boat but couldn't find her. He noticed the rubber dinghy also was missing.
Wagner shrugged and poured them both drinks, Davern said. He suggested his wife had probably gone off in a temper.
Wagner's story, as told in his book, differs from Davern's. He maintains that after the argument with Walken, Wood went to her room and prepared for bed while he and Walken sat on the deck, cooling off.
Wagner writes that he went to check on Wood, but she wasn't there. He maintains that he and Davern searched the boat and noticed the dinghy was missing. Wagner wrote that he assumed his wife had gone ashore on her own.
He radioed the restaurant on shore where they'd had dinner and called the harbor master to see if anyone had seen Wood.
The dinghy was found about a mile away from the yacht, and a mile from where Wood's body was found.
Wood's first starring role was as a child in "Miracle on 34th Street" in 1947, and she played alongside some of Hollywood's top leading men -- James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause" and Warren Beatty in "Splendor in the Grass." She was nominated for Oscars in both of those films, as well as for "Love With the Proper Stranger" (1963), according to IMDb. One of her more memorable roles was as Maria in "West Side Story."
Wagner's striking good looks landed him roles in dozens of films in the 1950s and '60s before he hit it big in television. He starred in two popular series, "It Takes a Thief" (1968-70) and "Hart to Hart" (1979-84), and more recently as Number Two in the "Austin Powers" spy spoofs.
READ MORE - Authorities reopen probe into Natalie Wood's 1981 drowning death

Hunger Games' trailer shows Katniss in action [video]

Monday 14 November 2011



Much to the relief of "Hunger Games" fans worldwide, Lionsgate finally has debuted its first full-fledged trailer for the dystopian adventure due out March 23.
In a few short minutes we meet vulnerable but strong heroine Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and her fellow tribute Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) and see the ostentatious Capitol that serves as a brilliant contrast to the poor, drab environments that make up District 12, from which both Mellark and Everdeen hail.
For "The Hunger Games" uninitiated, Suzanne Collins' bestselling novel depicts a future in which the opulent Capitol rules the planet and the majority of districts are impoverished nations that must serve the central government. As a reminder of a previous uprising against the Capitol, an annual "Hunger Game" contest is put into place in which two youths between ages 12 and 17 from each of the 12 districts are forced to compete in a brutal fight to the death. As the trailer says, only one comes out.
Director Gary Ross seems to have gone all out in capturing the Capitol's opulence with the garish Effie Trinket, played by Elizabeth Banks, cheerfully determining the fates of these impoverished kids. We see quick glimpses of Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman and Wes Bentley as Seneca Crane, and we also get a quick peek at Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, a previous Hunger Games winner, now a useless drunk who serves as Peeta and Katniss' biggest ally.
Katniss' District 12 pal, and unrequited love, Gale Hawthorne (Liam Hemsworth), is given prominent placement in the trailer, suggesting that the character who mostly appears in Katniss' memories throughout the book will receive some solid screen time in the upcoming movie.
The trailer will debut on the big screen this weekend in front of "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn -- 
READ MORE - Hunger Games' trailer shows Katniss in action [video]

Tiger Woods looks to be back after an impressive second round at the Australian Open

Friday 11 November 2011



HE'S reluctant to declare it, but a bumper Australian Open crowd yesterday witnessed the rebirth of Tiger Woods.
After the former world No.1 tore apart his opening nine holes on the way to a five-under 67, his odds to break his two-year victory drought were slashed to $2 as he stood atop a star-studded leaderboard at The Lakes.
Woods cashed in on benign early conditions to peel off five birdies in his opening nine holes.
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Then as the wind sprang up and subdued the chasing pack, he mixed glimpses of his imperious best with a couple of bogeys on the way in, finishing at nine under, one clear of Peter O'Malley and two ahead of playing partner and world No.7 Jason Day.
Woods, 35, last won the at the 2009 Masters at Melbourne's Kingston Heath and has since battled personal crises, a string of serious injuries and learning a new swing that limits the strain on his ageing body.But 18,000 people watched in amazement yesterday as the modern game's greatest player wound back the clock.
"There has been no 'ah-ha' moment," he said. "I have been hitting it like this at home, but it hasn't come out in a tournament setting yet.
"That's the best progression. I have been through swing changes before. That's what's happened. It takes a little time but once it starts coming the confidence starts building."
READ MORE - Tiger Woods looks to be back after an impressive second round at the Australian Open

The Duggar family of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" expecting baby No. 20

Tuesday 8 November 2011


(CBS) It looks like TLC is going to have to change the name of its show "19 Kids and Counting."
The show's stars, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are expecting their 20th child in April 2012, reports Entertainment Weekly.

The 45-year-old mom told the "Today" show she was surprised to discover she was expecting at her age. "I was not thinking that God would give us another one, and we are just so grateful."
The couple's children have typically been 16 to 18 months apart, but with their last child born in December 2009 this is the longest the family has gone without a new addition, according to MSNBC.
The Duggars have said before that they leave their family planning to God, reports MSNBC.
Their 19 children range in age from 23 years to 23 months. The announcement of their 20th child coincides with the show's finale tonight, Nov. 8
READ MORE - The Duggar family of TLC's "19 Kids and Counting" expecting baby No. 20