Family Feud

After looking at the March 15 Southern California Living section, I asked my wife if she knew that Tonya Harding and Paula Jones had been in a boxing match on TV. She said, "Who's Paula Jones?" Then I turned to the front page. I asked my wife if she knew that Tricia and Julie Nixon were feuding. She said, "Are they going to have a boxing match too?" Paul Hoffman Irvine

A Los Angeles judge ordered an investigation Friday into the care ofMichael Jackson'schildren, capping a tumultuous week of family feuding in which some relatives of the late pop star accused others of kidnapping their elderly matriarch. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, acting on his own initiative, instructed a probate court investigator to prepare a report "addressing the status of the minor children" and their grandmother, Katherine Jackson. The judge stripped the 82-year-old of guardianship Wednesday after hearing allegations that some of her children were holding her against her will in Arizona.

Judge James Wynn of North Carolina, President Obama's nominee for the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, looked to be a safe bet for an easy Senate confirmation. He is a former Navy lawyer and a well-regarded state appellate judge with a moderate record and "well-qualified" rating from the American Bar Assn. Then again, the same could have been said of Wynn in 1999 when President Clinton nominated him to the 4th Circuit. He was blocked then by Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, who blocked all of Clinton's North Carolina nominees.

A Los Angeles judge ordered an investigation Friday into the care of Michael Jackson's children, capping a tumultuous week of family feuding in which some relatives of the late pop star accused others of kidnapping their elderly matriarch. Superior Court Judge Mitchell Beckloff, acting on his own initiative, instructed a probate court investigator to prepare a report "addressing the status of the minor children" and their grandmother, Katherine Jackson. The judge stripped the 82-year-old of guardianship of the three children Wednesday after hearing allegations that some of her children were holding her against her will in Arizona.

Regarding your story "A Family Feud" (June 6), I want to say that the feud does not involve only the next-door neighbors. Many thousands of other Orange County residents share the disgust that the Carters feel for the Dapelos' self-serving act in destroying the small canyon that was their yard. Gary Dapelo describes the level, sod-covered area that replaced it as his "field of dreams," and that sounds right. The dreams of a person would cover a lovely little ecosystem with tons of dirt should be flat, barren, artificial and devoid of detail.

John O'Hurley has a new gig. The silver-haired star of last summer's "Dancing With the Stars" on ABC will become the new host of the syndicated game show "Family Feud," beginning this fall. FremantleMedia North America and Tribune Entertainment announced Tuesday that they plan to revamp the 30-year-old TV show with a new set and new host: O'Hurley, who is best known for playing the pompous catalog king J. Peterman on "Seinfeld."

A group of 11 Pakistani men has been accused of raping a teenage girl and forcing her to walk half-naked through her village because her cousin eloped with a woman from the men's family, police said. Police said the 16-year-old girl's father filed a complaint Saturday in the town of Ubaro, 330 miles northeast of Karachi. She is being treated in a hospital. Police official Mushtaq Khoso said officers had arrested four men and were awaiting a medical report.

A planned $525-million waterside stadium and mall complex, sold to voters last summer as a job- and revenue-generating bonanza, is in trouble. And city officials are blaming a family feud between owners of the San Francisco 49ers football team. Things began going wrong for the project last December, when Edward "Eddie" DeBartolo Jr., chairman of the 49ers, learned that he was the target of a federal investigation into the award of gaming licenses in Louisiana.

A Monrovia man was arrested Wednesday and will be charged today in the fatal shooting of a Cypress Park man Saturday night over a family feud, police said. Silvestre Escorza, 24, will be arraigned Friday in Municipal Court in the slaying of Bartolo Cabrera, 32, said Det. Loren Zimmerman. Cabrera was shot once in the neck about 10 p.m. Saturday while sitting in an apartment in the 2600 block of Idell Street in Glassell Park, Zimmerman said.

The feud between John Elway and Dan Reeves continues. The Denver Bronco quarterback wants to call his own plays. The Denver coach, after giving Elway that privilege briefly last season, has again reserved it for himself. Not that it will help, but a frustrated Elway has an outspoken ally in former Pittsburgh Steeler quarterback Terry Bradshaw. "If you want to win so badly, where's your brains?" Bradshaw told the Sporting News. "I mean, who's stupid here? Is Dan Reeves going to play?

After the coffee. Before hearing Katie Couric talk about her new talk show. The Skinny: I had a weird dream that I was watching a different cut of "All the President's Men" in the middle of the night in an empty Rockefeller Plaza. Please send me numbers for good therapists. Thursday's headlines include analysis of the "Modern Family" dispute, a profile of "Today" executive producer Jim Bell, who will be in charge of NBC's Olympic coverage. Also, Dish makes some tweaks to its AutoHop that seemed designed to take some of the sting out of the lawsuits against the satellite broadcaster.

The Jacksons of Gary, Ind., rose to fame on pitch-perfect harmonies, synchronized dance moves and an unwavering devotion to family as personified by their pious and steadfast mother. But in the last week, those qualities have come to seem as out of date for the famous family as the bell bottoms and butterfly collars they sported on "The Ed Sullivan Show"four decades ago. In a bitter public feud that has played out in tabloid leaks, Twitter posts and police reports, some family members accused others of kidnapping the 82-year-old matriarch, Katherine, in a bid to enlist her in a fight over the vast fortune of their deceased superstar brother, Michael.

Richard Dawson, the British actor who went from comedy co-star in the popular TV series "Hogan's Heroes" to his best-known role as the charming host of the TV game show "Family Feud" with his trademark of kissing the female contestants on the lips, has died. He was 79. Dawson died Saturday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center from complications related to esophageal cancer. The actor, who had been living in Beverly Hills, was diagnosed with the disease about three weeks ago, said his son Gary.

History knows more than a little something about the dangers of messing with a big family. The network's first foray into scripted drama was derailed last year when its ambitious biopic "The Kennedys" drew intense pre-release criticism from family members and leading historians. Eventually, the basic cable channel abandoned its firstborn, and the relatively unknown ReelzChannel aired the program, which later earned Emmy nominations for all of its male leads, and an Emmy win for Barry Pepper's portrayal of Bobby Kennedy.

Even 150 years later, no one can say for sure what started the bloody feud between the Hatfields of West Virginia and the McCoys of Kentucky. Some think it was shifting allegiances during the Civil War that drove a wedge between the two neighboring families. Others point to a pull-and-tug over land, timber and money. And some feel it was a prized pig, lost or waylaid, that sent the mountain clans into decades of murders and vengeance. Bits of all those theories, plus a disastrous Romeo-and-Juliet love story, lay the foundation for History channel's "Hatfields & McCoys," a six-hour miniseries launching Monday.

Taylor Embree knows Saturday will be "weird. " The UCLA wide receiver and his father talk before every game, a ritual in the four years Taylor has played for the Bruins. Sometimes Taylor is at the team's hotel, other times on the bus headed toward the stadium. Saturday, they won't need a phone. They'll meet in person in the tunnel at the Rose Bowl. It is UCLA's Senior Day and Jon Embree, Colorado's head football coach, will be minutes away from trying to ruin his son's last home game.

Talk about family feuds. Thomas D. Sutherland, 25, apparently wanted to end his by plowing down his brother's Long Beach house with a stolen bulldozer, police said Monday. Sutherland had smashed a station wagon in the driveway of his 37-year-old brother's home and torn up 56 feet of city sidewalk by the time police arrived Sunday evening, Long Beach Police Cpl. Josef Levy said. Police were still trying to figure out why Sutherland was so angry at his brother, whose name was not released.

Judge James Wynn of North Carolina, President Obama's nominee for the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, looked to be a safe bet for an easy Senate confirmation. He is a former Navy lawyer and a well-regarded state appellate judge with a moderate record and "well-qualified" rating from the American Bar Assn. Then again, the same could have been said of Wynn in 1999 when President Clinton nominated him to the 4th Circuit. He was blocked then by Republican Sen. Jesse Helms, who blocked all of Clinton's North Carolina nominees.

The California legislative and congressional district races on this week's primary ballot fell mostly into two categories: those whose lopsided party registration means they were all but decided Tuesday and those in which November runoff battles are looming. A few fit in a third category: still too close to call. Because the Legislature drew many political districts in California to favor one major party or the other, most of the contested primaries Tuesday are in the first group.