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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Heart surgery, then hiatus for 'View' host


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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Barbara Walters

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Smokey Robinson

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Roman Polanski

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NEW YORK — Barbara Walters said she will have surgery to replace a faulty heart valve later this week and take the summer off from "The View" to recuperate.

The 80-year-old television legend, one of the best-known personalities in television news, made the announcement on the air yesterday.

She said she's known about her condition for a while, and decided with her doctors that this is the best time to have the heart surgery done.

"Since the summer is coming up," she said, "I can take a nice vacation."

Walters said she had not felt any symptoms from the narrowing of the heart valve, which can worsen and restrict the flow of blood to the heart.

MUSIC ICONS GRACE APOLLO'S WALK OF FAME

NEW YORK — Smokey Robinson, Ella Fitzgerald and James Brown are among the music legends being honored on the Apollo Theater's new Walk of Fame in New York City.

Workers yesterday began installing sidewalk plaques in front of the storied Harlem theater celebrating some of the artists who have performed there. Others include Little Richard, Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight and the Pips.

Robinson said he first performed at the Apollo with the Miracles in 1959, and he's been back countless times since then. He told The Associated Press that he always says if they tear down 125th Street and everything on it, "please leave the Apollo standing."

The Apollo is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

TESTIMONY STAYS SEALED IN POLANSKI CASE

LOS ANGELES — Secret testimony given by the original prosecutor in Roman Polanski's 33-year-old sex case will remain sealed, a judge ruled yesterday.

Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza, turning down a request from Polanski's lawyers to unseal transcripts, said there was only one circumstance in which the material would become public. That would be if Polanski returns to the United States for a hearing and the retired prosecutor, Roger Gunson, is unavailable to testify in person.

The Academy Award-winning director pleaded guilty in 1977 to unlawful sex with a 13-year-old girl but fled to France in 1978 when the now-deceased judge in the case suggested in private remarks that he would renege on a plea bargain and sentencing agreement.

LAWYER FOR THE FRAY MAY FACE LIABILITY

DENVER — A federal judge agreed yesterday that a lawyer for Denver-based band The Fray might face liability in the band's ongoing court battle with a former manager.

The band alleges its former manager, Gregg Latterman, failed to disclose that his company obtained ownership to a portion of the band's music when a publishing agreement was signed in 2005.

In a hearing yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Boyd Boland agreed to consider Latterman's claim that the band's lawyer, J. Reid Hunter of New York, was aware of the publishing agreement and failed to inform the band.

Latterman filed counterclaims alleging breach of contract. He says The Fray owes his company more than $750,000 in commission and expenses.

The band's hits include 2006's "How to Save a Life" and 2009's "You Found Me."