L.A. Superior Court Judge MARK WINDHAM yesterday ruled that former FanHouse.com columnist JAY MARIOTTI “must stand trial on felony stalking and assault charges in connection with allegations leveled by his ex-girlfriend.” Windham ruled that there was “enough evidence to hold Mariotti to answer on charges that include stalking, corporal injury on a spouse or domestic partner, and assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury.” Mariotti, who faces “up to five years in state prison if convicted on all counts, has pleaded not guilty to those charges as well as to two misdemeanor counts of disobeying a court order” (LATIMES.com, 6/28).
PAYING TRIBUTE: USA TODAY’s J. Michael Falgoust reports Grizzlies Owner MICHAEL HEISLEY and Spurs Owner PETER HOLT “have made the largest private donations for an $85 million project, Education Center at The Wall, to honor the 58,000 veterans killed during the Vietnam War,” at the DC memorial. Holt, a Vietnam veteran, “contributed $1 million and will match donations from Texas residents.” Heisley contributed $2.5M (USA TODAY, 6/29).
THE TIE THAT BINDS: Florida Assistant State Attorney JEFF ASHTON, one of the prosecutors in the CASEY ANTHONY murder trial, yesterday wore a "Stay Dwight" necktie in the courtroom. Stay Dwight is a campaign to “convince DWIGHT HOWARD to remain with the Orlando Magic.” Ashton said, “One of my sons had this made for me and asked me to wear it.” Stay Dwight Founder RYAN TOTKA said that it “took him one week to find the proper tie to take to the business that prints his Stay Dwight T-shirts.” He “finally settled on a polyester tie that cost $30, and the printer did work for free” (ORLANDOSENTINEL.com, 6/28).
TELLING THE STORY IN PICTURES: In N.Y., Vincent Mallozzi profiles JOE PETRUCCIO, a “52-year-old creative art director at a Manhattan advertising agency.” He is a “dyed-in-the-wool Mets fan who wears his heart on his blog My Mets Journal, a daily splash of cartoons and commentary.” Petruccio’s blog is “visited by 4,000 people a day, most of them Mets fans eager to learn which hero, or goat, will be depicted the day after a game.” Petruccio, the official artist of the ELVIS PRESLEY and MUHAMMAD ALI estates who also “works for the FRANK SINATRA estate,” began “keeping a Mets journal (in a sketchpad) 15 years ago, but he had never completed a full season of coverage before last year” (N.Y. TIMES, 6/29).
POLITICAL BEAT: The Fiesta Bowl is “asking 31 politicians to help it determine whether trips and gifts they received 'serve the Fiesta Bowl’s tax-exempt purposes.'” If they cannot, the bowl said that it “may ask the politicians to reimburse it for the trips and gifts, an amount that could exceed $154,000.” The Fiesta Bowl has “asked the politicians to respond by July 15” (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/29)….Nets Owner MIKHAIL PROKHOROV has “resigned as president of his Onexim investment group” after assuming leadership of the Right Cause political party in Russia and “putting much of his energies into that venture.” The move is “not expected to have any effect on Prokhorov’s ownership of the Nets” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 6/29).
NAMES: Chiefs TE LEONARD POPE is “redirecting part of his foundation’s focus to emphasize swimming lessons for youngsters” after he “saved a child from drowning at a pool party” earlier this month. Pope’s C.H.A.M.P Foundation “will now emphasize water safety along with its other objectives” (KANSASCITY.com, 6/28)… MLB and the D’Backs yesterday announced a donation of $50,000 to “help reconstruct the roof of American Legion Post 41 near Chase Field in Phoenix.” The donation “marks the first in a series of charitable initiatives leading up to” the July 12 All-Star Game (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 6/29)….SB Nation Chair & CEO JIM BANKOFF announced via Twitter that actor ASHTON KUTCHER has joined the website's Board of Advisors (BUSINESSINSIDER.com, 6/28)....Tigers P JOSE VALVERDE and 2B RAMON SANTIAGO are “competing in celebrity ballroom dancing Aug 1 at Joe Louis Arena to benefit Jack’s Place for Autism Foundation” (FREEP.com, 6/29)….Florida State Univ. football coach JIMBO FISHER will be the grand marshal for this Saturday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona Int'l Speedway (JACKSONVILLE.com, 6/28).
IN MEMORY: Former Twins President HOWARD FOX died yesterday at the age of 90. Fox “started working for the Washington Senators organization in the late 1940s.” Fox “put together the management team that oversaw” the Twins' first World Series championship in '87, and he served on the team’s Exec BOD (TWINCITIES.com, 6/28).
