Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 14, 1993 TAG: 9308140158
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: from wire reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Hall taped his show Friday night at the home of the Payton family in the Washington suburb of Derwood, Md. His "Arsenio in the House" contest drew thousands of entries from people who wanted him to hold the show in their homes.
Hall said he chose the 3 1/2-acre Payton spread partly because the family symbolizes hard-working, successful black America.
"This family represents something people don't see on `Menace II Society,' " Hall said, referring to the movie about black gang violence.
"These are young brothers who are not wearing beepers - unless they go to law school," he said, gesturing toward Freddie Payton Jr., 27, who works with his father at their carpet-cleaning business, and Devin Payton, 19, who will be a freshman at Old Dominion University in Norfolk this fall.
"This is so important for young black Americans to see - this family is what we are," he said.
\ A transsexual who is now living as a woman has made a national list of most-wanted deadbeat dads.
William Henry Reid, now known as Billie Jean Reid, was last seen in Port Hueneme, Calif., according to the National Council of State Child Support Enforcement Administrators' list of parents who refuse to pay child support.
Reid, 43, a registered nurse, fathered two children but had a sex change operation in Miami in 1985, said council spokesman Leslie Frye. He was working last year in Port Hueneme, 60 miles west of Los Angeles.
Reid, who is pictured on the council's latest nationally distributed most-wanted poster, owes $53,000 in child-support payments, according to Tennessee Child Support Enforcement authorities.
\ Paula Abdul's record company was vindicated Thursday when a jury ruled that a little-known singer didn't deserve more credit or money for vocals on Abdul's debut album, "Forever Your Girl."
Abdul, who wasn't a defendant in the suit, arrived at U.S. District Court immediately after the verdict. She cried and hugged jurors, telling them she was the "happiest girl in the world."
"I'm just overjoyed to get this over with," the singer said. "I haven't slept in I don't know how long. Now I can get on and work without anything in the back of my head."
Singer Yvette Marine had sued Virgin Records for $3 million in 1991, claiming her voice was electronically combined with Abdul's to create composite lead vocals on several songs on the 1988 album.
Abdul, 31, had insisted Marine had no part in the lead vocals. Marine had sought unspecified royalties and public credit for her work on the album.
by CNB