NFL, locked-out officials agree to deal

The NFL and its locked-out officials agreed to terms on a new deal late Wednesday night which would put officials in place for this weekend’s games — including Thursday night's game — sources close to the situation confirmed. Both the NFL and the officials' union later issued statements confirming the deal. According to the sources, the final sticking point related to the much-discussed pension plan, but that stalemate finally ended. The sides are currently working on paperwork according to sources and at least half of the 121 locked-out members must approve the new deal, but sources said that is expected to be a formality, with the vote coming Friday. ''Our officials will be back on the field starting tomorrow night'' for the Cleveland-Baltimore game, commissioner Roger Goodell said. ''We appreciate the commitment of the NFLRA in working through the issues to reach this important agreement.'' The agreement, which is an eight-year deal, culminated two long days of talks that included Goodell at the table. The deal must be ratified by 51 percent of the union's 121 members. They plan to vote Friday and Saturday in Dallas.  ''Our Board of Directors has unanimously approved taking this proposed CBA to the membership for a ratification vote,'' said Scott Green, president of the NFLRA. ''We are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's games.'' The replacements worked the first three weeks of games, triggering a wave of frustration that threatened to disrupt the rest of the season. After a missed call cost the Green Bay Packers a win on a chaotic final play at Seattle on Monday night, the two sides really got serious. The NFL said in a statement Tuesday that the touchdown pass should not have been overturned - but acknowledged Tate should have been called for offensive pass interference before the catch. The league also said there was no indisputable evidence to reverse the call made on the field. The agreement hinged on working out pension and retirement benefits for the officials, who are part-time employees of the league. The tentative pact calls for their salaries to increase from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, rising to $205,000 by 2019. Under the proposed deal, the current defined benefit pension plan will remain in place for current officials through the 2016 season or until the official earns 20 years' service. The defined benefit plan will then be frozen. Retirement benefits will be provided for new hires, and for all officials beginning in 2017, through a defined contribution arrangement. The annual league contribution made on behalf of each game official will begin with an average of more than $18,000 per official and increase to more than $23,000 per official in 2019. Beginning with the 2013 season, the NFL will have the option to hire a number of officials on a full-time basis to work year round, including on the field. The NFL also will be able to retain additional officials for training and development, and can assign those officials to work games. The number of additional officials will be determined by the league. ''As you know, this has to be ratified and we know very little about it, but we're excited to be back. And ready,'' referee Ed Hochuli told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. ''And I think that's the most important message - that we're ready.''
Actor Antonio Sabato Jr. married singer-songwriter Cheryl Moana Marie in an intimate ceremony Tuesday evening on the island of Kauai, his rep confirmed. The couple, accompanied by 18 of their closest friends and family, exchanged vows at sunset at a private Anini Beach estate overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Sabato, 40, met Marie in Los Angeles three years ago after failing to find love while filming his 2009 reality show, My Antonio. "It's kind of ironic that I went to Hawaii to look for someone, and then I found someone who's from Hawaii," he said the former beauty queen, who is also the youngest winner of the Miss Kauai America title. In May 2011 the couple welcomed their first child together, son Antonio III. This is the first marriage for Marie, and it's the second marriage for Sabato.
 Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Mark McGrath! The Sugar Ray singer married his longtime love Carin Kingsland on Monday at San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif. McGrath, 44, wore a Hugo Boss suit while Kingsland, 39, donned a gown from Renée Strauss's bridal salon in West Hollywood, which she paired with gold Prada sandals. "After 18 years of breakups, makeups, beautiful twins and an unwavering love that provided some pretty damn good song lyrics, we are happy to announce that we are finally married," the rocker and his bride said.


Pink scores her first No. 1, Kanye rides in second
A dozen years into her multiplatinum career, Pink has scored her first ever(!) number one album this week with her new disc The Truth About Love, which topped the Billboard 200 with sales of 280,000. Driven by the success of her Top 5 single “Blow Me (One Last Kiss)” — and it’s lippy VMA performance — Truth became Pink’s sixth straight Top 10 debut. Still, until today, her previous chart high came with the 2008 set Funhouse, which debuted at No. 2.  In second place was the Kanye West-compiled collection Cruel Summer, which features artists like Big Sean, 2 Chainz, and West himself. The disc, which includes the rap hits “Clique” and “Mercy,” started with an impressive 205,000 copies in its first week. The Killers’ latest, Battle Born, moved a solid 113,000 units in its first week — enough for third place on the chart.  The Dave Matthews Band’s Away from the World fell 77 percent from 1-4 this week, selling 62,000 copies. After two weeks, the DMB disc has sold a not-at-all-shabby 331,000 copies. Close behind, Little Big Town’s Tornado blew from 2-5, dropping 55 percent to 50,000. It has now sold 159,000 after two weeks — a great start for the country quartet.
 After receiving quite a bit of negative attention for her recent weight gain (she put on 25 pounds), Lady Gaga took to her social media website, LittleMonsters.com, to respond — and to reveal a painful secret. On Tuesday, Gaga posted a photo (left) of herself wearing nothing but a yellow bra and underwear, along with this caption: “Bulimia and anorexia since I was 15.” With the picture, she announced the launch of a new movement, “A Body Revolution 2013,” meant to encourage body acceptance. The singer added a second shot with her arms stretched in the air saying, “But today I join the BODY REVOLUTION.” Two more photos, in which Gaga shows off her backside, are also included in the post with the captions, “To inspire bravery” and “BREED some m$therf*cking COMPASSION.” On her site, Gaga explains that the inspiration behind the movement stemmed from the Born This Way Foundation, an organization she started with her mother to stop bullying and embrace individuality. “This profile is an extension of that dream,” she wrote. “Be brave and celebrate with us your ‘perceived flaws,’ as society tells us. May we make our flaws famous, and thus redefine the heinous.”Unsurprisingly, the Mother Monster’s positive message resonated with her Little Monsters. Soon after the post went up, fans began flooding the website with photos of themselves in their underwear and sharing their own personal struggles with body image issues.

George Strait announces final tour but he's not retiring

Country singer George Strait announced Wednesday (Sept. 26) that he's calling it quits on touring, but he's not retiring from making music."I've decided I'm not going to tour anymore after these next two years," Strait, 60, says at a press conference at Nashville's Country Music Hall of Fame. "Don't think I'm retiring because I'm not. I'm still going to make records as long as the label will let me. I'm going to write."The "Easy Come, Easy Go" crooner adds that he may do one-off performances and special events, but "as far as a structured tour goes, after the last date in 2014, that will be it for the touring." Strait's "Cowboy Rides Away" tour kicks off Jan. 18 in Lubbock, Texas. Martina McBride joins Strait on the 2013 leg of the tour. Dates for 2014 haven't been announced yet.  "I didn't want to book a tour and nobody came. It was important to me to pick that time [to quit touring] rather than go that long when something like that started happening," he says.

Paul Nassif Granted Visitation with Kids

A judge on Wednesday granted Nassif – who is in the middle of a bitter divorce from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Adrienne Maloof – the opportunity to see his three sons, and overturned a temporary restraining order against him. Maloof, 51, has claimed that Nassif, 50, displayed violence towards their children and is a danger to them. The couple are parents to 9-year-old son Gavin and 6-year-old twins Christian and Collin. Nassif arrived in court on Wednesday with a letter from the Department of Children and Family Services saying that the abuse claim was "unfounded." A judge granted him two monitored visits with the kids before a scheduled hearing on Oct. 9, where custody will be discussed further. "He is delighted and continues to hope that the children will be able to spend significant time with both parents and grow up and experience as normal a childhood as they can," a source close to Nassif says. Nassif has scheduled visits with his kids on Sept. 29 and Oct. 6. Maloof, meanwhile, is "comfortable with the court's decision," her rep Howard Bragman says. "She respects it. She is happy that the kids are spending monitored time with their father."

TV NEWS
What actress is strong enough to play Alicia’s mom on The Good Wife? How about a former First Lady? Stockard Channing has been cast in the CBS drama as the mother of Julianna Margulies’ character. Channing will appear in at least one episode during the upcoming fourth season. Alicia’s mother is described as mercurial and influenced by her 1960s counterculture youth. Best known for her role as First Lady Abbey Bartlet on NBC’s The West Wing, Channing has appeared in numerous films and TV shows, such as the original 1978 Grease (Rizzo!) and her own Stockard Channing Show in 1980. The Good Wife returns to CBS this Sunday, Sept. 30.


Did AMC renew The Walking Dead? The network’s website posted a contest for viewers to win a trip to the set of the zombie hit’s fourth season — even though no such season has been announced and the third has yet to premiere. The contest is causing some to think the show’s officially renewed.


Annabeth Gish (Pretty Little Liars, The X Files) will guest-star in Once Upon a Time‘s second season. She’ll play a “charismatic, beautiful and mysterious” leader of a pack of humans who are actually wolves.


Jane Kaczmarek will once more be in The Middle, though this time without Malcolm. The actress, an Emmy nominee for her role on Fox’s Malcolm in the Middle, has been tapped to appear in a Season 4 episode of the ABC comedy. She’ll play a career-college teacher who butts heads with new student Frankie (Patricia Heaton). Kaczmarek’s most recent TV credits include Whitney, Wilfred and the short-lived Raising the Bar.



TLC is breeding more episodes of Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. While stopping shy of an (inevitable) second season order, the network just announced additional editions of the unlikely breakout hit. While TLC is remaining quiet on how many episodes, exactly, will be unleashed on the general public, the network will reveal there are three holiday specials (or, as the network’s press release calls them, “HOLLAday specials”). TLC will air a Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas episode (presumably in that order). The show has averaged 2.3 million viewers so far.

Logo axes Paris Hilton show after AIDS comments

Execs at TV network Logo have shelved a documentary about Paris Hilton following the star's controversial comments about AIDS. The socialite was recorded discussing homosexuals, HIV and gay social networking website Grindr with a friend during a cab ride in New York earlier this month. A representative for the channel says the documentary "has been removed from the schedule."During the conversation, Hilton was heard saying, "Gay guys are the horniest people in the word. ... Most of them probably have AIDS. ... I would be so scared if I was a gay guy... you'll, like, die of AIDS." She issued an apology after the comments were made public, but the move didn't stop chiefs at Logo from pulling the 2007 documentary, "Paris Hilton, Inc.," which was set to air twice this week on the channel.
 Jersey Shore's Jenni "JWOWW" Farley is engaged to boyfriend Roger Mathews, the reality star confirms. Mathews, 37, asked for his girlfriend of two-and-a-half years' hand in marriage after the couple went skydiving, presenting Farley, 27, with a pink and white diamond engagement ring that boasts roughly 7.5 carats.