Newton-John marries

People

Actress-singer Olivia Newton-John, 59, who starred in the hit movie version of the musical "Grease," has married, it was announced Thursday. Newton-John wed John Easterling, 56, on June 21 in Cuzco, Peru. A statement on Newton-John's official Web site Thursday said the couple had a private ceremony, followed by a second ceremony on Jupiter Island in Florida the following week. The announcement said it was the second marriage for both. Easterling is the founder and chief executive officer of Amazon Herb, which sells botanical supplements from the rain forest. Newton-John's boyfriend of nine years, Patrick McDermott, 48, vanished in June 2005.

Court notes

He sues over church fall

Matt Lincoln says he was so consumed by the spirit of God that he fell and hit his head while worshipping; now he wants Lakewind Church in Knoxville, Tenn., to pay $2.5 million for medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering. Lincoln said he is suing after the church's insurance company denied his claim for medical bills. Lincoln, 57, has had surgery twice since the June 2007 injury but still feels pain in his back and legs. He said he was asking God to have "a real experience" while praying. Lawyers for the church said he failed to look out for his own safety.

Found

Modest Venus unearthed

Macedonian archaeologists said they have discovered a well-preserved statue of Venus, the goddess of love, in the ruins of Scupi, an ancient Roman city near Skopje. Archaeologist Marina Oncevska said Thursday the 5.6-foot-tall marble statue is a masterpiece executed in the late classical Greek tradition. It dates to the second or third century. The goddess is depicted coyly covering her groin and breasts with her hands and has a dolphin attached to her left leg.

Passages

Thomas Disch, 68, an author, poet and critic who twisted the inherently twisted genre of science fiction in new, disturbing directions, including writing his last book in the voice of God, died Friday in his Manhattan apartment. A friend, Alice Turner, said Disch shot himself.

Bobby Durham, 71, a jazz drummer of impeccable taste and versatility who teamed with Oscar Peterson and Ella Fitzgerald and became a fixture of the Jazz at the Philharmonic touring concert series, died July 7 at a hospital in Genoa, Italy. He had lung cancer and emphysema.

Sherman Lee, 90, a Seattle native who served as assistant director at the Seattle Art Museum from 1948-52 and who as director of the Cleveland Museum of Art expanded its Asian art and Old Master collections, died Wednesday in North Carolina, where he had taught at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Bruce Conner, 74, an artist admired for his haunting, surrealistic sculptures and groundbreaking avant-garde films, died Monday at his home in San Francisco.

Today in History

1804: Vice President Aaron Burr mortally wounded former Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during a pistol duel in Weehawken, N.J.

1952: The Republican National Convention, meeting in Chicago, nominated Dwight Eisenhower for president and Richard Nixon for vice president.

1979: The abandoned U.S. space station Skylab made a spectacular return to Earth, showering debris over the Indian Ocean and Australia.

1995: The United States normalized relations with Vietnam.

Today's Birthdays

Actor Tab Hunter, 77. Actress Susan Seaforth Hayes, 65. Actress Sela Ward, 52. Singer Suzanne Vega, 49. Actress Lisa Rinna, 45. Actor Justin Chambers, 38. Rapper Lil' Kim, 33. Rapper Lil' Zane, 26.

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