Teens Surrender after Setting Hollywood Hills on Fire

Two teens from Illinois accidentally started a 160-acre blaze in the Hollywood Hills on Friday. The fire also sent smoke over the famed Hollywood sign and threatened an apartment building. About 200 or 300 firefighters battled the fire, assisted by water-dropping helicopters, according to Ron Myers of the Los Angeles city fire department.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa held an evening news conference at Forest Lawn, where he said the blaze had been deliberately set. "They've admitted that they started this fire," Villaraigosa said of the 16- and 17-year-old boys, who voluntarily turned themselves in to Burbank police and were later taken to the LAPD's Hollywood Station.

Apparently, the two teenagers were seen setting off fireworks about 1 p.m. near the Oakwood apartments. "They were old enough to know what they were doing," said Villaraigosa, adding that the boys first told their parents about setting the fire before together calling police.

The fire spread very close to an Oakwood apartment building, stopping, due to intense precautions, to about 50 feet of its parking lot. Apartment maintenance workers wetted down the hillside and turned on sprinklers on the roof of the apartments and on the hillside. The facility is reportedly known for housing out-of-town actors looking for their big break in Hollywood.

"It's something you don't want to see in your backyard, that's for sure," said actor and apartment resident Travis Caldwell, 18, quoted by presstelegram.com. "It was nuts. It started so small and it just raced right up the hill."

The smoke caused severe discomfort for the people in the area, including the employees at the Warner Bros. studios nearby. Reports that the legendary Hollywood sign was actually threatened are false. While it was engulfed in smoke at some point, the actual fire was about a quarter mile away and across a canyon, fire officials said.

The current Hollywood sign was unveiled in 1978. The first sign was erected as an advertisement in 1923 and actually read "HOLLYWOODLAND," because it was advertising a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles.

Rapper Rev. Run Featured On Oprah Winfrey Show

By Alexis Jeffries and Danielle Harling

Talk show mogul Oprah Winfrey hasn't received much love from the Hip-Hop community lately.

Minor incidents with Hip-Hop stars such as Ludacris and Ice Cube has the billionaire deemed a Hip-Hop hater by many, but hopefully an appearance by a Hip-Hop legend on Winfrey's show will silence critics.

Joseph "Reverend Run" Simmons from the legendary Hip-Hop group Run DMC made a special appearance on The Oprah Show to discuss the upcoming season of his reality show Run's House.

Not a stranger to Hip-Hop or problems facing the Hip-Hop community, Reverend Run shared his opinion on Winfrey's situation.

"I don't know if it's Hip-Hop that she has a big problem with," Reverend Run told AllHipHop.com. "I think that she has a problem with some of the images that might not fit the people that watch her show. She does things that are close to what she thinks her audience will like."

The episode is scheduled to air Monday, Apr. 2 and will feature Reverend Run and his family discussing the upcoming show, their battle with losing their newborn, and even his daughters' upcoming sneaker line called "Pastries."

Reverend Run and family's appearance on The Oprah Show was actually suggested by Winfrey's well-know best friend Gayle King.

"Well, Gayle King is a friend, and she kept telling Oprah, 'Man, there's this show with Reverend Run, and he writes these words of wisdom', and she was talking to her for awhile about it until she finally said, 'Okay, let's have him on the show'," Reverend Run told AllHipHop.com.

Run's House , now in its third season, will depict new experiences and obstacles faced by the Simmons family such as Vanessa and Angela's move to New York City, the death of their child, and the continuation of the eldest son JoJo's rap career.

"The reason why I even filmed anything about the baby and stuff is that if ya'll laugh with me at the bowling alley with my kids and giggled with me on the basketball court with my kids, since it is a reality show, why wouldn't I let you see how I handled adversity," Reverend Run told AllHipHop.com. "It's also to show you how to be thankful during situations that aren't favorable towards you. Who am I to be resentful to God, to the world, as good as the world has been to Reverend Run? I didn't let that affect me. I'm a very thankful person. Reverend Run will go down as a man who is thankful to God and to the world."

Season three of Run's House will premiere Apr. 9 on MTV and season two of the show can be seen on BET.

Paris Hilton may face jail time

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Prosecutors asked a judge on Thursday to revoke Paris Hilton's probation for reckless driving, which could lead to jail time for the celebrity socialite, the City Attorney's Office said.

A hearing has been set for April 17 for prosecutors to argue that Hilton, 26, violated the terms of her probation by knowingly driving with a suspended license, said Nick Velasquez, a spokesman for the city attorney, Rocky Delgadillo.

The hotel heiress and star of the reality TV show "The Simple Life" was sentenced to three years probation in January after pleading no contest -- the equivalent of a guilty plea -- to alcohol-related reckless driving.

Five weeks later, police pulled Hilton over again in the city of West Hollywood for driving without headlights and impounded her car, a $190,000 Bentley, when they discovered her license had been suspended, authorities said.

The case was then referred to the City Attorney's Office.

At the time, Hilton's spokesman, Elliot Mintz, said his client was not aware that her driving privileges had been curtailed. But prosecutors have since concluded otherwise.

"We are confident that we have sufficient evidence to prove that her license was suspended, and that she had knowledge of that suspension," Velasquez said.

If found to have breached the terms of her probation, Hilton could be sentenced to up to 90 days in jail, he added.

Halle Berry Suicide Attempt

Halle Berry came close to committing suicide after the failure of her marriage to baseball star David Justice, but changed her mind at the last minute, fearing her death would leave her mother heartbroken.

The Oscar-winning actress was so depressed after the relationship collapsed in 1997, she started the process of poisoning herself with carbon monoxide in her car.

It took an image of her mother, Judith, finding her body to stop her.

Berry tells Parade magazine, "I was sitting in my car, and I knew the gas was coming, when I had an image of my mother finding me.

"She sacrificed so much for her children, and to end my life would be an incredibly selfish thing to do. It was all about a relationship. My sense of worth was so low. I had to reprogram myself to see the good in me. Because someone didn't love me didn't mean I was unlovable. I promised myself I would never be a coward again."

Hip Hop Summit Action Network Will Hold A Public Rally In Response To The Tony Yayo Incident

Hip-Hop Summit Action Network's Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis will be among those holding a public grievance and peaceful rally, in response to a recent incident involving the son of Czar Entertainment owner Jimmy "Henchmen" Rosemond.

The 14-year-old boy's mother Cynthia Reed, representatives from Czar Entertainment and the Rev. Al Sharpton will also be present at the event, which is expected to draw with various community leaders including parents, students and religious leaders.

The gathering comes days after G-Unit rapper Tony Yayo was arrested for an alleged physical assault on the boy, who was on his way to see Rosemond.

According to reports, the teen claimed Yayo and fellow G-Unit member 50 Cent were leaving the offices of Violator Management last Tuesday (Mar. 20), when they saw him walking down the street, wearing a Czar Entertainment T-shirt.

Yayo allegedly backhanded the boy and yelled curse words towards the company.

"We are involved to try to help mediate this problem," said Chavis. "In truth, every child in our community is precious. The theme of the Hip-Hop Summit is taking back responsibility. With artistic freedom comes responsibility. Therefore anytime a child in our community is harmed it is of great concern to us. We are hoping and praying that this matter can be resolved peacefully and resolutely. At the end of the day the interest of our children will be better served."

Yayo, born Marvin Bernard, was arraigned Sunday [Mar. 25] on one count of misdemeanor assault and one count of endangering the welfare of a minor. He was released on $5,000 bail and is scheduled to return to court on Apr. 25.

Representatives for 50 Cent maintain that the rapper was nowhere near the altercation when it took place.

The group hopes the demonstration will result in a call for action to advocate change against Yayo, 50 Cent and the music industry executives looking to profit from violence and acts against youth in Hip-Hop.

A press conference will be held before the event at 11 a.m. on Monday (Apr. 1) at The Park Central Hotel, 870 7th Ave, New York.

Comedian Eddie Griffin Busted Up a $1.5 Million Vehicle, but is ok

Eddie Griffin, driving a $1.5 million Ferrari Enzo to promote his new film Redline, crashed into a wall and totaled the vehicle, but emerged without a scratch. In fact, emerging from the wreck, he made a joke about it: "Undercover Brother's good at karate and all the rest of that," quipped Griffin, "but the Brother can't drive."

Griffin was practicing for an upcoming charity race when he took a curve too quickly and smashed into a wall at Irwindale Speedway in Irwindale, Calif. In an ironic twist, the Ferrari was owned by Daniel Sadek, the executive producer of Redline and ostensibly his boss, and was one of only 400 versions of the car ever produced. Sadek told the AP, "I'm glad Eddie came out of the crash OK, but my dream car got destroyed. I went to my trailer for about 15 minutes and I thought,`There's people dying every day. A lot of worse things are happening in the world.'"