July 30, 1999
Web posted at: 4:18 p.m. EDT (2018 GMT)

• The trials of ODB go on ... and on
• Harrelson testifies in marijuana case
• Reiser doing some TV and film deals
• Lynn lends voice to benefit concert
• Flutie drums up support for autism charity

Russell Tyrone Jones, better known as ODB, was ordered to stand trial

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Rapper ODB has been ordered to stand trial under a new law banning felons from wearing bulletproof vests.

After making that ruling, a judge on Wednesday jailed ODB, whose real name is Russell Tyrone Jones, for a bail violation in a separate case. A representative from the company that guaranteed his $115,000 bail says Jones has had problems paying.

Jones is awaiting trial for allegedly threatening security personnel in November at the House of Blues club on the Sunset Strip.

The 30-year-old rapper was taken into custody February 16 in a bulletproof vest, according to police.

Harrelson

SACRAMENTO, California (AP) -- Woody Harrelson has angered a judge in defending a California friend who's fighting federal drug charges by using the state's medical-marijuana law.

The actor testified Thursday as a character witness for B.E. Smith, convicted of felony charges of possession and cultivation of marijuana in May.

Sentencing is set for next week. Smith could get up to five years in prison if convicted.

Smith has testified that he grew marijuana to help sick people. Such a defense could offer him immunity in a state court because Proposition 215, approved by California voters three years ago, allows for the growth and consumption of marijuana for medicinal use.

"Are we living in a democracy when the federal government and a puppet judge blatantly disregard a law created by the people?" Harrelson asked in court.

At one point, Harrelson accused the judge of "keeping the truth from the jury." U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. threatened Harrelson with jail time if he continued to defy the court's order against speaking of marijuana as medical.

Reiser

HOLLYWOOD (CNN) - Comedian Paul Reiser has some television and movie projects in the works. He's signed a new development and production pact with Columbia TriStar TV, home to his old series "Mad About You."

His partner Arthur Spivak, who has been Reiser's manager for 17 years, says the company is looking to develop hourlong dramas and comedies. "Paul understands the mechanics of how to mix art and commerce," Spivak says. "From day one, he was involved in every aspect of 'Mad About You,'" which ended its run on NBC in May.

Outside the TV arena, Reiser is developing a feature for Castle Rock about a young man and his father who take to the road to solve some lingering family mysteries. He's also starring alongside Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer this fall in Castle Rock's "The Story of Us."

Lynn

OMAHA, Nebraska (CNN) -- Country music artist Loretta Lynn has been touched by the grief of the family of a slain Omaha police officer.

She agreed to sing in Omaha on Thursday in a benefit for the Jimmy Wilson Jr. Foundation. It was established in memory of Wilson, 24, who was gunned down in 1995 during a traffic stop.

"I lost a son, too, so I can relate," Lynn said. Her son Jack died in 1984 at 34, when he fell from his horse into a swollen river.

Concert proceeds are to be used to buy video surveillance cameras for Omaha-area schools, said Wilson's father, a retired police officer.

"His son was so young," Lynn said. "We need to make sure what happened to his son doesn't happen to anyone else's children."

Flutie: Being a drummer is like being a quarterback

ROCHESTER, New York (CNN) -- First came Flutie Flakes ... soon, the Flutie CD.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Doug Flutie has been recording an album with his rock band, The Flutie Gang. It features nine original songs and is scheduled to be released by Frequency Records in the fall.

Part of the proceeds are to go to the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism. His popular "Flutie Flakes" cereal also benefits the foundation.

Flutie, whose son is autistic, likens being the drummer in a rock band to being a quarterback. "I think in each you have the ability to control tempo," Flutie says. "You have a big say in whether a play or a piece succeeds."

Flutie says making the CD was "a great release," but he wouldn't quit his day job. "Football is my profession," he says. "This is my hobby."

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.