Morning Report - News from Sept. 28, 2002

POP/ROCK

20-Year Fight Over Lennon’s Items Ends

A former personal assistant to John Lennon agreed Friday to return 374 family pictures to Yoko Ono and stop selling other Lennon information, ending a long-running legal battle with the Beatle’s widow.

The settlement was announced in a New York City federal court just as closing arguments were scheduled to begin in Ono’s case against Frederic Seaman. “I have renewed respect for the judicial system,” Ono told reporters.

Ono had fired Seaman in 1982 and later filed suit against him, charging that he violated a confidentiality agreement by publishing a memoir titled “The Last Days of John Lennon: A Personal Memoir.” Under Friday’s settlement, the former assistant agreed to an injunction barring him from selling or publicizing any information relating to the Lennon family and from reissuing his book.

Drowning Pool’s Singer Died of Natural Causes

Drowning Pool lead singer David Wayne Williams, who was found dead in his tour bus last month, died of natural causes, according to an autopsy released this week. The 30-year-old died of heart failure caused by cardiomyopathy, a disease in which areas of heart muscle enlarge and thicken, the report said.

The up-and-coming hard rock band had been touring as part of Ozzy Osbourne’s Ozzfest.

TELEVISION

‘Friends’ and ‘CSI’ Score Strong Premieres

The usual suspects dominated the ratings in the first Thursday night of the new TV season, as “Friends” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” premiered in impressive fashion, while new and returning programs positioned to piggyback on their popularity fared considerably less well.

Exhibiting no real signs of slowing, NBC’s “Friends” opened its ninth year with more than 34 million viewers--its most-watched season premiere ever--to easily surpass “Survivor: Thailand.” However, in its second half hour, the CBS show rebounded to edge NBC’s “Scrubs,” which lost one-third of the “Friends” audience.

CBS’ “CSI” then opened its third season with the show’s biggest audience ever (30.5 million viewers), higher than NBC’s “Will & Grace” (21.5 million) and the new show from its creators, “Good Morning Miami” (17.5 million). CBS dropped sharply at 10 p.m. with the premiere of “Without a Trace,” to 16.2 million viewers, compared with 26.7 million who watched NBC’s “ER.”

Weatherman Nance to Return Following Leave

KNBC-TV Channel 4 weatherman Christopher Nance, who has been on a paid leave of absence since August while the station conducted an investigation of allegations involving him and another employee, is scheduled to return to the air soon.

The station declined to comment officially, but insiders have said the investigation involved accusations of sexual harassment. The station has not specified when Nance will return to his morning duties.

THE ARTS

Struggling Vivendi to Sell Art Collection

Vivendi Universal’s 2,500-piece art collection, which will be sold to help pay off the company’s massive debt, encompasses glass works dating to the Roman Empire; a large group of antique drinking vessels; artworks by modern and contemporary masters such as Pablo Picasso, Jean Dubuffet, Joan Miro, Mark Rothko and Roy Lichtenstein; and classic photographs by Walker Evans, Jacob Riis, Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Frank.

The art collection is based in New York. Some works are displayed at the Seagram Building, a large Picasso tapestry is installed at the Four Seasons restaurant and the rest is in storage. Vivendi has yet to determine when the artworks will be sold and whether they will be disbursed at auction or privately, a company spokeswoman said.

QUICK TAKE

Hanayui, an all-women folk music and dance ensemble from Japan, has had to cancel its appearance at the Aratani Japan America Theatre in Los Angeles tonight because of difficulty in obtaining travel visas, but San Jose Taiko will still perform at 8 p.m.

Lisa Boone