NPR’s Carl Kasell retiring from morning newscast

NPR’s Kasell to sign off

Carl Kasell will finally get to sleep in. The veteran newscaster is retiring from National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.”

The 75-year-old Kasell has done the newscast during NPR’s flagship morning program since its inception 30 years ago. NPR says he will give his last broadcast on Dec. 30.

Kasell will remain the judge and scorekeeper of “Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!,” NPR’s weekly news quiz show.

A spokeswoman for NPR said that no one had been named to succeed Kasell on “Morning Edition.”

-- associated press Adam Lambert causes a fuss

Complaints poured in Monday about Adam Lambert’s sexually charged performance at the American Music Awards, including criticism of his kiss with a male keyboard player that was left out of rehearsals for the show.

ABC did not expect one of Lambert’s dancers to stick his face in the singer’s crotch during the S&M-themed performance of “For Your Entertainment,” a moment that was cut out when the award show was broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on the West Coast on Sunday.

ABC said more than 1,500 people complained, what it termed a “moderate” response, and the Parents Television Council also said it had heard from upset members.

“They’re outraged,” said Timothy Winters, president of the Parents Television Council. “They just can’t believe the nature of the content, the explicit nature, and how much graphic content there was.”

Winter said it seemed artists who appear on music awards shows are constantly competing to push the envelope.

“These programs are wholly unsuitable for children now and it’s pathetic, given the amount of economic support that children and teenagers bring to the industry today,” he said.

-- associated press Chaplin’s home to be a museum

Charlie Chaplin’s last home in Switzerland will be turned into a permanent place of pilgrimage for fans of the actor who immortalized the “Little Tramp,” one of his sons said Monday.

The mansion at Corsier-sur-Vevey by the shores of Lake Geneva was chosen over Los Angeles and London as the site of the first museum dedicated to the screen legend, said Michael Chaplin.

The museum has been a decade in the planning and will be finished within two years, he said. It will feature objects from Chaplin’s life and displays chronicling his rise from the music halls of his native London to stardom in Hollywood’s silent movie era and beyond.

“He was very happy here because he had a family life,” Michael Chaplin said of the vintner’s chateau where his father lived for more than 20 years and raised eight children until his death in 1977.

The actor, whose film classics include “The Immigrant,” “City Lights” and “The Great Dictator,” was barred from the United States in 1952 during the peak of McCarthyism over suspicions he harbored communist sympathies. He returned briefly two decades later to receive an honorary Academy Award for his life work.

-- associated press Ohio police chief convicted

An Ohio police chief was convicted of three felonies Monday but was acquitted of burglary charges in an alleged break-in at the home of a woman who carried twin girls for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

A jury found suspended Martins Ferry Chief Barry Carpenter guilty of receiving stolen property, theft in office and tampering with evidence. He was acquitted on charges of burglary and unauthorized used of property or services.

Prosecutors alleged that Carpenter broke into Michelle Ross’ home in May, took items related to her pregnancy and the surrogacy, and schemed with Police Chief Chad Dojack of neighboring Bridgeport to sell the items to celebrity photographers.

Carpenter could receive 10 years in jail when sentenced Dec. 10. Dojack faces trial in January.

-- associated press Divorce soon for Jon, Kate?

An arbitration hearing between the feuding stars of TLC’s “Jon & Kate Plus Eight” went so well that they could be divorced by the end of the year, an attorney for Jon Gosselin said Monday.

The couple met for more than six hours over the weekend at a law office to discuss unresolved issues, including custody of their eight children and the distribution of property.

In the series’ final episode Monday night, the Gosselin children were shown on separate outings with each parent.

-- associated press