Quick Takes - March 26, 2011

Music to fund Japan aid

Contemporary and classic hits from John Lennon, Justin Bieber, Bob Dylan, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Josh Groban and 30 other acts have been gathered on “Songs for Japan,” a compilation that will generate funds for the Japanese Red Cross Society’s disaster relief efforts.

Other artists represented include Black Eyed Peas, Madonna, Keith Urban, Rihanna, Lady Antebellum, Eminem, Elton John and Shakira.

All artists, publishers and record companies have waived their royalties and other proceeds so that 100% of money generated from sales will go to the charity.

The collection is available now on iTunes and will surface as a double CD set in early April.

—Randy Lewis

Mickey Rooney, stepson settle

A settlement was reached between Mickey Rooney and one of his stepsons, whom the 90-year-old actor had accused of trying to gain control of his assets, an attorney for the movie icon said after a court conservatorship hearing in Los Angeles Friday.

Lawyer Bruce S. Ross said the resolution means a scheduled April 5 hearing on a possible extension of the current stay-away order against Christopher Thomas Aber and his wife, Christina, will not be held.

He said both Abers have agreed to the provisions of the order without having to have further enforcement by a judge.

The restraining order directed Aber and his wife — who both denied any wrongdoing — to stay at least 100 yards from Rooney and his home.

—City News Service

‘Oprah’ show sets finale date

The final original episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show” will air May 25.

Winfrey’s Chicago-based Harpo Productions confirmed the date Friday. Winfrey announced live on the show in November 2009 that she would end its run after 25 years. She since has launched cable’s Oprah Winfrey Network.

The final episode will bring an end to what has been television’s top-rated talk show for more than two decades. It airs in 145 countries worldwide.

—Associated Press

KTLA news gets up for weekend

KTLA Channel 5 will launch a weekend edition of its weekday morning news starting April 9.

The Saturday and Sunday versions of the news will be anchored by Chris Burrous and Mary Beth McDade. The newscasts will air 5 to 7 a.m. Saturdays and 6 to 9 a.m. Sundays.

Burrous most recently was a morning news anchor at WPIX-TV in New York City. McDade has been a reporter at KTLA since 2009.

—Greg Braxton

Call her Lindsay, not Ms. Lohan

—Reuters Troubled actress Lindsay Lohan is planning to join the ranks of Madonna, Prince and Björk — by dropping her last name, according to her mother.

“Lindsay is dropping the Lohan and just going by Lindsay,” Dina Lohan told AOL celebrity news site Popeater.com on Friday.

The decision appears to be motivated by a desire to distance the “Mean Girls” actress from her estranged father, Michael Lohan, who was charged this week with assaulting his girlfriend and who has a history of run-ins with the law.

Dina Lohan told Popeater that she and her younger daughter Ali — an aspiring singer and actress — are officially changing their last names to her maiden name, Sullivan.

Well, dentistry is a little invasive

A book urging dentists to learn from a fearsome Mongol warrior has won Britain’s quirkiest literary award, the Diagram Prize for the year’s oddest book title.

“Managing a Dental Practice: The Genghis Khan Way” by Michael R. Young won the not-always-coveted prize on Friday.

It beat finalists including “8th International Friction Stir Welding Symposium Proceedings” and romance novel “The Italian’s One-Night Love Child.”

Organizers said the winning book took more than half the votes in an online ballot.

The prize, run by trade magazine the Bookseller, was founded in 1978.

—Associated Press

Finally

For the kids: Maurice Sendak, author of such works as “Where the Wild Things Are” and “In the Night Kitchen,” has written and illustrated a new children’s book that will be out in September, “Bumble-Ardy,” about a partying pig and his friends.

Reunion: The original members of Courtney Love’s 1990s rock band Hole will gather publicly for the first time in more than a decade. They will attend a New York screening Monday of “Hit So Hard,” P. David Ebersole’s documentary about former Hole drummer Patty Schemel.