– Add another name to the list of conductors not in the running for music director of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra announced that Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck, 48, will become that orchestra’s music director, starting in September 2008.
– “Men in Trees” star Anne Heche and her husband are separating after five years of marriage, her spokeswoman said Wednesday. Heche and Coleman Laffoon, a motion picture cameraman, were married in September 2001. The couple have a 4-year-old son, Homer.
– For one night at least, President Bush drew more TV viewers than “American Idol.” An estimated 45.5 million people watched the president deliver his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, according to Nielsen Media Research. The address was televised on nine networks and cable channels. Fox’s “Idol,” which aired right before the president in most of the country, was seen by 32.6 million people.
– Ted Nugent says Texas Gov. Rick Perry had no problem with his decision to wear a Confederate flag shirt during his appearance at the recent inaugural ball. Nugent said Perry talked to him backstage after the black-tie event, complimenting him on “the greatest rock ‘n’ roll” and thanking him for coming, several newspapers reported Tuesday.
– Snoop Dogg pleaded not guilty Wednesday in an Orange County, Calif., court to a felony charge of knowingly possessing a dangerous weapon, a collapsible police baton found in his luggage at an airport.
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The Personals page was compiled by Emily Rosenbaum from Tribune news services and staff reports.
