Malibu Fires Force Evacuations and Cause Television Production Slow Downs

cali_fire.jpg It’s unlikely that you haven’t heard about the southern California wildfires that are putting Malibu in danger and forcing the evacuation of thousands of homes.

The latest news on the fires is that stars are not only being forced to evacuate their homes, but filming is being disrupted as well! If these fires continue to rage some of beloved television shows may end up having serious delays in production.

Richard Gere and John Travolta who flew into the Los Angeles area on Monday for the 11th annual Hollywood Awards got a fantastic aerial view of the fires. Gere was quoted by Access Hollywood as saying “It’s as far as you could see in both directions,” Travolta then added “The smoke was actually in the plane as we flew through. It was a large area, surprisingly large. I mean I never like to see that.”

Kelsey Grammer who was evacuated from his Malibu home told E! Online “All I see is smoke, but we’re okay.” he said of his family and pet dog.

It’s also been reported that land owned by Sean Penn has been fire blackened and two of his trailers parked on that land have been charred.

Other stars that have had to be evacuated include Mel Gibson, and Victoria Principal. Victoria was kind enough to have donated $50,000 to the Malibu evacuation center so that food and blankets could be provided to evacuees. She also donated another $10,000 to an animal shelter that rescues stray pets.

Television productions that have been affected by the fire include Big Shots which canceled a cycling sequence that was scheduled to shoot on Tuesday in Malibu; A scene on 24 with Kiefer Sutherland had to be canceled due to the smoke that was drifting in from nearby fires; and one of my favorite quirky shows, The Riches, had to rewrite a scene that was to include a real sheriffs deputy – naturally the deputies were dispatched from the set to help the fire crews and evacuation efforts.

Nobu, a famous Malibu restaurant closed it’s doors on Sunday, but it’s said that they will open again to serve meals to local firefighters.





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Former Lost start sentenced in DUI

michelle_rodriguez.jpg On Wednesday Michelle Rodriguez was sentenced to six months in jail for violating her probation in a DUI case.

She failed to provide proof of completion of her community service. Not only that. She consumed alcohol three times while wearing an alcohol-monitoring device!

Rodriquez now has to report to Los Angeles County jail by December 24th. What a day to go to jail!

The judge – Daviann L. Mitchell, also added to the ruling that she’s not to be granted early release. She also must complete 30 days of road clean up duty.

This girls got a history of DUI arrests!

In May 2006 Rodriguez served only 4 hours and 20 minutes of a two month sentence at the Lynwood California jail. This was after she’d violated probation in her December 2005 DUI arrest in Hawaii.

In June 2004, Rodriguez had been placed on three years’ probation after pleading no contest to DUI and driving with a suspended license from two separate incidents in the Hollywood area in 2003.

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Kiefer arrested for DUI

keifer_sutherland180.jpg What is with Stars and DUI’s these days?

Kiefer Sutherland is the latest celebrity to have been arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence. He was arrested early Tuesday morning in Hollywood.

Kiefer was pulled over at about 1 a.m. after he made an illegal U-turn. He failed the subsequent field sobriety test.

He was booked at the LAPD Hollywood station and was released at 5:42 a.m. on $25,000 bail.

A court date of Oct. 16 was set.

A rep for Sutherland said Tuesday: “It would be premature to comment at this time.”

Kiefer was convicted of a DUI in 2004 and because of that conviction he now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of four days in jail if he’s convicted for this latest arrest.

Sutherland is also currently serving a five-year probation term for the prior DUI. If a judge deems the actor violated those terms, “Sutherland could get up to 60 days in jail or worse, depending on varying circumstances,” according to DUI lawyer Lawrence Taylor.

Previous arrests have come to light:

In 1989, he was arrested for DUI and carrying a concealed and loaded weapon. In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded no contest to alcohol-related reckless driving, and the other charges were dropped.

In 1993, he was arrested for DUI, and again, pleaded out the same way. He was given the option of serving 12 days in jail or performing 211 hours of community service, and opted for the latter.

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