People talk 01/05/04

Tammy Faye helps raise funds for AIDS services

DURHAM, N.C. -- A "drag bingo" event hosted by Tammy Faye Messner drew about 700 people to raise money for Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina. The former Tammy Faye Bakker said she was one of the first women to speak out about caring for people with AIDS when she was on the "The PTL Club" television show with her ex-husband in the 1980s. "I was just doing what Jesus wanted me to do," said Messner, who has remarried and lives in the Charlotte area. About 15 drag queens participated in "An Evening with Tammy Faye."

Singer Rawls marries girlfriend in Memphis

LOS ANGELES -- Lou Rawls, the velvety-voiced blues and jazz singer best known for his 1976 hit "You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine)," married his girlfriend of two years on New Year's Day in Memphis. The 70-year-old crooner wed Nina Malek Inman, a 33-year-old flight attendant, at midnight after performing New Year shows at the Liberty Bowl and the Peabody Hotel. Shelby County Mayor A. C. Wharton performed the ceremony.

Boy-band launcher hits snag in renovation plan

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Boy-band hitmaker Lou Pearlman's bid to renovate a section of downtown has hit a snag, with the city notifying developers that they missed the deadline to earn financial incentives. Developer Robert Kling, who owns the once-popular Church Street Station entertainment complex and wants to remake it with Pearlman, said Friday that the city is misrepresenting their agreement. In a letter to the developers, city attorney Wayne Rich said the pair had breached the contract by not finishing renovations to Church Street Station by Dec. 31. Pearlman launched the careers of the Backstreet Boys, 'NSync and O-Town.

-- From wire reports