Nancy Reagan sent home from hospital
LOS ANGELES — Nancy Reagan was released from a hospital Friday after being treated for a fractured pelvis, her spokeswoman said.
Joanne Drake told the Associated Press that doctors came in to see the former first lady and told her everything was going well. Then they asked her: “How would you like to go home today?” Ms. Drake said.
A big smile came over Mrs. Reagan’s face, and she said yes, Ms. Drake said.
The 87-year-old Mrs. Reagan returned to her Bel-Air home with a prescription for daily physical therapy, Ms. Drake said.
Doctors expect a full recovery, she said.
Mrs. Reagan suffered the injury in a fall last week but only decided to have it checked out on Monday, when she was admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.
Ms. Drake said in a statement that Mrs. Reagan was grateful for the care she received at the hospital named after her husband but quoted her as saying, “I hope it won’t hurt anyone’s feelings if I don’t return any time soon.”
Four Tops singer dies at 72
DETROIT — Four Tops frontman Levi Stubbs, whose dynamic and emotive voice drove such Motown classics as “Reach Out (I’ll Be There)” and “Baby I Need Your Loving,” died Friday at 72.
He had been ill recently and died in his sleep at the Detroit house he shared with his wife, said Dana Meah, the wife of a grandson. With Mr. Stubbs in the lead, the Four Tops sold millions of records and performed for more than four decades without a change in personnel.
“Levi Stubbs was one of the great voices of all times,” former Motown labelmate Smokey Robinson said. “He was very near and dear to my heart. … God bless his family and comfort them.”
The Four Tops began singing together in 1953 under the name the Four Aims and signed with Motown Records in 1963. They produced 20 Top-40 hits over the next 10 years, making music history with the other acts in Berry Gordy’s Motown stable.
“Levi was the greatest interpreter of songs I’ve ever heard,” Mr. Gordy said Friday.
The Four Tops toured for decades after their heyday, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 and have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1986, Mr. Stubbs provided the voice for Audrey II the man-eating plant in the film “Little Shop of Horrors.”
Pfizer reaches $894 million deal
TRENTON, N.J. — Drug giant Pfizer Inc. has reached an $894 million deal to settle the bulk of the lawsuits over its withdrawn pain reliever Bextra, following the lead of rival Merck & Co., which is spending five times as much to settle Vioxx suits.
The Pfizer agreement also would end lawsuits over its popular Celebrex, the only one of the three - all in the same class of anti-inflammatory drugs and all linked to elevated risk of heart attacks and strokes - still on the market.
The world’s biggest drug maker said Friday it has agreements in principle to end up to 92 percent of personal injury lawsuits brought by people claiming Bextra and Celebrex caused heart attacks, strokes or other harm.
Hubble repairs going poorly
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.— NASA’s efforts to get the ailing Hubble Space Telescope working again have hit a snag, and engineers are trying to figure out their next step.
Officials had hoped to have the 18-year-old observatory back in business Friday, after it stopped sending pictures three weeks ago. But a pair of problems cropped up Thursday, and now recovery operations are on hold.
The soonest the telescope could operate fully again is late next week, said Art Whipple, a Hubble manager. At worst, the observatory might remain inactive until astronauts arrive with a replacement part next year.
Flight controllers at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, began the lengthy process of restoring data transmission Wednesday. Everything was going well, until late Thursday afternoon. First, a low-voltage power supply problem prevented one of Hubble’s cameras from being rebooted properly, and then computer trouble struck and all efforts ceased.
• From wire dispatches and staff reports
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