RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – What John Grisham did for small-town lawyers in his crime novels he’s about to do for politicians.

The author of “The Firm,” “A Time to Kill” and other best-selling legal thrillers said Monday he took copious notes during bull sessions with fellow lawmakers during his years in the Mississippi House of Representatives in the late 1980s.

One day, they’ll appear in a beefy novel set in Ford County, Miss., the same fictitious venue as “A Time to Kill,” Grisham said after he addressed the Southern Governors Association’s 70th annual conference.

“I have a lot of notes; there will be a lot of layers to it. It’ll be a big, thick book and I’m not in the mood to write a big thick book right now,” Grisham said in an interview. “It’s probably at least five years away.”

He said the book probably won’t address the frustrations and the tedium he endured from legislative sessions that kept him in Jackson, Miss., for months on end each year.

Court KOs Givens’ charges

MIAMI (AP) – Charges were dismissed Monday against actress Robin Givens after three police officers failed to show up for her traffic court trial for running over an elderly pedestrian’s leg.

Givens, a star of the 1980s TV comedy “Head of the Class” and the ex-wife of boxer Mike Tyson, struck Maria Antonia Alcover as she was about to step onto the sidewalk after crossing a busy city street Jan. 28, police said.

After stopping at a red light, Givens turned the corner and hit the 89-year-old woman, sending her into a backward fall, police said. The back wheel of Givens’ Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle ran over Alcover’s right leg.

She was critically injured. and suffered internal injuries, but doctors were able to save her foot.

Givens was ticketed for failing to use due care with a pedestrian in the crosswalk, an offense carrying a fine of less than $70. The charge was dropped when the officers didn’t come to court.

Alcover filed a civil lawsuit against Givens in June.

Givens, who flew in from New York for trial, had no comment leaving court but signed some autographs on her way out.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – A man has sued Campbell Soup Co. and an advertising firm over an ad that he claims misappropriated his late father’s voice – a deep baritone that long served as the dramatic voice of NFL Films.

John Facenda Sr., who died in 1984, was a prominent Philadelphia newscaster whose deep tone was dubbed the “voice of God.”

His son John Facenda Jr. charged in a federal lawsuit filed Monday that Campbell Soup spoke to him in May, seeking permission to use a “sound-alike” narrator in radio and television ads for Chunky Chili this NFL season. The company later said it was changing course, Facenda said.

But Facenda, the heir to his father’s estate, said he was watching television on Aug. 30 when he heard a familiar baritone in the ad, which promotes Campbell’s chili for football tailgating parties.

Campbell’s spokesman John Faulkner said the commercial was voiced by a man with a similar – but “not a sound-alike” – voice. Faulkner identified the voice in the commercial as that of Earl Mann, one of three people hired since Facenda’s 1984 death to serve as an official NFL voice.

The only voice “that is universally associated with NFL Films is that of John Facenda,” said Facenda’s lawyer, Tracy Paul Hunt. NFL Films is the division of the National Football League that films games.

Faulkner declined comment on the lawsuit, saying he had not seen it. However, he noted that Campbell Soup is the official soup of the NFL.

Officials of New York-based Young & Rubicam, the advertising firm, declined comment.

The lawsuit seeks a retaping of the commercials with a voice that doesn’t sound like Facenda’s, and unspecified monetary damages for allegedly infringing on Facenda’s “right of publicity.”

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Eds: Note content of following item:

HACKENSACK, N.J. (AP) – A gay rights group has complained that three singers whose lyrics suggest that homosexuals be hanged, drowned, burned or shot will be among those performing at a reggae festival Sunday in Newark.

The performers Bounty Killer, Vybz Kartel and Capleton headline the fourth annual New Jersey Reggae Fest at the Terrace.

“When an artist like Capleton sings, “Burn out a queer, blood out a queer,’ that’s an extremely violent statement that needs to be challenged,” Glennda Testone, spokeswoman for the national Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, told The Record of Hackensack for Tuesday’s editions. “These dance-hall artists can’t hide behind the word “culture’ to mask the violent homophobia in their music.”

Dance-hall music is reggae with a rock bass beat. Some of the songs use derogatory terms for gays such as “chi-chi man” and “batty man.”

Festival promoter Kacy Rankine said there would be “no explicit lyrics, period” because the concert is a family event.

“This nonsense about gay-bashing is irrelevant to our festival. We are trying to encourage Caribbean people to come together to enjoy music and art, not to talk about gay-this or gay-that,” Rankine told the newspaper.

He said his company, G. City Entertainment of Irvington, will donate $2 from each $40 ticket to hurricane relief efforts in the Caribbean. About 3,000 fans are expected, and they are being urged to bring canned goods, blankets and cash to donate to hurricane victims.

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NEW YORK (AP) – Reality TV might be real after all.

The toy designed by the winning team on last week’s premiere of NBC’s “The Apprentice 2” will be produced by Mattel. On the show, two gender-divided teams competed to create a toy that tested well for 6-year-old boys.

The women’s team came up with the idea of a remote-controlled car with interchangeable parts that can be crashed and easily put back together. A prototype was designed overnight by Mattel and met with approval from young boys who tested the car.

Sara Rosales of Mattel told The Associated Press Tuesday the toy company hadn’t planned to produce a toy from Donald Trump’s reality show. “We had no expectations. We were planning on simply showcasing our brand.”

Named Morph Machines, the toy (tweaked slightly to have a sleeker style) will hit shelves in early 2005 with a retail price of $30, Mattel said.

“The Apprentice 2” airs Thursdays on NBC at 9 p.m. (ET).

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On the Net:

http://www.nbc.com/nbc/The-Apprentice-2/

http://www.mattel.com/index.asp?ftrue

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NEW YORK (AP) – Ashton Kutcher’s exclusive Los Angeles restaurant, Dolce, was burglarized twice over Labor Day weekend, syndicated entertainment show “Access Hollywood” reported.

The upscale restaurant is also owned by Kutcher’s co-stars from “That 70’s Show”: Wilmer Valderrama and Danny Masterson. Also co-owners are actors Jamie Kennedy, Masterson’s brother Chris and 15 other investors.

The manager of Dolce would not comment on the burglaries.

“Access” reported Monday that the Los Angeles Police Department said the restaurant was robbed of money and checks from a small safe on Sept. 4 and again on Sept. 6, this time taking cash and several bottles of wine.

Kutcher is the host of the MTV show “Punk’d” in which celebrities are pranked.

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PARIS (AP) – Monica Bellucci and her husband, French actor Vincent Cassel, became parents over the weekend to a baby girl named Deva, Bellucci’s agent said Monday.

“The mother and child are doing well,” said Laurent Gregoire, the actress’ Paris-based agent. The child was born Sunday in a Rome hospital.

The 34-year-old Italian actress, a former Elite model, has cultivated a thriving international film career in her native Italy and her adopted country France. She’s also a familiar face in Hollywood.

The actress appeared in the two “Matrix” sequels and played Mary Magdalene in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”

Bellucci met her husband in the mid-1990s on the set of “L’Appartement,” her first French-language film and the first of eight movies they have shot together.

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—Gates funds new building

PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given $20 million to Carnegie Mellon University to help fund construction of a new computer science building.

The 150,000-square-foot building will be called the Gates Center for Computer Sciences. It will cost $50 million and will include an office space for 80 teachers, several computer areas, lecture halls, classrooms and an auditorium.

NEW YORK (AP) – Though U2 is among the nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Irish rock band is still going strong.

“How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” will be released on Nov. 23, Interscope Records announced Tuesday.

Recorded in Dublin, Ireland, and the south of France, the album is the band’s first since 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.” Steve Lillywhite, who produced U2’s first three albums, returns as one of the producers, which bolsters reports that the new disc is a return to the band’s rock roots.

AP-ES-09-14-04 1504EDT