Mindy McCready withdraws guilty plea in probation violation case

FRANKLIN, Tenn. (AP) – Mindy McCready petitioned Tuesday to withdraw her guilty plea in a probation violation case, saying she had uncovered new evidence.

The country singer had pleaded guilty to violating her probation on a drug charge by driving on a suspended license and leaving Tennessee. McCready, 30, was scheduled to find out Tuesday if a judge would send her to jail for violating her probation on a suspended three-year sentence for fraudulently obtaining the prescription painkillers Oxycontin.

But her attorney, Lee Dryer, said the singer’s relatives in Florida found a document that showed her license was reinstated the day before she was arrested on the driving charge in May 2005. Dryer said the new evidence was given to him late Monday night.

A Nashville jury acquitted McCready last month of drunken driving but convicted her of driving on a suspended license.

“I said when I was pulled over that my license was not suspended, and I was correct,” McCready said after Tuesday’s hearing.

McCready is to be sentenced in September on the driving charge, and Dryer said he will be seeking a new trial after that.

“It’s going to be our position that her license was not truly suspended although the records in the Department of Safety show that it was,” Dryer said.

Williamson County Judge Jeff Bivins said he would hold off on a decision in the probation violation case until Nashville courts rule on the matter.

But the judge said McCready’s failure to get permission to travel to Florida in 2005 was still at issue. McCready’s Florida trip made news because the singer was hospitalized there after a suicide attempt.

Dryer said the out-of-state travel was a misunderstanding between McCready and her probation officer.

McCready, who had a No. 1 hit in 1996 with “Guys Do It All the Time,” has struggled in recent years.

Two days after her DUI arrest, she was injured in a beating by her former boyfriend, William McKnight, who pleaded guilty to domestic assault and was sentenced to serve 30 days in jail.

McCready has since sued McKnight over the beating and given birth to his child.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Texan Willie Nelson is raising his voice in defense of a symbol of the West – wild horses.

Country singer Nelson is the latest to join an effort to ban the slaughter of horses in the U.S. for consumption of their meat abroad. The U.S. House is scheduled to vote Sept. 7 on a bill aimed at ending horse slaughter.

“If you’ve ever been around horses a lot, especially wild horses, you know they are part of the American heritage. I don’t think its right that we kill them and eat them,” Nelson said in a telephone interview Tuesday.

In a news release issued this week, Nelson touts a Sept. 5 Washington rally in support of the bill sponsored by Rep. John Sweeney, R-N.Y. Nelson said he won’t be at the rally, but his daughter Amy will, along with other celebrities, including former “10” star Bo Derek and Jennifer Pryor, wife of the late comedian Richard Pryor.

Nelson said he learned about the issue through country music producer Eddie Kilroy’s show on satellite radio, Hank’s Place, which has become Willie’s Place.

“When it was Hank’s Place, Eddie Kilroy was talking about the issue. He was talking about horse slaughter one day and he called me and talked about what a horrible practice that is. One thing led to another,” Nelson said.

Nelson said he has owned several horses and has several buried on his ranches. “I do have a lot of respect for my horses, a lot. I don’t ride them as much as I used to and I think they appreciate it,” he joked.

Nelson recorded the songs “On the Road Again” and “Mama Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys.”

The House bill is HR 503.

NEW YORK (AP) – Diddy will be a daddy again.

Sean “Diddy” Combs and longtime girlfriend, model Kim Porter, are “happy to confirm that they are expecting their second child together,” Combs’ representative, Keesha Johnson, told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

“The couple is thrilled about the news,” Johnson said.

Combs, 36, and Porter, 35, have an 8-year-old son Christian. Combs has a 12-year-old son Justin from a previous relationship.

The hip-hop mogul’s new album, “Press Play,” is slated for release in October.

LONDON (AP) – A planned U.S. tour by Keane has been postponed while singer Tom Chaplin is being treated for drug and alcohol addiction, the British band said Tuesday.

In a statement posted on the band’s Web site, Chaplin, 27, said he was “having to deal with an increasing problem with drink and drugs, and the time has come to get the professional help I need to sort myself out.”

The tour had been due to start in Chicago on Sept. 7.

“I feel desperately disappointed to be letting down our fans, but I want to get myself right now so that I can be back on the road for the rest of the year,” Chaplin said.

Keane had already canceled several appearances, citing Chaplin’s “exhaustion.”

The trio released their melodic debut album, “Hopes and Fears,” in 2004. Their second album, “Under the Iron Sea,” entered the British album charts at No. 1 when it was released in June.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) – Vince Gill and Jimmy Webb have written a song to celebrate Oklahoma and its people as the state nears its centennial.

Gill wrote the music and Webb wrote the lyrics for “Oklahoma Rising,” which is intended to complement the state’s official song, “Oklahoma!” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.

The song remembers Oklahoma’s early days and explores the promise of the 21st century. It also touches on difficult periods, from the Dust Bowl to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

“In the days and weeks following the bombing, Oklahomans came through as generous, brave, noble people,” Webb said from his New York home. “The whole country had to bow in deference to that. In our heartland we showed that we have a great state and a great reservoir of courage. It made me proud to be an Oklahoman.”

“Oklahoma Rising” will debut Sept. 11 at a private event at the Civic Center Music Hall, said Centennial Projects and Events Chairman Lee Allan Smith. The 100th anniversary of the state’s admission to the union is Nov. 16, 2007.

“We both love our state, and our hope with this anthem was to epitomize and crystallize the character of Oklahomans for the world to see,” Webb said. “I really tried to connect with what it means to be an Oklahoman.”

Webb and Gill have known each other for years, but this marks their first professional collaboration.

Gill is a Norman native who grew up in Oklahoma City. The 49-year-old country singer’s hits include “When I Call Your Name,” “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away” and “I Still Believe in You.”

Webb, 60, a native of Elk City who grew up in Laverne, has hits including “By the Time I Get to Phoenix,” recorded by Glen Campbell, “Up, Up and Away” (The Fifth Dimension) and “MacArthur Park” (Richard Harris).

GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) – Bail has been set at $50,000 for Vincent Margera, uncle of “Viva La Bam” star Bam Margera, on a charge of sexual assault on a child.

Vincent Margera, 50, was arrested Friday in the Denver suburb of Lakewood.

Lakewood city spokeswoman Stacie Oulton has said he is accused of two incidents of sexual assault on a child involving inappropriate touching. During his court hearing Monday, prosecutors claimed he had “groped” a 14-year-old.

Vincent Margera had come to Colorado to film promotional material for ManiaTV.com and was arrested after a skateboarding event at a mall. ManiaTV.com founder Drew Massey said Margera had finished his work before the arrest.

Vincent Margera had not posted bail by mid-afternoon Monday, and officials at the Jefferson County jail in Golden did not answer after-hours calls.

The MTV show “Viva La Bam” focuses largely on Bam Margera playing practical jokes on his parents and uncle, whose dialogue is often unintelligible.

Bam Margera, a professional skateboarder, was not with his uncle on the trip.