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Bon Jovi adds five houses to his greatest hits list

Last update: July 7, 2008 - 10:36 PM

Grammy winner Jon Bon Jovi was in a neighborhood on Detroit's East Side on Monday to announce the building of five homes as part of a partnership among his Philadelphia Soul Charitable Foundation, Saturn and Habitat for Humanity Detroit.

Bon Jovi's charitable foundation focuses on providing affordable housing to needy communities.

A REALLY BAD BREAK

Opera legend Joan Sutherland is recovering well after breaking both legs during a fall at her Swiss home, her agent said Monday.

The 81-year-old soprano is now in a Swiss hospital undergoing rehabilitation for up to eight weeks, her agent said.

The singer was picking flowers in the garden, lost her balance and fell.

STIFF UPPER LIP

St. Louis Park writer Marianne Herrmann, right, was delighted when her 2007 short-story collection "Signaling for Rescue" (New Rivers Press), was named to the long list for the 2008 Frank O'Connor Award, the world's largest prize for short fiction, in May. But she didn't make the short list, because Saturday the jury dispensed with the list and announced the winner -- Jhumpa Lahiri for "Unaccustomed Earth."

Herrmann, 46, though surprised at the jury's move, is a big fan of Lahiri ("a stunning writer," she says). "You have to be pragmatic -- a big name has always won, so I thought it would be sort of a miracle if I did," she said.

JUDY ARGINTEANU