A judge in New York on Thursday found a 41-year-old Canadian woman who says she had a brief affair with Alec Baldwin three years ago guilty of stalking and harassing the actor. She was sentenced to 210 days in jail and led from the courtroom in handcuffs. The decision ended a week of courtroom drama during which Baldwin took the stand to describe what he called a "nightmarish" ordeal with the accused woman, Genevieve Sabourin, who in turn, repeatedly disrupted the proceedings with loud outbursts, calling Baldwin a liar and yelling vulgar insults at his wife, Hilaria.
Sabourin, a freelance film publicist and aspiring actress, was unrepentant when Judge Robert Mandelbaum asked whether she had anything to say before sentencing. "I haven't done anything wrong," she said. "That's what I have to say."
Sabourin was found guilty in a bench trial without a jury of several misdemeanors: two counts of stalking, and one count each of attempted aggravated harassment and harassment. She was also convicted of violating an order of protection.
McCartney writes to Putin: Paul McCartney cited the lyrics of "Back in the USSR" on Thursday as he urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a letter to release 30 people arrested during a Greenpeace protest at an Arctic oil rig almost two months ago. In a letter, the former Beatle told Putin that he wrote his playful homage to the former Soviet Union in 1968, "back when it wasn't fashionable for English people to say nice things about your country." They were detained after staging a protest at an oil rig owned by Russia's state energy giant, Gazprom.
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arcade fire blowing in: After two prior gigs at the cavernous Roy Wilkins Auditorium, Arcade Fire will make the leap to a bigger cavern March 8, when it is set to play Target Center. The Minneapolis date is only the second stop on the acclaimed Canadian indie-rock band's newly announced tour behind its danceable new record, "Reflektor." Tickets for the tour go on sale Nov. 22 through AXS.com and the arena box office. Prices are $70.50 for general-admission floor and $30.50-$50.50 for seats. After a major profile boost in 2011, when the group won album of the year at the Grammy Awards, Arcade Fire is playing bigger venues everywhere on the tour, set to run through August. The itinerary also includes an April 26 date at Starlight Theatre in Kansas City, a road-trip-worthy outdoor concert option for Twin Cities fans.
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
