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July 7, 2009

Los Angeles Says Last Goodbye to King of Pop
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After private ceremony, Michael Jackson's body being transported to
Staples Center sports complex in downtown Los Angeles for public
memorial 
Michael Jackson (Feb 2005 file photo)Family, friends and fans are saying
goodbye one last time to Michael Jackson, the man known as the King of
Pop. Los Angeles police escorted the Jackson family and close friends to
a private memorial service Tuesday morning as media helicopters hovered
overhead. The family's service for Jackson was held at Forest Lawn
Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles, a resting place
for scores of American entertainment celebrities. After the private
ceremony, Jackson's body is being transported to the Staples Center
sports complex in downtown Los Angeles for the public memorial. An
online drawing for free tickets to the memorial attracted more than 1.6
million people, but only 8,750 lucky fans were randomly selected. Each
winner received two tickets for the Staples Center ceremony or for the
simulcast (television broadcast) at the nearby Nokia Theater. In
addition to the fans who received tickets, hundreds of thousands more
are expected to gather outside the arena, many from around the world.
City tourism officials say the influx of fans could provide a $4 million
boost to the city's struggling economy. Thousands of police officers are
deployed to provide security around the Staples Center, and to keep fans
without a ticket from reaching the event. Jackson's memorial service
will also be aired over dozens of television networks and the Internet.
And an entertainment company (Cinedigm Corporation) says it will
broadcast the service live at about 50 movie theaters across the U.S.
free of charge. But a lawyer for Debbie Rowe, Jackson's ex-wife and
mother of two of his three children, says her client changed her mind
about attending Tuesday's services, because it would create "an
unnecessary distraction."On Monday, a judge in Los Angeles ruled Michael
Jackson's longtime attorney and a friend should take over his estate, as
stipulated in the deceased pop icon's 2002 will. The judge removed
Jackson's mother, Katherine, as temporary administrator of the estate.
He said
 an attorney, John Branca, and a music executive and longtime friend,
John Mc Clain, will handle the pop star's estate until another hearing
on August 3.Reports of the singer's financial status vary wildly. Some
say he had about $500 million in assets but was also hundreds of
millions in debt. The 50-year-old Jackson died suddenly on June 25 in
Los Angeles. A cause of death has not been determined, and authorities
are investigating whether medications are to blame. Toxicology results
are not expected for weeks. Some information for this report was
provided by AFP and AP.


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