Winfrey all choked up over passing of dog

Oprah Winfrey is mourning the death of her 2-year-old golden retriever, Gracie.

“Weeks have passed,” Winfrey says in the August issue of O, the Oprah Magazine. “And the pain has not subsided. Every time I think about it, my heart starts racing and I feel like I just got stabbed in the chest.”

On May 26, Gracie choked to death on a plastic ball that belonged to Sophie, Winfrey's 12-year-old cocker spaniel, while out with her dog walker and two other golden retrievers, Winfrey says.

“I ran barefoot out of the house and found the dog walker and one of my security guys pumping her chest,” Winfrey, 53, recalls. “Just as I reached them, the security guy looked up and said, ‘I'm sorry, ma'am. We tried everything. I'm sorry. She's gone.”'

Stewart angers town over trademark of name

Like many wars before it, the one between Martha Stewart and some of her Westchester County neighbors has inspired a protest song.

Written by Katonah resident Marc Black, the song takes aim at Stewart's attempt to trademark the village's name for use on a line of furniture and home products.

That idea has outraged many residents, who say that no one should own the name “Katonah,” and some American Indians, who say the name is taken from a beloved 17th-century tribal chief.

“The bottom line is, I'm just hoping, I think we all are, that Martha will hear the song,” Black said in a video posted on The Journal News Web site.

“We love you Martha,” sings Black in the video, strumming an acoustic guitar as he lounges in a hammock on his porch.

While “Martha” is already endowed with a natural “a” ending, other words have been infused with an “a” to rhyme with Katonah:

Washington attributes success to Mt. Vernon

Actor Denzel Washington, who credits his upbringing in Mount Vernon for much of his success, is returning to talk to young people there.

Washington, who has won two Oscars, agreed to attend a Wednesday night youth forum called “Celebrating the Positive.” It is one of a series of events being held by Clinton Young, a Mount Vernon mayoral candidate who is a friend of Washington.

Washington, who attended the local Boys Club, is national spokesman for what is now the Boys & Girls Club of America and has donated $1 million for a new club building in Mount Vernon.

Young said Washington “is very concerned about our young people. ... He is going to have an open dialogue and let them express themselves. We want to let them know that we care about them and their future.”

- From wire reports