Willie Nelson performs before the start of the NASCAR AAA Texas 500 auto race at Texas Motor Speedway, Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010, in Fort Worth, Texas. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)

A U.S. Border Patrol spokesman says country singer Willie Nelson was charged with marijuana possession after 6 ounces was found aboard his tour bus in Texas.

Patrol spokesman Bill Brooks says the bus pulled into the Sierra Blanca, Texas, checkpoint about 9 a.m. Friday. Brooks says an officer smelled pot when a door was opened and a search turned up marijuana.

Brooks says the Hudspeth County sheriff was contacted and Nelson was among three people arrested.

Sheriff Arvin West didn’t immediately return a phone message left at his home Friday, but he told the El Paso Times that Nelson claimed the marijuana was his. The singer was held briefly a $2,500 bond before being released.

Nelson spokeswoman Elaine Schock declined to comment when contacted via e-mail by The Associated Press.

Mark McGwire: Just another baseball junkie? (AP)

Sobbing and sniffling, Mark McGwire finally answered the steroid question. Ending more than a decade of denials and evasion, McGwire admitted Monday what many had suspected for so long — that steroids and human growth hormone helped make him a home run king.

“The toughest thing is my wife, my parents, close friends have had no idea that I hid it from them all this time,” he told The Associated Press in an emotional, 20-minute interview. “I knew this day was going to come. I didn’t know when.”

In a quavering voice, McGwire apologized and said he used steroids and human growth hormone on and off for a decade, starting before the 1990 season and including the year he broke Roger Maris’ single-season home run record in 1998.

“I wish I had never touched steroids,” McGwire said. “It was foolish and it was a mistake.”

He had mostly disappeared since his infamous testimony before a congressional committee in March 2005, when he said, “I’m not here to talk about the past.” He had been in self-imposed exile from public view, an object of ridicule for refusing to answer the questions.

Once he was hired by the Cardinals in October to be their hitting coach, however, he knew he had to say something before the start of spring training in mid-February.

In a carefully rolled out schedule of statements and interviews, he called commissioner Bud Selig, St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and Maris’ widow, Pat, on Monday to personally break the news and left messages for the stars of the Cardinals. He issued a statement and called the AP to get his admission out, then gave several interviews that included a televised appearance on the MLB Network.

“It was a wrong thing what I did. I totally regret it. I just wish I was never in that era,” he said.

His voice shook when he recounted breaking the news to Matt McGwire, his 22-year-old son, calling it the toughest task in the ordeal.

“He’s very, very understandable. So are my parents,” McGwire said. “The biggest thing that they said is they’re very proud of me, that I’m doing this. They all believe it’s for the better. And then I just hope we can move on from this and start my new career as a coach.”

McGwire was a baseball icon — Big Mac, with a Paul Bunyon physique and a home run swing that made fans come out to the ballpark early to watch batting practice. He hit 583 home runs, tied for eighth on the career list, and his average of one every 10.6 at-bats is the best ever.

His record of 70 home runs in 1998 was surpassed by Barry Bonds’ 73 homers in 2001 — the year of McGwire’s retirement. Bonds himself has denied knowingly using illegal drugs but has been indicted on charges he made false statements to a federal grand jury and obstructed justice.

In four appearances on the Hall of Fame ballot, McGwire has hovered around 23 percent, well below the 75 percent necessary.

“This has nothing to do with the Hall of Fame,” he said. “This has to do with me coming clean, getting it off my chest, and five years that I’ve held this in.”

Yet, he sounded as if all the criticism had wounded the pride he had built as the 1987 AL Rookie of the Year and a 12-time All-Star.

“There’s no way a pill or an injection will give you hand-eye coordination or the ability or the great mind that I’ve had as a baseball player,” he said. “I was always the last one to leave. I was always hitting by myself. I took care of myself.”

He said he first used steroids between the 1989 and 1990 seasons, after helping the Oakland Athletics to a World Series sweep when he and Jose Canseco formed the Bash Brothers.

“When you work out at gyms, people talk about things like that. It was readily available,” he said. “I tried it for a couple of weeks. I really didn’t think much of it.”

He said he returned to steroids after the 1993 season, when he missed all but 27 games with a mysterious heel injury, after being told steroids might speed his recovery.

“I did this for health purposes. There’s no way I did this for any type of strength purposes,” he said.

“I truly believe I was given the gifts from the Man Upstairs of being a home run hitter, ever since … birth,” McGwire said. “My first hit as a Little Leaguer was a home run. I mean, they still talk about the home runs I hit in high school, in Legion ball. I led the nation in home runs in college, and then all the way up to my rookie year, 49 home runs.

“But, starting ’93 to ’94, I thought it might help me, you know, where I’d get my body feeling normal, where I wasn’t a walking MASH unit,” he said.

And there was the pressure of living up to his previous performance and his multimillion-dollar salary, McGwire said, adding that he was “getting paid a lot of money to try to stay up to that level.”

After being confronted by the AP during the home run streak in 1998, McGwire admitted using androstenedione, a steroid precursor that was then legally available and didn’t become a controlled substance until 2004.

McGwire didn’t know if his use of performance-enhancing drugs contributed to some of the injuries that led to his retirement, at age 38, in 2001.

“It could have. I don’t know,” he said.

McGwire’s 70 homers in 1998 came in a compelling race with Sammy Sosa, who finished with 66. More than anything else, the home run spree revitalized baseball following the crippling strike that wiped out the 1994 World Series.

Now that McGwire has come clean, increased glare might fall on Sosa, who has denied using performing-enhancing drugs.

Selig praised McGwire, saying, “This statement of contrition, I believe, will make Mark’s re-entry into the game much smoother and easier.”

McGwire became the second major baseball star in less than a year to admit using illegal steroids, following the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez last February. Big Mac and A-Rod, coincidentally, are currently tied on the home-run list.

Besides Bonds, others facing questions include Roger Clemens, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. Like Bonds, they have denied knowingly using illegal or banned substances. Clemens is under investigation by a federal grand jury trying to determine whether he lied to a congressional committee.

“I’m sure people will wonder if I could have hit all those home runs had I never taken steroids,” McGwire said in his statement. “I had good years when I didn’t take any, and I had bad years when I didn’t take any. I had good years when I took steroids, and I had bad years when I took steroids. But no matter what, I shouldn’t have done it and for that I’m truly sorry.”

McGwire said he wanted to come forward at the congressional hearing on March 17, 2005, when he sat alongside Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro, who denied using steroids but tested positive for one later that year.

“I wanted to get this off my chest, I wanted to move on, but unfortunately immunity was not granted,” he said.

McGwire’s lawyers, Mark Bierbower and Marty Steinberg, told him that if he made any admission, he could be charged with a crime and that he, his family and friends could be forced to testify before a grand jury.

“That was the worst 48 hours of my life, going through that, but I had to listen to the advice of my attorneys,” he said.

He knew that Don Hooton, whose son had died from steroids use, was in the audience.

“Every time I’d say, `I’m not going to talk about the past,’ I’d hear moanings back there. It was absolutely ripping my heart out,” McGwire said, his voice cracking. “All I was worried about was protecting my family and myself. And I was willing to take the hit.”

Bierbower told the AP in a telephone interview that he had instructed McGwire not to make any admissions before Congress.

“He also had a situation where his brother had been giving him steroids and he didn’t want to create a risk for his brother, either,” Bierbower said.

Following McGwire’s decision to go public, La Russa immediately praised his former star.

“His willingness to admit mistakes, express his regret and explain the circumstances that led him to use steroids add to my respect for him,” the manager said.

McGwire followed the Yankees’ Andy Pettitte and Rodriguez in his decision to publicly admit using performance-enhancing drugs. McGwire wouldn’t say whether other players in a similar situation should follow his example.

“That’s for them to decide, what they need to do,” he said. “It’s been a rough morning, I’m ready to take it on and tell my story, again, to be honest and hope we can just move on from this.”

Sarah Palin: She and Fox deserve each other

Sarah Palin, former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate, will return to her broadcast roots and take her conservative message to Fox News as a regular commentator, the cable channel announced Monday.

“I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox News,” Palin said in a statement posted on the network’s Web site. “It’s wonderful to be part of a place that so values fair and balanced news.”

Fox said that according to the multiyear deal, Palin will offer political commentary and analysis on the cable channel, as well as Fox’s Web site, radio network and business cable channel.

She also will host occasional episodes of Fox News’ “Real American Stories,” a series debuting this year that the network said will feature true inspirational stories about Americans who have overcome adversity.

“Governor Palin has captivated everyone on both sides of the political spectrum and we are excited to add her dynamic voice to the FOX News lineup,” Bill Shine, executive vice president of programming, said in a statement.

Palin, 45, is hugely popular with conservatives and has more than 1.1 million Facebook followers.

She stepped down as Alaska governor in July, 17 months before the end of her first term in office and less than a year after she vaulted to overnight fame as John McCain’s running mate.

The bombshell resignation stunned even supporters and fueled widespread speculation on her next career step — with predictions ranging from seeking the presidency in 2012 to hosting a conservative talk show. She told Barbara Walters in November that a 2012 presidential bid was not on her radar but added she wouldn’t rule out playing some kind of role in the next presidential election.

Since resigning, Palin has had colossal success with her best-selling memoir “Going Rogue,” released four months after she left office. She finished a nationwide tour in December after hitting some of the political battleground states from the 2008 election and drawing thousands of fans.

Palin majored in journalism with an emphasis on broadcasting at the University of Idaho and worked part-time as a weekend sportscaster in 1988 for KTUU-TV in Anchorage, using her then-maiden name Heath. The station’s sports director, John Carpenter, said the young broadcaster left after a few months because of the low pay.

Carpenter said he was sorry to see her go. She was a hard worker who enjoyed the entire process, not just being in front of the cameras, he said.

“She knew sports, she could talk sports, she looked OK on TV,” Carpenter said. “She had the aptitude, no question.”

Palin’s upcoming commentary career had her Facebook fans giddy with excitement Monday.

“Tell ‘em like it is girl!!!!!!,” one person wrote on a post.

“I look forward to seeing you on Fox….but I hope it doesn’t prevent you from running in ’12!,” another wrote.

Bye bye Simon (AP)

Simon Cowell, the acerbic Brit who has helped give “American Idol” some of its sharpest — and nastiest — moments, will leave the hit TV singing contest after this season.

The cantankerous judge said Monday that “The X Factor,” a talent show he created and which is popular in Britain, will join Fox’s schedule next year. Cowell will be a judge on “The X Factor” and its executive producer.

Cowell’s decision is the biggest threat yet to what has consistently been the country’s top-rated TV program and a true cultural force. This season, original host Paula Abdul has been replaced by Ellen DeGeneres.

But Cowell, with his caustic commentary, has long been seen as the big star of “Idol.”

He said it would have been difficult for him to do both shows. While he makes a reported $36 million a year to be on “American Idol,” he owns “The X Factor” and could make much more if the show takes off.

Ironically, “The X Factor” led to a lawsuit several years ago between Cowell and “American Idol” creator Simon Fuller, who alleged that Cowell copied the format for the British version of “The X Factor” from the original British “Idol.” The suit was settled amicably.

Cowell and top Fox executives made the announcement to reporters in Pasadena at a meeting of the Television Critics Association; they said they had reached an agreement only a few hours before.

“I was offered a lot of money to stay on,” Cowell said. “But that wasn’t the reason behind it. I wanted to do something different. I wanted a new challenge.”

But an even greater challenge is posed for Idol producers. Without the show’s biggest attraction and most critical judge, will “American Idol” lose steam and plunge even more in ratings? At least one analyst, Shari Anne Brill of Carat USA, said the “Idol” audience probably will decline next season.

“I think it’s that brand of sarcasm combined with professional know-how that makes Simon the audience magnet that he is,” she said. “I really believe the show revolves around him. He’s the linchpin of the show’s success. He has tremendous influence on how the audience votes. He’s interesting to listen to. He’s brutally honest.”

That said, even without Simon, she predicts the show “will still be a formidable player on Fox’s schedule.”

Kevin Reilly, Fox entertainment president, said Cowell’s departure from “Idol” isn’t necessarily a win for the network’s competitors.

“I think it would be premature to be popping corks. Maybe they can say this gives us a little bit of wiggle room, but that’s a big maybe. On the other hand, we’re not losing Simon Cowell, we’re potentially gaining another big headache for them in the fall,” Reilly said.

Peter Rice, chairman of entertainment for Fox, added a dramatic touch to the news conference by asking Cowell to sign his new contract. Cowell’s deal with “American Idol,” which returns for its ninth year Tuesday, will end with the season.

Cowell said launching a show that doesn’t put an age limit on contestants — and allows groups along with individual singers — makes it very different from “American Idol.” The top age for “Idol” singers is 28.

Susan Boyle, 48, who was discovered on “Britain’s Got Talent,” is an example of why age should be irrelevant, said Cowell, a judge on the British show he created and executive producer of “America’s Got Talent” on NBC. Boyle became an unlikely sensation and released one of the year’s top-selling CDs.

Rice wouldn’t speculate on possible replacements for Cowell on “Idol.”

“We have to take our time on that,” he said. “We have to make sure the chemistry of the judges is as good as it can be.”

Cowell said there are many who want the job. But while everybody is talking about the judges, he added, “Fundamentally, the most important reason we do this is to find talent.”

Asked about bringing in Abdul as a judge on “X Factor,” Cowell replied: “I adore Paula. Whatever happens, I will be working with her in some capacity, because I miss her.” But Victoria Beckham, a guest judge this season on “Idol,” won’t be joining his new show, Cowell said without explanation.

Cowell apparently carefully chose his time to resign, saying he didn’t want to leave “American Idol” at a time when it was fading in the ratings.

“You want to leave on a high,” he said. “I’m very proud of what the show has achieved.”

“American Idol,” which is entering its ninth season this week, has been the country’s most popular television program for the past five years and has launched such stars as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood and Chris Daughtry.

Yet viewership for “American Idol” has been shrinking since its 2005 peak when it averaged more than 30 million weekly viewers, according to research chief Brad Adgate of Horizon Media; last year’s weekly audience averaged just under 25 million. The median age of viewers has shot up, from nearly 32 years old in the first season to about 44 last year.

Rice and Cowell said “Idol” and “The X Factor” would complement each other, not detract.

Airing the network’s talent shows throughout the season — “The X Factor” in the fall, “American Idol” from January through May and “So You Think You Can Dance” in the summer — will be a “source of strength” for Fox’s schedule, Rice said.

Sans pants on the Subway (AP)

Hundreds of New Yorkers have been riding the city’s subway trains in their underwear.

They stripped down to their undies on Sunday for the ninth annual No Pants Subway Ride.

The idea is to act like nothing unusual is going on.

Participants met up at six locations throughout the city. They formed groups and dispersed to subway stations to catch trains. Once inside the subway cars, they began calmly removing their pants and folding them up.

Most people read magazines or chatted with their companions like any other straphanger.

The event started in 2002 with just seven people. It has spread to other cities.

The stunt is organized by Improv Everywhere, a group that says its mission is to cause “scenes of chaos and joy in public places.”

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On The Net:

Improv Everywhere: http://improveverywhere.com



On Tuesday night, the Ashland City Council adopted a citywide ban on public nudity.

The city had already banned the display of genitals in parks and in downtown. Tuesday’s decision to expand the ban brought a threat of legal action from the American Civil Liberties Union, which says it violates the Oregon Constitution’s protection of free expression.

The nudity issue arose in 2008, when a woman dubbed “the naked lady” started bicycling around this Southern Oregon town wearing only a G-string. More complaints came last summer, when a retired computer programmer visiting the city took nude strolls near an elementary school. A vacationer from Minnesota exposed himself in October.

City councilors reportedly had the option to limit nudity, but decided to outlaw it altogether.

Public nudity bans have been tested in court to hold up. In 1985, the Oregon Court of Appeals upheld Portland’s ban on public nudity. However, the court also ruled that public nudity can be a protected form of expression, such as during a protest.

Bangor Area School District board member Ron Angle says the unidentified high school aide resigned after district officials asked her to step down Wednesday.

Angle says the aide left her phone unattended at a social function outside of school when someone found the phone and sent out the photo.

Bangor Superintendent John Reinhart says the district learned the lurid photo was being circulated among students on Tuesday. He says the district sent a recorded message to parents asking them to check students’ phones for the image.

Bangor is about 60 miles north of Philadelphia.