Deadly Tornado Rips Through Moore, Oklahoma

If you want to help victims in Oklahoma City, donate to the American Red Cross at http://redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999. Family members can all call FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA or go to okstrong.ok.gov.

Seth MacFarlane Won’t Return as 2014 Oscar Host

Seth MacFarlane is too busy to host the Oscars in 2014.

The multitalented comedian says on Twitter that he “tried to make it work schedule-wise, but I need sleep.”

MacFarlane said in his tweet Monday that Academy Awards producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron are among the best in the business. Zadan and Meron produced this year’s Oscar show, which earned higher ratings among coveted younger viewers, and will be returning for the 2014 telecast.

MacFarlane earned mixed reviews for his first outing as Oscar host in February, with some finding his material sexist and anti-Semitic.

The creator of “Family Guy” suggested Oscar producers tap eccentric actor Joaquin Phoenix to host the show. (AP)

Publicist: Founding Member of The Doors Dies at 74

Ray Manzarek, the keyboardist who was a founding member of The Doors, has died. He was 74.

Publicist Heidi Robinson-Fitzgerald says in a news release that Manzarek died Monday at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, surrounded by his family. He had been stricken by bile duct cancer.

Manzarek founded The Doors after meeting then-poet Jim Morrison in California. The band went on to become one of the most successful rock `n’ roll acts to emerge from the 1960s and continues to resonate with fans decades after Morrison’s death brought the band to an end. (AP)

Partial screenshot from Tuesday’s LA Times. You just knew it would make the front page, even though a tornado broke out in Oklahoma. He and the rest of the band are extremely important to the City of Angels.

$1 Million in Jewels Stolen Near Cannes Film Fest

Suspected thieves ripped out a small safe from the wall of a hotel room near the Cannes Film Festival and made off with about $1 million worth of jewelry inside, a French police official said Friday.

Cmdr. Bernard Mascarelli, a judicial police spokesman in the nearby city of Nice, said the robbery at the Novotel hotel overnight took place in the room of a representative of Swiss-based watch and jewelry maker Chopard.

The crime occurred just hours after the screening at Cannes of a film, based on a true story, about teens who broke into the homes of stars in Los Angeles to swipe designer bags, shoes and clothes from their homes.

The jewelry was “very probably” in the hotel in connection with the festival, Mascarelli said, though he didn’t know who it might have been intended for. Chopard is a festival sponsor and has loaned jewelry to A-list stars who walk up the festival’s famed red carpet under the rapid-fire flashes of photographers’ cameras. This year model Carla Devigne and actress Julianne Moore have walked the carpet in Chopard gems.

Mascarelli said he didn’t know the exact type of jewels taken or their exact value.

“Numbers have been put forward that we’re still trying to verify, but the figure of $1 million … we’re in that range,” he said.

Jean-Michel Caillau, the prosecutor in nearby Grasse who is leading an investigation, said early estimates were that the loot could have been worth as much as $1.4 million. He also said the theft appeared to have taken place around 2:30 a.m. Friday.

A Paris-based spokeswoman for Chopard, who declined to identify herself, said the company would not comment. Melissa Levine, a spokeswoman for Accor, the French hospitality giant behind Novotel, also declined comment. Dozens of police were involved in the investigation, and police vehicles could be seen outside the hotel Friday afternoon.

Authorities were going over hotel surveillance cameras and questioning potential witnesses who might have seen any culprits, and “it seems pretty unlikely to us that it was just one person,” Mascarelli said.

“Apparently this (hotel guest) was someone who was targeted because it wasn’t someone who had been seeking attention. … There must have been either an inside complicity, or people who were in contact with this person and knew that the person had jewels,” he said.

On Thursday night, Chopard hosted a star-studded gala, and the festival screened Sofia Coppola’s “The Bling Ring” — a deadpan drama about celebrity-obsessed teenagers in Los Angeles who break into the homes of Paris Hilton and other stars. It’s based on a true story about high-school students who, after seeing online when certain stars are expected at a premiere or other event, take the opportunity to steal items from their homes.

News of the robbery sent journalists scurrying to the Novotel, a business hotel about a 15-minute walk from Cannes’ seafront promenade. It’s decidedly less glamorous than the 5-star Hotel Martinez, where Chopard maintains a suite during the film festival. The company also manufactures the crystal and gold Palme d’Or trophy awarded each year to the festival’s top film.

Festival organizers would not disclose the Palme’s whereabouts Friday, but said it was kept in a safe place.

The festival had no comment on the robbery. (AP)

Kennedy Center Revises Way Honorees are Selected

The Kennedy Center is unveiling a new process to select artists who receive one of the nation’s top arts prizes after an outside group said Latinos have been largely excluded.

Under a revised process announced Thursday, the organization will begin seeking recommendations from the public for the first time in the Kennedy Center Honors’ 35-year history. It will also seek more recommendations from a committee of artists.

The center is forming a new Special Honors Committee to narrow the roster of potential honorees. Former honorees Chita Rivera and Yo-Yo Ma will serve on the panel, along with opera singer Harolyn Blackwell, dancer Damian Woetzel and two board members.

In January, the center announced a formal review with an advisory panel that included Latino arts groups. (AP)

Bill Hader to Exit `SNL’ After 8 Seasons

Bill Hader is leaving “Saturday Night Live” after an eight-year run.

His spokesman confirms that the 34-year-old comedian will depart “SNL” after this weekend’s season finale.

Hader joined the NBC sketch-comedy show in 2005 and has since made his mark with a range of impersonations including Al Pacino, Vincent Price, James Carville and Stefon, the hipster “Weekend Update” correspondent.

Hader’s films include “Superbad,” `’Forgetting Sarah Marshall,” `’Knocked Up” and “Pineapple Express.” (AP)

Neil Patrick Harris to Return as Tony Award Host

Neil Patrick Harris will be back for his fourth turn as host of the Tony Awards.

Producers of the show announced Thursday that Harris, a stage veteran and star of the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” will host the 67th annual awards to be presented June 9 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show will air live on CBS.

In a statement, Harris said he was excited to be back hosting the Tonys, adding: “The show will rock!”

The 39-year-old Harris has starred in three Broadway productions, including “Assassins,” “Proof” and “Cabaret.” (AP)