Former Dallas Cowboys star receiver Michael Irvin says that a passing motorist pointed a gun in his face as he drove in North Dallas Monday night. “The passenger pulled out a semiautomatic and I knew what time it was,” Irvin said. “But he said ‘Oh, that’s Michael Irvin, with the Dallas Cowboys.’” Irvin, who has been involved in numerous legal scrapes involving drugs, guns and sexual assault, said he was scared and did everything he could to keep the conversation going. “So we started talking about the Cowboys and everything,” said Irvin, now an NFL commentator. “Then they got back on the highway. …I tell you what, I’m glad he was a Cowboy fan.”

Alleged victim in Simpson case testifies after health scare.

Having recovered from an apparent health issue that interrupted his Monday testimony, an alleged victim of robbery by O.J. Simpson testified Tuesday that a gun was mentioned. Bruce Fromong claims he heard someone being told to put a gun away last September when Simpson and alleged accomplices reportedly took valuables from Fromong’s hotel room. Simpson and Clarence Stewart are accused of robbing and kidnapping Fromong and his partner after Simpson claimed that he took back valuables from his football career that had been stolen. Simpson allegedly led Stewart and four others, who’ve since taken plea deals, in a heist that could lead to his spending the rest of his life in prison. Fromong had clutched his chest and left the witness stand without finishing his testimony Monday, apparently having respiratory difficulty. Tuesday, he broke down emotionally while describing how Simpson had called to wish his mom a happy birthday at a time when the pair were friends.

Pitcher makes mark with win versus Mariners. Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez has the most saves in a season after the Angels’ 5-2 win versus Seattle this past weekend. K-Rod tied Bobby Thigpen’s record of 57 late last week before breaking 58 against the Mariners on Saturday. “I knew it was going to be a really special moment, the way the fans cheered for me when I was coming in,” Rodriguez says. “It was amazing. I haven’t felt like this since we won the World Series.” Having also made his third save in four days, K-Rod credits the deceased grandfather who helped raise him in Venezuela, a nation of many Spanish-speaking Blacks. “He’s with me every day,” adds the pitcher. “I would give up anything to have him right next to me and enjoy this moment. But I’ve got to deal with it.”

Vince Young had gun, thoughts of suicide, report says. Word has surfaced that last week’s brief disappearance by an NFL quarterback was more serious than his team is letting on. Injured Tennessee Titans star Vince Young had shared suicidal thoughts with a team therapist before he left home with a pistol in his possession, according to a police report. The player was found later the same evening after police were contacted, but both Young and Titans coach Jeff Fisher have claimed the incident was exaggerated in media reports. A police statement reveals that Fisher heard from the team therapist shortly after Young’s disappearance. Nashville Lt. Andrea Swisher wrote that the coach told her Young “wants to quit, and he mentioned suicide several times” before leaving home with the gun. He later showed up at the Titans facility and left without incident. Young was booed in the season-opening game during which he threw two interceptions. He was later injured and is expected to be out for at least two weeks.

Rapper appears to be under “dark butts” curse.

Yung Berg faces more troubles than just fan backlash after he was arrested on charges of criminal possession of a weapon, marijuana and menacing after a dispute with his limo driver. Berg is still suffering after he made comments dissing dark-skinned women and was subsequently booed at a Dallas show and practically ignored by D.C. fans, who barely turned out for a promo event. Berg’s limo driver reportedly called cops after the argument with the rapper. Police at the scene arrested Berg on the drug and gun charges.

Sammy Davis Jr. died still millions in debt.

Singer, dancer and film star Sammy Davis Jr. owed the IRS $15 million when he died, despite having earned over $50 million, a new book details. The man who inspired both tap dancers, like Savion Glover, and impressionists, like Eddie Griffin, even declined radiation treatment for throat cancer, saying he couldn’t work without being able to sing. The biography “Deconstructing Sammy,” described as a tell-all, explores the life of the entertainer. Davis died in 1990.

The young mother dialed 911 the day before her son was shot to death.
The day before Stephanie Thompson’s 4-year-old boy was shot to death, she called police to say that there was a man riding a bicycle around her Camden , N.J. , neighborhood with a machine gun. When police finally did show up, Brandon Thompson lay dead on the sidewalk in a pool of blood. He had been shot in the head. “I watched my baby get shot,” Stephanie Thompson, 21, told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “I couldn’t get to him fast enough. I called 911 and told them. He was just riding around. It wasn’t like he was hidin’ it. This could have been avoided if they had done their job. Police acknowledge that Stephanie Thompson had called police about the man with the machine gun, but they are questioning whether that was the weapon used to kill Brandon , the Inquirer reports. Police also say that the boy ran into crossfire and was killed. Stephanie says that her son was playing in the street when the alleged shooter, Donald Lindsey, showed up with his machine gun. Stephanie Thompson told authorities that she heard a series of short, staccato blasts and ran to find her son. As she rounded the corner, she saw Brandon running toward her on the sidewalk, the Inquirer reports. The man on the bicycle saw him, took aim and shot him down, according to Stephanie Thompson. “I went to go pick him up and he had blood coming from everywhere. I just held him and told him to get up,” she said. “But he wouldn’t get up. He was only 4. And he was trying to run to his mommy. I couldn’t get there in time.” Camden arrived a few minutes too late. “The cops came and took my baby to the hospital and we wasn’t even there 5 minutes and he died,” she said. “He (Lindsey) looked me dead in my face when my son got shot. He knew he shot my son and he looked at me,” she said.

Jamaica set to toughen gun laws. In response to his nation’s high crime rate, Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding has announced a crackdown on gun crimes. Under Golding’s plan, an offender would get a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence for committing a crime with a gun. In his proposed legislation, those convicted of serious gun crimes would not be able to get parole before 10 years, Golding told the House of Representatives. Under his crime-fighting initiative: suspects can be detained for up to three days, bail can be withheld from people charged with serious crimes for up to 60 days and a majority of nine out of 12 jurors can decide on non-capital murder cases, reports the BBC. Prior to announcing the plan Golding said the country’s crime problem needed “extraordinary measures.” Since January, more than 900 Jamaicans have been murdered, reports the Jamaican-Gleaner. But his plan is not without its critics, who say that the measures are too harsh. “The proposals in this crime initiative related more to suspension of rights than protection of rights, and more to punishment than prevention,” human-rights advocate Yvonne McCalla-Sobers told the Gleaner. Adding that Golding’s approach should be “more preventative than retributive, tackling causes of crime with a view to winning the confidence and cooperation of the law abiding.”

Smoking Gun reveals that Rick Ross was prison guard

Maybe it’s time for MCs to revisit a few old-school party rhymes. If not, The Smoking Gun Web site is around to keep those claiming hardcore, thug backgrounds as honest as Boy Scouts. For the second time this year, Smoking Gun has outed a performer who appears to have embellished his street credibility. Rick Ross had previously denounced photos that surfaced last week as “Photo Shop fakes created by fake people to entertain fake people.” But TSG reports that the pics, showing a younger, clean-shaven Ross in prison-guard gear, are authentic. The site indicates that William Leonard Roberts, aka “Rick Ross,” has a social security number and employee record matching those of a man who worked in corrections for 18 months in 1995. Ross reportedly earned $22, 913.54 a year. TSG previously blew singer Akon’s false claims of prison time and having master-minded an auto theft ring out of the water. Crime may not pay, but lying about it apparently does.

RZA to make directorial debut

While many rappers make the leap to acting, few have gone the route of directing films. Wu Tang Clan’s RZA, having studied filmmaking with Quentin Tarantino and having made a recent appearance in American Gangster, is set to helm a forthcoming martial arts feature. RZA joins Ice Cube, Will Smith and Queen Latifah in the ranks of hip-hop veterans who’ve moved beyond acting to executive roles in the film industry. He also made an appearance in Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai.

Ashanti takes on a new role
Grammy-winning singer and Long Island native Ashanti has a new gig: tourism ambassador. The R&B singer was introduced Tuesday at a news conference as one of nine ambassadors who will promote tourism in Nassau County on Long Island. County Executive Thomas Suozzi placed an orange blazer with a tourism patch over her white dress at the event at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, where 16 tourists were offered an all-expenses-paid tour of Nassau. Ashanti sang at Suozzi’s two mayoral inaugurals in her native Glen Cove.Ashanti says it’s “amazing” to be asked to “give something back to the community.” The singer recently released her fourth studio album, “The Declaration.” The tourism campaign pitches Nassau as “The Island Next Door” and is targeted at visitors to the city.

Critics say N.C.’s death penalty is racially wrong

The state of North Carolina might have to start executing people again before lawmakers agree to allow an examination of the lopsided way the death penalty is administered to Blacks and Whites. The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP has been enlisting the help of Democrats in the state legislature to get a measure passed that would force judges and juries to pay attention to statistics showing that far more African Americans are put to death than Whites. Ever since last year, when the state Medical Board adopted ethics rules barring doctors from participating in executions, North Carolina has put all executions on hold. But in a strange twist, many political observers believe that the only way to get the Republican members of the legislature to agree that the racial disparity should be addressed, Democrats must first agree to adopt a measure that would override the ethics rules banning executions. That idea is not sitting too well with William Barber, president of the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, who believes that the statistics bill “should stand alone. This is about people dying simply because of their race.”

B.B. King gets his own radio show

The man widely recognized as “King of the Blues” – B.B. King – will get a long-deserved forum to spread his brand of music and stories about artists and his life as a musician. The 82-year-old Mississippi native, who spent many years in Memphis, will begin hosting his own show on XM Radio in September, the satellite station announced Monday. “I love the blues and am looking forward to sharing my passion, stories and my favorite music with all the folks who listen to XM, one of the few places where the vibrant sounds of the blues still thrive,” King said in a statement. XM also noted that it will change the name of its blues channel from “Bluesville” to “B.B. King’s Bluesville.”

Gunmen blast man in FEMA trailer
Somebody rolled up on the trailer of a Hurricane Katrina victim Tuesday morning and blasted it with automatic weapons, killing the 39-year-old man who lay asleep inside, according to New Orleans Police. The Times Picayune reported that “unknown gunmen toting AK-47 opened fire on the exterior of a FEMA trailer in Gentilly … murdering a man….” The deceased man was idenfited as Terrence Vine, who “was in bed when the gunmen sprayed his trailer with bullets, several of which struck his body.” Garry Flot, an NOPD spokesman, told the newspaper that a dispatcher received a “shots fired” call and emergency workers arrived later, finding the exterior of Vine’s trailer riddled with bullet holes.

Supreme Court Makes It easier for people to own handguns
The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday shot down the argument from D.C. officials that the city has a right to prevent ownership of handguns to protect residents from violence.

Several weeks before the high court delivered today’s 5-4 decision, ruling that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting, District Mayor Adrian Fenty said, “I’m confident in our case, and our continued ability to protect residents from gun violence.” But that confidence quickly turned into disappointment. “I’m disappointed in the court’s ruling and believe introducing more handguns into the District will mean more handgun violence,” Fenty said. “But I want to emphasize that at this moment, our gun laws remain in effect. It may be several weeks before there are changes to announce. “In the meantime, I have directed the Metropolitan Police Department to implement an orderly process for allowing qualified citizens to register handguns for lawful possession in their homes,” he said.

By weighing in on the Second Amendment issue for the first time since 1791, the Supreme Court opened a door that has Black and inner-city leaders, anti-violence groups and gun-control advocates worried, at a time when gun violence is rocking major metropolitan areas nationwide. Opponents of more lax gun laws argue that the framers of the U.S. Constitution, in the Second Amendment – which says that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed” – was referring to the military and not to individual citizens. But Justice Antonin Scalia, writing the court’s majority opinion, said that the Constitution does not allow “the absolute prohibition of handguns held and used for self-defense in the home.” But he noted that today’s decision should not “cast doubt on long-standing prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons or the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings.” Joining Scalia in the majority decision were the four other conservative members of the court, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito and Anthony Kennedy. Dissenting were Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and John Paul Stevens, who wrote that the majority “would have us believe that over 200 years ago, the Framers made a choice to limit the tools available to elected officials wishing to regulate civilian uses of weapons.” The District of Columbia established its strict anti-handgun laws about 32 years ago. The case challenging those laws was brought by Dick Anthony Heller, a 66-year-old armed security guard, whose application to keep a handgun in his home for protection was denied. Heller won his case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C.