People in the News

RADNOR, Pa. - Brenda Strong, who plays the deceased Mary Alice Young on ABC's "Desperate Housewives," has a long history of playing dead.

"I must have Haley Joel Osment as my agent, because he only sees dead parts," joked Strong, referring to the actor whose character in "The Sixth Sense" is able to see the dead.

In "Desperate Housewives," Strong's character has shot herself to death but she still watches over the women of the upscale suburb and narrates their activities.

According to TV Guide's Feb. 20 issue, Strong was in several movies and nearly 100 TV appearances before "Desperate Housewives." They included roles playing a dominatrix killed by a machine gun and a character cut in half by the door of a spaceship.

In the show "Everwood," her character's death prompted her grieving family to move to rural Colorado to rebuild their lives.

But she isn't complaining about her dead-but-not-gone "Desperate Housewives" character.

"In a weird way, I have the most job security of anyone on the show," she says. "They can't kill me, my husband can't divorce me, and they definitely can't move me out of the neighborhood, so I'm here for good!"

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DOHA, Qatar (AP) - Tennis star and magazine cover girl Maria Sharapova says she's well rested and set to make her first appearance at the Qatar Open after missing two weeks with the flu.

The Wimbledon champion is seeded second behind Amelie Mauresmo of France for the $600,000 event, which starts Monday. The 17-year-old Sharapova landed here Saturday to restart her season.

"I was down with flu and not feeling 100 percent health-wise and that is why I pulled out of the Paris Open more than two weeks ago," she said. "I am fully fit now and keen to start playing once again."

Despite the recent illness, Sharapova has been in good form of late, beating American Lindsay Davenport, the world's top-ranked player, at the Tokyo Open three weeks ago.

A week earlier, Sharapova reached the Australian Open semifinals where she lost to eventual winner Serena Williams.

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - The celebration of George Washington's birthday is also a day to honor the late civil rights leader Daisy Bates.

Gov. Mike Huckabee signed legislation during "Black History Month" four years ago, making the third Monday in February a state holiday in her honor.

Bates served as adviser to nine black high school students - now known as the Little Rock Nine - who broke the color barrier at Little Rock's Central High in 1957.

Her home, where the students often met with her to strengthen their resolve, is designated a National Historic Landmark.

Bates was born Nov. 11, 1914, in the small sawmill town of Huttig. She died in 1999, at age 84.

The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville celebrated its third annual "Celebrating the Life of Daisy Gatson Bates" on Sunday.

On Sept. 4, 1957, a mob of whites protested outside Central High - not far from Bates' home - and Arkansas National Guardsmen, on the order of Gov. Orval E. Faubus, blocked the nine black students from entering.

Three weeks later, after negotiations between Faubus and President Dwight D. Eisenhower failed to resolve the issue, the president sent in troops to escort the students to class.

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NEW YORK (AP) - New York Giants running back Tiki Barber has been exploring the possibility of becoming an Arena Football League owner.

Barber said he attended a Los Angeles Avengers game with owner Casey Wasserman recently.

"I know I'm not going to play in the NFL forever," Barber said Sunday while serving as a guest analyst in the AFL on NBC studio for the Philadelphia Soul-New Orleans VooDoo game. "Two, three or maybe four years and I'll be done and I'll be looking to do something to stay in sports and the AFL's a great avenue for that.

"It's an awesome opportunity for me if I get in at an early stage to see a league grow and develop," he said.

Barber said arena football is exciting and full of passion.