December 9, 1999
Web posted at: 4:35 p.m. EST (2135 GMT)

• Report: Ex-cop a suspect in Notorious B.I.G. murder
• Mother mulls appeal in 'Boys Don't Cry' case
• Allen-Farrow son reportedly a wunderkind
• Povich to host new 'Twenty-One' quiz show
• Spice Girls wax on

Notorious B.I.G.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A former Los Angeles Police Department officer now in prison for a bank robbery is a suspect in the murder of Notorious B.I.G, according to a Thursday story in the Los Angeles Times.

The newspaper reports that investigators are examining whether former Officer David Mack conspired with Death Row Records founder Marion "Suge" Knight to arrange the contract murder of the 24-year-old rapper whose real name was Christopher Wallace. Wallace -- who earned his moniker from his weight of 360 pounds -- was gunned down as he left a music industry party at the Peterson Automotive Museum on March 9, 1997.

Some investigators say they believe the shooting may have been the result of a feud between Death Row and a rival rap record label based in New York. No arrests have been made in the case.

Mack is under suspicion for allegedly arranging for longtime friend Amir Muhammad to attack Wallace, the Times reported, citing confidential police documents and sources that include a former detective assigned to the case. Authorities have been unable to locate Muhammad.

A witness placed Mack at the scene of the slaying, and another man who was in the same vehicle as Wallace picked Mack out of a photo lineup of six men, according to police documents. Mack is serving a 14-year sentence in connection with a bank holdup two years ago.

Mack's attorney, Donald M. Re, rejected the idea of any link between his client and Wallace's killing. Knight's attorney, Robin J. Yanes, also dismissed the theory, telling the L.A. Times: "A year ago it came up, and now they're recycling it to cover their butts." He says Knight doesn't know Mack.

Hilary Swank played Teena Brandon in the recently released film "Boys Don't Cry"

FALLS CITY, Nebraska (CNN) -- JoAnn Brandon is considering appealing a civil damages award in the murder of her daughter Teena Brandon. Brandon's life as a female-to-male transsexual is depicted in the movie "Boys Don't Cry," which released in October in the United States.

On Monday, Judge Orville Coady awarded $17,360 to Brandon, who had sued Richardson County and a former sheriff for failing to protect her 21-year-old daughter, who was killed along with two others on December 31, 1993. She had sought more than $350,000.

"We're considering an appeal," says Herbert Friedman, the lawyer representing Brandon's family. "We think the amount of the verdict was inadequate and trivializes this whole issue."

The crime occurred just days after Teena Brandon told police that John Lotter and Marvin Nissen -- who later were convicted in her death -- had beaten and raped her on Christmas Day because they were enraged that she had charmed local girls while posing as a man.

Coady found that former sheriff Charles Laux, who now serves as a county commissioner, had not committed wrongdoing. But Coady said Laux should apologize to Brandon's family and friends for referring to the victim as "it" during the investigation of her rape.

Woody Allen

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Woody Allen's estranged son Seamus is a prodigy who has applied to Columbia University at age 11, the New York Daily News reports. He's currently the youngest student at Simon's Rock College in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, which caters to gifted high school students.

Allen told the newspaper he was surprised to learn this information. "This is the first I'm hearing of it," he was quoted as saying. "It's news to me."

Allen says it's been four years since he has seen or spoken to Seamus -- formerly Satchel -- Farrow, his biological son with former girlfriend Mia Farrow. Allen and Farrow split after she found nude pictures of her adopted daughter Soon-Yi Previn, then 21, in his apartment. Allen, 64, married Previn, 29, in 1997. They have a 5-month-old daughter.

Seamus "is positively phobic" of his father and refuses to see him, says William Beslow, Farrow's attorney. "He sees Woody less as his father and more as the man who was having an affair with his sister, Soon-Yi."

Seamus, who turns 12 on December 19, lives with his mother in Connecticut. He has been taking regular classes in biology and Latin since his enrollment in September. Beslow says Seamus already has applied to Columbia University. Columbia officials would not confirm that but said there is no age requirement for admission.

Povich

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Maury Povich will be trying to give fellow talk show host Regis Philbin a run for his money. Povich says he'll be hosting a new version of the quiz show "Twenty-One" on NBC. He made the announcement Wednesday on -- of all places -- "Live With Regis and Kathie Lee."

Povich says the show will debut on January 9 -- two days before Philbin's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" returns to ABC. "Twenty-One" is the show that ended in scandal in the 50s and is the basis of the 1994 movie "Quiz Show."

Four hour-long episodes of "Twenty-One" are to air over a two-week period. Only once -- on January 16 -- will it air on the same night as "Millionaire." It's scheduled to air an hour earlier.

The Spice Girls

LONDON (CNN) -- The Spice Girls are to become immortalized in wax at London's Madame Tussaud's Rock Circus, an honor not bestowed on a band since the Beatles in 1964. The four members have all sat for wax artists, and the results are to be unveiled on December 17.

The Spice Girls, voted worst band of 1999 in a poll of pop fans published recently in Britain's Smash Hits magazine, are trying to quell rumors that they're on the verge of a break-up.

The women are performing their first live shows in more than a year on a mini-tour of England and plan to produce a new album in the year 2000. "We've got our third album out next year and we're going to play again for our fans," Scary Spice Melanie Brown told the Sun tabloid.

Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton added: "We've all done solo projects but it's exciting now we're the Spice Girls again. It's woman power now, not girl power."

Reuters contributed to this report.