Ed Mcmahon

The Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on businesses that try to collect debts from consumers that they don't even owe. Today, the agency says it had reached a $3.1 million settlement with Illinois-based Luebke Baker and Associates Inc. that tried to collect on bogus magazine subscriptions. What caught my attention is that the FTC accused Luebke defendants as posing as Ed McMahon. Apparently, according to the FTC complaint, caller ID information was somehow rigged so that it looked like consumers were being called by McMahon, who died in 2009.

The Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on businesses that try to collect debts from consumers that they don't even owe. Today, the agency says it had reached a $3.1 million settlement with Illinois-based Luebke Baker and Associates Inc. that tried to collect on bogus magazine subscriptions. What caught my attention is that the FTC accused Luebke defendants as posing as Ed McMahon. Apparently, according to the FTC complaint, caller ID information was somehow rigged so that it looked like consumers were being called by McMahon, who died in 2009.

Ed McMahon, who for 30 years rode shotgun to Johnny Carson on NBC's legendary The Tonight Show and became the model for a generation of talk-show sidekicks, died early Tuesday. He was 86. Mr. McMahon died at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Westwood, Calif., according to NBC, the network for whom he worked more than three decades. The entertainer and TV pitchman had been seriously ill for several years. He had been at the UCLA medical facility for the past three weeks being treated for pneumonia, according to a spokesman.

L aurie DeYoung doesn't hesitate when asked for a defining moment from her 24-plus years as the morning voice of WPOC-FM. The moment was not heard on air, has nothing to do with the country music the station plays and happened well out of the public eye. But it goes a long way toward explaining why she has remained a dominant force on Baltimore's airwaves for more than two decades, and why she was honored in Nashville on Tuesday with her induction to...

Backstage at Disney-MGM Studios, Ed McMahon is sitting on his dressing room couch, barefoot and relaxed in an open neck denim shirt and white slacks.He is waxing merrily about a TV commercial he would like to produce with Disney in which he would skip lightly through the Disney-MGM Studios arch with Minnie Mouse.The announcer, he says in his rich and familiar baritone, will be exclaiming: "Disney World and 'Star Search,' they go hand in hand!"Forget his 34 years with Johnny Carson -- four as an announcer on Mr. Carson's "Who Do You Trust?"

If anyone has seen it all it's probably Ed McMahon. Johnny Carson's favorite straight man, who also hosts "Star Search" and "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes," recalls one memorable occasion on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."It involved Don Rickles, whom McMahon says is an immaculate dresser. "He even has a man who travels with him, Harry, who for years has been his dresser. So he's very natty. He doesn't put his clothes on till the last minute -- the tie is perfect, the coat."

Ed McMahon, resplendent in black slacks, white shirt with black tie and a bright red double-breasted blazer, charmed one and all at the WNUV-Channel 54 luncheon last week. He was here to help launch the station's fall lineup, which includes his new Monday-through-Friday "Ed McMahon Star Search" show.We were part of a 13-city promotion tour he's making with his publicist, Jayne Wallace, and his wife, Pam. That's a tough schedule for his Pritikin diet and even worse for his beer JTC advertisers, now that he's drinking non-alcoholic beer.

The Christmas decorations are down . . . well, almost. And greetings have arrived from the tax man.Meanwhile, I'm deep in thought, dreaming of how life will change after Ed McMahon picks my entry over those of billions of other hopefuls in a few short weeks. Well you have to a dream, right?El Gordo was a bust and Keno seems to move too fast for me. a lot safer with good old Ed. At least if I don't win, I'll have a magazine to curl up and dream with.*Experience an evening of poignant drama balanced with comedy when Chesapeake High School Drama Club presents its winter production, "An Evening of One-Act Plays," in the school auditorium tonight and tomorrow at 7 p.m. .Four presentations, under the direction of Kathy McBee, will share the bill.

A star shines brightly in western Howard County. Ryan Pinkston, 12, who lives west of Clarksville, is among the winners of "Ed McMahon's nextbigstar.com" talent search. The national contest attracts thousands of applicants from around the country, and Ryan learned two weeks ago that Internet viewers had voted him the best in the kids dance category for ages 15 and younger. "I know people always want to see new stuff, " said Ryan, who will enter the seventh grade at Lime Kiln Middle School in the fall.

For Carol Leifer, it's the opportunity for a creative carte blanche.For Robert Townsend, it's the chance for some talented African-American directors, writers and actors to hone their skills.And for Ed McMahon, it's the chance to serve as father figure to a bunch of young kids anxious for the big time.For all three, working for the WB is working for the new network on the block, a reality that may translate to fewer viewers and less exposure but brings with it a host of other benefits."It kind of appealed to me that [the network]

Jon Miller, who called the final out of the Orioles' last World Series title in 1983, has been named the 2010 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for major contributions in baseball broadcasting. He will be honored in Cooperstown, N.Y., during this year's National Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony July 25 along with the 2010 Hall inductees: outfielder Andre Dawson, manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey. Bill Madden of the New York Daily News will receive the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for baseball writing.

Jon Miller, who called the Orioles' final out of their last World Series Championship title in 1983, has been named the 2010 winner of the Ford C. Frick Award for major contributions in baseball broadcasting. He will be honored in Cooperstown, N.Y., during this year's National Baseball Hall of Fame ceremony on July 25 along with 2010 Hall inductees outfielder Andre Dawson, manager Whitey Herzog and umpire Doug Harvey and New York Daily News writer Bill Madden, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award recipient for baseball writing.

Ed McMahon, who for 30 years rode shotgun to Johnny Carson on NBC's legendary The Tonight Show and became the model for a generation of talk-show sidekicks, died early Tuesday. He was 86. Mr. McMahon died at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center in Westwood, Calif., according to NBC, the network for whom he worked more than three decades. The entertainer and TV pitchman had been seriously ill for several years. He had been at the UCLA medical facility for the past three weeks being treated for pneumonia, according to a spokesman.

ATLANTA - I'm on high alert. Don't ask me for what. I can't reveal that. Suffice it to say that I have concluded, based on information developed, that someone somewhere could somehow do something really, really, really bad sometime. And don't ask me the source of my information. You'll just have to trust me when I say that it's credible. I can, however, tell you some of the things I've been doing while I've been on high alert. First, I've stopped using talcum powder after showering. Sure, I'm not quite as fresh as I used to be - moister than I prefer in certain areas - but who knows what's in that powder.

A star shines brightly in western Howard County. Ryan Pinkston, 12, who lives west of Clarksville, is among the winners of "Ed McMahon's nextbigstar.com" talent search. The national contest attracts thousands of applicants from around the country, and Ryan learned two weeks ago that Internet viewers had voted him the best in the kids dance category for ages 15 and younger. "I know people always want to see new stuff, " said Ryan, who will enter the seventh grade at Lime Kiln Middle School in the fall.

When she was told that she had won $250,000 in a Publisher's Clearinghouse sweepstakes and that Ed McMahon was in the room with the caller, Kathryn Hurt thought it was her lucky day. Prosecutors say the call was a part of a scheme that cost the 84-year-old Towson woman $26,000 and that an out-of-work Canadian actor who helped operate it was responsible. Michael Filion, 20, of Montreal was given a 10-year sentence yesterday in Baltimore County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to felony theft charges.

The big blue tour bus roars up to the entrance of Golden Ring Mall and there's Ed McMahon in front, waving as if he's running for Congress. Cameras click. Felt-tip pens are readied for autographs. TV news crews scurry into position. The most famous TV sidekick in history steps onto the parking lot and flashes that dazzling, million-dollar smile, and for a brief moment this tired strip of eastern Baltimore County seems transformed into a slice of Beverly Hills. "How you doing?!" McMahon yells to the crowd of about three dozen there to greet him. Then he launches into a flurry of genial glad-handing and interview-giving.

The big blue tour bus roars up to the entrance of Golden Ring Mall and there's Ed McMahon in front, waving as if he's running for Congress. Cameras click. Felt-tip pens are readied for autographs. TV news crews scurry into position. The most famous TV sidekick in history steps onto the parking lot and flashes that dazzling, million-dollar smile, and for a brief moment this tired strip of eastern Baltimore County seems transformed into a slice of Beverly Hills. "How you doing?!" McMahon yells to the crowd of about three dozen there to greet him. Then he launches into a flurry of genial glad-handing and interview-giving.