Names and faces

LOS ANGELES -- Comedian Paula Poundstone was sentenced Wednesday to five years' probation and six months of drug treatment for endangering her foster and adopted children.

A Los Angeles judge also stripped her of the right to be a foster parent.

Poundstone, who has been a fixture on the stand-up comedy scene for 20 years, pleaded no contest last month to felony child endangerment and misdemeanor infliction of injury upon a child. In exchange, Los Angeles County prosecutors dropped three counts of lewd acts upon a child.

The felony charge stemmed from an incident June 6, when the 41-year-old comic was intoxicated and drove the children, ages 2 to 12, to get ice cream, her attorney said. The misdemeanor charge was a case of "inappropriate touching" that occurred between May 19 and June 6, according to prosecutors.

Despite defense requests, the judge refused to allow Poundstone to perform comedy while she is receiving treatment.

Doctors blame rare disease for Rush Limbaugh's hearing loss

Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON -- Radio host Rush Limbaugh, who announced Monday that he has gone nearly deaf, is suffering from a rare inner-ear disease, according to the doctors treating him at the House Ear Clinic and Institute in Los Angeles.

Specialists from the institute and from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center said Wednesday they are giving Limbaugh, 50, medication and may turn to surgery for auto-immune inner ear disease, known as AIED, in which the body's immune system attacks the inner ear and damages the hearing nerve.

"The physicians are confident that with the proper treatment, Mr. Limbaugh will be able to retain some of his hearing," the institute said in a written statement.