Marilyn Monroe earrings? $185,000
LOS ANGELES – A pair of rhinestone earrings Marilyn Monroe wore to a 1955 Hollywood film premiere have sold at auction for $185,000.
Julien’s Auctions said in a statement Sunday the actress wore the jewelry when she attended the opening of “The Rose Tattoo.” Monroe did not appear in the film based on a Tennessee Williams play.
The price included a 20 percent commission for the auction house. The buyer was a foreign collector. The auction house does not release the names of buyers.
Sebelius: Health law launch ‘terribly flawed’
WASHINGTON – The Obama administration’s timeline for having ready the new health-care law’s online sign-up system “was just flat out wrong,” outgoing Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in an interview that aired Sunday.
The departing health chief also said the two months when HealthCare.gov was plagued with technical problems were “a pretty dismal time” and the low point of her five-year tenure. But she defended the law’s impact and said millions of Americans now have access to health care because of it.
But she acknowledged the rocky rollout for the online sign-up system fraught with technical problems that left Americans frustrated.
“Clearly, the estimate that it was ready to go Oct. 1 was just flat out wrong,” she said.
Wyoming hillside still slip-sliding away
JACKSON, Wyo. – An unstable hillside has continued to move since it forced dozens from their homes last week in the Wyoming resort town of Jackson over the slim but persistent risk of a sudden landslide, but the shifting was not accelerating, authorities said Sunday.
“Basically, the movement is remaining fairly constant,” incident spokeswoman Charlotte Reynolds said. “So, we’re having to monitor our excitement, but it is still moving so it is obviously still a concern.”
Geologists and others are watching the hill’s movement with the help of ground-monitoring equipment. A geologist has put the risk of sudden collapse at just 5 percent. So far, only one unoccupied home, which is directly atop the slide zone, has sustained damage.
About 60 people haven’t stayed at their homes since Wednesday. Officials say the move was a precaution in the wake of Washington state’s deadly landslide and was also tied to damage of the only access road. The unstable hillside is about the size of two football fields and is along a main artery outside the historic downtown area.
Fire kills at least 11 in Chile port city
VALPARAISO, Chile – A raging fire leaped from hilltop to hilltop in this colorful port city, killing at least 11 people and destroying more than 500 homes. More than 10,000 people were evacuated, including more than 200 female inmates at a prison.
The fire began Saturday afternoon in a forested area above ramshackle housing on one of the city’s 42 hilltops and spread quickly as high winds blowing seaward rained hot ash over wooden houses and narrow streets. Electricity failed as the fire grew, with towering, sparking flames turning the night sky orange over a darkening, destroyed horizon. Eventually, neighborhoods on six hilltops were reduced to ashes, including one hill just several blocks from Chile’s parliament building.
“It’s a tremendous tragedy. This could be the worst fire in the city’s history,” President Michelle Bachelet said as firefighters contained most of the blazes, mobilizing 18 helicopters and planes to drop water on hot spots Sunday.
Associated Press
