Good Morning! Today is going to be another steamy one. The weatherman is calling for a mix of clouds and sun with a high near 90°. A stray thunderstorm is possible through the evening. 

Here’s what is brewing in the news this morning:

Oprah fan facing felony charges

This afternoon, part two of “Surprise, Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular” will air. The episodes were taped last week, with an audience of over 13,000 people. One couple drove all the way to Chicago from Ontario, Canada to be a part of the star studded event. One problem, the husband didn’t have the tickets.

Instead of confessing the truth to his wife, who thought the tickets were safely tucked away in his wallet, the man concocted a lie that got him locked up in jail.

Robert Spearing, 44, was arrested after Chicago police say he lied about being beaten and robbed of his tickets.

“Later (he) changed his story and said he made the whole story up because he did not want to disappoint his wife about not having Oprah tickets after traveling all the way from Canada,” Chicago Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak told reporters.

Spearing eventually told police that he had “created his own injuries by scraping his hands on the sidewalk and using a rock to make a small cut on his forehead,” said Kubiak

He now faces a felony charge for filing a fake police report. Spearing was taken into police custody on Wednesday after being treated by medic for his injuries.

The Daily Mail reports that he is free on bail after a relative- not his wife - turned up with the $2,000 needed to get him out of jail.

The last episode of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” will be televised tomorrow, and it looks like Spearing will be watching it at home with the rest of us.

Read more here.
Oprah’s video countdown to the last show
***
What a price to pay

Yesterday, NBA officials announced that Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah was fined $50,000 "for using a derogatory and offensive term from the bench.''

Noah said he made the remarks after the fan continuously taunted him with “disrespectful” remarks during Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals. He has apologized for his actions and vowed to learn from the incident.

Fox News reports that some of Noah's teammates stood up for him, saying that the fan went too far in whatever comments were directed toward the Bulls' bench.

''It wasn't just one time or two times,'' Bulls forward Luol Deng told Fox News. ''He just kept going and it became really annoying. He just lost his temper.''

It is still unclear exactly what the fan said, but other players say these types of incidents occur somewhat regularly.

Miami Heat forward LeBron James weighed in telling reporters, ''We know what business we are in, Emotions get played. ...You just have to be cautious about what you say and just try to control your emotions as much as possible.''

''That's a part of the game,'' Bulls forward Carlos Boozer told reporters. ''Fans have the right to say what they want to say after they buy their tickets. Unfortunately sometimes, for us, we just have to sit there and take it. Unfortunately, that's part of sports.''
 

Question: When fans become verbally abusive towards professional athletes should they just have to “sit there and take it?” If you had the money, would you be willing to pay the price to put a disrespectful fan in their place?

Read more at Fox News
***

Latifah: ‘plus size’ should be retired

Queen Latifah is launching a new fashion line called the “Queen Collection” on the Home Shopping Network. She said the collection will be for women of all sizes, not "plus sizes."

In fact, Latifah is calling for an end to plus sizes in general because she believes the term is disrespectful to curvaceous women. She doesn't believe they should be relegated to their own areas in stores or online.

“[Plus-size] is a word we need to bury at this point," Latifah said.

What do you think? Should we retire the word “plus size”? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
 

Read more here.

*** This is your chance to speak out. Please share what is brewing on your mind this morning.

Got news to share with Qcity readers? Email us at editor@qcitymetro.com.
Sign up for our weekly email newsletter below

Sign up for our Weekly Email Newsletter Email: For Email Marketing you can trust

Other Ways to Share Twitter Del.icio.us MySpace

Discussions and Submission Agreement