Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check

Sick bay:

BRET MICHAELS is back in the hospital. People.com says yesterday the former POISON frontman had a small "warning stroke." Further tests revealed he also has a hole in his heart. Bret's doctor says both conditions are treatable and not a result of his recent brain hemorrhage. However, it doesn't look like Bret will be well enough to appear on the May 23rd season finale of "The Apprentice," or do a concert in Biloxi, Mississippi on the 28th. (Marino)

Engaged:

VALERIE BERTINELLI is taking another stab at marriage at the tender age of 50. The adorable brunette tells AARP magazine that her longtime boyfriend, TOM VITALE, proposed during a recent trip to Florence, Italy, and she was shocked when he popped the question. The two will say their "I do's" this fall. They met three years after Val divorced EDDIE VAN HALEN and Val says her second-chance at love came as a big surprise. The blushing bride gushed that their relationship is pretty easy, the two are able to have healthy disagreements and still love one another at the end of the day. (Lee)

Small-town politics:

Some rather testy and embarrassing moments yesterday from the always colorful mayor of Chicago, RICHARD DALEY. During a news confernce held to address what the city would do if --as suspected-- the U-S Supreme Court strikes down its controversial handgun ban, Daley had some choice words for a blogger who openly asked him just how effective the ban really is, considering the constant wave of violence confronting police and Chicago officials.
   When asked about the ban by Chicago Reader reporter MIKE DUMKE, Daley grabbed a gun on a table  in front of him and said, "It's been very effective... If I put this up your... your butt, you'll find out how effective it is. If we put a round up your, ha ha."
   Editor's Note: The audio is here. (Pacelli)

Memorial Day:

If you're going away for the Memorial Day Weekend, you won't be alone.
   Triple A estimates that 32.1 million of us --11.7 percent of us-- will take a trip of 50 miles or more away from home. That's up over five percent from a year ago. Most of us will be driving. (Maiman)

Not guilty after all:

Remember that Utah teen who was arrested after rapping his order at a McDonald's drive-through? He's just been cleared of all charges.
   Deseret News says 18-year-old SPENSER DAUWALDER and his friends allegedly rapped their order over a backing track played from an iPod. When McDonald's employees asked them to speak normally --they rapped it again more slowly.That's when the manager called the cops, claiming the teens were acting in a threatening manner.
   But, now Dauwalder has been found not guilty after a two-hour trial that included a viewing of security-camera footage.
   Prosecutors say the rap song was never really the issue. They claim Dewaulder was only arrested because he acted aggressively and sped out of the parking lot. (Still)

Morons on Parade:

Remember "Balloon Boy"?
   You'll be relieved to learn that FALCON HEENE's parents are out of jail and have retrieved their balloon from the sheriff's office.
   The scoop comes from the blog of the Sheriff's Office Public Information Officer, who dished law enforcement snark at the couple she said has 'no idea how they turned my life (indeed the lives of many of us) upside down with their antics.'"
   Key detail of the balloon retrieval: "Sheriff's Office personnel had to help him lay out the balloon. RICHARD HEENE said he wanted to measure it to make sure it was HIS balloon... as opposed to all the other silver flying saucer-type devices we have in evidence."
   Heene, incidentally, is now sporting a beard and moustache. His wife, MAYUMI, notes the blog, "is not." (Maiman)