Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Mar 18, 2011

Splitsville:

Put a fork in ASHLEY GREENE and JOE JONAS. The NY Post's Page Six gossip column reports the "Twilight" cutie and pop star have broken up. Word is they "drifted apart" due to their busy schedules and had been together since last summer. Seems like Ashley is recovering nicely --spies say she spent some quality time with JARED FOLLOWILL from KINGS OF LEON last Tuesday night. (Lee)

Not splitting:

MILEY's dad has called off the divorce. BILLY RAY CYRUS will announce on ABC's "The View" this morning that he and his wife TRISH will stay together, and he no longer thinks his daughter's Disney Channel series "Hannah Montana" tore his family apart. Billy Ray says the Cyrus clan has become much closer over the last few months and it's all good, y'all. (Marino)

Your tax dollars at work:

The Washington Times reports that Wilmington, DE's renovated Amtrak station --set to be named for VP JOE BIDEN-- has come in at $5.7-million-dollars over budget, even after getting $20-million-dollars in federal stimulus money. However, Amtrak is quick to point out that that it was their decision to name the station after Biden, and not the administration's.
   As far as the project's total cost, Amtrak insists that its own original projection was always greater than the $32-million-dollars the White House announced back in 2009. Amtrak later raised the project's cost to $37.7-million-dollars.
   Editor's Note: And I'm sure all those high speed rail projects being pushed by the White House will come in right on budget. (Pacelli)

The Internet:

Roughly 80% of children five and under use the Internet at least once a week in the U-S, according to an analysis of seven studies by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center and the Sesame Workshop. (Kaye)

Sucking the life out of the wire services:

CHARLIE SHEEN is back in the news. Charlie announced another bunch of "concerts" on his "Charlie Sheen LIVE: My Violent Torpedo of Truth" Tour --both in the US and Canada. Or, as he put it in a Tweet: "#Torpedo Fastballs keep coming. 12 more shows on sale Sat."
   In case you're interested, here are the new dates:
   --Atlantic City, NJ (Trump Taj Mahal, Apr 16);
   --Washington, DC (DAR Constitution Hall, Apr 19);
   --Atlanta, GA (Fox Theatre, Apr  21);
   --Tampa, FL (St Pete Times Forum, Apr 22);
   --Sunrise, FL (BankAtlantic Center, Apr 23) ;
   --Houston, TX (Verizon Wireless Theater, Apr 26);
   --Dallas, TX (American Airlines Center, Apr 27);
   --Denver, CO (Wells Fargo Theatre, Apr 28);
   --San Francisco, CA (Nob Hill Masonic Auditorium, Apr 30);
   Note: all tickets go on sale Sat 03/19 at 10 am at Ticketmaster.

Canadian dates:

   --Toronto, (Massey Hall, Apr 14); on sale Sat 03/19 at 12 noon
   --Vancouver, (Rogers Arena, May 02); on sale TODAY 3/18 at 10 am

What's the most expensive show on TV if you're buying commercials? Forbes says "American Idol" was the number one show last year, pulling in $7.11 million bucks worth of commercials for CBS.
   Number two on the list was CHARLIE SHEEN's former sitcom, "Two and a Half Men," which made $2.89 million for the network. The rest of the top-10:
10. "Mike & Molly," $2.11 million
9. "Private Practice," $2.32 million
8. "24," $2.45 million
7. "The Big Bang Theory," $2.50 million
6. "Lost," $2.60 million
5. "Dancing With the Stars," $2.67 million
4. "Grey's Anatomy," $2.67 million
3. "Desperate Housewives," $2.74 million
2. "Two and a Half Men," $2.89 million
1. "American Idol, $7.11 million
   PS: "Glee" brings in $2 million per half hour, which would rank it at number 11.