LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Tracy Morgan’s Sarah Palin remark has prompted a TNT apology to the politician. Tracy Morgan’s comments about Sarah Palin aired live during TNT’s Thursday night broadcast of “Inside the NBA”. The remark was not censored before airing.

Tracy Morgan had joined on court TNT hosts Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson. Morgan is best known for his appearance on NBC’s “30 Rock” opposite Tina Fey who has garnered an Emmy for her Sarah Palin parodies.

Smith and Barkley during the broadcast chose to turn the TNT program into less about basketball, and more like an episode of Donny Deutsch’s Love Calling.  Smith asked Morgan who is hotter “Tina Fey or Sarah Palin?” Barkley followed up with the question “Sarah Palin’s good looking, isn’t she?”

Morgan then responded with “Let me tell you something about Sarah Palin—she’s good m— material.”

Jeff Pomeroy in a news statement quickly apologized for Morgan’s remarks “It’s unfortunate Mr. Morgan showed a lack of judgment on our air with his inappropriate comments. We apologize for any embarrassment or offense it may have caused.” Pomeroy and TNT in their statement did not mention anything wrong with the  Smith and Barkley questions.

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ST LOUIS (LALATE) – Ray Drew has committed to Georgia. Ray Drew is expected to announcing his Georgia commitment officially during a news conference Friday. Drew is a licensed minister and frequent preacher at local congregations. The ordained minister has previously told news that he is proud to be one of the youngest ministers in his congregation. “I knew I wanted to preach [at a young age]” he told Sports Illustrated.

Drew is now ranked as the top defensive end for the Class of 2011. Other news reports put him the no 13 prospect overall in the nation. Rivals Barry writes that Drew “approaches the game with an excellent attitude and should become a leader on and off the field for the Bulldogs.”

Among his sermon lines include “This shirt that I have on, it doesn’t make the person deep down inside of me.” He adds “It’s not about what’s on the outside, but what’s on the inside.”

ESPN ranks him currently 13 overall in the nation, Rivals puts him no 9.

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CORAL GABLES (LALATE) – Gladys Horton of the Marvelettes is dead at age 66. Gladys Horton’s death was confirmed by family today; Horton died Wednesday in a Sherman Oaks nursing home after having suffered a recent stroke.

Gladys Horton co-founded the Marvelettes. But that wasn’t the girl group’s original name. They were originally the Casinyets (short of Can’t Sing Yet”) and then changed their name to the Marvels. But when Berry Gordy signed them to Tamla, they became the Marvelettes. Horton was just 15 when the group released Please Mr. Postman, the group’s only number one hit.

Bill Wilson, CEO of the Motown Alumni Association, tells NPR today that Horton and the Marvelettes were pioneers in the girl group format. Years before Motown had classes to stylize its talents, the Marvelettes did it all themselves. They bought their own clothes and styled their own look and moves. Later hit songs included “Playboy,” “Beechwood 4-5789″ and “Too Many Fish in the Sea.”

Son Vaughn Thornton said his mother suffered a stroke last year. Funeral arrangements have not been announced. Gladys Horton will be great missed.

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ST LOUIS (LALATE) – Jessa Schauman was found shot dead Wednesday; today investigators on the Jessa Schauman case are still unsure if the former St Louis city prosecutor was the victim of a suicide or homicide shooting.

Jessa Schauman, 33, had worked previously as a prosecutor with the St Louis Circuit Attorney’s office. Today her co-workers are still shocked by the news. An initial call to her home Wednesday reported the death as a suicide. But investigators are instead handling the case through their homicide department. They confirm the case is being treated as a suspicious death.

No person has been arrested; one unidentified individual has been questioned.

Schauman worked most recently with St Louis County as an assistant circuit attorney, focusing on domestic violence, assault and robbery cases. Colleagues today are remembering her six years with the office. Her parents, residents of Webster Groves, have declined comment.

Close friends of Schauman said she had left her job with the County to enter private practice as a criminal defense attorney.

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LOS ANGELES (LALATE) – Missing mother Amy Henslee has been found dead. Amy Henslee was confirmed dead in a news conference Friday morning held by Van Buren County Prosecutor Juris Kaps. Kaps says the bodies of Henslee and an unidentified second female were found in an area south of Grand Rapids called Bangor Township.

Junior Lee Beebe, a cousin of Amy’s husband, is in custody but reportedly not yet charged. Kaps indicates that Beebe could be charged this morning on two counts of murder.

Kaps told news today that both females were found buried and having suffered multiple gun shots. Henslee’s cause of death has yet to be confirmed. Investigators have no reported motive. Officials say Henslee was last seen Monday putting her two children on a school bus in the morning. For still unexplained reasons, Beebe showed up at her house shortly thereafter, around 9 to 9:30 am that same morning.

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