Table of contents for August 26, 2024 in Globe

BORN to Run rocker Bruce Springsteen’s galloping, outta-control lifestyle was about to end his fabulous career — and threatened to put him in a grave — but sources say an agonizing health crisis scared him straight and saved his life! “He’s made some serious life changes, totally cleaned up his diet and cut out all the booze. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get his health back,” snitches a source. The New Jersey hellion, who sources say had been guzzling like there’s no tomorrow and neglecting his health, suddenly realized his life was on the line last year when he was forced to cancel a slew of U.S. concerts due to a crippling, agonizing peptic ulcer. The Dancing in the Dark hitmaker was clobbered into cold reality when…

THE tiny hamlet of Elmont, N.Y., is famous for the Belmont Stakes in horse racing’s Triple Crown, but now it will be remembered in rock ‘n’ roll history as the site where the music died for AEROSMITH. During a gig in Elmont last September, the group was forced to quit their Peace Out: The Farewell Tour when skeletal frontman STEVEN TYLER permanently wrecked his vocal cords after 54 years of screeching iconic hits like Crazy, Cryin’ and Dream On. “I sustained vocal cord damage during Saturday’s show that led to subsequent bleeding,” the singer revealed at the time. “I have received strict doctor’s orders not to sing for the next 30 days.” But now, ten months later, 76-year-old Steven, dad of Lord of the Rings star LIV TYLER, can’t croak…

Circle the hidden words in the grid, crossing them out in the list as you find them. Words can go horizontally, vertically, diagonally and backward. ALEXANDRIA BATON ROUGE BOSSIER CITY BREAUX BRIDGE CENTRAL CHALMETTE COVINGTON FARMERVILLE GONZALES GRAND ISLE HARVEY HENDERSON HOUMA KENNER LABADIEVILLE LAFAYETTE LAKE CHARLES LAPLACE MARRERO METAIRIE MINDEN MONROE NATCHITOCHES NEW IBERIA NEW ORLEANS PRAIRIEVILLE RUSTON SHENANDOAH SHREVEPORT ST. FRANCISVILLE SULPHUR TERRYTOWN THIBODAUX  VILLE PLATTE…

Words in the lists appear in alphabetical order and are sorted by length. They need to be put into their correct positions in the grid. You’ll have to think a few steps ahead, as sometimes several words will fit in the same space! WORD BOX 4 LETTERS AGED PAST 5 LETTERS ADULT DATED PASSE RETRO 6 LETTERS BYGONE  FORMER MATURE SENILE SENIOR 7 LETTERS CLASSIC ELDERLY RETIRED TOTTERY UNYOUNG VINTAGE 8 LETTERS DECREPIT MEDIEVAL OBSOLETE 9 LETTERS GERIATRIC LONG-LIVED SENESCENT VENERABLE 10 LETTERS IMMEMORIAL TIME-TESTED 11 LETTERS CENTENARIAN OVER-THE-HILL PREHISTORIC 12 LETTERS TRIED-AND-TRUE Puzzle answers: page 46…

SOAP starlet Haley Pullos — a longtime cast member of General Hospital — was sentenced to time served and five years’ probation after pleading guilty to felony drunken driving following a wrong-way freeway smashup in L.A. Lawmen say the loaded 26-year-old, who spent three months behind bars before learning her fate, was traveling westbound on the Ventura Freeway in Pasadena when she swerved and plowed into an eastbound car. Police claim they found weed edibles and mini bottles of tequila in the actress’ mangled ride — and say the boozy brat huffed about her “$400 f*cking shirt” being ruined! A judge ordered the TV talent to complete a nine-month alcohol treatment program and pay more than $8,000 in restitution to Courtney Wilder — the driver of the other totaled car —…

Unscramble the letters highlighted in the puzzle to spell a barbecue veggie. ACROSS 1 Questions 5 Downer 9 Wheel of Fortune buy (2 wds.) 12 Monastery head 17 — Pet (novelty item) 18 Musical McEntire 19 Alter, in a way 20 Freight 21 Ballet attire 22 Walkie-talkie word 23 Magellan and Columbus 25 They go up and down 27 Campus org. 29 Wears away 30 Raggedy — 31 20-20, e.g. 32 Ga. neighbor 33 Spanish girlfriend 36 Atoll protector 37 Balloon filler 38 Caribbean and Arabian 42 Departed 43 Sound of a bell 44 Doublemint, e.g. 45 Tax season VIP 46 Decide to leave, with “out” 47 Not nay 48 Thin ice, e.g. 51 Hunted 52 Math class 55 — Ingalls Wilder 56 Couple’s pronoun 57 “Now — theater near…

HERE’S sweet news for dudes with chrome domes — scientists say a naturally occurring sugar in the body appears to stimulate hair growth! Researchers from University of Sheffield and COMSATS University Islamabad found 2-deoxy-D-ribose (2dDR) was as effective at restoring fur to balding rodents as the commercially available drug minoxidil. The team did not initially comb through their data to find a potential cure for male pattern baldness, which affects nearly half of all guys worldwide. They had been running a study to investigate whether 2dDR could improve wound healing, which ultimately led to their hair-raising discovery! The scientists say when the sugar is applied to skin in the form of a gel, it encourages increased growth of blood vessels, and they hoped that mechanism could be harnessed to help…

THE first female mayor of backwoods DeRidder, La., has been charged with rape! Misty Roberts, 42, was arrested by Louisiana State Police on Aug. 1 for allegedly committing third-degree rape and contributing to the delinquency of juveniles. Roberts, who was serving her second term in the logging town of 10,000 near the Texas border, came under scrutiny about a week earlier when the Beauregard Parish Sheriff’s Office asked the state police to open an investigation. “As the investigation progressed, LSP SVU conducted interviews with two juveniles, one of which was the victim,” declares a statement. “Both juveniles confirmed Roberts had sexual intercourse with one juvenile victim while employed as Mayor.” It was a tumultuous couple of weeks for Roberts and the city. On July 26, she abruptly announced that she…

HORRIFYING video footage has surfaced that shows every second of an Australian surfer’s desperate fight for life while a 10-foot great white shark closes in and tears off his right leg! The video captures each nailbiting moment as Kai McKenzie, 23, furiously struggles to paddle back to the New South Wales shore, with the hulking gray fin of his attacker visibly rising from the water in hot pursuit. As GLOBE reported, courageous Kai survived the vicious attack — but only because the longtime surfer, who had recently recovered from a neck injury, kept his cool and caught a wave back to shore even AFTER the monstrous apex predator had splintered his board and ripped off his limb. The mauled leg later washed up onshore off Port Macquarie! Although beachgoers frantically…

SLEAZEBALL R. Kelly believes he got a bad rap — he’s asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his convictions for possession of child porn and grooming minors to become his sex slaves because he thinks he successfully ran out the clock on those charges! Prosecutors at the disgraced rapper’s trial had argued the PROTECT Act of 2003 knocked out the statute of limitations on child sex crimes, leaving Kelly, 57, open to prosecution. But his attorney Jennifer Bonjean argues the 20-year sentence Kelly is now serving is for crimes committed in the 1990s, and that therefore her client is still protected by the older laws — because Congress did not include a clause saying otherwise! “He’s not a good person,” says Asante McGee, one of the many victims who came…

SCHEMING Duchess Meghan may NEVER have to step on British soil again, as sources say her henpecked husband, Prince Harry, is now convinced it could be too dangerous for her! The 39-year-old Duke of Sussex recently told an interviewer he fears Meghan, 42, could be a target following the couple’s stunning retirement from royal duties and their blistering attacks against the royal family. “It’s still dangerous,” he said. “All it takes is one lone actor, one person who reads this stuff to act on what they have read, and whether it’s a knife or acid, whatever it is, and these are things that are of genuine concern for me. “It’s one of the reasons why I won’t bring my wife back to this country.” Sources snitch Harry’s fears play right…

KEVIN COSTNER’s ex-wife Christine Baumgartner is set to tie the knot with new beau Josh Connor, and insiders say the dumped Yellowstone cowpoke is fit to be tied. Sources snitch Costner’s ego has taken a whuppin’ as his blossoming romance with singer Jewel has tanked, and his epic movie Western, Horizon — which he’s sunk millions of his dough into — is bombing with critics and at the box office. “Now he’s hearing Christine is firming up plans to marry Josh, who used to be his friend, and it hurts,” spills an insider. “Kevin thought he was over Christine, who apparently blindsided him with divorce papers. But the combination of things including his rotten luck with Horizon and getting the brush-off from Jewel has got him fixating on where everything…

GOLDEN-VOICED Carrie Underwood — who sang her way to stardom on American Idol — is returning as a judge and fellow mentor Lionel Richie is cheering her new gig, saying, “It makes a lot of sense.” “She’s been there, done that,” says the 75-year-old All Night Long singer. “It’s not someone we have to get used to. And the fact is she has a great story — she came from American Idol.” The 41-year-old Before He Cheats songbird skyrocketed to stardom after winning the fourth season of the singing competition in 2005 and now returns as a judge on season 23 with the departure of I Kissed a Girl star Katy Perry, who had been slammed for rude and cheeky antics. Like Lionel, a source says picking Carrie is a…

CATWOMAN Halle Berry is hissing mad over her contentious custody war with ex-husband Olivier Martinez — and the Oscar winner’s protective beau, Van Hunt, is itching to come out swinging in her defense, sources dish. The Monster’s Ball beauty, 58, shares son Maceo, 10, with Olivier, 58, and recently launched a failed court bid to force the French film stud to see a coparenting coach. The contentious ex-couple were wed for just two years when they split in 2015 — but their divorce wasn’t finalized until last August! “Halle and Olivier had a very nasty breakup, and it just continues to drag on because they still have to co-parent their son,” an insider tattles. “She is trying to move on with her life and build a blended family with Van…

FORMER daytime diva Sally Jessy Raphael has leveled shocking charges claiming she was stabbed in the back by a TV show executive who set her up to self-destruct after learning she was battling cancer. “All they needed was a 60-year-old that might have cancer,” says the now 89-year-old former talk icon. “I was stupid enough to tell them.” Now a grieving widow living in upstate New York, the former queen of daytime TV is convinced show bigwigs pushed her out because she had qualms about doing a show like bottom-feeding rivals Maury Povich and Jerry Springer. Her program was canceled after 19 years due to low ratings in 2002. A trained journalist who covered Central American affairs for top wire services Associated Press and United Press International early in her…

INGENIOUS ancient Egyptian engineers harnessed the power of water to help build the pyramids, scientists now believe! Researchers recently discovered a complex system of dams and channels near the famed Step Pyramid that may have been used to erect the stunning structures. Although it was long thought builders relied mainly on ramps, levers, pulleys and brute human strength to construct the ancient marvels, this finding reveals they also devised a system that funneled water from a nearby dam to the pyramid. A series of conduits channeled the pressurized water into a shaft and the force of the liquid created a hydraulic lift — basically a water-powered crane — that allowed the huge stones to be floated up to the top of the structure. The system was known as “volcano construction.” “Ancient…

IF TV’s SpongeBob SquarePants seems to fixate on things it’s because the character is autistic, reveals the voice of the beloved cartoon icon, Tom Kenny. That’s the well-kept secret behind the hit underseas character, says Kenny, who’s voiced SpongeBob for 25 years, and explains the clues are his unusual obsessions with his job at Krusty Krab and other things. “Producers don’t want to hit audiences over the head with it,” says a source. “They just hope if a child encounters another child with autism, they will think they are cool like SpongeBob!”…

MEAN mom Jaclyn Goszczynski was nailed for drilling her 12-year-old daughter’s derriere with a screw in Florida — and found herself hammered with a felony child abuse charge, authorities say. According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, Goszczynski, 40, was hanging picture frames in her St. Petersburg home when she cheekily asked her kid, “Have you ever been screwed in the ass?” An arrest affidavit charges the dope then placed a loaded power tool on the girl’s “left buttock cheek and pressed down on the trigger, driving the screw into her.” The document states the metal spike was stuck in the minor’s pierced posterior “until she took it out” — but the injury left a visible mark! Goszczynski was wrenched from county jail after posting $25,000 bond. While the suspect…

JANET JACKSON is jumping for joy as the ink dries on her “fresh and dynamic” new Las Vegas residency, set to debut during the winter holiday season! The Nasty singer, 58, promises only nice stuff as she orchestrates a string of concerts for Resorts World Las Vegas. “We are thrilled to announce Janet’s upcoming residency,” says her manager, Mo Elmasri. “Janet is excited to connect with her fans and bring her iconic music to life in a fresh and dynamic way.” The lucrative Las Vegas gig reportedly caught her eye when it blew a London residency offer out of the water. Sources also dish the diva is planning a New Year’s Eve blowout performance at the Nevada gambling mecca. The Grammy winner is soon wrapping her 96-show Together Again Tour, which…

DUMPED the only way she knows how, and lonely Hoda Kotb is so hungry for romance she’s been brazenly chasing it out in the open and insiders say the Today star’s fans and co-workers are getting fed up with her desperate antics. The 59-year-old single mom of Haley, 7, and Hope, 4, who split from financier fiancé Joel Schiffman in January 2022 has been open on the show about her kaput dating life and her eagerness for acceptance. “One of the things I used to want when I met someone was ‘does he like me? I hope he likes me,’ rather than ‘this is who I am,’ ” she confesses. The chatterbox recently triggered eye rolls when she said she would be open to dating Kevin Costner after he visited Today…

ARIES March 21 - April 20 Venus teams with Uranus to encourage you to get your finances in order. Don’t delay, Ram! This leads to a cash surprise. Midweek, a Leo makes you an offer you can’t refuse — say yes and it could lead to the adventure of a lifetime! A past generosity is karmically rewarded on Saturday. TAURUS April 21 - May 21 Your phone rings with stunning news under the Gemini moon Monday. Keep an open mind and this could lead to thrilling travel or a meeting with the love of your lifetime. Later in the week, look for bargains on computers or a needed electronic item. You’ll save big with the help of a fire sign. GEMINI May 22 - June 21 You’re in an unusually…

SHARP-tongued country singer Carly Pearce cut a heckler to shreds — and then had him kicked out of her concert! The Every Little Thing singer, 34, was engaging in lighthearted banter between songs while performing at WE Fest in Minne-sota. That’s when an unidentified man shouted, “No one cares!” Carly went ballistic, yelling, “Get out of my show,” and pointing at the culprit. “If you’re gonna be an a**hole, you’re gonna have to say it to me and get the f**k out of my show. I do not have time for d**ks,” she added as the crowd roared its approval. The Grammy winner, who’s touring with fellow Nashville star Tim McGraw, then apologized to her father, who was attending the show. “My dad is right here, and I think he’s gonna…