People in the News

wife to file for divorce

MIAMI — Alex Rodriguez’s wife will file for divorce Monday, according to media reports.

Cynthia Rodriguez, who married the New York Yankees star in 2002, said the marriage is over because of the All-Star third baseman’s extramarital affairs, according to reports that appeared Sunday on the Web sites of Houston television station KTRK and The Miami Herald.

The reports come just days after Alex Rodriguez was linked to Madonna in various media outlets and Cynthia Rodriguez’s subsequent visit to the Paris home of rocker Lenny Kravitz, who said she came to France to escape the media frenzy in New York and denied that anything improper had happened.

Houston attorney Earle Lilly, who said he was hired by Cynthia Rodriguez last week to launch the divorce case, told KTRK the star’s "relationship with Madonna was the final straw for Mrs. Rodriguez.”

Rodriguez’s wife also is represented by attorneys Maurice Kutner and Anthony Sabatino of Miami and John Van Ness of Houston, the Herald reported.

"She feels that she has exhausted every opportunity to salvage the marriage, and that Alex has emotionally abandoned her and the children and has left her with no choice but to divorce him,” Kutner told the newspaper.

The former Cynthia Scurtis and Rodriguez were married Nov. 2, 2002, in Dallas. They have two children, Natasha Alexander and Ella Alexander, who was born April 21.

The suit is expected to be filed early Monday in Miami-Dade County Family Court. The court’s Web site did not list any divorce filing involving Cynthia Rodriguez late Sunday.

Lilly didn’t immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Alex Rodriguez has refused to comment on his relationship with Madonna, who denied any romantic involvement with the slugger in a statement posted Sunday on people.com.

"My husband and I are not planning on getting a divorce,” Madonna said. "I know Alex Rodriguez through Guy Oseary, who manages both of us. I brought my kids to a Yankee game. I am not romantically involved in any way with Alex Rodriguez.

"I have nothing to do with the state of his marriage or what spiritual path he may choose to study,” the statement continued, apparently referring to reports that the singer had introduced the ballplayer to the form of Jewish mysticism known as Kabbalah.

Supermodel raises

awareness for pediatric cancer

MADISON, Wis. — Supermodel Cindy Crawford has been making appearances this weekend in Madison, Wis., to raise awareness of pediatric cancer.

Crawford’s younger brother, Jeff, was a patient at University of Wisconsin Children’s Hospital. The boy died of leukemia in 1975 just before his fourth birthday.

Crawford is the honorary chair of Kids with Courage, which had its fourth reunion of childhood cancer survivors Saturday in Madison.

She was also part of the three previous reunions in 1993, 1998 and 2003.

The University of Wisconsin says Crawford has been contributing time and money to the UW Pediatric Oncology program for nearly 20 years.

TV’s ’The Bachelor’

weds in California

LOS OLIVOS, Calif. — "The Bachelor” is a bachelor no more.

Andrew Firestone, star of the ABC-TV reality show, married Serbian model and actress Ivana Bozilovic Saturday, Firestone’s publicist Alisha Mahon told The Associated Press.

"We’re so happy right now, we can hardly stand it,” the couple said in a statement to Usmagazine.com, which first reported the nuptials.

Firestone and Bozilovic wed at St. Mark’s in the Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos, the Central Coast town where Firestone’s family winery is based.

Firestone’s 2003 proposal to Jen Schefft on the third season of "The Bachelor” was watched by millions and led to months of tabloid chatter afterward until the couple’s breakup.

His engagement to Bozilovic was announced in October.