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Food Network personality and cookbook author Paula Deen has type II diabetes and will soon go public with her condition, according to a report on The Daily website.

The butter-loving chef is not responding to questions about the report. Her most recent tweets include a links to a ham and bean soup recipe and question asking followers about their favorite Super Bowl recipes, although one recent tweet mentions a workout and includes a link to a photo of her on the treadmill.

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By CHRISTOPHER SEWARD

Rapper T.I. could find out within days if he’ll leave the federal prison in Atlanta and go back to a halfway house after being accused of violating conditions of his furlough.

In a letter to the rapper’s lawyer, Steven Sadow, a corrections administrator said a hearing on the violations was held Friday and a recommendation has been forwarded to a discipline hearing officer.

“If the DHO certifies the recommendation, the certification indicates the final decision in the administrative disciplinary process,” wrote Cheryl Dennings, community corrections regional administrator for the Federal Bureau of Prisons. “We expect the DHO decision this week,”

T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., is scheduled to be released from federal custody on Sept. 29.

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By RODNEY HO

The theme this past year is the big got bigger. The top five shows a year ago are all up in ratings, according to Nielsen Media Research.

For the eighth year in a row, the most popular TV show was “American Idol” for the 2010-11 season.

The performance shows on Wednesday, according to Arbitron, averaged 25.97 million, up about 1.2 million viewers from a year ago, its first increase in viewership since season five. The Thursday results show came in No. 2 at 23.87 million viewers, up 400K from a year ago.

Both “Dancing With the Stars” performance and results shows were also up more than two million viewers year over year, as was NBC’s Sunday Night Football. “NCIS” gained about one million viewers a week.

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Image by Getty Images via @daylife

By JOEL PROVANO

Kim Zolciak, a star of Bravo’s Real Housewives of Atlanta and girlfriend of Atlanta Falcon Kroy Biermann, announced Tuesday she’s given birth to a boy.

Zolciak announced the birth of Kroy Jagger Biermann on her Twitter account.

“[Kroy] and I are happy to announce the birth of our son today Kroy Jagger Biermann is healthy & beautiful We are so in love!” Zolciak tweeted.

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By Rodney Ho

Just heard the news that Paula Abdul is joining the ‘X Factor’ panel of coaches this fall.

This was widely expected to happen. Creator Simon Cowell told Deadline.com a couple weeks ago that he wanted her. When I got a few minutes with him a month ago, he said he knew the pros and cons of having her but clearly decided the advantages since then outweighed the downsides. Read the full story

Rapper Nate Dogg first came to prominence in 1995 with the song 'Regulate', recorded with Warren G. (Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images)

Photos: 2011 notable deaths

Hip-hop star Nate Dogg died Tuesday at the age of 41, according to media reports.

The cause of death has not been released. But the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram reports the musician, whose real name was Nathaniel D. Hale, suffered strokes in 2007 and 2008.

Nate Dogg collaborated with a who’s who of hip-hop artists and received four Grammy nominations for his work. The latest came in 2007 for his collaboration with Eminem on “Shake That.”

In 2002, Nate Dogg was nominated for a Grammy with Atlanta’s Ludacris for “Area Codes.” He also worked with Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Warren G and many others rap stars.

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By Rodney Ho

Until a few weeks ago, Andrew Lincoln was a successful actor in England best known in the United States for a role in “Love Actually” a few years back. Then “The Walking Dead” dropped in his lap. Now as the lead character, the determined cop Rick Grimes, he’s on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. The magazine dubbed the zombie drama “the best new show on TV.”

“Even in my wildest dreams, I never envisioned this,” said Lincoln, in an exuberant interview earlier this week. “It’s kind of rare when everybody gets the gist of the show and has the same excitement and enthusiasm you have. We’re all kind of emailing and Skyping each other and just pinching ourselves.”

Click here for more on this story at ajc.com

Slices of fried turkey cooked in a turkey cooker are ready to be surrounded by Thanksgiving side dishes. The turkey cooker is produced by Masterbuilt, a Columbus, Ga. company headed by John McLemore (Renee Brock / For the AJC)

By BOB TOWNSEND

Brothers Don and John McLemore fondly recall Thanksgiving 1982 as the time they tried out one of their first and best inventions.

“I called my mom and said, ‘Momma, don’t cook a turkey,’ ” John remembered. “I told her Don and I were going to cook the turkey for the whole family. She kind of got a kick out of that.”

“But I think she was pretty worried about leaving Thanksgiving dinner to a couple of teenage boys,” Don said.

As the favorite family tale goes, Don and John hatched a plot to show up at 4:30 for a 6 o’clock dinner, armed with a raw turkey and their secret weapon, a new turkey fryer they’d fashioned out of a fish cooker.
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By GRACIE BONDS STAPLES

From $50 turkeys to just the right Napa wine, ingredients for the perfect Thanksgiving feast can put a hole in any budget, especially in these hard economic times.

But don’t lose heart. Regardless of your financial means, you can have a great meal and spruce up your home, too, said Shelley Wolson, author of “Budget Celebrations: The Hostess Guide to Year-Round Entertaining on a Dime.”

“The basic rule is you have to allow people to bring food,” said Wolson. “I think people are expecting to help out this year, especially.”
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Actor Dick Van Dyke says he was once rescued at sea by porpoises after falling asleep on his surf board.

Van Dyke claimed that when he woke up, he could not see the shore.

Van Dyke, 84, told CBS talk show host Craig Ferguson that the porpoises pushed him back to shore.

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