Jared Ashley

John Rich and Jared Ashley can't settle their differences -- so now the cops are involved. Rich turned himself in to the Metro Davidson County Criminal Justice Center in Nashville, Tenn. this afternoon to face misdemeanor charges of assault and harassment stemming from an alleged altercation between the two. Rich and Ashley have both filed civil lawsuits against each other -- Ashley sued Rich for the alleged assault, and Rich sued back for defamation.

Rich, in a statement released by his lawyers, claims that since he can't reach a settlement with Ashley, he'd rather defend himself "through the legal process to the fullest extent of the law." He says, "I trust that the truth will come out through the process of our American justice system and that I will be completely exonerated at the end of the day."

Country star John Rich of Big & Rich was charged on May 28 with assault and harassment, E! Online reports. Rich allegedly smacked former Nashville Star contestant Jared Ashley in the face; he has denied the charges. "I trust that the truth will come out through the process of our American justice system and that I will be completely exonerated at the end of the day," the singer said in a statement.

Spelling Bee 2009 Winner

A spelling bee 2009 Winner is a competition where contestants (children), are asked to spell English words. The concept is thought to have originated in the United States, and is usually perceived to be a solely English language practice. Today, National Spelling Bee competitions for English are held in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Indonesia and others. Kavya won at the end of a championship round in which runner-up Tim Ruiter was eliminated on "maecenas" and third-place finisher Aishwarya Pastapur was eliminated on "menhir".

Kavya Shivashankar (13-years-old) an eighth grader from Olathe, Kansas, correctly spelled "Laodicean" to win the National Spelling Bee competition 2009 Thursday night. She spelled the winning word "Laodicean" means - lukewarm or indifferent in religion or politics. In earlier rounds, Kavya spelled challenging words like "hydrargyrum", "blancmange" and "baignoire". In the fourth round, she correctly spelled "huisache", It means - Thorny shrub or small tree.

A student at California Trail Junior High School, Kavya was making her fourth appearance at the bee, having finishing 10th, eighth and fourth over the last three years. She enjoys playing the violin, bicycling, swimming and learning Indian classical dance, and her role model is Nupur Lala, the 1999 champion featured in the documentary "Spellbound". She plans to become a neurosurgeon.

Melissa Weber

Melissa Weber, 27, a middle school social studies teacher in Queens New York is accused of having sex on 7 different occasions with one of her 14 year old students. The incidents allegedly started on or around April 13 and continued for about a month. The boys mom was encouraged by friends and members of the school’s PTA to investigate after they told her they suspected inappropriate behavior between Weber and her son.

The boy’s mother found out Melissa Weber’s phone number and checked her son’s cellphone, finding that there were literally hundreds pf phone calls and text messages between the two. Some of the text messages from Weber warned the teen boy to not tell anyone about their relationship and near the end when Weber feared getting caught, one message simply said “Erase your phone.”

Weber, of West Babylon, New York is awaiting an arraignment hearing for the charges of statutory rape, sexual abuse and endangering the welfare of a child. She could face up to seven years in prison if convicted. A middle school teacher has been arrested after authorities said she had sexual trysts with a 14-year-old student in a Queens classroom after school. Social studies teacher Melissa Weber was awaiting arraignment late Thursday on rape, sexual abuse and child endangerment charges.