People in the news

CINCINNATI (AP) - Bill Cosby's first appearance here in five years wasn't for telling jokes, but to implore parents to be involved in all aspects of their children's lives.

"If you're not doing that, then you should be ashamed of yourself," Cosby said Thursday as the moderator for discussions on parenting, education and social responsibility at Xavier University.

The 68-year-old comedian's appearance was part of the nationwide tour "A Call out With Cosby."

Speaking to a crowd of about 1,200, Cosby said parents should have a network of people who can help look after kids who might be headed for trouble.

During a question-and-answer session, he granted a local minister's request to speak with Rodney Lee, 18, whom the minister said had lost direction in his life. Cosby and Lee spoke privately for nearly 45 minutes as the audience continued to question a panel of child experts.

Cosby was making his first visit since he canceled two shows following race riots in 2001, when an unarmed black man was shot and killed by a white police officer trying to make an arrest.

Activists called for a boycott until leaders agreed to pay more attention to police, racial and economic issues. Cosby's publicist has said Cosby wasn't supporting the boycott, but felt it wasn't an appropriate time for comedy.

NEW YORK (AP) That new Janet Jackson music making the rounds on the Internet is apparently not as new as you might think.

The 39-year-old pop superstar, who is working on a new album, says someone has leaked songs she recorded at least two years ago when working with hit-making producer Rich Harrison. At least one song has already made the rounds, titled, "Put It on Me."

"A couple of years ago I recorded some tracks with Rich Harrison. But none of that music will appear on my new album," Jackson said in a statement released to The Associated Press on Friday. "I have a tight rein on all of the music that has been recorded."

Jackson's new album, tentatively titled, "20 Years Old," is expected to be released later this year. She hasn't released an album since 2004's "Damita Jo."

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (AP) Dolly Parton knows how to whip up a tasty banana pudding, and the singer explains how to make the dessert and more than 125 other recipes in a new cookbook to raise money for her Imagination Library.

Advance sales for "Dolly's Dixie Fixin's" began last week, and people who buy the cookbook will enter to win a backyard barbecue and bluegrass festival with Parton as a special guest, Dollywood Foundation officials said.

All proceeds from the cookbook will go to Parton's Dollywood Foundation, which supports the Imagination Library. The program, which provides a free book a month for children from birth to age 5, has been established in 42 states since it began in 1996.

Parton's cookbook features recipes from her mother, Avie Lee Parton, and her mother-in-law, "Mama" Ginny Dean, as well as Dollywood restaurants and the Dixie Stampede Dinner and Show. It also includes recipes inspired by restaurant dishes she discovered while touring over the last 40 years.

The cookbook will be sold only at Dollywood and Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge, Branson, Mo., and Myrtle Beach, S.C., and online on several Web sites.

"Dolly's Dixie Fixin's" must be purchased by Sept. 1 for buyers to qualify for the barbecue with Dolly prize.