News Brief

Soap Opera Network: Executive Producer and Head Writer Lynn Marie Latham has been fired from CBS' THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS effective immediately. Latham's husband, Bernard Lechowick, who served as a Creative Consultant and Writer, has also been let go. Other writers exiting the show are Marina Alburger and Lynsey Dufour. More writers from Latham's team are expected to follow.

Marlena De Lacroix: Patrick Erwin writes: "For Valentine’s Day, 5 Soap Couples Who Were Really Super"

Ithaca Journal,: John Fackler couldn't resist an invitation to e-mail a wedding proposal to SOAPnet, a cable channel he and his girlfriend, Amanda Meeks, watch regularly. After all, the couple met online through Yahoo! Chat about three years ago, said Fackler, 31, of Watkins Glen. They've been together ever since, he said. “It was love at first sight,” Meeks said.Fackler's online risk paid off. “I cried,” said Meeks, 19, of Penn Yan who accepted Fackler's proposal. “I never dreamed in a million years he would propose that way.”

Bay Area Reporter: Isn't it romantic? Gay love on a classic soaper AS THE WORLD TURNS.

Art Info: Photographer Ken Heyman: "Years before, I had gone to a party, and at the table I was sitting at was the woman who would later become my wife. She was a soap opera star—she had the lead in AS THE WORLD TURNS—and Andy was sitting there, just thrilled, asking her questions about what was going to happen on the show the next week. The next day, the woman who had thrown the party called me and asked if I had “any work for that strange starving artist at your table.” I said, “Why don’t you send him over?”"

Jeff Branson Fan Club: Jeff Branson, who has confirmed he is leaving ALL MY CHILDREN in the spring, is making a public appearance at a Valentine's Weekend Event in Clearwater/St. Pete, FL to benefit Light House of Pinellas. Tickets are $65.00 per person. For more information or questions please email the event coordinators, Patti and Barbie at designers.image@hotmail.com

Soap Opera Network: A list of daytime soap “Fi-Core” writers.

Liverpool Echo: Nude HOLLYOAKS star Chris Fountain melts ice, and some hearts too!

Soap Opera Digest: The Writers Guild of America has sent their members back to work. "Thank God, it's over," said one soap insider. We've been following ATWT Script Editor Courtney Simon — who was a strike captain on daytime day — throughout the 100-day work stoppage. She wasn't sure exactly how long it would take for the writers' work to get to your screens again, suggesting that it would likely be different for every show. "I don't know if they waited before they got a team in place to write. If they waited and then started, then took time off at Christmas, then went back in January, there might not be that many shows ready to go on the air. It's been like a tomb. I have no information at all, but I'm expecting the phone to ring on Wednesday morning," said Simon before the writers officially voted to end the strike. "I've been watching the show, and to my eye, what's on the air right now is still playing out. Stories that had already begun when we left so there were no gigantic surprises, story-wise, but there may well be in the upcoming 3 to 4 weeks of air shows." As for what she's expecting when she reports back to work, Simon was positive. "I know that there aren't going to be any hard feelings on the writers part. We did what our union asked us to do and I'm hoping that everybody there will understand that. A labor action is a labor action; it's not like we got together as one small group and decided to run off until we got a certain list of demands. This was a huge action that we believed in. All I have to go on is what happened after the 88 strike. And in that instance, when we returned to work we were welcomed with open arms. Everybody was very glad to see us and we were glad to see them and so glad to be back doing what we love.

PGP Blog: ESPN Radio co-hosts Mike Greensburg and Mike Golic will appear as two brothers who go head-to-head with GUIDING LIGHT's Reva (Kim Zimmer) and Josh (Robert Newman) on Wednesday, February 20.