Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — Pop star Kelly Clarkson will ride as celebrity grand marshal when the Krewe of Endymion parade rolls on the Saturday in New Orleans before Fat Tuesday in 2013. Clarkson was the first winner of the Fox reality show American Idol in 2002. Her hits include “A Moment Like This” and “Because of You.” The krewe said she also will perform at Endymion’s ball at the Superdome after the parade. Clarkson may be upstaged at the Feb. 9 parade by a floatorganizers bill as the largest and most elaborate in Carnival history. The super float - projected to cost several million dollars - will be 330 feet long and carry more than 200 riders. Its design focuses on Pontchartrain Beach, the amusement park that entertained generations on the New Orleans lakefront before closing in 1983. The float, which is still under construction, will be divided into sections so it can make turns on the city’s streets. Clarkson’s role and renderings of the float were revealed during a news conference Thursday at Mardi Gras World, the studio operated by the Kern family. Blaine Kern Studios builds most of the floats used in Carnival parades in New Orleans. Parade floats typically range in length to about 50 feet and can carry about 40 riders. But in 1969, the Bacchus krewe introduced larger floats, sparking a new wave of showmanship at Carnival.

Former television movie critic Gene Shalit faces a charge of driving to endanger after his vehicle struck a utility pole and came to rest against a home in western Massachusetts. Lenox police said the 86-year-old Shalit told Chief Stephen O’Brien, who was first on the scene of Wednesday afternoon’s crash, that he fell asleep at the wheel. Shalit has received a summons to appear before a clerk magistrate in Southern Berkshire District Courtin Great Barrington at a future date. Shalit, known for his bushy hair and mustache, was unhurt.