• A new book by former President George W. Bush will highlight a concern which now sets him apart from many of his fellow Republicans -- immigration. Crown announced this week that Bush's "Out of Many, One: Portraits of America's Immigrants" will be published March 2. The book includes 43 portraits by the 43rd president, four-color paintings of immigrants he has come to know over the years, along with biographical essays he wrote about each of them. The book will serve as a companion to a forthcoming exhibition at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas. Bush, who served as president from 2001-2009, has often praised the contributions of immigrants, a notable contrast to President Donald Trump's rhetoric and policies. As president, Bush supported a bipartisan immigration reform bill that narrowly failed to pass in 2007, with opposition coming from liberals and conservatives. "While I recognize that immigration can be an emotional issue, I reject the premise that it is a partisan issue. It is perhaps the most American of issues, and it should be one that unites us," Bush writes in the new book's introduction, noting that he did not want it to come out during the election season. Bush has not endorsed Trump or his presumptive Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden. "My hope is that this book will help focus our collective attention on the positive impacts that immigrants are making on our country."
• Comedian Andy Dick has filed a lawsuit in New Orleans against a man who punched him last year outside a French Quarter nightclub. Dick, 54, in the suit, said the punch by David Hale, 47, caused "serious, permanent and disabling injuries." He seeks compensation for medical expenses and lost wages, among other damages. Documents in the July 30 lawsuit were made public Thursday, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported. "The entire suit is ridiculous," Hale's attorney, Michael Kennedy, said in an emailed statement Friday. Kennedy, who has denied wrongdoing by Hale, said it was "appalling" that Dick would seek lost wages during a pandemic. Hale has maintained that Dick provoked him into hitting him by grabbing Hale's genitals and winking at him outside the club where Dick had performed. Dick has denied he touched Hale. On July 28, the New Orleans district attorney's office said it was dropping prosecution of Hale because Dick had not been cooperative and had not kept in touch with prosecutors. A district attorney spokesman, Ken Daley, said the case could be revived if Dick reestablishes contact with the district attorney's office. Dick later said he would be willing to go to New Orleans to testify against Hale.
