Cool news

Virginia Commonwealth has hired Florida assistant Shaka Smart as its new basketball coach, VCU confirmed Tuesday. An announcement is expected later today. Smart will replace Anthony Grant, who last week left VCU to become coach at Alabama.

The “Folies Bergere” closed Saturday after 49 years. The show goes on in Nancy Williams Baker ’s store, Williams Costume Co., where 9,000 costumes, plus wigs and makeup, await dancers, showgirls, impersonators, Elvis and Marilyn wedding parties, and hotel event makers.

Washington State coach Tony Bennett has been hired as Virginia’s men’s basketball coach. Washington State athletic director Jim Sterk announced the move Monday evening. He said Virginia asked for permission to speak with Bennett on Friday.

Fox Nation, an opinionated Web site that launches this morning — and really, what other network would name a country after itself? — is based on a gut-level appeal:

When Martin Wishart started out in the restaurant business, he had to make early-morning trips to Leith harbour to secure his supply of fresh langoustine. “They were quite difficult to get hold of in Scotland,” he says.

*Los Angeles - START SPREADING THE NEWS! The most highly anticipated announcement, second only to those made at the recent Academy Awards, and was made on February 25th at the Playboy Mansion in Holmby Hills.

SPRINGFIELD - For a team unaccustomed to trailing at halftime, the University of Findlay men’s basketball team looks just fine in comeback mode. Because of that, the Oilers will play for the NCAA Division II men’s basketball title, and a place in history.

Your birthday today: In April, your side jobs might be more lucrative than your usual work. You’ll thrive as you encourage others through May. Your income spikes in June. October travel opens your mind and heart. Libra and Capricorn people adore you.

HAPPILY married men should pray their wives are not among the anonymous contributors to Romi Lassally’s upcoming book, “True Mom Confessions: Real Moms Get Real,” out next month from Berkeley. One gal tells the author: “I couldn’t care less if…

Michael Sarver was revealed to be the fourth finalist eliminated from American Idol’s eighth season during last night’s live results show broadcast on Fox.