Melissa Rycroft has set a wedding date!

According to the new issue of Us Weekly (on newsstands now), The Bachelorette star, 26, is set to wed insurance-agent beau Tye Strickland on Dec. 12.

“We aren’t doing much. I think small, we plan small,” says Rycroft, who got engaged less than six months after being dumped in January by Bachelor star Jason Mesnick. “But whether it’s going to turn out the way we have it in our minds, I don’t know!”

Us Weekly also reports that Bachelor costars Jillian Harris and Naomi Crespo have scored invites, as well as Rycroft’s former Dancing With the Stars partner Tony Dovolani.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

In his first national interview since being paroled, Dr. Jack Kevorkian defended Dr. Conrad Murray, who has been targeted in the manslaughter investigation into Michael Jackson’s death.

Even though Jackson’s death has been ruled a homicide, Kevorkian, 81, told Fox News’ Neil Cavuto Wednesday that Murray did not commit murder by providing Jackson with lethal amounts of the anesthetic propofol. (Murray, who maintains his innocence, says on the morning of Jackson’s June 25 death, he gave Jackson 25 milligrams of propofol diluted with lidocaine to keep him sedated — after repeated demands from the singer.)

“I don’t think he was malicious,” Kevorkian said. “Murder is defined by forethought …Did the doctor have forethought? I doubt it.”

He added, “The patient got what he wanted. He is the one who said yes or no to take a drug.”

That’s the same mindset Kevorkian said he had when helping terminally ill patients die, which led to an eight-year prison sentence on second-degree murder charges.

“I have no regrets,” said Kevorkian, who is now the subject of an upcoming HBO biopic, starring Al Pacino. “Everyone I helped welcomed death. I do what a physician should do — what is best for the patient, period. If I did it with malice or forethought and without permission than I would be a murderer. But, they forgot the definition of murder when they criticized me; because it’s so negative, they win by fear.”

But he said he won’t go back to “helping” people die now.

“Why should I go to prison again?” he told Cavuto. “I lost 1/10th of my life already in prison; I’m not going to lose the rest at this age.”

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Kristin Cavallari isn’t the only one who was impressed with Heidi Montag’s Miss Universe performance.

Miss USA Kristen Dalton tells Usmagazine.com she thought Montag’s rendition of “Body Language” wasn’t bad.

“I thought it was pretty good because she’s known as being a reality TV star, so it’s cool that she came out as a performer, as a dancer and singer,” Dalton, 22, tells Us.

“I thought she did a great job as a performer,” adds Dalton of Montag, 22.

Montag says she hopes her first performance helps her become become the next Britney Spears “career wise.” (Pratt even donned a flesh-colored body suit that is similar to the one Spears wore for her 2000 MTV VMA performance.)

Spencer Pratt says his wife reminds him of another pop icon: Michael Jackson.

“The Holy Spirit now has Michael Jackson juice, so boom! For all we know, Heidi gets possessed with Michael Jackson’s divine spirit,” he says, calling her “way bigger” than Jackson, who died in June.

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Kimora Lee Simmons shops at Kitson Kids on Robertson Blvd. with her daughters Aoki Lee Simmons and Ming Lee Simmons in Beverly Hills yesterday. She returned to her to find a parking ticket. Bummer!

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Lori Petty, best known for her roles in Tank Girl and A League of Their Own, pleaded no contest last week to a misdemeanor DUI charge and will serve five years’ probation.

Petty, 45, was arrested last May after allegedly hitting a 14-year-old skateboarder while driving in Venice, Calif. The boy’s injuries were minor.

The actress will pay fines and receive outpatient treatment and attend AA meetings, according to Los Angeles Superior Court records. A second DUI charge was dismissed as part of Petty’s plea deal.

Petty did not attend the hearing, but was represented by her attorney, Blair Berk.

Source, Bauer-Griffin

According to Project Runway’s Tim Gunn, his co-star Heidi Klum, who is due in October with a baby girl, is one to keep an eye on when it comes to maternity style.

“Heidi has incredible style no matter what condition she’s in, and she looks fabulous in everything,” Gunn said at the Addressing Psoriasis Fashion Show at Milk Studios in New York on Wednesday. “She just always knows what she looks best in and she’s remarkable. I marvel at her all the time.”

Even though she always looks put together, he said the 36-year-old supermodel’s priority is not fashion.

“Seal and her kids [daughter Leni, 5, and sons Henry Günther, 3, and Johan Riley, 2] always come first, and frankly we schedule things around that. I have the greatest respect for her. She’s very, very grounded,” Gunn said.

Gunn also declared his respect for Lindsay Lohan, who recently appeared as a guest judge on the current season of Project Runway.

“I was surprised and pleased by how extremely knowledgeable about fashion and articulate Lindsay Lohan was,” he said. “She’s very young and can be portrayed in ways that aren’t all together flattering, and she was a true statesperson and really weighed in on the designers and what they were doing exceptionally well. And it was really a thrill to have her.”

Runway fans can expect another Hollywood fashionista on Thursday’s episode, when actress Rachel Bilson drops by to be a guest judge.

But the designers are in for an even bigger surprise, Gunn revealed. “This is the week I’m in flip-flops because we’re on the beach. And I thought, I can’t be wearing these. It would be ridiculous.”

Source, Bauer-Griffin

Jennifer Garner and her daughter Violet Affleck enjoy some mommy and me time in Boston, MA, earlier today, by taking a stroll through the city streets and stopping in to a few stores for potential purchases.

So adorable!

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