NEW YORK (AP) — Angela Lansbury, James Earl Jones and Bernadette Peters will be on hand to help present the Drama Desk Awards next month.

Producers announced on Thursday a list of stars who will help hosts Brooke Shields and Brian d’Arcy James hand out trophies at the event, which honors both Broadway and off-Broadway productions.

The slate of presenters also includes actors Martha Plimpton and John Larroquette, playwright Doug Wright, and directors Roger Rees and Alex Timbers, who collaborated on “Peter and the Starcatcher.”

This year’s Drama Desk show will take place June 3 at The Town Hall on 43th Street in Manhattan. The musicals “Death Takes a Holiday” and “Follies” received the most nominations, with 10 each.

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Online: http://www.dramadeskawards.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — The jury in the John Edwards campaign fraud trial is looking at about 20 more evidence exhibits during its fifth day of deliberations.

The exhibits the jury asked for Thursday are mostly financial records related to money given by a wealthy Texas lawyer. Prosecutors say John Edwards used the money as part of a plan he orchestrated to hide his pregnant mistress as he sought the 2008 White House.

The jury also wanted to see a tape of Edwards’ interview on ABC’s Nightline. Edwards said during that interview he never asked anybody to pay any money.

The jury has previously looked at financial records involving an elderly heiress.

The former presidential contender is charged with six felony counts related to campaign fraud.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were descended from Portuguese explorers, or perhaps from Turkish slaves or Gypsies.

A new DNA study in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy has found the truth to be somewhat less exotic: Genetic evidence shows that the families historically called Melungeons are the offspring of sub-Saharan African men and white women of northern or central European origin.

That report doesn’t sit comfortably with some people who claim Melungeon ancestry, but some experts say they aren’t surprised by the findings.

University of California-Santa Barbara sociologist G. Reginald Daniel said it is more evidence that that race-mixing in the U.S. isn’t a new phenomenon.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — On the plains of Kansas, tornadoes are so unremarkable that wedding guests barely flinched as a couple exchanged their vows as a twister loomed in the distance.

Video of the wedding for Caleb and Candra Pence has generated more than 20,000 views on YouTube. The footage was captured by the groom’s uncle and shows the couple and their guests seemingly unconcerned as a pair of tornadoes swirl on the flat land behind them, some 10 miles off in the distance.

The National Weather Service says the twister packed winds of at least 138 mph and ripped up a farm and wind turbines.

Caleb Pence says he was so focused on marrying his wife that the storm was the least of his concerns.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The widow of TV producer Aaron Spelling is suing a Maryland auction house that sold part of her extensive collection of antique dolls, claiming it owes her money and failed to return unsold items.

Candy Spelling filed the lawsuit against Annapolis-based Theriault’s at the end of April. The lawsuit, which was filed in California, claims that the auction house didn’t live up to its contract because it failed to give her a timely and complete account of the sold items and pay her for them. Spelling’s lawyers declined to comment. Theriault’s president disputed the allegations.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has nominated an expert on nuclear waste to lead the federal agency that regulates the nation’s nuclear power plants.

She is Allison Macfarlane, who served on a presidential commission that studied new strategies to manage nuclear waste. Macfarlane wrote a book in 2006 that raised technical questions about a proposed nuclear waste dump at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain. She is an associate professor at George Mason University.

If confirmed by the Senate, Macfarlane would replace Gregory Jaczko (YAHTS’-koh) as head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He announced his resignation this week after a tumultuous three-year tenure.

Jaczko pushed for sweeping safety reforms but came under fire for an unyielding management style that fellow commissioners and agency employees described as bullying. He is a Democrat and former congressional aide.