Kansas City gas prices: A wild wide in the month of May

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Gas prices went down almost two cents in Kansas City, Mo., Friday, a 12th consecutive drop, but still marked the end to a wild month of painful trips to the pump for millions of drivers here and across the country.

When viewed through the nozzle of your ride to work and school, the first day of the month seems like a long time ago.

A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline cost $3.2634 on the Missouri side of the metro on May 1, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge Report. Drivers in Kansas City, Kan., as always, were paying a little more, $3.363o. Both were a considerable amount under the pace of the national average of $3.5221.

Blake Shelton raises funds for Oklahoma with all-star line-up

Singers MIRANDA LAMBERT, REBA McENTIRE and USHER joined forces with BLAKE SHELTON on Wednesday night (29May13) to help raise funds for the tornado recovery effort in his native Oklahoma.

The Honey Bee hitmaker leaped into action last week (begs20May13) to organize the televised Healing in the Heartland: Relief Benefit Concert after a twister ripped through the state, devastating the city of Moore and leaving at least 24 people dead.

Shelton got proceedings at the Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City underway with a touching rendition of God Gave Me You, followed by performances from Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Luke Bryan and OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder.

Zosia Mamet launches Kickstarter campaign

GIRLS star ZOSIA MAMET has launched a campaign on Kickstarter.com to fund her debut music video.

The actress and her sister Clara perform as The Cabin Sisters, and the siblings are seeking fan donations to cover the costs of the promo for their track Bleak Love.

The pair is looking to raise at least $32,000 for the video by 9 June (13), and they are offering rewards such as T-shirts and lyric sheets to donors.

Actress Candice Accola engaged

Actress CANDICE ACCOLA is engaged to marry THE FRAY guitarist JOE KING.

The musician proposed to The Vampire Diaries star during a vacation in Florence, Italy earlier this month (May13) and the pair took to Instagram.com on Wednesday (29May13) to announce the romantic news.

King posted a picture of his new fiancee flashing her engagement ring and declared, "I'm a lucky man", while Accola uploaded a snap of the pair cuddling and added, "Cheers from the future Mr.&Mrs. Joseph Aaron King."

Her TV co-star Nina Dobrev, who recently split from longtime boyfriend and castmate Ian Somerhalder, was quick to send her congratulations, writing on her Twitter.com page, "Dying right now! So excited/thrilled/happy/hyperventilating over your engagement! Match made in heaven!"

Shia LaBeouf still makes sure his first agent gets paid

Generous SHIA LaBEOUF still makes sure the aged agent who gave him his first big break gets a cut of his movie pay cheques.

Retired Teresa Dahlquist, who has launched a new reality TV show with her sisters on Oprah Winfrey's TV network OWN, has revealed she signed on to represent the Transformers star when he was an 11-year-old hopeful.

She tells news show Access Hollywood, "He called me on the phone at 7.30 in the morning and said, 'I need an agent!' He found me in the Yellow Pages (phone book)... I saw right away that he was unbelievable."

Justin Bieber delights Travis Barker's daughter with special visit

Pop star JUSTIN BIEBER is under police investigation for allegedly driving his sports car at dangerously fast speeds inside the confines of his private gated community over the last few days.

Police responded to two separate calls from residents of the exclusive The Oaks compound in Calabasas, California claiming the Baby hitmaker was driving his Ferrari at breakneck speeds in the vicinity of at least one child playing.

Los Angeles Country Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore tells TMZ.com the callers reported Bieber was driving at a "startling high rate of speed" and the singer refused to speak to the cops who went to the star's house to investigate.

Rihanna's stylist completes fashion series panel

RIHANNA has hired her personal stylist and tour wardrobe master MEL OTTENBERG as the final judge on her new reality TV show STYLED TO ROCK.

Ottenberg will join Pharrell Williams and model/designer Erin Wasson on Style Network's new competition series, which debuted in the U.K. last year (12).

Rihanna, who will serve as executive producer of the show, says, "Mel and I have such a similar aesthetic. It's as if he can read my mind sometimes. I love his attention to detail and all the research he does for every look. He is more than a stylist. He is an artist."

Will Smith staged 'reality check' dinner for Tyrese Gibson

TRANSFORMERS director MICHAEL BAY called in pal WILL SMITH to share a few words of wisdom with his star TYRESE GIBSON after the actor/singer made a series of errors on the set of his blockbuster.

Gibson refuses to go into detail about what he did to upset the moviemaker, but it led to a tense dinner table showdown with Smith, during which the Men in Black star lectured his protege on how to make it Hollywood.

The Fast & the Furious 6 star tells news show Access Hollywood, "The first dinner that me and Will had, I called it the reality check dinner... I probably ran from the dinner table about 15 times during this conversation because he was dropping such heavy jewels (of wisdom) on me. It was crazy.

Zach Galifianakis skips Sugarloaf Mountain press conference over fear of heights

THE HANGOVER star ZACH GALIFIANAKIS pulled out of a press conference in Brazil after he found out the event would take place at a venue on the ascent to the country's famous Sugarloaf Mountain.

The funnyman was due to join his castmates, including Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms, for a junket to promote the third installment in the comedy franchise in Rio de Janeiro this week (beg27May13).

However, Galifianakis decided to skip the event after he found out the Morro da Urca site, where the press conference was held, is 220 metres (722 feet) above ground on the ascent to Sugarloaf Mountain and can only be reached by cable car.

Mermaids do not exist, U.S. government agency confirms

(CNN) - One of John Athanson's earliest memories is seeing mermaids at Weeki Wachee Springs, the "City of Live Mermaids."

Today, the 47-year-old is the public relations manager for Weeki Wachee Springs State Park, and has been for 10 years.

The park north of Tampa, Florida, hosts shows year-round involving women dressed as mermaids. It bills itself as "a magical entrance into a mysterious blue underwater world of mermaids, manatees, turtles and bubbles."

"If you ask me, (mermaids) do exist," Athanson said Thursday. "They exist, and they exist right here in Weeki Wachee."

He was responding to the U.S. government's fresh announcement to the contrary.