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Aug 27, 07:28 AM

Current Headlines: KEY WEST, Fla.

Gloria Estefan brought tears to the eyes of older Cuban Americans who gathered Saturday to hear the first live performance of songs from her new album, "90 Millas."

Amid frenzied, unsubstantiated rumors that ailing Fidel Castro had died, Estefan performed "Esperando (Cuando Cuba Sea Libre)" - Waiting (For Cuba to be Free).

The title of her new album is Spanish for 90 miles - the distance from Key West to Cuba. Her performance with the Miami Sound Machine was taped Saturday at the Westin Key West Resort, just blocks from the city's famed concrete buoy proclaiming it the southernmost point in the continental United States.

The segment will air Sept. 17 on Univision's morning news program, "Despierta America," about a week before "90 Millas" hits stores.

After the performance, Estefan recalled the seeds of her passion for Cuban music.

"My grandmother would shanghai pilots at the Havana airport so they'd bring me cartons of mango baby food - the only kind I'd eat," Estefan said. "I learned to eat peach later. And in every carton, she'd slip a Cuban record ." Park dedicated to actor Dennis weaver G.I. Joe live-action movie in the works Paramount Pictures has finally greenlighted a G.I. Joe live-action flick, an idea that has been circulating around Tinseltown for three decades. And they're serious, having signed blockbuster action director Stephen Sommers, the man behind "The Mummy" and "Van Helsing," to direct the production. Why now? Variety muses that it's due to the massive success of that other toy-inspired flick, "Transformers." A new park that features fly-fishing, scenic trails and a huge bronze eagle was dedicated Saturday to the late "Gunsmoke" actor Dennis Weaver on 60 acres of land his wife donated to the town of Ridgway, Colo.

Weaver moved to Ridgway in 1988, building a home made up of recycled tires and cans on 175 acres along the Uncompahgre River.

The centerpiece of the park opened in his name is a 2,800-pound bronze eagle with a 21-foot wingspan.

"The eagle is a sign of power," said Gerry Weaver, widow of the actor-environmentalist. "He was a very quiet, strong, powerful person. "

Dennis Weaver's humble beginnings instilled a love of the environment in him, his wife said.

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