Meet Travis, a senior black Labrador retriever rescued by store owners Maureen and Randy Mendyk two years ago through Kats Wagon Train, an underground railroad transport for abused dogs. During the drive to Scottsbluff, he refrained from making eye contact with his rescuers, choosing instead to keep his head down as if to avoid confrontation. [...] while he gets along famously with the family's other canine companions — a golden retriever, a Brittany spaniel and dachshund — he has grown especially fond of his owners. When I started working at the store, he had separation anxiety. To Randy, who first encouraged Maureen to get involved with animal rescue to give her some place other than home to help stray animals, Travis has become a favorite son of sorts. Dressed in a striped Halloween costume, he became the main attraction at the store during the downtown trick or treat candy giveaway. Chris Niemeyer, a music teacher at Zion Lutheran School, frequents the store with her 4-year-old son, Ben. Lisa Carson is a stay-at-home mother of three daughters who teaches swimming lessons part time at the Hastings Family YMCA. While mother and daughters enjoy Travis' presence at the store, it is youngest daughter Shayna, 11, who is most enamored with him.

Advocates for Tibet say hundreds of thousands have been killed by violence and famine under more than a half-century of Chinese rule. The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom says religious-liberty conditions in Tibet are at their worst in the past decade, with imprisonments and increased government oversight of monasteries. The U.S. State Department cites "severe repression" including "extrajudicial killings, torture, arbitrary arrests" and abuses. Like the Dalai Lama, Norbu's own father was recognized as a high-ranking Buddhist incarnation by religious authorities and later fled Tibet amid Chinese repression. Kunga Norbu recalled that the brothers disagreed on the best approach to China, with the Dalai Lama willing to accept Chinese sovereignty if it would honor local Tibetan autonomy and human rights. After his death in 2008, Kunga Norbu's brother, Jigme, led similar walks until he was struck and killed by a vehicle during one such event in Florida in 2011. Sollee, who toured Tibet in 2007 on a State Department-organized concert tour, said that while he had only limited direct interactions with the people, he felt a kinship with them.

The Cannes Film Festival was wondering that Saturday, when Kore-eda Hirokazu's elegant and emotional "Like Father, Like Son" premiered. Though reviews varied, "Like Father, Like Son" largely charmed Cannes with its sweet, understated examination of nature versus nurture. The families are opposites of one another: one headed by a wealthy, driven professional (the Japanese pop singer Fukuyama Masaharu) with strict expectations of his only child; the other father a poor but lively shopkeeper (Lily Franky) with two other playful children. With the graceful simplicity that characterizes Kore-eda's films (I Wish, ''Nobody Knows), the film contemplates the nature of parenthood — where it begins, how it develops — as the two families debate exchanging their sons. The film focuses on the actor's character, as he slowly begins to question his hard, removed approach to fatherhood. The director said the film, which ends ambiguously, wasn't made to convey a message, but to reflect his own experiences. Spielberg has long gravitated to stories of fathers and sons, but whether "Like Father, Like Son" struck a chord with him won't be answered until the Palme d'Or is announced May 25 at the end of the festival. Rev Run is one of hip-hop's legendary rappers, but these days, he's spinning records — and is finding the experience may be even more enjoyable than rapping. Ruckus said he has learned a lot from Run — "It's obviously an honor to be on the road and have such a mentor and legend and somebody who helped create all of what I worked with." Run hasn't given up his day job: next week, he's performing at the Atlanta Braves' baseball stadium with partner McDaniels for a Run-DMC gig after the team's game. [...] she loves the experience so much that she likens it to a wedding. For some, the experience of picking an outfit and standing in front of the world's media is a daunting prospect, but Kapoor, being an actress at heart, treats the carpet like a stage.

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — From comic book art to Shakespeare and Japanese opera, the new season of the Spoleto Festival USA will be the largest ever, offering 160 performances during the 17 days the festival lights up stages across this seaside city. The internationally known arts festival, founded by the composer Gian Carlo Menotti, will open its 37th season Friday with the traditional speeches, brass fanfare and shower of confetti on the steps of Charleston City Hall. The festival continues through June 9, when the Red Stick Ramblers — a Cajun, honky-tonk and swing ensemble — perform outdoors before a fireworks display at Middleton Place Plantation outside Charleston. Original comic book drawings are projected on a two-story screen while actors voice parts to accompany sound effects. [...] he said, performances there will have less background noise than the Gaillard.

MALMO, Sweden (AP) — An ethno-inspired flute and drum tune from Denmark is the bookmakers' favorite to win this year's Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday, which also features a bizarre opera pop number from Romania and an Armenian rock song written by the guitarist of Black Sabbath. The televised pan-European extravaganza, known for its kitschy shows, bad taste and bizarre offerings, is still expected to be seen by about 125 million television viewers worldwide. According to bookmakers, the hippie-chic Emmelie De Forest of Denmark is the favorite to win, driving the song "Only Teardrops" with her deep, Shakira-like voice. While the show will not raise eyebrows in most parts of Western Europe — where Eurovision has long been a bastion of gay culture — the act may jar sensitivities in parts of eastern and southern Europe. The winner is picked by juries and television viewers across the continent, and the winning nation will stage next year's event. The festive atmosphere was visible throughout the city of Malmo on Saturday, where residents and visitors blended on the streets waving the flags of their favorite countries.

For Paul T. Woodal Jr. of Hagerstown, his horn is attached to a Barbie-pink 2008 Volkswagen Beetle adorned with photos and sayings from one of country music's most beloved artists, Dolly Parton. Her voice sounded like this little cartoon kid thing. An amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., bears her name and has given jobs to her Tennessee kinfolk while her Destination Imagination program has helped combat illiteracy in her home state. [...] it would be her 2009 album, "Backwoods Barbie" that would inspire Woodal to turn what was a red beetle into a pink one. "If you would hear the song 'I'm Just a Backwoods Barbie,' some of the little lines make you giggle and laugh," said Woodal, who also bears a large tattoo of Parton on his back. [...] he had to find pictures from the "Backwoods Barbie" album that were big enough or could be blown up to the size he wanted. [...] the investment was all worth it when Woodal and his partner, Devin Decker, had the chance to meet Parton during one of their regular pilgrimages to Dollywood in May when she regularly visits the park. Woodal said they were directed on a secret road through Dollywood and to wait for her between appearances. The car's roof still bears Parton's signature, the Sharpie she used to sign it encased in a box, along with a collection of CDs and photos of Parton.

Once again without fail, it has produced a mix of bubble-gum pop songs, somber ballads, bagpipes, accordions and bizarrely kitsch musical productions. The winner, chosen from 40 countries, is picked by juries and television viewers across the continent. The blonde whirlwind from Finland caused a stir by kissing a female dancer in her group. Despite last year's fiasco for Britain's 76-year-old Engelbert Humperdinck, the island nation once again places its hopes on a seasoned performer. Sixteen years after her rock anthem hit "Nobody's Wife," Anouk returns to the international stage with the somber "Birds." Dressed entirely in black, she stands center stage, relying on her voice and a soft string orchestra.

Anyone expecting the elder Schoenberg's stream-of-consciousness piano or Adam's symphonic works — full-scale compositions commissioned by the Atlanta, Kansas City and Los Angeles symphony orchestras — may be surprised by the score behind this thriller by Philippine-American director Ron Morales. The film, in Tagalog with English subtitles, tells the story of the Filipino chauffeur of a crooked politician who races to save his daughter from kidnappers after she is abducted for ransom in a terrifying case of mistaken identity. Adam, who describes "Graceland" as "such a dark film in which the music creates tension and release," met Morales in Italy in the summer of his sophomore year at Oberlin College, while on an ASCAP (American Society of Composers and Performers) fellowship to study Italian film scoring. "Graceland" has gone on to win awards at New York's Tribeca Film Festival, where the Schoenbergs first got to see the finished product last spring, and at the San Diego Asian and Ghent International film festivals. Because part of the plot also involves sex trafficking and the relationship between the main actor and his daughter, the score also tries to reflect vulnerability and innocence. The young composer, whose latest commissioned work, Bounce, is dedicated to his own yet-unborn son, says, I love the art of collaboration, and my father and I work really well together, My dad is an extraordinary improviser, and I inherited some his improvisational skills. If the father-daughter drama is a key element of the plot in "Graceland," the father-son relationship played a role in writing the film's score — with the added drama of Adam Schopenberg's starring role, at age 5, in a key moment in his father's life. "Adam's a good friend, and he's inspired me to write an orchestral piece and get back into symphonic composing," says the 60-year-old father, who hopes to do more film score collaborations with his son.

(AP) — The lawyer for a California heavy metal singer accused of trying to hire someone to kill his estranged wife says the singer's mind has been ravaged by steroid use. Prosecutors say Lambesis, frontman for Grammy-winning band "As I Lay Dying," paid $1,000 cash to an undercover detective posing as a hitman and gave instructions on how best to kill his wife.

NEW YORK (AP) — Former Groupon CEO Andrew Mason is diving into several new ventures, including indulging his inner rock star with an album of "motivational business music." Mason said Thursday on his blog that he recently spent a week in Los Angeles and recorded a collection of seven songs called "Hardly Workin'." Mason said he wants to present business wisdom to younger people and that the songs will help them understand ideas that are critical to becoming productive and effective employees.