Web posted on: Friday, July 10, 1998 5:15:20 PM

• Arrest warrant issued for Scott Weiland
• Coppola awarded additional $60 million in Warner Bros. suit
• Michael Jackson supporting casino plans in Detroit
• 'Good Will Hunting' writers win Humanitas Prize
• Lou Reed, Vaclav Havel have something in common

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A California judge issued a warrant for the arrest of Scott Weiland after the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots missed a second court date in a drug possession case. Weiland's attorney told Superior Court judge Larry Fidler that he didn't know where his client was.

When the rocker missed a June 11 court date, his attorney said then that Weiland was undergoing detoxification at a drug treatment facility about 60 miles west of downtown Los Angeles.

This case stems from Weiland's arrest in September 1997. He faces charges of felony possession of heroin and misdemeanor possession of a hypodermic needle; if convicted, he faces a maximum of three years in state prison. Since that arrest, Weiland has been arrested again, on June 1, for allegedly carrying $100 worth of heroin.

Coppola

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Director Francis Ford Coppola says he hopes the latest ruling by a jury in his civil case against Warner Bros. sends a message to the studio. The jury awarded him $60 million in punitive damages Thursday in his lawsuit that accused Warner Bros. of thwarting his plans to make a live-action version of "Pinocchio." Last week the jury awarded him $20 million in compensatory damages.

"Warner Bros. has traditionally not treated its creative people well," Coppola said. "Hopefully, this will teach them to treat creative people as an asset, not as serfs."

Warner Bros. lawyer Larson Jaenicke refused to comment on the award, but a studio spokesman said earlier it intended to appeal.

Jackson

DETROIT (CNN) -- Millionaire black businessman Don Barden, with pop king Michael Jackson standing at his side, announced a proposal to build a colossal, $1 billion entertainment-and-casino complex in Detroit that would be bankrolled in part by Jackson. It's the latest development in Barden's bid to get a casino license in Detroit.

Eight months ago, Barden was denied a piece of the action when Detroit began handing out its first casino licenses. Barden angrily called Mayor Dennis Archer's rejection of his bid "a slap in the face" to the mostly black city. Now, on August 4, voters will go to the polls for a referendum to decide whether Barden should be given a casino license.

Matt Damon (left) and Ben Affleck wrote and co-starred in "Good Will Hunting"

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- And the roll continues. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck won the Humanitas Prize on Thursday for their "Good Will Hunting" script. The award, which recognizes film and TV scripts that illuminate life and foster compassion, also comes with a $25,000 check. The same screenplay won Damon and Affleck an Oscar earlier this year.

Reed and Havel

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (CNN) -- Lou Reed gets around. And when the veteran rocker visits Prague, he gets invited to the president's mansion for dinner. Vaclav Havel took a break Thursday from forming a new government to visit with Reed, in town for a film festival.

"The president found out that his friend Lou Reed is around and decided to invite him over for a private visit," said Martin Krafl, a Havel spokesman.

The two first met in 1990 when Reed interviewed Havel for Rolling Stone magazine.

Reuters contributed to this report.