It's Finally Friday!

The end of a short week finds country music pretty busy with quite a few little mentions. John Rich voluntarily turned himself in to the Metro Davidson County Criminal Justice Center in Nashville yesterday afternoon. He is facing misdemeanor charges brought against him by former Nashville Star contestant Jared Ashley and Nashville attorney Chris Sevier. Last month, both men filed civil lawsuits against one another after an alleged altercation between the pair took place in March.

Times up on Carrie Underwood’s highway signs. The signs on Interstate 40 and U.S. 69 in Oklahoma proclaim Checotah Home of Carrie Underwood American Idol 2005. The signs are located near the interstate and highway exits into the town and are being removed by the state. It seems that Oklahoma Transportation Department regulations require them to be removed from state property after two years. But the signs aren’t going very far. They were given to the city of Checotah and will be placed within the city limits.

George Strait won Wednesday night. That’s TV talk that says Wednesday night’s George Strait: ACM Artist of the Decade All-Star Concert controlled the television ratings for the evening. With no reality singers to watch, the public was forced to watch the pros, so the special drew 10.6 million viewers.

News From Around The Country
Big Kenny of Big & Rich and Big Machine Records president and CEO Scott Borchetta will join Naomi Judd as judges on the second season of CMT's Can You Duet. Kellie Pickler has been forced to cancel two concerts because she is suffering from bronchitis. Darius Rucker now has his own iPhone application. Check out iTunes.com to download it for free. Miley Cyrus has two MTV Movie Award nominations this weekend. She has nods in the Breakthrough Female Performance for her role in Hannah Montana: The Movie and also for Best Song From a Movie for “The Climb”. LeAnn Rimes will be a presenter Sunday night. And finally, Joe Nichols will be in California over the next few days to film a tribute to popular children’s program host Mr. Rogers, who would have been 80 this year. Joe will be doing his new single "Believers" with a children’s choir, and the LA Philharmonic.