Sideshow: Hench hangs up his dancing shoes

The Pennsylvania Ballet opened its season Thursday night with many staffing changes - including one big one that slipped by with little mention or fanfare: Zachary Hench retired from dancing.

The much-loved former principal dancer was named ballet master in August, along with his wife, Julie Diana, who retired as principal dancer in May.

Hench planned to multitask as both dancer and coach. But being ballet master of a company in much transition (including a new artistic director, Ángel Corella) doesn't leave much time.

Hench opted to retire from the stage quietly, said Pennsylvania Ballet public relations manager Marissa Montenegro. No last dance, no curtain calls, no flowers. But his influence will still be felt from backstage.

- Ellen Dunkel

Joe Giudice of Real Housewives of New Jersey agreed on Wednesday to a plea deal. He pleads guilty to driver's license fraud - in 2011, he impersonated his brother to get a new license when his own was suspended for DUI - thereby avoiding deportation (he's not a U.S. citizen). He'll serve 18 months concurrently with his upcoming 41 months on fed fraud charges. Wife Teresa Giudice will serve 18 months.

The Ebola virus is contagious - and overhyped in the media. Stay calm, OK? But that's hard right now in Hopewell, N.J. As you've heard, Nancy Snyderman, a physician and NBC's chief medical editor, had just come back from Liberia, where she and crew were in contact with Ashoko Mukpo, a cameraman who got Ebola. Once home, she and crew were observing a voluntary 21-day quarantine . . . until hunger struck. So she and some crew merrily drove to an eatery in Hopewell to grab a bite. One of them (not her - she stayed in the Mercedes) went inside. Dumb, dumb, dumb. She's now apologized in a statement read on the air by Brian Williams. (Classy: Keep it by proxy.) The quarantine lasts until Oct. 22.

Some are disappointed that the former Amal Alamuddin, new wife of George Clooney, has changed her name. But we think Clooney Alamuddin is nice. . . . just kiddin', she's Amal Clooney now. And man, is she on a crusade. She wants the British Museum to give Greece back the so-called Elgin Marbles. (So does Mr. Clooney.) They're the statuary that once adorned the Parthenon in ancient Athens - but, it figures, they're named after Thomas Bruce, Seventh Earl of Elgin, the dude who stole them. He got permission from the Ottoman Empire to do it, but, hey, it's still stealing. You go, Ms. Clooney.