Is $1.5 million bid for dog food can found in Paris Hilton's garbage real?

Is there really gold in Paris Hilton's garbage, or is it just a shaggy dog story?

A pair of enterprising scavengers from the Web site HollywoodStarTrash.com were stunned to learn Wednesday that the empty gourmet dog food can they had plundered from Hilton's trash had launched an eBay bidding war reaching $1.5 million.

"I'm definitely skeptical," said one of the HollywoodStarTrash guys, who declined to give his full name for fear of jeopardizing his day job.

Although he noted the top bidder's eBay profile shows the person has gotten no complaints from sellers, he said he has asked the Web site to check on the bid's legitimacy and pull it if it's fake.

"I'd hate to get that eBay bill and then nobody pays," he laughed.

EBay spokeswoman Kim Rubey said the online auction site is investigating.

"We do like to remind all the buyers that any bid is a binding contract to enter into an agreement with the seller, and we do have rules against bids that are not legitimate and we will take action against a joke bid," she said.

Hilton has famously and frequently been spotted toting her Chihuahua, Tinkerbell.

HollywoodStarTrash put three other Hilton items for sale on eBay: a used toothbrush, an autographed postcard and a fan letter to the reality TV star. The highest bid for those was $285 for the toothbrush. Bidding closes Sunday.

At least one person who has found gold in Hilton's trash is Daryl Abrams, president and CEO of Party Animal Inc., the West Hollywood business that markets Party Animal organic gourmet dog food.

"We have received a ton of Internet orders," Abrams said. "The last 24 hours have been the most amount of orders that we've had."

Party Animal, which goes for as much as $2.99 per can, can be found in about 150 stores in Southern California and about 40 in New York, Abrams said. It can also be bought through the company's Web site.

Abrams said Hilton, one of his best customers, buys it by the case.

"They are the most well-taken-care-of dogs," he said of her pets. AP

Usher and fiancee Tameka Foster announce they are expecting a baby in the fall

Usher is expecting bigger things than a new album -- the superstar announced Wednesday that he and fiancee Tameka Foster are expecting their first child together.

"We are extremely excited at this point in our lives planning our wedding and the joy that comes with expecting our first child together," the couple said in a statement released to The Associated Press. "We hope people will be happy for us and respect our privacy during this happy period in our lives."

The baby is due in the fall, according to a representative for Usher.

This would be the first child for the R&B crooner/actor, and the fourth for the recently divorced Foster.

Spice Girls announce reunion for 6-date world tour

The Spice Girls wannabe stars again.

Following a calculated publicity buildup, the original Girl Power group of the 1990s announced Thursday that they have agreed to reunite for six concerts around the world -- their first since breaking up in 2001.

Talk of a reunion had swirled for weeks -- boosted by Sporty Spice herself.

Victoria (Adams) Beckham (Posh Spice), Melanie Chisholm (Sporty Spice), Geri Halliwell (Ginger Spice), Emma Bunton (Baby Spice) and Melanie Brown (Scary Spice) formed the Spice Girls in 1994. They became a global hit. AP

BLURB THIS:

"Luckily for Bruce Willis and the audience, his die-hard cop still has a lot of yippee-ki-yay in him, nearly 20 years after the first 'Die Hard.'" David Germain, AP Movie Writer, on "Live Free or Die Hard"

"This talky-talky tale of a French rat with a compulsion to cook is about daring to dream the impossible, about reaching beyond your origins. The rat may achieve those lofty aims. The movie about him doesn't." Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel, on "Ratatouille"

TUBETIME:

"The Best Years"

TIME: 7:30 p.m. | The N

DETAILS: This new drama series follows an orphan (Charity Shea) struggling to find herself as she embarks on her freshman year at a prestigious Eastern university.