LOS ANGELES – Lindsay Lohan is making headlines for her upcoming Playboy centerfold. But law enforcement sources say she’s been quietly putting in her required hours of community service at the L.A. County coroner’s office and is now ahead of schedule for completing the court-ordered service.

Lohan is scheduled to appear before Judge Stephanie Sautner on Wednesday for a probation update, and those familiar with her community service say she has been doing more than 12 days a month at the county morgue. At this rate, she could finish her community service by March in connection with her probation violation on her necklace theft conviction and 2007 driving under the influence conviction.

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Actress Lindsay Lohan is reported to be ahead of schedule for completing her court-ordered community service. The Associated Press

Jay-Z: "Education is super important." ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last month, the judge sentenced Lohan to 30 days in jail and ordered her to complete her entire community service at the morgue, where she works as a janitor. The jail time amounted to a matter of hours.

Lohan admitted to violating probation by missing required work days and appointments. She missed 12 of 20 scheduled workdays at the Downtown Women’s Center imposed in May when she pleaded guilty to the necklace theft from a Venice, Calif., jewelry store. Lohan, 25, also canceled 14 of 19 scheduled appointments for court-ordered psychotherapy, they said.

Under the judge’s order, she must also attend 18 psychotherapy sessions. Sautner warned the actress that if she failed to meet the terms of her probation, she will be returned to jail for an additional 270 days. “This is what we really call putting the keys to the jail in the defendant’s hands,” Sautner told Lohan.

Lohan is required to report to the court each month. She appears on the cover of next month’s Playboy, and images of the cover have already been leaked. The photos were shot between sessions at the county morgue and her court appearance last month.

Jay-Z backs education with concerts

NEW YORK – Jay-Z didn’t graduate from high school, but he’s encouraging others to value their education.

The rapper announced Thursday that he will perform two shows at New York’s Carnegie Hall in February to benefit the Shawn Carter Scholarship Foundation and the United Way of New York City.

“Education is super important,” Jay-Z said. “I don’t have a high school diploma or a college diploma, but still for me to articulate, I had to have some form of schooling to articulate my thoughts.”

The concerts will take place on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7.

The news conference announced Jay-Z as the first solo hip-hop artist to play at the famed venue.

“I feel like they bent the rules so that could make sense for me right now, but I’ll take it,” Jay-Z said with a laugh.

Jodie Foster’s father to face term in prison

LOS ANGELES – Jodie Foster’s estranged father faces more than 25 years behind bars after being convicted of bilking more than $100,000 from the poor and elderly in a home-building scheme.

City News Service reported that Lucius Foster was convicted of 21 misdemeanor counts of grand theft after a jury deliberated for about three hours Wednesday.

Foster was convicted of taking $5,000 each from 21 people for whom he promised to build affordable homes made from cargo containers. The units were never built, and prosecutors alleged he used blatant lies and charm to attract investors.

Foster, who remains estranged from his two-time Oscar-winning daughter, was taken into custody immediately after the verdict.

Gable’s grandson enters guilty plea

LOS ANGELES – The grandson of actor Clark Gable has pleaded guilty to pointing a green laser at a Los Angeles police helicopter as it flew over Hollywood.

Prosecutors said 23-year-old Clark James Gable of Canoga Park pleaded guilty Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court to a felony count of discharge of a laser.

In exchange for the guilty plea, prosecutors dropped two additional felony charges.

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