America Ferrera

 Image by wenn.com

Ugly Betty star America Ferrera visited Chinle, Arizona on Monday and read to a young Navajo child.

America took time out of her busy schedule to read to children involved in the Save The Children organization.

According to Just Jared, her visit coincided with the global launch of STC’s 10th annual “State of the World’s Mothers” report, which highlights the importance of investing in early childhood development, starting in infancy, and future school success.

“Seeing this program in person and actually meeting the people touched by Save the Children was an incredible experience,” said America.

“It was so inspiring to see how involved and engaged the parents of the children in the program truly are and how their enthusiasm and dedication positively affects their sons and daughters.”

Check out the special video from America below...

Spies on the set of Ugly Betty have been spilling the gossip to Page Six and let's just say it isn't pretty. Apparently Lindsay Lohan and America Ferrera (who plays Ugly Betty) weren't exactly BFFs behind the scenes.

Lindsay's little antics even cost her some work when they decided to cut her down from six episodes to four.

A source on set said, "It was a mess. Lindsay would show up every day with an entourage of people. She smoked 24/7, and after she left, they had to repaint her dressing room it was such a mess. She would obsessively cut pictures of herself out of the tabloids like she was creating some sort of scrapbook and refused to go on set until America was there - it was a power play."

How did her rep respond? "Lindsay was scheduled for six episodes and is appearing in four but had a lovely time," she said. Doesn't sound so lovely to us.

 Image by wenn.com

Remember the funny video of Blake Lively and America Ferrera on a news show promoting their flick The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.

If you don't, we can refresh your memory. The two were sitting side by side and talking about the movie they made together. Then the reporter had to ask Blake about the upcoming season of Gossip Girl. When Blake started talking about her hit TV show, America sort of dosed off. She just seemed really bored and over the interview.

Naturally, the media instantly thought there was some sort of beef between the two. Well, there isn't!

Blake wants us all to know that the two are BFF's.

Lively says, "I haven't even heard about it. I don't ever pay attention to that stuff.

"She's one of my best friends in the whole wide world and honestly, when you're sitting in a room for three hours doing satellite interviews... We were staring at a Post-It (note) with a smiley face, so I think I probably rolled my eyes a hundred times. I'm like, Oh gosh, this thing is still going on?"

300 production people will lose their jobs as a result of Ugly Betty moving to New York. The reason for the move is a smart one, because New York, like Connecticut, has introduced several tax benefits to bring more productions to the east coast.

Here in sunny California, the governator hasn't done anything to match that. People like the caterers, set builders, and dry cleaners will all be out of a job with the move. So they've banded together to buy a one page ad in Variety to bring attention to changes that need to be made for their well being.

Here's what they have to say to Arnold:

To Whom it Should Concern:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Members of the State Senate and State Assembly, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the Los Angeles City Council, and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors:

We are writing to you because we just lost our jobs. We are the 300 plus members of the crew of the television show Ugly Betty. We were informed this Tuesday that the production of our show is moving to New York primarily because of the 35% tax incentives being offered by the state of New York. Instead of making good wages and paying our fair share of California state income tax, we will all be collecting Unemployment Benefits. In addition, we will certainly be cutting our spending back to the bone, which will not only cut back our sales tax contributions substantially, but it could end up costing the jobs of the people who provide services and products to us. Not only are these crew positions being lost; all of our local vendors are losing our business.

Our production buys: lumber, paint, wallpaper, cabinets, other building materials, office products, fabric, art supplies, computer equipment, food, beverages, flowers, film, makeup & hair products, wigs, insurance, jewelry, clothing, etc.

Our production rents: lighting equipment, sound equipment, video playback equipment, heavy machinery, office equipment, backdrops, costumes, furniture, scenery, props, soundstages, offices, parking facilities, cars, trucks, storage facilities, computers, camera equipment, grip equipment, editing equipment, drafting equipment, cell phones, computers, toilets, dumpsters, live plants, production trailers, tools, hardware, artwork, walkie talkies, etc.

Our production also uses the services of: dry cleaners, printers, location companies, Special Effects companies, utilities, caterers, payroll services, restaurants, security, Post Production Services, Clearance Houses, etc.

When we shoot on locations around Los Angeles we pay for permits; we pay homeowners & businesses for the use of their property, we hire police and fire department personnel, we pay for facility engineers, etc.

So, while the loss of our individual positions may be insignificant, the loss of this production is staggering. Now multiply this by all the other productions going to New York, New Mexico, Illinois, Louisiana, North Carolina and other states with incentives, not to mention Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Eastern Europe, etc. and the cost to the California state economy is monumental. We implore you to do everything in your power to level the playing field and bring our jobs back to California by enacting meaningful incentives to keep film and television production in our state.

Sincerely yours,
The Crew of Ugly Betty