Newsmakers

Denied Former New York Giants Super Bowl star receiver Plaxico Burress has come up short in his bid for work release during his two-year prison sentence in a gun case, a denial that could keep him behind bars until at least next spring, prison officials in New York said Tuesday. Burress can appeal the decision but otherwise can’t reapply for a work furlough until June 6, 2011, the date he comes up for potential full release if he gets time off for good behavior.

Named Redshirt freshman Denarius McGhee of Euless, Texas, has been named the starting quarterback for Montana State, which opens the season Saturday with a home game against Fort Lewis. Coach Rob Ash and offensive coordinator Brian Wright chose McGhee over senior Cody Kempt, an Oregon transfer who started as a sophomore and was named the backup at the beginning of last season, but started the final four games. Ash explained the decision came down to the offensive productivity of the Bobcats when McGhee was under center.

Filed Houston wide receiver Patrick Edwards, who broke his leg when he ran into a metal service cart in an October 2008 game at Marshall, accused the Charleston, W.Va., school in a lawsuit of maintaining an unsafe playing field. Edwards was running full speed for a long pass when his right shin crashed into the cart just beyond the end zone. Edwards suffered a compound fracture and a rod was inserted in his lower right leg during surgery the next day in Huntington, W.Va.

Sentenced Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin has been sentenced to 30 days in jail stemming from his drunken-driving conviction in Scottsdale, Ariz. The four-time All-Star also was fined $5,100 and must enroll in an alcohol-treatment program. He was ordered to report to jail Saturday, but that could be delayed because he’s appealing his sentence.

Died Two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon has died in Paris at age 50 after a long bout with cancer, France 2 television announced. Fignon was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in the spring of 2009. Fignon also won the Giro d’Italia in 1989 and took the Milan-San Remo Classic twice.