Singer Jerry Reed dies

Singer Jerry Reed dies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jerry Reed, a singer who became a good ol’ boy actor in car chase movies such as “Smokey and the Bandit,” has died of complications from emphysema at 71.

His longtime booking agent, Carrie Moore-Reed, no relation to the star, said Reed died early Monday.

Reed’s catalog of country chart hits, from 1967 through 1983, were released under the label group’s RCA imprint.

As a singer in the 1970s and early 1980s, Reed had a string of hits that included “Amos Moses,” “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot,” “East Bound and Down,” “She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft)” and “The Bird.”

In the mid-1970s, he began acting in movies such as “Smokey and the Bandit” with Burt Reynolds, usually as a good ol’ boy.

Bearskin hats on way out

LONDON — After meeting with animal rights activists, the British military said Tuesday that it will study alternative materials to replace the bearskin hats worn by the soldiers who guard Buckingham Palace.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, supported by some members of Parliament, says killing Canadian black bears to make the headgear is cruel. PETA says it will ask clothes designers to draw up a new hat using synthetic materials.

Although Canadian black bears are not an endangered species, sentiment has grown in Britain against using the fur for headgear that has no military purpose other than as a ceremonial adornment.

The Defense Ministry buys 50 to 100 bearskin pelts a year to make and repair hats, which can last up to 40 years. A single hat costs about $1,100.

Mayor’s hearing still on

DETROIT — The Michigan Court of Appeals won’t stop Gov. Jennifer Granholm from holding a hearing today that could lead to the ouster of Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.

A three-judge panel ruled Tuesday night after hearing arguments from Kilpatrick’s lawyers and the governor’s legal team.

At the request of the Detroit City Council, the governor will lead a hearing on whether Kilpatrick misled members when he settled lawsuits with former police officers for $8.4 million. The mayor is separately charged with 10 felonies.

Earlier Tuesday, a Wayne County judge refused to block the hearing.

Argentina to pay off debt

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina will pay its entire $6.7 billion debt to the Paris Club of lending nations, President Cristina Fernandez said Tuesday, shoring up sagging investor confidence and opening the door to needed new capital as its economy slows.

The payment, which will tap about a sixth of the country’s $47.1 billion in foreign currency reserves, “confirms one more time Argentina’s willingness to meet its international obligations,” Fernandez told a news conference.

Markets reacted positively to the news and bond prices rallied. But some analysts warned that while the move may reassure local and foreign investors, it signals no shift in the fiscal policies they were most concerned about.

The Paris Club is an umbrella group of wealthy creditor nations including Germany, Japan, Italy, the Netherlands and the U.S.

Putin responds to NATO

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia will respond calmly to an increase in NATO ships in the Black Sea in the aftermath of the short war with Georgia but promised that “there will be an answer.”

Meanwhile, President Dmitry Medvedev sternly warned the West that it would lose more than Moscow would if it tried to punish Russia with sanctions over the war with Georgia.

Russia has repeatedly complained that NATO has too many warships in the Black Sea. Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Tuesday that currently there are two U.S., one Polish, one Spanish and one German ship there.

“We don’t understand what American ships are doing on the Georgian shores, but this is a question of taste, it’s a decision by our American colleagues,” Putin reportedly said. “The second question is why the humanitarian aid is being delivered on naval vessels armed with the newest rocket systems.”

Russia’s reaction to NATO ships “will be calm, without any sort of hysteria. But of course, there will be an answer,” Interfax quoted Putin as saying during a visit to Uzbekistan.

Associated Press