newsmakers

newsmakers

Jane Scott, longtime rock critic, dies at 92

CLEVELAND

Jane Scott, a rock music critic who followed everyone from the Beatles to Britney Spears during a long career that she continued into her 80s, has died. She was 92.

The Plain Dealer, where Scott worked for a half-century, reported that a niece, Linda Scott, said her aunt died early Monday after a long illness. The report did not say where Jane Scott died.

Small in stature and in her signature red plastic eyeglasses, Jane Scott was a fixture on the Cleveland rock music scene from the mid-1960s until she retired in 2002, before her 83rd birthday.

She would be seen at shows carrying a large purse filled with her arsenal of concert gear — including earplugs and extra pens in case the star pocketed one to sign autographs — and wearing her backstage pass pinned to her lapel. She said that was so “if anyone tries to take it, they’d have to tear my blouse off.”

Scott was born in Cleveland and was a 1941 graduate of the University of Michigan, where she majored in English and drama. Her first day at The Plain Dealer was March 24, 1952, three days after Cleveland’s Moondog Coronation Ball, considered the world’s first rock concert.

She began as a society writer, penning columns for teens and senior citizens. It was the Beatles who changed her career and life, though she was more than 20 years older than most of their fans.

Becoming The Plain Dealer’s rock writer, Scott was the only woman at the news conference when the Beatles returned to Cleveland in 1966. She would later cover a Who’s Who of rock royalty, including the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Aretha Franklin and David Bowie. The Doors’ Jim Morrison once invited her backstage for a beer.

The funeral will be in Ann Arbor, Mich., The Plain Dealer reported, with a memorial service to come later in Cleveland.

Feds to probe hack on Fox News Twitter

WASHINGTON

The Secret Service said Monday it will investigate the hacking of Fox’s political Twitter account over updates claiming that President Barack Obama had been assassinated.

Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie says the law enforcement agency whose job it is to protect the president will conduct a probe of the false postings and that “we will conduct the appropriate follow-up.”

Hackers broke into the FoxNewsPolitics account early Monday, leaving a series of six tweets reporting that Obama had been shot to death in Iowa and the shooter was unknown.

In a statement posted on its website, Fox News called the tweets “malicious” and “false.”

“We will be requesting a detailed investigation from Twitter about how this occurred, and measures to prevent future unauthorized access into FoxNews.com accounts,” said Jeff Misenti, vice president and general manager of Fox News Digital.

Fox’s political Twitter account has more than 34,000 followers.

Associated Press