NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Jessica Simpson gives birth to girl

NEW YORK

Jessica Simpson is a new mom.

Simpson gave birth to a daughter named Maxwell Drew Johnson in Los Angeles on Tuesday, said publicist Lauren Auslander.

Maxwell weighed 9 pounds, 13 ounces.

It’s the first child for 31-year-old Simpson and her 32-year-old fianc , Eric Johnson, a former NFL player.

“We are so grateful for all of the love, support and prayers we have received,” Simpson said on her website. “This has been the greatest experience of our lives!”

‘Swamp People’ stars not hurt in Ark. crash

DODDRIDGE, Ark.

Two stars of the reality TV show “Swamp People” are unhurt after being involved in a five-car pileup near the Arkansas- Louisiana state line.

Arkansas State Police say three people suffered serious but not life- threatening injuries in Monday’s crash on U.S. 71.

The Texarkana Gazette reports that alligator hunters Joe LaFont and Tommy Chauvin, known as Trapper Joe and Trigger Tommy, were not injured. T-shirts and other merchandise from the show spilled from their truck onto the highway.

Police say four cars had stopped for a flagman directing traffic around highway maintenance work but that a fifth driver failed to halt and smashed into a tractor-trailer, causing the pileup.

The History Channel’s “Swamp People” follows a group of Louisiana alligator hunters in the Atchafalaya Swamp.

‘Shaft’ guitarist Pitts dies at age 65

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Charles “Skip” Pitts, the longtime Memphis guitar player for Isaac Hayes whose distinctive sound helped define soul and make “Shaft” cool, has died. He was 65.

Tim Sampson, communication director with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, said Pitts died Tuesday in Memphis after a long struggle with cancer.

Pitts was responsible for the unforgettable wah-wah pedal guitar sound on Hayes’ “Theme from Shaft,” the ’70s Blaxploitation film that remains a memorable moment in American popular culture. Pitts’ 1971 riff was bristling with menace, capturing a dangerous vibe that transcended the screen.

He also was responsible the guitar line from The Isley Brothers’ “It’s Your Thing.”

Bobby Vee reveals he has Alzheimer’s

ST. PAUL, Minn.

Former 1960s teen pop idol Bobby Vee says he’s been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

The 69-year-old, born Robert Velline in Fargo, N.D., says on his website that he was diagnosed last year.

Vee was catapulted to stardom after the deaths of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and JP “Big Bopper” Richardson in a 1959 plane crash en route to Moorhead, Minn. Vee and his friends filled in for the trio at the Moorhead performance, and soon after that, he recorded his first single, “Suzie Baby.”

Vindicator wire reports