newsmakers

newsmakers

Arrest in break-in try at rocker’s home

CLARKSTON, Mich.

A 43-year-old man has been charged after an attempted burglary of a home owned by musician Kid Rock.

Brian D. Keith of Oakland County’s Independence Township was arraigned by video Tuesday in District Court in Clarkston on felony charges of attempted home invasion and malicious destruction property.

Keith asked for a court-appointed attorney. He’s being held after bond was set at $75,000.

Saturday’s arrest came after surveillance photos from security cameras on Kid Rock’s property in Clarkston were released. The photos showed a man ramming the gate Wednesday afternoon and trying to break into the house. He also was on crutches and failed to get in.

Authorities have said a 1994 Ford Club Wagon van, which was used to force open the gated driveway to the property, also was impounded.

Jazz keyboardist George Duke dies

NEW YORK

George Duke, the Grammy-winning jazz keyboardist and producer whose sound infused acoustic jazz, electronic jazz, funk, R&B and soul in a 40-year-plus career, has died. He was 67.

A representative for Duke said the performer died Monday night in Los Angeles. Duke was being treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

Duke’s son, Rashid, thanked his father’s fans in a statement Tuesday.

“The outpouring of love and support that we have received from my father’s friends, fans and the entire music community has been overwhelming,” he said. “Thank you all for your concern, prayers and support.”

Duke was born in San Rafael, Calif. He appeared on a number of Frank Zappa albums and played in the Don Ellis Orchestra, Cannonball Adderley’s band and with jazz musician Stanley Clarke. Duke also played keyboard on Michael Jackson’s multiplatinum 1979 album, “Off the Wall.”

Elmore Leonard suffers stroke

DETROIT

Acclaimed crime novelist Elmore Leonard is recovering at a hospital after a stroke last week.

Leonard’s longtime researcher, Gregg Sutter, said Tuesday that family members are guardedly optimistic about the 87-year-old’s condition.

Leonard lives in suburban Detroit.

He has written 45 Westerns, crime novels and mysteries. Sutter says Leonard has been at work on No. 46.

Many of his books — notably “Out of Sight,” “Get Shorty” and “Be Cool” — have become films. “Life of Crime,” based on Leonard’s “The Switch,” is to be screened at the Toronto Film Festival next month.

Leonard was given an honorary National Book Award last year.

Usher’s son nearly drowns in pool

ATLANTA

Authorities say the son of Grammy-winning R&B singer Usher nearly drowned in an Atlanta pool.

Atlanta police spokesman Carlos Campos said in a report Tuesday that the 5-year-old boy fell to the bottom of pool and became stuck in the drain. Campos says it happened Monday afternoon behind a home in downtown Atlanta.

Campos says the housekeeper tried to get to the boy, but was unable to pull him from the drain. The boy was eventually pulled from the pool, and given CPR by a man who was working at the home as an audio-visual subcontractor.

Campos says the boy was “conscious, breathing and alert” when firefighters arrived before 4 p.m. He is at the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Scottish Rite.

Director responds to Jim Carrey

LONDON

“Kick-Ass 2” director Jeff Wadlow is defending his film after star Jim Carrey chose not to support the action comedy because of its violence.

Carrey, who plays vigilante Colonel Stars and Stripes in the sequel to the 2010 hit, has distanced himself from the film, saying the shooting massacre at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary school changed his perspective.

Wadlow says Carrey is as unpredictable in real life as he is as an actor and “you never know what he is going to do or say.” He says he hopes people will see the movie and judge for themselves.

He says that in many ways the movie is less violent than its predecessor, with more hand to hand combat and fewer guns.

Wire reports