NEWSMAKERS

Gibson funds Les Paul award for research at Belmont University

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Gibson Brands is funding an award for research at Belmont University in Nashville that honors the life and contributions of Les Paul.

Paul was an internationally celebrated artist, songwriter, luthier and inventor. He helped popularize the solid-body electric guitar and is probably best known as the designer of the Gibson Les Paul electric guitar.

The school says the Les Paul Music Innovation Award will fund faculty and student research at Belmont’s Curb College of Entertainment and Music Business.

The $100,000 fund was announced on Tuesday, the 100th anniversary of Paul’s birth. He died in 2009.

Rapper Rick Ross arrested on drug charge in Atlanta

FAYETTEVILLE, Ga.

A rapper who was stopped for a window tint violation in metro Atlanta has been arrested on a marijuana possession charge.

Fayette County Sheriff’s Office spokesman J. Allen Stevens said rapper Rick Ross, whose real name is William Roberts, was being booked into the county jail Wednesday afternoon.

Stevens says an officer stopped Roberts and a passenger because the windows of the Bentley they were riding in violated tinting regulations. Stevens says the officer smelled marijuana and found a misdemeanor amount inside the car.

Stevens says Roberts was cooperative and didn’t appear to be under the influence. The passenger’s identity was not immediately available.

Stevens says Roberts has also been given a citation for the tinted windows.

An email to his agent wasn’t returned Wednesday afternoon.

Associated Press