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People in the News

Steven Tyler sends

cease-and-desist to Trump

BOSTON (AP) — Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler is again demanding that President Donald Trump stop using the band’s songs at rallies.

Tyler’s attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to the president Wednesday, a day after the song “Livin’ on the Edge” was heard at a Trump rally in West Virginia.

It’s not the first time Tyler has asked Trump to stop using Aerosmith songs. Tyler sent the Trump campaign two cease-and-desist letters in 2015 for its use of the band’s music.

The latest letter says by using “Livin’ on the Edge,” the president “is falsely implying that our client, once again, endorses his campaign and/or his presidency.”

Tyler tweeted it isn’t a political issue, he just does not let anyone use his songs without permission.

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Chicago ‘anti-bait truck’

event to offer free shoes

CHICAGO (AP) — A Chicago rapper’s foundation will be giving away thousands of shoes in a low-income South Side neighborhood where a recent sting using “bait trucks” to lure potential shoe thieves faced criticism from civil rights activists and local officials.

Rapper Vic Mensa’s SaveMoneySaveLife foundation will give away shoes Sunday in the Englewood neighborhood, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. The event comes after residents filmed police arresting a man and accused officers of trying to entrap poor residents.

Norfolk Southern Railroad organized the sting with assistance from the Chicago Police Department. The effort was aimed at combatting thefts from nearby rail yards. The railroad company has since apologized , and prosecutors dropped charges against three people arrested during the sting.

Sunday’s event will include multiple “anti-bait trucks” with gym shoes from brands, including Puma, Adidas, Nike and Converse, for everyone from toddlers to adults, said foundation co-founder Laundi Keepseagle.

“It’s been so beautiful,” she said. “I’m so excited for these kids to get shoes for the new (school) year.”

Keepseagle said large donations were made from as far as Germany, China and Australia by multiple athletes and musicians who asked to remain anonymous.

“It’s amazing. I spent the last half hour crying,” Keepseagle said. “It’s been overwhelming.”

The event will also feature barbers and stylists offering free haircuts, as well as performances and food trucks. Mensa and Chance the Rapper will be in attendance.

Former Lynyrd Skynyrd

guitarist Ed King dies

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ed King, a former guitarist for Lynyrd Skynyrd who helped write several of the group’s hits including “Sweet Home Alabama,” has died in Nashville, Tennessee, according to a family friend. He was 68.

Scott Coopwood said King died Wednesday due to cancer. Funeral arrangements had not yet been announced Thursday.

King joined the band in 1972 and was part of its first three albums with its distinct three-guitar sound.

He is credited on several of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s songs, including “Saturday Night Special” and “Workin’ for MCA,” and his voice can be heard providing the opening count on “Sweet Home Alabama.”

The song was a response to Neil Young’s songs “Southern Man” and “Alabama,” which focused on the Southern white man’s rise on the back of slavery. The song is now considered a Southern anthem played often at sporting events and was used for a time on Alabama license plates.

“Ed was our brother, and a great songwriter and guitar player,” said Gary Rossington, a founding member of the band. “I know he will be reunited with the rest of the boys in Rock and Roll Heaven.”

King left the band two years before a plane crash killed singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines in 1977. He rejoined the group 10 years later when it reunited with Johnny Van Zant taking his brother’s place and played with the band until he retired in 1996 due to heart problems. He had a heart transplant in 2011.

King was also an original member of the California psychedelic group Strawberry Alarm Clock, which had a hit that King co-wrote called “Incense and Peppermints” in 1967.

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