Guitarist Slash and kid's network Nickelodeon are teaming up for charity with plans to create a Dora The Explorer backpack to raise money for The Children's Defense Fund.

The Velvet Revolver founder and former Guns N' Roses guitar virtuoso will be launching a celebrity designed line of backpacks that will be sold at an auction this summer, reports pr-inside.com.

Limited numbers of the backpacks will be put up for sale in the U.S., Britain, Canada, France and Spain, and money raised from the auction will benefit childhood education programs in each respective country, according to reports.

Slash, 43, (real name Saul Hudson) will put his own personal touches to the design, which features popular cartoon character Dora the Explorer, while Shakira and Salma Hayek will also contribute to the project.

Source: http://www.postchronicle.com/

A Safford man was caught lugging stolen goods from a church to his house early Sunday morning.

Kenneth Lee Strong, 46, of Safford was booked into the Graham County Jail on Sunday morning after police caught him lugging around musical instruments he apparently stole from a local church.

Officer Brad Reynolds encountered Strong pushing a garbage can filled with two keyboards, an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and amplifier and other objects along 12th Street at about 4 a.m. Reynolds questioned Strong about the items, and Strong said they were left in the garbage can outside of a church. He said he believed they were donations, so he decided to take them. An address on the amplifier listed it as belonging to The Church of God at 901 Central Ave.

Reynolds received a call for service at that time and had to leave the scene but told Strong he would investigate his claim and contact him later.

After the service call was determined to be in the Graham County Sheriff's jurisdiction, Reynolds went to the church and found a door to be unlocked.

The building appeared to have been rummaged through, and two keyboard stands had been knocked over and a plastic tub of toys in the day care center had been poured out.

Reynolds then went to Strong's residence and located him asleep on the couch with an acoustic guitar on his lap and an electric guitar next to him. He had a cut on his hand and blood on his shirt. The garbage can with the keyboards and other items was outside the residence.

Back at the church, officers discovered blood on a broken window and a rock and broken glass on the floor. There was also blood on a wall, a doorknob and on a computer monitor and projector. Outside of the church a jacket was located with a wallet. Strong's Arizona Identification Card and an Arizona Department of Corrections card with his name and picture on it were located inside the wallet.

Representatives of the church arrived and stated two keyboards were missing, along with an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar and the other items discovered in Strong's possession. A representative estimated the items to be worth about $10,000 and stated some canned goods were missing as well.

The instruments were processed as evidence at the Safford Police Department and were then returned to the church representatives.

Strong was booked into the jail on charges of theft, aggravated criminal damage and burglary.

Source: http://www.eacourier.com/

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - A New Orleans musician was being held on $300,000 bond Sunday after being charged with hitting his girlfriend with a guitar and choking her.

An Orleans Parish judge raised the bond for 37-year-old Dylan Francis Brooks on Friday from $210,000.

Brooks listed his occupation in a police report as "musician," but he's also worked at a salon.

Investigators said Brooks caused a 5-inch cut on his girlfriend's head when he hit her with the guitar during an argument Wednesday.

Court records said he also choked her, allegedly saying: "I'll have to kill you because you'll send me to jail."

It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

He's charged with attempted second-degree murder, false imprisonment and tampering with evidence.

Source: http://www.wxvt.com/

Bristol is mourning the passing of Fred Wedlock - "The Oldest Swinger In Town" - who has passed away at the age of 67.

A prolific songwriter, Mr Wedlock had been a familiar name on the music scene for more than 40 years, producing a raft of popular comedy folk ballads as well as fronting television and radio programmes.

He leaves behind Sue, his wife of more than 40 years, and his two daughters; Hannah, who is herself a singer with the Blue Notes Jazz Band, and TV producer Lucy.

His family was inundated yesterday with calls of consolation at their home in Timsbury, near Midsomer Norton, where the singer was a well-loved character.

Hannah said her father had been ill for a few weeks and was being treated for pneumonia at Bath's Royal United Hospital but died at 6am yesterday after suffering a cardiac arrest.

She said: "It was very quick and peaceful. It's a very sad day for our family.

"Though we have not yet made any firm funeral arrangements, my mother would like to have the funeral at St Mary Redcliffe church, which is where they were married, and where my father had been the head chorister when he was a child growing up in Bristol."

Mr Wedlock's family ran a Redcliffe pub, and with typical humour he later recalled his earliest memory was hearing the Luftwaffe's bombers "redesigning the centre of Bristol".

He came from a long line of Bristol celebrities. His father and uncle both played for Bristol City and his grandfather, the famous Billy "Fatty" Wedlock, captained the England team in the years before World War I – the Wedlock Stand at Ashton Gate is named in his honour.

Mr Wedlock was a lifelong Bristol City fan, and was devoted to the city of his birth – priding himself on his love of the local dialect.

Bristol City's chief executive Colin Sexstone paid tribute last night.

He said: "Fred came from one of the biggest family dynasties associated with the club. More than that, he was in his own right a very special fan, with a great passion for the club.

"He was always positive, always humorous. When others were down in the dumps about the club, he would be positive about it. He will be sorely missed by the club and our condolences go to his family."

After an early career as a school teacher in some tough schools in the East End of London, Mr Wedlock went on to teach at South Bristol Technical College, before making his name as a folk singer in the 1970s.

During the course of his career, he recorded more than 20 albums of his trademark humorous folk music – with his most famous song, The Oldest Swinger In Town, reaching number six in the charts in 1981.

Derek Cleverdon, chairman of the Variety Club Children's Charity South West, said Fred was also devoted to charitable causes.

Mr Cleverdon said: "He performed on numerous occasions for the Variety Club, and raised thousands of pounds for us over the years.

"He was supposed to be performing for us last month at a Valentine's Day concert at the Marriott Hotel, but unfortunately he had to pull out when he was taken ill. He was a wonderful man, and this is a very sad day for everyone who knew him."

Bristol jazz musician Cass Caswell also paid tribute to Mr Wedlock.

He said: "It was with great sadness that I heard our very special friend Fred passed away in hospital.

"Fred had been a nationally known figure ever since his brilliant hit The Oldest Swinger In Town and he had become a great friend and asset to the Variety Club and had cheered up many of our events by performing his entertaining and very funny songs."

Dick Greener, lead singer with folk/progressive rock band The Strawbs, said: "Fred was a huge comic talent, and an all round thoroughly nice guy."

In one of his final interviews last year, with our sister paper the Western Daily Press, Mr Wedlock was asked why he continued to live in the West Country.

He said: "Birth, upbringing, accent, family, soul – and my complete failure to think of anywhere that could possibly be better."

When asked about the high point of his career, he said: "I've been very lucky, and in the right place at the right time, so I've had several high spots.

"I remember filling the Colston Hall for a Christmas show and my Mum and Dad sitting in the audience in tears. I remember getting a gold LP and a silver single, performing on Top Of The Pops with Legs and Co and actually being envied by the entire Bristol City team!"

When asked how he would like to be remembered, Mr Wedlock said: "When I go they'll say a lot of nice things about me – because that's traditional and because I'll leave a few bob for a pretty decent party.

"I'd just like what they say to be true."

Source: http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/

A suspicious Guitar Center employee helped Covina Police solve a nearly year-old burglary from Sierra Vista Middle School.

About $2,400 worth of musical equipment was stolen from the school's music room in May, but police were not able to find out who did it, according to a statement from police.

Then on Wednesday, a worker at the Covina Guitar Center became suspicious when a 18-year-old man tried to sell the store two electric guitars, according to the release from Sgt. Dave Foster.

The man, later identified as Abel Antonio Leon, 18, of Baldwin Park, didn't know much about the guitars. The worker typed in information from one of the guitars into a store database and realized the store had sold it in the past. The store then called the person who originally bought the guitar, who reported that it had been stolen from the middle school.

The employee called police, who arrested Leon on suspicion of possessing stolen property.

Police then discovered that a 16-year-old Covina boy also had stolen musical equipment at his home. They arrested him on suspicion of possessing stolen property.

Leon is being held at the Covina jail in lieu of $20,000 bail.

The 16-year-old was cited and released to his parents.

Source: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/

Gulf County, Fla:

It looks like any other house in Gulf County, but at 1 a.m. a typical house on Tulip Street became the site of a violent crime.

"Officers were there within about 10 minutes and found 2 young men on the ground bleeding profusely," said Gulf County Sheriff Joe Nugent.

The Sheriff's Office suspects, 20-year old Dustin Edward Roleson, stabbed both men in the chest with a hunting knife. Witnesses say he had been drinking at the house when a conversation among old friends became a fight. It left 21-year old, Conner Johnson dead and 19-year old Edward Lee Pack in critical condition.

"There was some accusations of a theft of a guitar or missing guitar of a few months ago, and it just escalated from there," said Nugent.

According to the Sheriff, things like this just don't happen there. Gulf County is not home to violent crimes.

"We have never had something like this, an incident where somebody died and a possibility of somebody else. It's just young people, it's a shame," said Nugent.

We tried to speak with someone at the house who claimed to live there, but he was in no mood to talk.

That's understandable considering the circumstances.

"You've got one family that's lost a child. you've got another family that has a child in the hospital and another family that's got a child who's looking at spending his life in jail. So you've got three devastated families right now."

Roleson had his first court appearance Friday morning and is being held, without bond. Sheriff Nugent says the suspect has "sobered up" since last night and is visibly upset. Roleson is charged with an open count of murder and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.

Source: http://www.panhandleparade.com/

The spot-on instincts of a Pembroke Welsh corgi pup are helping police track the suspect in the armed holdup of a Westside music store late Tuesday afternoon.

Butch Cassidy — a small, 10-month-old herding dog — and his owner, Kyla Rowe, were sitting outside Falafel of Santa Cruz at Mission and Trescony streets around 5:40 p.m. when the robber ran out of a nearby music shop with an electric guitar valued at $5,000.

Known to be a little protective, Butch rushed into action.

"My dog freaked out and jumped into the sidewalk barking and growling," said Rowe, a fourth-year psychology student at UC-Santa Cruz.

The panicked robber dropped his cell phone near Butch, then fled down Trescony Street with the high-end guitar.

Rowe said Butch isn't as threatening as the robber may have thought.

"He has a pretty scary bark but the guy must have not actually looked at him," she said. "He's 25 pounds. His bark is definitely worse than his bite." Rowe picked up the phone and walked back, with Butch, to the music shop. The employees had locked up after the gunpoint robbery but gladly opened the door to accept the recovered cell phone to turn over to police, Rowe said.

Officers are still searching for the suspect, who brandished a semi-automatic handgun at employees during the holdup, Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend said.

Detectives hope the cell phone will generate some leads in the case.

"Investigators found a couple of items of evidentiary value at the scene that we are hopeful will lead us to the suspect," Friend said.

Butch — named for the notorious Wild West train and bank robber played onscreen by one of Rowe's favorite actors, Paul Newman — is redeeming his moniker.

"My housemates are jokingly calling him an American hero now," Rowe said.

The robbery suspect is a Latino man, about 5 feet 10 inches tall, 180-195 pounds, 25-27 years old with brown hair and brown eyes. Police ask anyone with information call the Investigations Bureau at 831-420-5820 or the anonymous tip line at 831-420-5995.

Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/