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ZZ Top bassist Dusty Hill has died, 8.2 magnitude earthquake off the Alaskan coast, a massive shoplifting crime wave in California, and Kelly Clarkson ordered to pay ex-husband nearly $200,000 per month spousal and child support.
Dusty Hill, the iconic bearded bassist for rock trio ZZ Top, has died at the age of 72, according to the band’s official website. His death occurred just days after taking a leave of absence because of a hip issue. The group had been scheduled to play Wednesday night at the CCNB Amphitheatre at Heritage Park in Simpsonville, South Carolina, NBC reported. The band’s guitar tech, Elwood Francis, was going to be filling in for Hill while he dealt with the hip issue, CNN reported. But on Wednesday, the band issued a statement announcing Hill’s death.
“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX,” the official statement said.
The band was formed in 1969 as a blues-rock outfit and released 15 studio albums. After rising to fame in the 70s, the group reinvented its sound and look in the 80s, adding synthesizers achieving colossal success, multiple Grammy nominations, and heavy rotation on MTV. The band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.
At 10:15 PM Wednesday, an 8.2 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of Alaska, the strongest seismic activity to strike the area since 1964, CNN reported. According to the US Geological Survey (USGS), the earthquake was centered 56 miles east-southeast of Perryville, Alaska, and struck 29 miles deep according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). There have been two strong aftershocks, one of 6.2 and another at 5.6 magnitude, the USGS reported.
A video captured four women with huge duffel bags stuffed with stolen merchandise running from a CVS in San Francisco. A witness said the four women were “picking the place dry” and employees “just shrug” when asked if they would call the police.
Multiple similar incidents in California have been captured video as shoplifters run to idling getaway cars, Fox reported.
Retailers have been reducing their hours to try to limit their vulnerability to crime.
Authorities say the thefts are organized crime ring efforts that are taking advantage of lenient laws in the state that have reduced punishments or are filing no charges.
Last week, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill to create crime taskforces to address these organized theft rings.
Last week, a spokesperson for the San Francisco Police Department told Fox that the shoplifters aren’t taking “one or two items that someone might need to get by.”
“Our investigations have shown that there are organized fences where people are selling these products that they steal,” the SFPD spokesperson added.
Singer and TV host Kelly Clarkson, 39, has been ordered by a Los Angeles judge to pay her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock, 44, nearly $200,000 a month in spousal and child support, E! Online reported. The amount is less than half of what he was seeking. The payment breaks down to 150,000 per month in spousal support and $45,601 per month in child support, for a total of $195,601 per month, equating to over $2.3 million per year. The couple shares three children. Clarkson earns over $1.5 million per month in income, according to recent court filings, according to a report by TMZ.
