Names and faces

LITTLE ROCK — The Stone Temple Pilots have fired singer

Scott Weiland

1. In a one-sentencenews release Wednesday, publicist Kymm Britton said: “Stone Temple Pilots have announced they have officially terminated Scott Weiland.” No other information was provided, and Weiland could not immediately be reached for comment. The band’s 1992 debut Core, has sold more than 8 million copies in the United States. Its hits include “Vasoline,” “Interstate Love Song” and “Plush,” which won a Grammy in 1993 for best hard-rock performance with vocal. Weiland also was in the supergroup Velvet Revolver with Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash and other musicians. The 45-year-old has dealt with drug addiction, run-ins with the law and two failed marriages. He released his memoir, Not Dead & Not for Sale, in 2011.

The South Carolina Supreme Court on Wednesdayoverturned a settlement divvying up the multimillion-dollar estate of

James Brown, saying a former attorney general didn’tfollow the late soul singer’s wishes in putting together the deal. Attorney General Henry McMaster brokered a settlement in 2009 that split Brown’s estate, giving nearly half to a charitable trust, a quarter to his widow, Tomi Rae Hynie, and leaving the rest to be split among his adult children. But the justices ruled that the deal ignored Brown’s wishes for most of his money to go to charity. The court also ruled that the Godfather of Soul was of sound mind when he made his will before dying of heart failure on Christmas Day 2006 at age 73. The court sent the estate back to a lower court to be reconsidered.The justices did agree with the lower court’s decision to remove Brown’s original trustees. Members of Brown’s family said they wanted them gone because the trustees mismanaged the estate until it was almost broke. The court said it had no idea what the estate was worth, giving an estimate of $5 million to more than $100 million. The justices harshly criticized McMaster, who stepped in to broker the settlement after the estate foundered in court for years. Under McMaster’s deal, a professional manager took control of Brown’s assets from the estate’s trustees, wiping out more than $20 million in debt and opening the way for needy students to receive college scholarships. The plan alsoallowed a financial manager to cut lucrative deals that put Brown’s music on national and international commercials for products such as Chanel perfume and Gatorade.