Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Names and faces
• Intense heat, poisonous gasses, molten lava — the conditions for Nik Wallenda’s latest tightrope walk are downright hellish, and that’s just the way he wants it. Wallenda will traverse the Masaya Volcano in Nicaragua on Wednesday in a stunt that he says will go on, no matter the conditions. “I’m walking over an active volcano, facing every challenge that Mother Nature can throw at me from the high winds in the area to the heavy gases to, of course, the heat from that volcano, as well as the fact that it is the longest and the highest walk that I’ve ever attempted,” he said. Volcano Live with Nik Wallenda will air as a live two-hour special on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. CST. Wallenda, whose most recent tightrope walk involved crossing Times Square on a 1,300-foot cable, has long dreamed of crossing an active volcano. Masaya, a caldera with an active lava lake 1,800 feet below where Wallenda will cross, met all his criteria. In January, Wallenda said conditions make it impossible to erect the tightrope in advance “Because the sulfuric gasses in the air will actually eat through the cable to the point where it will actually crumble.” The one-third of a mile walk is expected to take 30 to 35 minutes.
• Public Enemy has abruptly fired founding member Flavor Flav after a public spat over the rap group’s plan to perform at a Bernie Sanders campaign event. Public Enemy “will be moving forward without Flavor Flav,” the band said in a brief statement Sunday. “We thank him for his years of service and wish him well.” The dispute kicked off when Flavor Flav and his attorney sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sanders’ campaign on Friday, arguing that a Sunday concert and campaign rally in Los Angeles by Public Enemy Radio had used Flavor Flav’s “unauthorized likeness, image, and trademarked clock.” “While (rapper) Chuck (D) is certainly free to express his political view as he sees fit — his voice alone does not speak for Public Enemy,” the letter states. “There is no Public Enemy without Flavor Flav.” Flavor Flav recently sued Chuck D, alleging he hasn’t received a royalty check for their music, live shows or merchandise in several years.