Quick Takes: Garth Brooks concert funds head to flood relief

Garth Brooks’ concert series at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena in December is expected to bring in $5 million for flood relief in Tennessee.

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee said Wednesday it already has received $4.35 million from the nine sold-out concerts and money is still coming in.

The flooding was one of Tennessee’s worst natural disasters, causing more than $2 billion in damage in Nashville alone and killing 22 people around the state.

The proceeds will go to the River Fund, a charitable fund within the Community Foundation.

—Associated Press

Musicians rebuff offer in Detroit

Striking Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians have rejected the latest contract proposal from orchestra management.

Musicians spokesman Haden McKay said Wednesday they rejected the offer but noted that the disagreement has narrowed.

Management officials submitted the proposal last Friday.

The walkout began Oct. 4.

—Associated Press

Astronaut’s jam session lifts off

Musical astronaut Catherine Coleman has plenty of flutes to pick from aboard the International Space Station.

One is her own. Two belong to members of the Irish group the Chieftains. And one belongs to Ian Anderson of the Jethro Tull band.

“A pretty well-rounded spectrum, and I am having a great time up here with them,” Coleman said. On Wednesday, she played a couple of tunes for radio and TV interviewers.

The penny whistle she took up in December belongs to the Chieftains’ Paddy Moloney. There’s also an old Irish flute from the Chieftains’ Matt Molloy.

Coleman, who has a doctorate in polymer science and engineering, considers herself an amateur musician. She said it’s been “pretty neat” creating her “own little world with music” in orbit.

She hopes to team up with the Chieftains and Tull flutists for a space-to-ground concert before she returns to Earth in May.

—Associated Press

Another read on Malibu’s Diesel

Diesel Bookstore in Malibu is set to close in the next several weeks. But co-owners John Evans and Alison Reid, who are Malibu residents, hope to open a new iteration of the bookstore in the neighborhood before the year is out.

“Serious readers in Malibu love having a bookstore there,” Evans said. “Booksellers are idealistic and romantic; we think that this will still work.”

Diesel’s other two locations — in Brentwood and Oakland — are doing fine. Evans thinks the location in Malibu, at 3890 Cross Creek Road, may not have been the right spot.

—Carolyn Kellogg

Comic to tackle sports news

Norm Macdonald is returning to the news, specifically sports news.

The former “Saturday Night Live” comedian and “Weekend Update” anchor will star in “Sports Show With Norm Macdonald.” Comedy Central announced Wednesday that it’s picking up the series and ordering eight episodes.

The network said the show will feature Macdonald’s “comedic take on the most topical and controversial stories from the sports world.”

It’s set to premiere in April.

—Associated Press

Current TV’s fall lineup revealed

A day after announcing it was bringing former MSNBC host Keith Olbermann aboard, Current TV unveiled its fall programming plans for advertisers Wednesday in New York.

Among the programs not previously announced by the cable channel: “50 Greatest Documentaries,” a five-part series about the most noteworthy documentaries of the last 30 years; “Headlines That Shocked America,” a five-part series recalling the major news events of the last 20 years; and “Smoke Jumpers,” a six-part series about firefighters in the Northern Rockies.

—Lee Margulies

Finally

Arts grant: The Broad Stage in Santa Monica has received a $500,000 grant from the Burbank-based Lloyd E. Rigler-Lawrence E. Deutsch Foundation to support musical performances over the next three years.