James Brown, the legendary performer who influenced scores of musicians today, died today at age 73. The cause was congestive heart failure. Read what Jon Pareles of the NY Times wrote in an obituary that we believe will be updated throughout the day:

Mr. Brown's music was sweaty and complex, disciplined and wild, lusty and socially conscious. Beyond his dozens of hits, Mr. Brown forged an entire musical idiom that is now a foundation of pop worldwide. more ›

The terror email, as reported by Gawker (where you can read it in full), that's been circulating to a number of people, telling them that the NYPD has ordered an extra 2,000-3,000 body bags in anticipation of a terror attack, most likely in the subways, on the national day of mourning for President Ronald Reagan, has been dismissed by the NYPD. Yes, dismissed, even though it had a CNN email address attached to it. The NYPD says that they have "received no credible threat information concerning a widely circulated E-mail message that discusses a purported subway attack." The police believe the email was part of a virus that infilitrated the sender's various books. They are investigating the email's origins. more ›

Here's the NY Times obituary, as well as the Times' extensive Reagan article archive, including an interesting interactive feature about Reagan from Times reporter Steven R. Weisman. Check out the Washington Post's coverage, including articles about his legacy as the Great Communicator, as the White House's best actor, as an optimist, as the key in the rebuilding of the GOP. more ›