h2. Flavor Flav’s chicken restaurant closes in Iowa

CLINTON, Iowa — A fried chicken restaurant in Iowa founded by Flavor Flav has abruptly closed its doors after the reality TV star and his business partner cut ties and exchanged harsh words.

Flav’s Fried Chicken in Clinton, Iowa, closed on Sunday, just four months after opening to much fanfare.

Flav told WQAD-TV that he was pulling a license that allowed restaurant manager Nick Cimino to use his name in the restaurant because he “isn’t running the business right.” Some former employees had complained they were not paid.

Cimino told the station Flav was “a fraud” who was trying to get rich off of his ideas and work.

Flav, a founder of the hip-hop group Public Enemy and later a star of VH1’s “The Surreal Life,” opened the business with Cimino in January.

h2. Barnes & Noble adds apps to Nook e-reader

NEW YORK — Barnes & Noble Inc. on Monday added an applications store and an email program to its Nook Color e-reader, bringing the $249 device closer to working like a tablet computer in the vein of the iPad.

The Nook Color has a color touchscreen, which gives it capabilities beyond those of Amazon.com’s competing Kindle. The Kindle has a gray-scale screen that isn’t touch sensitive.

The Nook Color runs Google Inc.’s Android software, which is used on phones and tablets, but the device doesn’t run standard Android applications. Instead, Barnes & Noble is encouraging developers to submit specially written applications to its Nook Apps store.

Among the more than 125 applications available Monday are the game “Angry Birds” and cooking recipe vault “Epicurious.”

Barnes & Noble is also adding the ability to play Flash content on the Nook Color’s Web browser.

Jonathan Shar, head of Barnes & Noble’s “digital newsstand,” said the Nook isn’t intended to go compete directly with full-fledged tablets such as the iPad, for which there are more than 65,000 apps.

“The target for this is still people who love reading,” Shar said.

The bookstore chain launched the Nook Color in November as a successor to its first Nook, which had a gray-scale screen and a smaller, color one. Right from the start, the Nook Color had a few non-book applications like “Sudoku,” but there was no way to add more.

The new features are available as a free software update for current Nook owners.

h2. Blake Shelton hitting studios to finish new album

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Blake Shelton knows an opportunity when he sees one.

With his new single “Honey Bee” setting a record for digital sales and rocketing up the charts, the country singer and soon-to-be reality television coach is going into the studio this week to finish his next album.

“Playing your cards too close to your chest doesn’t pay out,” Shelton said. “I feel like right now if I’ve got a single that’s exploding, easily my fastest climber, I don’t want to do something like wait and put (the album) out in the fall. It’s when you rally the troops and say, ‘Man, we’ve got to get this thing done.’”

Until Shelton debuted the single during The Academy of Country Music Awards earlier this month, he was content to finish the album later this summer and release it in the fall.

He’s got plenty to do as it is. His marriage to Miranda Lambert comes May 14 and his stint on NBC’s “The Voice” debuts Tuesday, with live shows in June. But that ACM awards performance of “Honey Bee” spurred a sales buzz and the single sold more than 138,000 digital copies its first week, a record for a country male solo artist.

It was the greatest gainer on the Billboard country songs chart and jumped to No. 21 last week. That’s light speed in the world of country radio. So now the album is due out July 12 and Shelton’s hitting Nashville this week to finish the untitled album with producer Scott Hendricks pronto.

He’s already got the songs picked out. It’s just a matter of laying them down. Expect a good times vibe.

“Honestly it’s just songs that I can kind of relate to at this moment of my life,” Shelton said. “I’m getting married in about a month and just really feeling good about everything in my life. … It’s definitely songs from a guy wishing I could freeze this moment for the rest of time.”

h2. Commander was unaware of Sheen escort in DC

WASHINGTON — A D.C. police commander who oversees escorts apparently was unaware of details about an escort given to Charlie Sheen last week and demanded answers from his subordinates, according to an email obtained by The Associated Press on Monday.

In the email sent Wednesday afternoon to other police officials, and in response to questions from the media, Commander Hilton Burton demanded details about the escort given to Sheen on the way to his performance Tuesday at DAR Constitution Hall. Sheen, who flew into Dulles International Airport, was running late for the show after attending a child custody hearing earlier in the day in Los Angeles.

Burton is commander of the department’s Special Operations Division, which generally is responsible for providing police escorts.

Sheen posted on Twitter that he had received a police escort to the show and included a photograph of a speedometer registering about 80 mph. His promotional company has repaid the city $445 for the escort.

His post read: “In car with Police escort in front and rear! Driving like someone’s about to deliver a baby! Cop car lights (hash)Spinning!”

In response to a series of written questions about the escort, Burton told subordinates in the email, “This is why we should not do escorts for any and every body.” Burton also demanded to know the cost of the escort, the “law that allows us to do it” and whether security was provided during the show. He also asked if Sheen was given an escort after the show.

Burton also asked, “Who approved it?” However, it was unclear if he was referring to security at the show or the escort.

Police Chief Cathy Lanier said on Friday that escorts were generally reserved for the president, vice president and visiting heads of state, though exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis. She also said Sheen’s escort appeared to violate police protocol.

The department’s internal affairs division is investigating the escort.

Reached by the AP on Monday, Burton referred questions to police spokeswoman Gwendolyn Crump. She also declined to comment on the email.