Renton’s Skatebarn West will welcome some of the competitors for a show on Wednesday, Oct. 29, in front of an audience of children from the Seattle-based Treehouse organization, which provides a variety of resources for foster children. Skatebarn West, at 2900 Lind Ave. S.W. in Renton, is the Northwest’s largest indoor skatepark.

The athletes will also be signing autographs at the kickoff event, starting at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. Competitors scheduled to appear include: Canadian Pierre-Luc Gagnon (Skateboard Vert), St. Louis-native Zach Warden (BMX Vert), Venezuelan Daniel Dhers (BMX Street), and Florida-native Fallon Heffernan (Women’s Inline). More info: 425-656-2863 or www.skatebarn2.com.

At the LG Action Sports World Championships later, 175 action athletes will vie for $600,000 in prize purse — plus the title of LG Action Sports World Champion.

There’s entertainment as well: performances by rapper The Game, punk bands Pennywise and MxPx, as well as alternative band Hoobastank. Tickets for the competition and concerts are available at the KeyArena Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, or by calling 206-628-0123.

The championships will air on CBS Sports on Dec. 7, 13 and 20. The event is also set to broadcast to over 180 countries worldwide. For more information, go to — www.lgactionsports.com.

Weezy, who was scheduled to co-headlined the concert with Jay-Z reportedly refused to go through the Banknorth Garden security and left the venue without taking the stage. To make up for Wayne’s absence, the God MC took the stage earlier complete with his nine-piece band and Cleveland Cavalier Lebron James standing in the background. Jigga even treated fans to a few encores long after his set was over.

Other performers on the bill included Ne-Yo, who brought out Jadakiss, Yung Berg, Brandy, who surprised the crowd with an appearance from her brother Ray J.

This doesn’t mark the first time Weezy pulls a no show. The rapper also refused to go through security and skipped his performance at a Fashion Rocks Show this past September.

The incident occurred yesterday (October 27) afternoon near the intersection of 704 Fulton Street and South Oxford Street in the Fort Greene section of Brooklyn, NY.

According to eyewitness reports, two gunmen opened fire on a 19-year-old man who was waiting at the corner for the friend.

The man fled into a nearby hair salon, and was subsequently cornered and killed by the suspects.

In the fusillade of 30 shots, four innocent bystanders in the shop were hit including an off duty police officer.

Witnesses also allege one of the killers fired a coup de grace shot to the head to make sure the victim perished. Afterward, the suspects fled in a blue Chevrolet Tahoe.

Common, a regular of the establishment, had just received a hair cut hours before the murder, stated Dana Jeter, a representative for the star’s record label.

The brazen shooting comes as a shock to new residents of the recently gentrified Fort Greene, but recalls the 1980s and early to mid 1990s when the area was a ravaged by drugs, crime, and home to such infamous figures as the original 50 Cent aka Kelvin Martin.

No motive for the crime has been determined, although authorities are certain the victim was a scoped target and stalked before the actual shooting.

At press time, the two gunmen are still at large.

In related news, Common’s latest album Universal Mind Control lands in stores December 9.

The Compton rapper’s latest set sold 19,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan, and pushed the LP’s eight-week total over 500,000, earning Gold certification. The album has sold 515,000 copies to date and sits at number 24 on this week’s Billboard 200 album chart.

T.I. and Lil Wayne continue to do well on the charts.

After a two-week run atop the Billboard 200, T.I. falls only to number two. In his third week of release the Atlanta rapper sold 132,000 copes of Paper Trail. Tip was only beated by country crooner Kenny Chesney. Paper Trail has plowed past the 800,000 mark and has sold 878,000 units, according to SoundScan.

Weezy keeps hanging around the Top 10. The Cash Money lyricist sits just outside the Top 10 at number 12 after selling 26,000 copies last week. The rapper’s 19-week total for Tha Carter III is just at 2.6 million copies sold.

Wayne is fresh off a victory lap at the 2008 BET Hip-Hop Awards. He took home “MVP,” “Best Lyricist,” and the People’s Champ awards. Weezy also took to the stage to perform.

Young Jeezy lands at number 14 on the chart. Da Snowman sold 24,000 copes of The Recession. After seven weeks on the chart, his third album has sold 541,000 copies.

St. Lunatic Nelly isn’t faring as well as his rap counterparts. The sing-songy lyricist’s Brass Knuckles droped to number 67 on the charts from number 45 last week. The album sold 7,800 copies in its fifth week of release. The total sales to date for Brass Knuckles, according to SoundScan, are 147,000 copies.

DJ Khaled’s We The Best rests at number 78 on the Billboard 200. The independent release sold 6,700 copies last week in it’s fifth week on the charts. To date the LP has sold 93,000.

Devin The Dude’s Landing Gear is the only other notable new rap release. The album sits at number 112 in its second week. The project has sold 16,000 copies so far.

Many suspect that the mother is Nivea. Although Lil’ Wayne did not announce who the baby’s mother was. Rumors are swirling that Wayne and Nivea are married, and the wedding band he was wearing at the show lead to further speculation. It was reported that she was sitting in his VIP section at one of his shows last month and that she looked to be very pregnant.

Lil’ Wayne and Nivea dated in the past – are they now getting back together? Time will tell and nothing is completely confirmed at this moment. Wayne also has an older daughter with Antonia “Toya” Johnson, his high school sweetheart.