Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 20, 1992 TAG: 9202200324
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: E-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
PEOPLE
Desiree Washington, the beauty pageant contestant whom boxer Mike Tyson was convicted of raping, says her TV interview with Barbara Walters will be her "only address to society."Washington, 18, agreed to go on television "because there are so many unanswered questions that didn't come out during the trial," ABC quoted her as saying. "People have judged me without knowing all the facts, without knowing me as a person. I want to clear it up."
The interview airs Friday on "20-20."
Boston neurosurgeon Jim Schumacher has reluctantly withdrawn his offer to swap instructions in brain surgery for guitar lessons from rocker Eddie Van Halen.
After hearing an interview in which Van Halen said guitar playing was easier than brain surgery, Schumacher offered "one day of neurosurgery lessons" to prove him wrong. Van Halen accepted, explaining, "There's a lot of people's brains I'd like to operate on." But Schumacher became alarmed after his offer was disclosed to the media. "This letter was supposed to be private and confidential," he said. "I could get in deep for this."
Former comedian and nutritionist Dick Gregory was arrested Wednesday after spending the night handcuffed to the doors of a federal courthouse to oppose the government's treatment of Haitian refugees.
Gregory and five others handcuffed themselves Tuesday to the U.S. District Courthouse in East St. Louis, Ill., in support of a fast by former dancer and choreographer Katherine Dunham to protest the forced repatriation of Haitian refugees.
Dunham, 82, was listed in serious but stable condition Tuesday.
"Diff'rent Strokes" child star Dana Plato got one last chance from a judge after pleading that she needed help for a drug problem.
"I'm sick. I really need help," Plato, 27, said at a hearing Tuesday in Las Vegas. Plato, on probation for robbing a video store, was arrested last month for falsifying Valium prescriptions.
She faced a six-year sentence for violating probation, but the judge heeded her pleas and allowed her to remain free.
John Mellencamp's movie "Falling From Grace" was a big hit in his hometown, where it was filmed. "I loved it," Opal Hoffmeier said after Monday's screening in Seymour, Ind. Her grandson has a supporting role.
In the film, which opens nationwide Friday, Mellencamp plays a country music star who returns to his roots to celebrate his grandfather's 80th birthday. Mariel Hemingway plays his wife.