Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, March 7, 1992                   TAG: 9203070235
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PEOPLE

"Are you sure you didn't make a mistake?" the Nolte actor asked. "My personal choice is Walter Cronkite."

Past honors went to Mel Gibson, Mark Harmon, Harry Hamlin, John F. Kennedy Jr., Sean Connery, Tom Cruise and Patrick Swayze.

"He's got much more sex appeal than I do," Warren Beatty said.

"I'd pay $7 just to watch him walk down the street," said Luke Perry, of TV's "Beverly Hills 90210."

Nolte, 51, is up for an Academy Award for his portrayal of a Southern football coach in "The Prince of Tides." He will be featured in the March 16 issue.

A rerun of the "Sally Jessy Raphael" television talk show Friday resulted in the arrest of a man accused of leaving bad checks and broken hearts in Virginia and four other states.

Jerry Wayne Montgomery was arrested in suburban Minneapolis, where he was working as a mechanic, said Shirley Blankenship, a St. Peters, Mo., detective who has been tracking him for a year.

Montgomery was wanted in Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia on charges including bigamy, forgery, stealing and writing bad checks, Blankenship said.

Many viewers called after seeing the talk show, including a man who recently sold Montgomery tools and knew where he worked. Another call came from a woman who had dated him, Blankenship said.

"They'd had one date and he wanted to get married," Blankenship said. "I said, `Count this as a blessing. You were saved.' "

A Colorado snowplow driver who clawed his way through at least 20 feet of snow won praise Friday for spending 7 1/2 hours in an unsuccessful attempt to save his co-worker from an avalanche.

But Daniel J. Jaramillo was "very distraught" because Eddie J. Imel died, said state Department of Transportation spokesman Dan Hopkins. "He doesn't realize that he is in fact a hero for doing as much as he did to save his co-worker."

Imel, 38, died in the avalanche that covered U.S. 550 in southwestern Colorado on Thursday.

Country singer Ricky Skaggs says his hit song "Same Ol' Love" is a tribute to its late composer.

Chris Austin died in the March 1991 plane crash that killed seven members of Reba McEntire's band.

"Chris was one of the most `real' people I'd ever known," Skaggs said of the musician who had played in his band.

Proceeds from the song, co-written by Greg Barnhill, will be donated to Austin's family, Skaggs said.