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

DATE: TUESDAY, August 24, 1993                   TAG: 9308240233
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

PEOPLE

Charles Barkley has bullied and dunked his way to the NBA Finals, All-Star Games and the Olympics. But to folks in his hometown - Leeds, Ala. - he's still a kid named Wade.

"That's what we called him growing up," said former Leeds High basketball teammate Bernard Lockhart. "He may go by his first name now instead of his middle name, but he's still the same person."

Saturday was "Charles Barkley Day" in Leeds, a town of about 10,000. One of the many signs that greeted him read, "Welcome Home Wade."

At a ceremony, Barkley said kids shouldn't look to professional athletes for role models, a message he made clear on recent TV commercials. "Athletes should be secondary role models," he said. "It all comes down to parents. Parents have got to do a better job."

Lt. Paula Coughlin, the Navy aviator who brought the Tailhook sex scandal to light, will be honored Sept. 18 as the Virginia Press Women Newsmaker of the Year.

Coughlin is expected to speak at a luncheon in her honor at the VPW's annual fall conference in Richmond, said Deborah Wakefield, a VPW spokeswoman.

"She is the perfect example of the type of people we want to honor," Wakefield said Monday.

A helicopter pilot based in Norfolk, Coughlin said she was among dozens of women who were assaulted at the 1991 Tailhook Association convention in Las Vegas. She took her story to the news media last year, sparking a Pentagon investigation that has led to disciplinary proceedings against scores of Navy and Marine aviators. Four Navy officers face courts-martial for their alleged misconduct.

Julia Roberts and Whitney Houston are among the favorites in a survey for Entertainment Weekly.

The poll, conducted by the Gallup Organization, found that Roberts and Clint Eastwood were named most often as favorite actress and actor.

It found that 46 percent of those questioned preferred Whitney Houston's acting to Janet Jackson's, at 17 percent. And 33 percent thought Macaulay Culkin of the "Home Alone" movies will grow up to be a successful actor, while 56 percent believe he will fade into obscurity.

by CNB