Pennsylvania mayor, 19, has Hollywood clout

Olympian news services

Originally published Sunday, March 24, 2002

MERCER, Pa. -- Christopher Portman, the teen-ager who was elected mayor of this northwestern Pennsylvania town in November, is finding out quickly what a little political clout means in Hollywood.

Portman, 19, will appear in the opening of ABC's Academy Awards telecast at 8 p.m. EST.

He and several slightly bigger celebrities -- Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Sharpton, Walter Cronkite and Donald Trump -- will appear on the telecast's videotaped opening segment, each talking about his favorite movie.

Radical Media, a New York production company, arranged for Portman to tape his spot in the Big Apple last week.

Portman, who hopes to one day run for Congress and president, discusses "Air Force One," the Harrison Ford thriller.

PALISADES, N.Y. -- A pre-dawn fire heavily damaged a guesthouse on Al Pacino's Rockland County estate, sending several of the actor's friends into the subfreezing night, police said. No one was hurt.

Pacino, star of "Serpico," "Scarface" and the "Godfather" films, was in the main house and was roused as fire trucks arrived from Sparkill, Tappan and Piermont.

The fire was reported at 4:25 a.m. Friday and all the occupants left the guesthouse by the time police and firefighters arrived, said Detective Sgt. Terry Hutmacher of the Orangetown police. Neither the police nor Pacino's publicist, Pat Kingsley, would identify the guests.

Kingsley described the blaze as "no big deal," but Hutmacher said there was heavy smoke and water damage to the second floor of the guesthouse. Hutmacher said the fire apparently started in a bedroom and was accidental.

The Pacino property overlooks the Hudson River in Palisades, just north of the New Jersey state line.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Talk-show host Rosie O'Donnell bought full-page ads in several Florida newspapers urging the Legislature to repeal a law that bans gays from adopting children.

But lawmakers say they can't consider O'Donnell's request -- at least not this year. They were to conclude their 60-day regular session Friday and there were no bills addressing the issue.

O'Donnell, the host of "The Rosie O'Donnell Show," recently came out as a lesbian. She acknowledged that she was "fairly ignorant" of the workings of the Legislature but hoped to have legislation filed for next year's regular session.

In the meantime, she said she plans to keep the debate alive.

O'Donnell bought ads Thursday in The Miami Herald, the Tallahassee Democrat, the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel of Fort Lauderdale.

"If Rosie O'Donnell wants to make public policy she should run for office, get elected and make public policy," said Sen. Alex Diaz de la Portilla, R-Miami.

The talk-show host, who has a home in Miami Beach and has adopted three children outside of Florida, said she learned about the ban when she applied to adopt a Florida foster child in her care.

"They said you can't adopt her because you're gay," she said. "They said that I would have to perjure myself. They said I would have to sign a paper saying that I am not ... gay or bisexual. I was stunned."

HONOLULU -- Singer Jimmy Buffett drew a big crowd for a hastily arranged one-man concert in Waikiki.

"This is what happens when you get bored on Maui," he told about 500 fans at the beachfront Duke's Canoe Club and more than 1,000 others watching from the beach on Thursday. Thousands more watched on a live Webcast.

Buffett has been vacationing and writing a book on Maui.

The barefoot and lei-draped Buffett opened the late-afternoon show with a "Tiny Bubbles" duet with entertainer Don Ho. Among those in attendance were actor Bruce Willis and country singer Glen Campbell.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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