Mt. McKinley a ‘Mental’ Hurdle

--Sarah Doherty, who last summer became the first one-legged woman to climb Washington state’s Mt. Rainier, says she plans to fulfill a childhood dream by conquering Alaska’s Mt. McKinley. Doherty, 25, of Seattle, leaves for Alaska with three able-bodied climbers today. They hope to reach the summit of the 20,320-foot mountain, the highest peak in North America, on May 18. Doherty, who lost her right leg at the hip 12 years ago in a bicycle-auto accident, will climb McKinley with the aid of snow crutches. Each crutch has an ice ax attached to the shaft and a specially designed cup at the base to grip the terrain. The biggest challenge to mountain climbing is mental, not physical, said Doherty, who reached the 14,410-foot summit of Rainier on Aug. 3. “You’re directly face-to-face with the elements, which forces you to dig out the resources you don’t have to use in the comfort of civilization,” she said. “The mental part is the toughest--the desire to go on.”

--Samuel Hallow revived his pet schnauzer, Sheba, with mouth-to-mouth resuscitation after it went into cardiac arrest--and the ungrateful dog rewarded him with a bite on the mouth. “I brought her to, and her mouth snapped shut and caught me in the lips,” said Hallow, 64, of Cape Coral, Fla. After reviving Sheba, 15, Hallow rushed her to the animal hospital. Then he went to a hospital himself to have his bite treated.

--Most youngsters would be excited if they were the subject of a television movie--but not Brian Zimmerman, the 12-year-old mayor of Crabb, Tex. “I’ve been in the press and on ‘Good Morning America.’ I’m not jumping up and down,” he said. The seventh-grader became the nation’s youngest mayor in an unofficial election at Gonyo’s Grocery, his aunt’s store, almost two years ago. The election was unofficial because the town, with a population of 225, is unincorporated. Now, Anson Williams, who played Potsie on the “Happy Days” television series, is producing a movie for New World Pictures about Brian. The young mayor says he might even get to star in it. Even if he doesn’t, Brian says he plans to go to Hollywood to watch the shooting. Like most politicians, Brian declined to comment on how much money he received for the movie rights to his story. “I don’t talk about financial matters to the press,” he said firmly. However, he did say he plans to spend the money to buy a personal computer and for city improvements. Brian says he plans to run for reelection in September and that most of the town’s 33 registered voters support him.