He Has a New Wife All Signed Up

--A June wedding is in the works for Robert Todd of Garden City, Kan. It all began when he hung a sign on his pickup truck that said: “Wife Wanted Desperately. I Will Negotiate. Pudgy One Preferred. Over 25.” The 55-year-old man’s ad, on a dare from a friend, led him to Elizabeth Ward, 44, a widow who met all the specifications. “I used to laugh at these guys that say love at first sight. I don’t laugh any more,” said Todd. The engagement was quick--they met less than two weeks ago--but both said that they are in love and share an affection for old movies and cowboy music. The bride-to-be’s teen-age daughter and a married son read about Todd and encouraged their mother to visit him. “I was out doing my daily walk and I just went over and knocked on his door and started talking to him. It was really comfortable. We have quite a few likes and dislikes the same,” she said. Todd said that after the media reported his ad, he got hundreds of letters from women around the world, but that’s of no interest now. Todd is planning a new sign for his truck, which will say: “Sorry Pudgy Ladies, Place Filled by Liz.”

--Travelers aren’t coming to his Econo Lodge motel at Rifle, Colo., so owner Stephen R. Narans says he’s hitting the road and taking its 120 rooms to them. He plans to slice up the motel, load it aboard trucks and ship it 185 miles down Interstate 70 from Rifle to Denver. When Narans built the motel in 1982, the Western Slope economy was booming. But when Exxon Corp. mothballed its oil shale operation nearby, he said, he knew his $3.2-million motel in downtown Rifle was in trouble. So he and several partners purchased property near Stapleton International Airport and will spend $1.7 million to move the structure.

--For sale: A presidential yacht used by former Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos and wife, Imelda. Has 16 VIP cabins, a special suite for the owner, a clinic equipped for surgery, four motor launches and a helicopter pad. Visitors have included President Reagan when he was governor of California. Appraised value: $3.7 million. Contact: Philippine President Corazon Aquino. The government announced it wanted to get rid of the 2,200-ton luxury ship, The President, on which Marcos and two previous Philippine presidents entertained state guests. At the height of the Feb. 22-25 military revolt that ousted Marcos and installed Aquino, the ship was reported to have sailed out of the country loaded with tons of gold and jewelry belonging to the Marcos family. But the ship’s captain sailed it just south of Manila for safekeeping and returned it to the new Aquino government.