For This Knight-Errant, It Was Just a Night to Forget

George Monaco had decided he was going to propose marriage and that he would do it in the most cavalier fashion possible. That called for a rented knight’s costume, including leg and arm armor and a plumed helmet, and a white horse. Those arrangements made, Monaco lined up a date with girlfriend Pamela Hinkle in a Portland, Ore., park. But the knight was left errant when Hinkle failed to show. Hinkle, 26, said she was suffering from a bad cold and had forgotten her date with Monaco. “I would’ve told him no,” Hinkle said of the proposed proposal. Monaco, 28, who owns an advertising agency, said that was all right, although he had suffered the stares of others for naught as he rode around the park. “There has been a gal that has been hanging in there with me ever since Pam left. She was glad to hear the news,” Monaco said.

--What one man considers junk may be a treasure for others. When students at a Kenner, La., junior high school wrote to celebrities asking them for trash for a class project, they made quite a haul. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) sent a White House pen, a John F. Kennedy campaign pin and a Kennedy tie clip. “Tonight Show” host Johnny Carson sent a wadded-up thank-you note he had received from a Kentucky charity. Britain’s Princess Diana sent canceled stamps torn from a Buckingham Palace envelope. President Reagan sent a book about the White House. The assignment was given to revive the flagging interest of the largely immigrant classes in a letter-writing exercise to aid in learning English.

--The exclusive community of Indian Creek Village in Florida has been eating some crow--or, in this case, dog biscuits--in its accusations against singer Julio Iglesias. The famed crooner’s four Belgian pointers had been accused of digging up sand traps on the golf course at the village and doing other “unmentionable” things. But the village council was forced to apologize to Iglesias when a stray beagle was discovered to be the culprit. Village Manager Freida Thompson wrote in a letter of apology: “It is only fair to say that this dog is the one responsible for any damages or aggravation. I apologize for any inconvenience.”

--British rock star Boy George, who underwent treatment last summer for heroin addiction, was arrested with two friends, but they were released until an analysis could be made of “certain substances” found in their possession, London police said. The 25-year-old singer, whose real name is George O’Dowd, had just left a party when he and his friends were arrested. Scotland Yard said they were told to report back in February.