Inaugural McMuffins--but Hold the Ham, Please

--Gov. John H. Sununu figured the people of New Hampshire deserved a break today, so he’s dishing up a free inaugural breakfast for 14,000--catered by McDonald’s. This is the second fast-food inauguration for the Republican governor, who is about to begin his third term. Press aide Gretta Graham described it as an expression of “good old New England use-it, wear-it-out” thrift. (By comparison, Californians had to cough up $625 each to shake hands with Gov. George Deukmejian at a reception following his inauguration.) Rick McCoy, a longtime friend of Sununu’s who owns several McDonald’s restaurants, is footing the bill. And, yes--Ronald McDonald’s name is on the guest list.

--Multimillionaire Donald Trump didn’t get that way without counting his pennies. The New York real estate tycoon, whose $700-million fortune ranks him 50th on Forbes magazine’s list of the richest Americans, is challenging a $11.5-million appraisal of his 58-bedroom, 33-bathroom Palm Beach, Fla., estate (with three bomb shelters, golf course, theater and ballroom). He insists it is worth no more than the $7 million he paid for it, and has filed a suit claiming the county is overtaxing him by $81,524. The Mar-a-Largo mansion once belonged to cereal magnate C.W. Post and was inherited by his daughter, Marjorie Meriwether Post.

--The King may be gone, but he is far from forgotten. Thousands of Elvis Presley fans were expected to gather in Memphis, Tenn., this week to mark the birthday of the rock ‘n’ roll legend, who would have turned 52 today. This is a double anniversary year for Presley fans. Aug. 16 will be the 10th anniversary of his death.

--Leona Aldano of Chicago is afraid of heights. But that didn’t stop the 62-year-old woman from leaning out her 38th-floor window and grabbing the legs of a window washer left dangling when a scaffold gave way. She hung on for a full 10 minutes before someone came to the rescue. Angelo Sanchez, 40, and his partner, Americo Oquendo, were stranded when a loose bolt caused their scaffold to up-end. Oquendo grabbed the top of the scaffold, while Sanchez, a nylon safety rope around his waist, clung near the bottom. Aldano heard the crash outside her window and saw two legs hanging in midair. “I was just scared stiff. My stomach was turning into knots. I don’t like heights at all, so it was a nightmare for me, she said. “But when you’re put into a situation like that, you know the Lord put you there for some reason, so I had to hang on.”