Falwell Urges Pardon for North

--Hard on the heels of President Reagan’s assertion that he still considers Marine Lt. Col. Oliver L. North a “hero,” the Rev. Jerry Falwell rallied his flock around a petition drive to secure a pardon for the former White House aide who pleaded not guilty last week in the Iran-Contra case. Falwell, on his “Pastor’s Study” television program from Lynchburg, Va., appealed for “2, 3 or 5 million signatures” from voting-age citizens to be sent to the President. A toll-free phone number was given and Falwell vowed to deliver the petitions personally to Reagan. The petition seeks an “immediate and unconditional pardon” for North and charges the government with using him “as a scapegoat instead of honoring him for what he really is--a hero.” Meanwhile, in a Cable News Network interview, White House Chief of Staff Howard H. Baker Jr. said it was highly unlikely that Reagan would pardon his former aides indicted in the scandal before their trials were concluded.

--This is really a TERRIFIC idea. What better way to provide a “loving touch” to abandoned infants and toddlers with the AIDS virus than in a place called Grandma’s House. It opened Saturday in Washington--a center unlike any other in the nation. The nonprofit venture has been helped by the D.C. government, toy and clothing donations and volunteers. Les Butler, a spokesman for Temporary Emergency Residential Resource Institute for Families in Crisis (TERRIFIC), said: “This (center) is specifically dedicated to kids with AIDS, those who don’t have anyone who can care for them.” He said most centers help adults with the virus or healthy children of adults with AIDS. “These kids need the loving touch they may not get in the hospital. And so much money can be saved because they won’t always have to be in the intensive care units all the time.” The center is in a house that reflects “a grandma’s house atmosphere”--with warm colors, wallpaper and Victorian-style furniture.

--Jesse James will not be showing up anytime soon, but a section of his marble tombstone has reappeared, long after the 8-foot-tall memorial disappeared from Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Kearney, Mo., some 60 years ago. Milt Perry, curator of historical property for Clay County, said he found the slab intact in Kansas City, and county officials said it will be sent to the outlaw’s old home near Kearney. The 18-inch section bears James’ name and the date--April 3, 1882--when he was gunned down by Robert Ford in St. Joseph, Mo.