Sky’s the Limit as 2 Senators Launch Funding Action

--Abbott and Costello they’re not. But Sen. William Proxmire’s attempt at comity bordered on comedy as he traded compliments with Sen. Jake Garn (R-Utah) while orchestrating action on a $59.4-billion spending bill for several agencies, including NASA. The Wisconsin Democrat lauded Garn as “the only senator who is a genuine astronaut. He knows the space program inside and out.” Garn, who flew on the space shuttle Discovery in 1985, nonetheless gently reminded Proxmire of John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth and now senior Democratic senator from Ohio. “Boy, have I got to correct that and talk about John Glenn,” Garn said. “I have to correct that before he hears it.” Proxmire responded that what he meant was that Garn was “the only senator who as a senator went out in space, and came back too.” To which Garn replied: “I certainly appreciate that, but I think a lot of people think a lot of senators have been spaced out for a lot of years.”

--Cecilia Cichan, nicknamed the “miracle of Flight 255” after being the only survivor of a Northwest Airlines crash in Detroit last year that killed her parents and brother and 153 others, is 5 years old now and will enter kindergarten this fall. The University of Michigan Hospital, where Cecilia was treated after the Aug. 16, 1987, accident, issued a statement in response to a deluge of inquiries as the first anniversary of the crash nears. It said that Cecilia lives in Birmingham, Ala., with her aunt and uncle and still receives follow-up treatment for burns. Since the crash, the hospital has received 2,220 gifts for her, along with 30,000 cards and $157,420 in cash donations. According to the hospital, the money has been placed in a trust fund for Cecilia and many of the toys have been donated to sick children.

--More than 1,000 magicians materialized this week in the usually sleepy hamlet of Colon, Mich., for the 51st annual magic festival, an event that also draws about 3,000 spectators. “There’s no question we get a lot of strange people here--throwing fire around and sticking cards to the ceilings,” said Greg Bordner, president of Abbott’s Magic Manufacturing Co., which sponsors the festival. (Abbott’s, the largest manufacturer of magic tricks, created among other illusions a water torture trick for Harry Houdini and a buzz saw used in Harry Blackstone Sr.’s act.) A highlight of the festival will be an appearance by Harry Blackstone Jr. Throughout the four-day event there will be magic shows and how-to sessions demonstrating the latest in sleight-of-hand and other acts of prestidigitation.