Courting Beauty: Miss USA Carole Gist, nearing...

Courting Beauty: Miss USA Carole Gist, nearing the end of her reign, has taken her predecessor’s advice and hired a lawyer. Miss USA is irked about more work and fewer prizes than she expected. Pageant officials have not responded to inquiries. Former Miss USA Gretchen Polhemus said she was shorted $5,000 in prizes until she threatened to boycott the last pageant.

Space Spouses: The marriage of Mark Lee, 38, and Jan Davis, 37, will get a really big boost next year. The two astronauts will be the first husband-and-wife team to lift off into space--unless NASA changes its mind. Their assignment to the same shuttle--long before their recent wedding--”is under review,” said a NASA spokeswoman. Lee, a shuttle veteran, and Davis, a rookie, so far are a part of the shuttle Endeavour crew, due to blast off in September, 1992.

President Lujan?: Government officials picked Interior Secretary Manuel Lujan to not attend the President’s State of the Union speech. Why? One member of the Cabinet must stay away from the talk--in case of a disaster, someone has to take over. So Lujan was flown to an undisclosed location where he watched George Bush on TV.

Numbers Game: It wasn’t time to celebrate the last day of school, but the 100th day of kindergarten at District 9 School in Chapman, Neb., made it a good day for a party. Everyone brought 100 of something as part of teacher Jan Blase’s goal to teach her 19 students to count to 100 by year’s end. Ricky Johnson brought 100 bandages: “It was the only thing we had 100 of at home.” Other children brought 100 candies, shells or puzzle pieces. At the end of the day, Blase sighed: “I’ve survived teaching 100 days of kindergarten.”