Court Order: Joan Kennedy, the former wife...

Court Order: Joan Kennedy, the former wife of Sen. Edward Kennedy, failed to appear at an arraignment Wednesday to face drunk driving charges and was ordered to show up in court today. Kennedy, 55, an acknowledged alcoholic, has twice had her license revoked. She was arrested Tuesday night after a police officer saw the 1987 Buick she was driving swerve wildly on an expressway just south of Boston. Judge Albert Kramer advised Kennedy’s attorney that she should not drive herself to court.

Cut Off: Angry about an interview that Ivana Trump gave Barbara Walters, Donald Trump is cutting off her alimony payments. His lawyer said Tuesday that Donald considers the interview a violation of the couple’s prenuptial agreement that forbade Ivana from publishing in any way any information about the couple’s marriage, and “he views his payment obligations to her as terminated”--no $350,000 annual alimony, no $50,000 annual housing allowance.

No-Name Day: Legislators in New Hampshire, one of only two states that do not observe the federal Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, have reached a compromise to honor the late civil rights leader without invoking his name. New Hampshire’s Senate passed legislation Tuesday establishing “Civil Rights Day” on the third Monday of January. “We would have been more honest to call it ‘Anything But Martin Luther King Holiday,’ ” said legislator Deborah Arnesen.

Smoke Screen: Cliffs Notes, the publishers of summaries of well-known books that helped many students bluff their way through school, is producing “Bluff Your Way in New York.” One suggestion from authors Ken and Nan Lawless on preventing cabbies from taking the long way to your destination: If you bark phrases like “Cut through the park!” or “Forty-two and Lex!” the cabbie may not take you for a ride.