Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Tue, 3 Nov 92 15:19:55 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION;AMERICAN SCENE;EAST \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY Painting by actress fails to sell TRUMBULL, Conn. - For the second time, a painting by actress Katharine Hepburn has failed to sell at an auction to raise money for the North American Wildlife Association Inc. The painting, the only one that Miss Hepburn has ever offered for sale or public viewing, was offered at a reserved bid of $75,000 during an auction Sunday. "We still have the painting," said Robert Salvatore, one of the association's directors. "There was no bid on it." The association had first attempted to auction the painting two years ago, but only $5,000 was offered. The 16-by-20-inch painting is an impressionistic work painted at John Barrymore's home overlooking the Beverly Hills valley. Mr. Salvatore said that until someone eventually pays the asking price, the association will probably display the painting in a gallery in Hollywood. S=NEW STORY Volunteers help end Mischief Night fires CAMDEN, N.J. - A volunteer-led effort put a damper on Mischief Night pranksters this year, city officials said yesterday. Only 18 fires - mostly trash fires - were reported Friday night, compared with 133 last Halloween Eve. "This just goes to show you, when we work together we can achieve great things," Mayor Aaron A. Thompson said. Several fires have been labeled suspicious, but no arrests were made, Fire Chief Kenneth Penn said. The city of 87,000 averages about 20 fires a night. Extra police and firefighters were joined by 1,100 volunteers on the streets to prevent vandals from torching the city's 3,000 vacant buildings. The program was modeled on one in Detroit, where 36,000 volunteers watched over vacant buildings on Devil's Night last year and the number of arson fires fell 44 percent. About 60 fires were reported this year, around the nightly average. S=NEW STORY Mailers ratify pact with newspaper NEW YORK - Members of the mailers union at the New York Times ratified an agreement Sunday extending their contract to the year 2000. Union members voted 254-81 to ratify the agreement, which their leadership had tentatively approved in August. The mailers move newspapers from presses to bundle-tying machines and onto docks, where they are loaded into delivery trucks. George McDonald, president of the 700-member union, said the contract locks in 425 jobs, more than 300 of which span the lifetime of an employee. The others are guaranteed for the seven years of the contract, Mr. McDonald said. The agreement also provides for wage increases of $36 a week in the first year, $34 in the second year and $34 in the third year. That would bring the average salary of each mailer to at least $1,000 a week, Mr. McDonald said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM