Monday, Dec. 14, 1998

Milestones

By Lissa August, Lisa Beyer, Tam Gray, Lina Lofaro, Michele Orecklin, Joel Stein, Flora Tartakowsky, Chris Taylor, David Thigpen and Susanne Washburn

ACQUITTED. CHRIS WEBBER, 25, Sacramento Kings basketball star; of marijuana possession, assault and resisting arrest. Maryland police officers said they subdued Webber when he tried to prevent them from opening his car door. Webber claimed he was on the phone to his lawyer when police yanked him from his car.

CONVICTED, COOLIO, 35, award-winning rapper; of accessory to robbery; in Stuttgart, Germany. A store owner accused Coolio (born Artis Ivey) and his band of walking off with $940 worth of goods. Coolio said the incident was a misunderstanding. He was fined $30,000 and sentenced to six months' probation.

ELECTION CONCEDED. TO JAMES P. HOFFA, 57, for the presidency of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the hard-driving union his infamous father once ran. Though the vote count hadn't officially ended, challenger Tom Leedham conceded the election Saturday, effectively giving lawyer Hoffa the job. Hoffa lost a 1996 race that was later voided by federal monitors.

DIED. DANTE FASCELL, 81, powerful South Florida Congressman and longtime Foreign Affairs Committee chairman; in Clearwater, Fla. Serving from 1955 to 1992, Fascell steered U.S. policy into hard-line stances against Cuba and Central America.

DIED. ALBERT GORE SR., 90, former Tennessee Congressman and Senator and father of the Vice President; in Carthage. A key mover behind the interstate highway system and a Southern liberal who took unpopular stands against segregation and the Vietnam War, he once advised his son not to settle for the No. 2 spot, calling it a "dead-end street."

DIED. FREDDIE YOUNG, 96, cinematographer; in London. His visual flair created memorable images in films by John Ford and David Lean. Young won Oscars for his work in Lawrence of Arabia, Dr. Zhivago and Ryan's Daughter.