NEWS LITE : BRADLEY TAKES SHOT AT TELEVISION NEWS.

Bill Bradley, who went from professional basketball to the U.S. Senate and wrote a memoir, made his latest career change over the weekend with his debut as a TV news essayist.

The former New Jersey senator who played for the New York Knicks in the NBA closed the ``CBS Evening News'' Saturday with a somber message on the meaning of compassion.

``Personal tragedies are happening all around us, disasters that leave people feeling that they can't go on,'' Bradley said, giving examples ranging from the Oklahoma City bombing and the TWA Flight 800 disaster to everyday tragedies like fatal highway crashes.

``If you know someone, family or friend, who's been hit by an overwhelming loss, let them know you feel their pain. If you can't find the words, just reach out and touch their shoulder,'' Bradley concluded.

O'Hara helps honor stars of aviation

Actress Maureen O'Hara led a Hall of Fame ceremony in Dayton, Ohio, honoring astronaut Thomas Stafford for a lifetime of flight.

Stafford, an Air Force test pilot who graduated to make Gemini, Apollo and Apollo-Soyuz space missions, was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame on Saturday.

O'Hara, who became the first woman to head a commercial airline when she inherited Antilles Airboat, was celebrity guest hostess of the event also celebrating the U.S. Air Force's 50th anniversary.

Other inductees were Waco Aircraft founder Clayton Brukner, pioneering military aviator Herbert Dargue and test pilot Joe Kittinger Jr., the first man to exceed the speed of sound in a free fall.

Mudd doesn't think much of reporting

Retired TV reporter Roger Mudd thinks television news is in a sorry state.

After receiving a Virginia Press Association award Saturday night in Virginia Beach, Va., Mudd took the podium and denounced network news departments for lowering reporting standards and vying with supermarket tabloids for gossip and scandal stories.

``My only solution is to bring back Walter Cronkite and start reporting the news again,'' Mudd said.

The state press association's Virginian of the Year award winner also decried what he called a blurring of lines separating government and news reporting, noting the regular appearance of politicians on TV talk shows.

Versace neighbors want guardhouse

The day that Gianni Versace was shot in Miami Beach, the New York Post reported that Sylvester Stallone, Madonna and 20 other millionaire neighbors in Miami are warring with city officials over their desire to erect a huge guardhouse at one end of the block and close off the street at the other.

The size of the guardhouse at one end makes it ``completely out of scale,'' according to a city historic-preservation official.

Some residents of the community oppose closing the street at the other end because doing so would cut off public access to an adjacent park.

Skydiver drops in on restaurant lunch crowd

An off-target skydiver smashed into a restaurant window in Shiocton, Wis., disrupting lunch but veering off at the last second to avoid hurting anyone.

``All I could see was a pair of feet going across the window,'' said Randy Tonn, who was eating with his family at Dick and Jeanni's restaurant Saturday afternoon. ``He hit it pretty good. He made quite a thud.''

The unidentified parachutist hit the corner of the building first and then the window, witnesses said. He was treated at the scene for a leg cut and left without giving his name.

Skydivers making regular weekend jumps had trouble with the wind after having to jump farther from the target area than usual because of cloud cover. The diver was credited for avoiding anyone on the ground.

``He did the best he could with a difficult situation and came away with a skinned knee,'' Mike Tompos, safety and training adviser for a local diving club.

OFFBEAT 

Strippers cool to minister's

offer of new jobs

Tiffany thought she had heard it al`l until a Baptist minister offered her and fellow exotic dancers new jobs, medical insurance and child care - on the condition that they quit stripping.

A meeting held Sunday in Hurricane, W.Va., by the minister and local business allies raised $3,000 from scores of county residents.

Still, dancers were cool to the idea.

``Can you imagine me as a plumber?'' said Tiffany, a three-year veteran of West Virginia strip bars, speaking on condition that only her stage name be used. ``Where else am I going to make $280 a night and have so much fun?''

The dancer then examined her inch-long fingernails for chips, straightened her simple white dress and strode, slowly and seductively, toward the narrow, dimly lit stage at Lady Godiva's, a local strip bar.

She wasn't the only one who didn't think much of the plan put forward by the Rev. Gerry White, pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church, located just down the road from Lady Godiva's.

``I don't think it will amount to a hill of beans,'' said Calvin Lavender, owner of the bar.

Strippers bristled at the presumption that they're doing something wrong.

``I'm a dancer. I don't see anything wrong with being a dancer,'' said Amanda Rice, 21, another Lady Godiva's dancer. ``If I wanted another job, I could get another job.''

News Lite is compiled by Audrey Ramsay Prest from Daily News staff and wire service reports.

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Photo

Photo: Boop-de-boop

Danielle Elizarraraz, 3, of Los Angeles gets a hug from a full-size Betty Boop during the 12th annual Betty Boop Festival held over the weekend in Montebello.

Associated Press