NEWS LITE : BEEF ABOUT BURGER GETS OVERHEATED.

A Louisiana state official is accused of punching a Burger King manager because he didn't get his hamburger his way.

Carl V. Berthelot, 50, Louisiana's first assistant state treasurer, was booked Nov. 16 on charges of battery and disturbing the peace.

``He ordered a hamburger with no onions and when he got his hamburger, it had onions on it,'' Gonzales, La., Police Chief Bill Landry said Thursday. ``Apparently, when he confronted the manager, some words were exchanged. He threw the burger at the manager, and the manager threw it back.''

Berthelot punched the manager, whose glasses cut his face, Landry said.

Martin Johnson, a spokesman for Treasurer Ken Duncan, said: ``It happened on his own time and he's capable of resolving his own disputes.''

Gumbel bids emotional farewell to `Today'

Bryant Gumbel, a man of supreme self-control, struggled mightily to hold back the tears during his farewell show Friday after 15 years as the ``Today'' host.

``I've had a great time, I really have. I hope that you all enjoyed it a fraction as much,'' Gumbel, his eyes welling up and his lips trembling, told his colleagues after a series of tributes and a concert by the artist formerly known as Prince.

Matt Lauer will take over Monday as co-host of ``Today,'' network TV's top-rated morning show, with a widening lead over ABC's ``Good Morning America.'' Gumbel, 48, is leaving for a television destination unknown.

The man who prides himself on his poise and his preparation for each morning's show was kept in the dark about the two-hour tribute designed to get the tears flowing. Tweaked as a control freak, Gumbel admitted he peeked into the computer to find out what his NBC colleagues were planning, but came up empty.

``It was the first time I spent the night before a broadcast with nothing to do,'' he said on the air.

Gumbel brought along extra handkerchiefs but didn't need them until the final moments.

It wasn't all maudlin. Shortly after saying goodbye to most of the nation, he was doing the bump with co-host Katie Couric to an encore performance by the former Prince.

``It's going to be strange not having Bryant sitting next to me in the morning,'' Couric said.

Poet Maya Angelou and Muhammad Ali turned up at the studio, with the former heavyweight champion rising in mock anger when Gumbel greeted his wife with a kiss. Hillary Rodham Clinton, former President Bush, Sandra Bullock, John Travolta and Tom Cruise gave taped salutes. Couric - not Angelou - wrote a poem.

Former co-host Jane Pauley was there, but not her replacement. Deborah Norville, whose ill-fated one-year run next to Gumbel ended in 1991, was not invited because executive producer Jeff Zucker said he wanted to remember the happy times.

Hundreds of people peered into the glassed-in Rockefeller Center studio from the street outside. Many said they traveled long distances to be a part of it.

``I've been watching Bryant since I was 20 years old,'' said Sharon McDaniel, head of a foster care agency from Pittsburgh. ``He's a good-looking guy to look at in the morning.''

Gumbel plans to take several months off. Other networks are courting him, and ABC is thought to have the inside track. Gumbel said he expects to make a decision within a few weeks.

Clinton to award Medal of Arts

Actor Robert Redford, musician Lionel Hampton, composer Stephen Sondheim, and playwright Edward Albee will be among recipients of the National Medal of Arts to be conferred by President Clinton at a White House dinner Thursday. The awards are the government's highest honor for artists, writers and scholars and are given for a lifetime's achievements. Others to be cited include conductor Sarah Caldwell, composer Eduardo ``Lalo'' Guerrero, illustrator Maurice Sendak, choreographer Bella Lewitzky and the Boys Choir of Harlem. At the same event, the Charles Frankel Prize in the Humanities will be presented to a separate group that includes journalist Bill Moyers, historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, poet Rita Dove and philosopher Daniel Kemmis.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Bryant Gumbel pauses for composure on his final show as ``Today'' host.