NEWS LITE : BUOYS GET ACTOR INTO DEEP WATER.

The state of Florida on Wednesday said 14 ``Keep Out'' buoys that ring Sylvester Stallone's waterfront mansion and dock in Biscayne Bay are illegal and could make him subject to fines of up to $7,000 - $500 a buoy - plus six months in jail.

``The buoys are in violation of state law,'' said Capt. Jim Brown of the waterway management office of the Florida Marine Patrol. Brown helicoptered over the site, between Viscaya and the Rickenbacker Causeway in Coconut Grove.

Brown said his office in Tallahassee has received no application from Stallone requesting placement of buoys in the bay. The office does not issue after-the-fact permits, he said.

A written warning was issued in February regarding illegal placement of the buoys, Brown said.

Turns out Stallone's boat dock also lacks the necessary permits.

It seems unlikely that any order will come down for removal of the dock. But certain modifications and fines may be ordered.

As for the buoys, four may have to be removed and the style and language may have to be changed from ``Keep Out'' to ``Caution Shoal.''. The state regards the water as its domain and must approve any restrictions of the public right of passage.

Stallone's governmental lobbyist, Rosario Kennedy, says the actor is eager to comply.

Wife-abuse charge dropped for Morgan

Wife-beating charges were dropped against Harry Morgan on Wednesday after the ``MASH'' star completed a violence counseling program.

The 82-year-old actor was charged July 7 with spousal battery after a confrontation with Barbara Morgan, his 70-year-old wife, left her bruised and bloodied.

``Harry Morgan completed a six-month counseling program for domestic violence and anger management,'' so the charge was dropped, said Ted Goldstein, a spokesman for the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office.

The Emmy-winning actor, who portrayed Col. Sherman Potter on ``MASH'' and Officer Bill Gannon on ``Dragnet,'' was not in court. Morgan could have gotten a year in jail and a $6,000 fine if convicted.

The actor's lawyer, Harland Braun, said Morgan never hit his wife but grabbed her as she destroyed furniture in their home during a drunken dispute.

Town judge orders Safer to comment

Morley Safer, who usually takes the part of interrogator, has a few questions to answer in the Town of Cornwall Justice Court.

The CBS ``60 Minutes'' correspondent got a speeding ticket in Cornwall, N.Y., pleaded guilty and paid the fine by mail. On top of the form, he wrote ``The idiots at'' before the town court's name.

Town Justice Francis Navarra sent a letter Tuesday inviting Safer to come explain what he meant. Navarra said if he does not receive a response, he may begin contempt proceedings.

Safer hasn't seen the letter and had no comment, ``60 Minutes'' spokesman Kevin Tedesco said.

Safer was ticketed April 3 for driving nearly 87 mph in a 65 mph zone. In a letter to the court April 10, Safer wrote that the speeding charge was ludicrous but he pleaded guilty because ``given the time, distance and loss of work, it seems I have no alternative.''

Fans reflect on Elvis' last

live concert

When he walked out of Indianapolis' Market Square Arena 20 years ago, Elvis Presley left the building - for good.

Critics ripped his performance that night - not knowing it would be his last public performance - calling him a shadow of the singer who thrust rock 'n' roll into mainstream America as ``Elvis the Pelvis'' in the 1950s.

But fans will never forget the night of June 26, 1977. Less than two months later, the King was dead.

``It's been said a million times: There were 18,000 people in the arena, and every one of them thought Elvis was singing directly to them,'' said Kay Lipps, who runs Taking Care of Presley, an organization that commemorates the show every year.

Presley wasn't the young Elvis later memorialized on a postage stamp. Instead he sported thick, pork-chop sideburns and a heavy paunch, and his face showed signs of his then-secret dependency on pills.

But he was still the King to his fans.

``He acted like he was tired, and he looked like he was tired, but as far as the music and the sound, I don't think it lost any of the quality that it ever had,'' said Beverly Slater, 60, who runs Elvis Fans from Hoosierland.

Going, going, gown

Diana dress auction sells trappings of royalty

They're not your average hand-me-downs.

Eighty gowns and cocktail dresses in everything from black taffeta and ivory satin to deep green sequins - all of them castoffs from Princess Diana's closet - went on the auction block Wednesday evening at Christie's in New York.

The most talked-about celebrity auction since Jackie Onassis' heirlooms were up for bid raised $3.25 million for AIDS and cancer charities.

The auction is the first such sale of royal discards. Used dresses usually are passed on quietly to discreet upper-crust friends.

It will take a certain body type to wear the clothes of a princess. The custom-made gowns have no formal sizes and are roughly equivalent to an American size 6 or 8.

The bidding was quick as the sale got under way. The first gown, a wrap-around white silk chiffon evening dress by Gina Fratini, sold for $75,000.

Lot No. 2 - known in Britain as the ``Up Yours'' dress - sold for $65,000 to an unidentified man in the audience. That's the short, form-fitting dress that Diana wore to a 1994 British Red Cross reception - her first high-profile appearance after Prince Charles acknowledged in a televised interview that he had been unfaithful. The princess, who is divorced from Prince Charles, reportedly decided to auction the gowns for charity at the suggestion of her 14-year-old son, Prince William.

Diana's most celebrated gown - the famous but ill-fated dress in which she wed Prince Charles in 1981 - is staying in the closet.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1 -- 2) A Christie's auctioneer takes the first bid on a white silk gown from Princess Diana, which sold for $75,000 Wednesday, above. At right, another dress, by designer Murray Arbeid, was up for sale.

(3) Stallone

(4) Elvis: Still the King