NEWS LITE : CASTING CALL FOR SELENA FANS.

The makers of the movie ``Selena'' hope to re-create the Tejano star's last big concert with the help of thousands of cheering extras Sept. 15.

Selena's 1995 show was performed at the Astrodome at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo before 61,000 people.

``We want to capture the magnificence, beauty and excitement of the great concerts that Selena gave,'' said the movie's director, Gregory Nava, who is filming the segment at San Antonio's Alamodome.

Scaly saboteur turns out lights

The southern Philippine city of Iligan, nervous over threats of violence, was plunged into darkness for two hours by a saboteur.

The culprit: a 6-foot boa constrictor that wrapped itself around a high-voltage wire, causing a short circuit.

``We thought this was the work of saboteurs,'' an official of the National Power Corp. said of Monday's power failure, which coincided with the signing of a peace accord between the government and Muslim rebels.

``There was a loud, deafening explosion, followed by what looked like a fireworks display lasting for four minutes,'' he said.

The boa was electrocuted.

Center applauds cultural cadre

Actor Jack Lemmon, singer Johnny Cash, playwright Edward Albee, composer Benny Carter and dance legend Maria Tallchief will receive this year's Kennedy Center honors Dec. 8 in D.C. for their contributions to the nation's culture.

Cuddling in the Capitol

They are close friends and date each other exclusively, but are Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas and former Tennessee Sen. Howard Baker close to tying the knot?

Kassebaum, 64, who is retiring at the end of the year, would not comment Wednesday on a report published in The Washington Post that she and Baker ``have discussed marriage'' and are considering where they might live.

``Senator Kassebaum and Senator Baker are close friends. They enjoy spending time together,'' said Kassebaum's press secretary, Mike Horak.But talk of an impending wedding or post-retirement plans, he said, ``is a bit premature and certainly speculative at best.''

Baker, now a 70-year-old Washington lawyer and lobbyist, retired from the Senate in 1985, serving as President Reagan's chief of staff from 1985 to 1988. Baker is a widower; Kassebaum is divorced.

Town in Dutch with PETA 

An animal rights group says the New York village of Fishkill has a cruel name and might do well to change it to something more compassionate, like Fishsave.

Mayor George Carter won't take the bait.

``I'm not going to change the name of Fishkill. It's been such a long, outstanding name,'' Carter said Wednesday.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals asked Carter in a letter last month to consider changing Fishkill's name. But the mayor noted Wednesday that the name has stood since the late 1600s.

Fishkill, in the Hudson Valley, traces its name to the region's original Dutch settlers. ``Kill'' translates to ``stream'' in Dutch.

``I think if they would look the word up, they would find out what it means,'' Carter said.

PETA said most people aren't aware of the name's origins, and instead associated Fishkill with the slaughter of fish.

The push for a name change is part of PETA's latest campaign, the ``Save Our Schools'' anti-fishing crusade, Davey Shepherd said Wednesday from the group's headquarters in Norfolk, Va.

``Fish are able to feel pain, and therefore to use them for your enjoyment is wrong,'' said Shepherd.

The Hudson Valley is dotted with towns, villages and streams with names ending in the Dutch suffix ``kill.'' The village of Catskill and the nearby Catskill Mountains aren't being targeted for a name change, despite their feline connotations, Shepherd said.

Role requires `living' style

The producers of ``Style and Substance,'' an in-the-works TV series centered around a Martha Stewart-like ``queen of entertaining,'' are having trouble finding a lead actress. A pilot with Kathleen Turner bombed, says TV Guide, and Julie Andrews has been ``approached.''

Ms. miserable in `Les Miz'

Stephanie Stephenson yearned for stardom. But risking her salvation was too high a price.

One day after landing a choice role in the touring production of the hit Broadway musical ``Les Miserables,'' she quit when she learned she would also have to play a prostitute in an ensemble scene.

``People work all their lives to get to `Les Miz.' I knew that I may be giving up a lot,'' said Stephenson, 20. But she added: ``There's a fine line between the morals and going over that line.''

In a scene called Lovely Ladies, she would have had to wear a daring push-up bustier and be poked and prodded by male actors.

``Depicting that role is not what I had the problem with,'' she explained. ``It was with actually the men touching them. They touched them everywhere. They'd stick canes between their legs.''

Stephenson returned promptly to the job she left in Branson, Mo. - understudy for the Virgin Mary and a couple of bit parts in ``The Promise,'' a Christian musical about the life of Jesus Christ. Her first appearance on stage is as a king servant, carrying a large feather at the back end of a live camel.

CAPTION(S):

Photo: (1) Howard Baker: Mum on vows

(2) Julie Andrews: up for TV sh ow

(3) Stephanie Stephenson quit ``Les Miz'' and returned to a Christian play.

Associated Press