NEWS LITE : COUPLE SAYS NEW HOME NOT CHEERY.

A couple sued Kirstie Alley and former husband Parker Stevenson on Tuesday, claiming the actors sold their Encino home without disclosing a noise problem from aircraft traffic at Van Nuys Airport.

Jack and Catherine White of Los Angeles bought the property in the 4800 block of Louise Avenue in March, unaware ``that said overflights were loud and obnoxious and constituted a permanent nuisance which negatively affected the quiet use and enjoyment of said real estate. . . .''

A representative for Alley and Stevenson could not be reached for comment on the Los Angeles Superior Court complaint.

The Whites, whose lawsuit claims Stevenson and Alley maintained there were ``no neighborhood noise problems or other nuisances,'' are seeking unspecified damages.

Stevenson filed for divorce last March from the former ``Cheers'' star after more than 13 years of marriage. They have two young children. Alley is now starring in her own TV series, ``Veronica's Closet.''

Country star finds heartache in court

Country music superstar Garth Brooks listened intently as lawyers selected a jury in a $5 million federal copyright infringement suit over his hit song ``Standing Outside the Fire.''

Dressed in Wrangler jeans and a giant belt buckle, Brooks told reporters after the court session Tuesday in Los Angeles that he was embarrassed by accusations he turned the 1993 Kenny Loggins tune ``Conviction of the Heart'' into ``Standing Outside the Fire.''

The attack on Brooks' integrity was ``the toughest for me, that people would call (me) a thief and say (I) stole something from them,'' the entertainer said.

Guy Thomas claimed in his lawsuit filed in July 1995 that the Brooks hit was based on ``Conviction of the Heart,'' which he co-wrote with Loggins. Loggins recorded the song on his 1993 ``Outside From the Redwoods'' album.

The song is listed on Brooks' album ``In Pieces'' and on a greatest hits package as being composed by the entertainer and Jenny Yates.

In addition to $5 million, the suit seeks an unspecified amount of profits and damages.

Uma in family way, N.Y. paper reports

Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke - both 27, six feet, and an item for two years - are expecting a bundle in May, according to the New York Daily News. No official word from the unwed couple, who fell while doing the movie ``Gattaca.'' The ex-wife of Gary Oldman has been seen in duds that get baggier by the day.

Female getting grip on cable car

With fingers wrapped in brown leather gloves fraying at the seam, Fannie Barnes' hands curl tightly around the heavy iron grip that tugs at the heart of the San Francisco cable car underground.

Her eyes sharpen, filled with steely determination as she releases the brake. The unmistakable clack of the cable resonates as the car jerks its way down California Street, just as cable cars have done for more than 100 years.

But there is something very different - even historical - about this particular journey.

For the first time, a female is standing ``up front,'' operating the levers that start and stop the eight quaint tons of wood and metal that have come to symbolize San Francisco.

Two other women have attempted the training previously, but quit after a single day after injuring their muscles.

``Now they're going to have to change the word from gripman to grip person, just because of me,'' joked the 52-year-old former bus driver, her cherubic face beaming beneath her beige beret.

She'll come to the end of the line of her 25-day training period when she takes a written exam and one more run with her supervisor to prove she can control the car as well as the 76 gripmen.

``I'm so excited,'' she said, giddily tapping her feet against the floorboards during a break on her 17th day of training.

``A woman can do this job. You've got to be strong and assertive, and not mind workin' in the cold and rain, but it is wonderful,'' she said.

SAG honor perfectly Taylor-ed

Elizabeth Taylor on Tuesday was named the 34th recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, which honors both career achievements and humanitarian contributions.

The award, established in 1962 as SAG's highest national honor, has been received by such entertainers as Robert Redford, Audrey Hepburn, Jack Lemmon, Katharine Hepburn, Frank Sinatra, Gregory Peck and Angela Lansbury.

``From the time Ms. Taylor first entered our lives as the innocent child in `National Velvet,' the world has loved her,'' said SAG President Richard Masur.

``As we watched her grow, both as a person and an actor, she presented us with gift after gift in the form of her performances,'' he said. ``From the child to the young woman in `Father of the Bride,' from the mature, powerful Maggie in `Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' to her startling performance as Martha in `Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' she has maintained an iconographic presence in our collective consciousness.

``And when the horror of AIDS was still an unacknowledged threat, Ms. Taylor came forward to demand that we not only pay attention but do something about it, a commitment she has maintained without compromise,'' Masur said. ``For this, among her many other humanitarian endeavors, we salute her.''

The presentation to Taylor will occur during the annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, which will be telecast live from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on March 8.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy from Daily News staff and wire reports

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) Woman taking work brake

Fannie Barnes, 52, is closing in on becoming San Francisco's first woman cable car ``gripman,'' the one who operates the brakes.

(2) Taylor

(3) Alley