NEWS LITE : HELPFUL HINTS FOR THE BOARD.

Martha Stewart won't be dressing up the hospital whose board she has joined: She'll offer her business smarts instead.

Officials at a Norwalk, Conn., hospital are interested in the way Stewart has turned her entertaining and decorating knowledge into a media empire of books, magazines and television programs.

Back in blue - sort of Don Johnson is back on TV as a cop, philosophical about roles as police officers.

``I think we are all secretly fascinated with life and death. And cops deal with life and death in a very real way every day,'' Johnson told TV's ``Extra'' in an interview for broadcast today.

``We may all be in denial about our ultimate demise. It's going to happen. That's something you can count on,'' the 46-year-old actor said.

It's been a decade since Johnson was on TV as Detective Sonny Crockett in ``Miami Vice.'' Johnson says his San Francisco cop character on ``Nash Bridges'' won't be a resurrection of Crockett.

``Nash Bridges is a character that's set in the '90s. He has all the baggage and wreckage of his life and stuff that he's dealing with, not unlike what I think we're all dealing with on a daily basis,'' he said.

``Nash Bridges,'' will make its debut Friday on CBS.

Utility's action stuns girl A utility sent a $50 check Wednesday to 11-year-old Audra Gordon, to replace the savings she lost when a collection agency seized her bank account to help pay her mother's electric bill.

Pacific Power in Corvallis, Ore., also told its collection agency to stop trying to collect Suzanne Gordon's past-due bill and return the case to the utility, said spokesman Gary Donnelly.

``It made me feel really well to know that somebody else really cared about this,'' Audra said after receiving the hand-delivered check.

The past-due balance of $126.27 will remain on Gordon's account, but the utility has no plans to try to collect it, Donnelly said.

Audra had saved about $50 from baby-sitting jobs. Since her mother had to co-sign with her to open the account, the collection agency was able to seize her money while going after her mother's.

Reckless motorist unleashed Patrolman James Myers said he thought he had a drunk driver on his hands when he spotted a pickup pulling out of a Uhrichsville, Ohio, shopping center parking lot without any lights.

The truck turned onto a city street, ran over a median and went onto a private lawn, where it narrowly missed a house and a parked truck. It went through a ditch and into a muddy cornfield, police said.

Myers said he thought the driver might be evading him, so he drove his cruiser out into the field - and promptly got stuck.

When the truck turned back toward the cruiser, Myers realized the driver was a medium-size black-and-white collie mix that did not appear to be drunk or intentionally evading the police.

The pickup finally stopped after hitting a utility pole. The dog was unhurt.

About the same time Monday night, Brett Donohoe, 32, called police to report that his truck had been stolen from the parking lot.

The dog apparently knocked the vehicle into gear while Donohoe was away. Donohoe was cited for leaving his car unattended with the engine running.

First lady wants to know First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, a frequent target of negative media attention, turned the tables on reporters Wednesday.

Finishing a remarkable tour of the ancient Turkish city of Ephesus, Clinton asked her staff to gather the U.S. press corps for a group photograph. A reporter dared her to use one of the photographer's cameras to shoot the photo herself.

She did, though expressing some doubts about her ability to focus.

Putting the camera at her side, she kiddingly yelled out questions to individual reporters - all regulars in the White House press corps.

``What's your impression?'' she asked one journalist, drawing laughter from her targets. Giving the reporters a taste of what it's like to be in her position, she smiled and added: ``Say something profound in 25 words or less.''

Grave trouble for van thief

Chances are, whoever stole the van parked in downtown Seattle in the middle of the night did not check in the back.

The blue 1993 Dodge Caravan was carrying the body of a 99-year-old woman to a funeral home.

The van is operated by Seattle Service Group, a company that contracts with funeral homes to pick up bodies. The van's driver, who had parked outside a downtown apartment shortly after 3 a.m., came out 45 minutes later to find the van gone, according to a Seattle police report.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

PHOTO (1) Hillary Clinton jokingly reverses roles Wednes day with the White House press after taking their photo at Ephesus' ruins in Turkey.

Associated Press

(2) Don Johnson: Cop redux