NEWS LITE : LIZ EX-HUSBAND CRITICAL AFTER FALL.

Larry Fortensky, ex-husband of Elizabeth Taylor, was critically hurt Thursday when he fell down a flight of stairs at his San Juan Capistrano home.

Paramedics were called to the residence about 3 a.m., Capt. Scott Brown of the Orange County Fire Authority said. He would only say a man was taken to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center.

The hospital said in a statement that Fortensky, 46, was admitted and in critical condition.

A woman placed a 911 call and said a friend had fallen down stairs in the home, sheriff's Lt. Hector Rivera said. He said ``there was nothing to indicate anything suspicious other than a medical aid call.''

Details about the accident weren't disclosed.

Taylor was notified that Fortensky was seriously hurt. She was ``deeply shocked and her prayers are with Larry Fortensky,'' her publicist Shirine Ann Coburn said.

Taylor, the Oscar-winning actress, met Fortensky when both were at the Betty Ford Clinic to kick substance-abuse problems. They were married in 1991, but five years later Miss Taylor filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable Pakula's differences.

Pakula's heirs seek light on death

Director Alan Pakula's family is offering a reward to anyone who can shed light on the freak highway incident that killed him.

Pakula, who directed ``All the President's Men'' and ``Sophie's Choice,'' died in New York when a 7-foot pipe crashed through his windshield Nov. 19. A truck dropped the pipe on the road, and a car kicked it up as Pakula drove by.

The director's family ran an ad this week in Newsday offering an unspecified reward to anyone who can identify the driver of the truck, described as a white tractor-trailer with red letters.

``The reason we're doing this: It's not about money; it's about finding out what happened to the man we loved and trying to make sure that this never happens to another family,'' said Pakula's stepson, Bob Boorstin.

Police hadn't received any leads by Thursday as a result of the family's ad.

Teen to beard school board over goatee

A student fighting his high school's ban on goatees has asked the help of a bearded congressman who extols such bearded notables as Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield and Santa Claus.

Rep. Steven LaTourette, R-Ohio, said he is unwilling to take Edgewood High School student Byron Gunter's side at a meeting of the Ashtabula, Ohio, school board next month, but said: ``I think it can be a wonderful civics lesson to see if Byron can follow the procedures and change a policy that he doesn't think is right.''

Gunter became upset when school officials ordered him to shave off the chin stubble he grew over Christmas break or face after-school detention.The school allows only mustaches.

Gunter countered with a note signed by his mother, saying she gave him permission to grow the goatee.

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

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

Photo: (1--2) Going out in the open

Giving photographers what they sought, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles pause outside the Ritz Hotel in London on Thursday after attending a 50th birthday party for her sister, Annabel Elliott. The two were making their first public appearance together.

(3) Alan Pakula

Killed by pipe

(4) Super circumstances

Members of Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Stevie Wonder and Gloria Estefan, all set to perform in Sunday's Super Bowl XXXIII halftime show, meet during a news conference Thursday in Miami.

(5) FORTENSKY