NEWS LITE : LOTTERY TURNS PHYSICIAN INTO BALTIMORE BENEFACTOR.

Dr. Laurent Pierre-Philippe could buy a mansion, a Ferrari and a trip to Tahiti with his $10 million Florida lottery jackpot. Instead, he'll save his ailing 20-year-old Baltimore health clinic.

Pierre-Philippe, his wife and three sons were on their way to a New Year's Eve celebration at Walt Disney World in Orlando when they stopped at a convenience store to buy $100 worth of lottery tickets.

He claimed his jackpot Thursday, which will be paid out over 20 years.

``I'm not interested in buying nice clothes or taking fancy trips,'' said Pierre-Philippe, an avid lottery player. ``I'm interested in doing what the Lord will allow me to do.''

The native of Haiti says his medical practice in a poor Baltimore neighborhood has suffered with the rise of managed health care.

His lottery winnings will allow him to offer free services to some patients at Community Medical Rehabilitation Center, especially stroke victims, arthritics and amputees.

``Everything I made from the clinic, I invested it back in,'' he said. ``That clinic is a diamond in the middle of the ghetto. But, to tell the truth, I didn't know how the business was going to survive, but now I see my dream in Baltimore won't be shot.''

He also plans to send some of his newfound wealth to Haiti to help build an airport and roads in his hometown, Port-de-Paix.

``Thank God I have what I already have, so I can use this money to stay in this community and help Haiti,'' said Pierre-Philippe, 54.

His first expense will be paying to ship the Port-de-Paix library 1,000 books he collected.

Gloved One seeks Scottish homestead

Pop star Michael Jackson is visiting Scotland and looking at property to buy, a Scottish newspaper reported today.

``I love it here. I want to make this my home. The country is beautiful and the people are beautiful,'' The Sunday Mail quoted Jackson as saying.

People in Jackson's entourage say Jackson wants his child - he and his wife, Debbie Rowe, are expecting - to live in the clean air of Scotland, the paper reported.

One of the houses Jackson looked at was Glenmayne House, near Galashiels in southern Scotland, the newspaper said.

Gumbel, Gates link up during

MSNBC tour

Considering his next career move, newly departed ``Today'' host Bryant Gumbel toured the MSNBC newsroom and met Microsoft mogul Bill Gates.

MSNBC is a joint venture of the software giant and NBC, home of ``Today.''

The purpose of Gumbel's visit ``was to get more Internet savvy and to understand what we're doing, both at Microsoft and at MSNBC,'' Merrill Brown, MSNBC editor in chief, said Friday in California.

Microsoft wouldn't say what Gumbel and Gates talked about Thursday. News reports have said Gates wants Gumbel to play a major role in the news venture.

``We did a little demo for him, we let him sit through the news meeting and he had stimulating things to say about the news and what we may or may not do about it,'' Brown said.

`Preacher' role suits his life fine

Being chosen to play a minister in ``The Preacher's Wife'' seemed like fate to actor Courtney B. Vance, who embraced the Baptist church after his father's suicide.

``This role came to me at this particular time in my life for a reason,'' Vance says in the Jan. 20 People magazine. ``There's a higher power at work. He'll reveal to you what he wants you to do.''

Vance turned to prayer after his father killed himself in 1990, and the actor recently was baptized at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, where he went to observe services to prepare for ``The Preacher's Wife.''

Actress never far from camera

Marlee Matlin, who overcame deafness to win an Oscar, still finds it tough to find quality roles. Still, she won't complain about it.

``It's hard to find roles, period, regardless of whether I'm deaf or a woman,'' Matlin told the New York Post. ``My deafness is obviously an added difficulty, but you try to break whatever barriers you can.''

Matlin, who won an Academy Award for ``Children of a Lesser God,'' is starring in the HBO film ``Dead Silence,'' a hostage drama about a deaf teacher trying to save a busload of captive students.

``I'm frustrated about it,'' Matlin said of her casting difficulties, ``but I've managed to work - I haven't disappeared off the face of the Earth.''

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) Labors of a Hercules fan

Eric Laughlin, 4, of Shadow Hills overcomes shyness Saturday in a chat with Laura Drane, playing an Amazon warrior, at a Burbank convention of fans of the TV shows ``Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and ``Xena the Warrior Princess.''

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News

(2) Marlee Matlin: Breaking barriers