NEWS LITE : PORTRAIT OF FORMER PRESIDENT; REAGAN PHOTOGRAPHED AT PARK.

Yakov Ravin was walking in a Los Angeles park with his grandson last month when he saw a face that looked familiar. Sure enough, it was former President Reagan.

``I wanted to take his picture immediately,'' Ravin, who lives in Sylvania, Ohio, told The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade in a story published Wednesday.

He approached Reagan and said: ``Mr. President, this is an unforgettable moment in my life. It also is an unforgettable moment in the life of my grandson. Can I take a picture of him with you?''

``Go ahead,'' Reagan said, smiling, as they shook hands. Ravin looked over to the Secret Service agents he saw with Reagan and they also gave the OK.

So 12-year-old Rostik Denenburg, who moved to Sylvania five years ago from Kiev, Ukraine, joined Reagan on a bench in Armand Hammer Park while his grandfather snapped away.

``I said, `Be healthy,' and I wished him luck,'' said Rostik, a seventh-grader at Timberstone Junior High School in Sylvania.

Reagan, 86, has largely withdrawn from public life since being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. But Ravin said the former president ``looked good enough'' during their brief meeting.

Vincent says paramedics

ruined voice

Jan-Michael Vincent is suing a fire department, accusing paramedics of damaging his vocal cords while treating him during a drunk-driving crash last year.

Vincent speaks just above a whisper and has lost roles as a result, said his girlfriend, Karen Thompson. ``He's struggling as an actor because he doesn't have his tools,'' she said.

The Superior Court lawsuit filed Tuesday in Santa Ana said two Orange County Fire Authority paramedics improperly placed a breathing tube in his throat.

The tube caused serious damage, including partial paralysis of his vocal cords, the lawsuit said.

Vincent, 53, pleaded guilty to drunk driving and was sentenced to six weeks in a rehabilitation center.

The star of the '80s television series ``Airwolf'' and the miniseries ``The Winds of War'' was injured when his car rear-ended his girlfriend's Cadillac, then spun out of control and slammed into a pole. He broke his neck.

Fire Capt. Scott Brown wouldn't comment on the lawsuit.

Singer Joel tells of fling with Elle

In an interview plugging his latest ``Greatest Hits III'' album - which he tags ``essentially used cars'' - Billy Joel reveals that he had an affair with Elle Macpherson right after his marriage to Christie Brinkley hit the fan.

Indeed, he notes, it was the Big Elle and not the Brink who inspired his song, ``And So It Goes.'' Noted Joel: ``Elle was 19, and I was 33. I knew it was star-crossed. It was doomed and wasn't going to last. She was too young and I was too old. She was too tall and I was too short. She was too pretty and I was too ugly. But, man, while it lasted, it was great.''

British press make Di want to flee UK

Unbowed by The Scandal of the Fuzzy Make-out Photos, Princess Diana indicated in an interview published Wednesday - the eve of the first anniversary of her divorce from Prince Charles - that she'd love to leave England because of media coverage. She also called ``hopeless'' the government of ex-Prime Minister John Major, while praising that of the new PM, Tony Blair.

In Great Britain, ``the press is ferocious,'' Di said in the article in the French daily Le Monde. ``It forgives nothing and is only hunting down mistakes. Each act is twisted, each gesture is criticized. I think it's different overseas. I'm welcomed with kindness. . . . I think, in my place, any sane person would have left a long time ago. But I can't. I have my sons.''

Despite city's age, Allen loves Venice

While some of the loves in Woody Allen's life have waxed and waned, one passion has endured - Venice. Now the Italian city of romantic bridges is repaying his affection by opening its film festival with the director's latest work: ``Deconstructing Harry.''

Allen set much of his musical ``Everyone Says I Love You'' in Venice. A frequent visitor to the city, Allen chose Venice three years ago to make one of his first public appearances with partner Soon-Yi Previn.

Allen's affair with Previn, the adopted daughter of actress Mia Farrow, ended his 12-year relationship with Farrow.

Allen did not plan to be in Venice on Wednesday night for the debut of ``Harry,'' which is outside competition and tells the story of a writer's surrealistic adventures. He did send a message on videotape.

``My heart is in Venice but everything else is in Manhattan,'' Allen told the media last week.

Two of the film's stars, Elisabeth Shue and Kirstie Alley, were to attend Wednesday night's screening. Other actors in the film are Demi Moore, Robin Williams and Allen himself.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

PHOTO (1) Jan-Michael Vincent: Struggling

(2) Ronald Reagan makes 12-year-old Rostik Denenburg's day.

Associated Press

(3) Joel