NEWS LITE : ROGERS REVISITS ROOTS TO HELP KIDS.

Before Kenny Rogers was ``The Gambler'' or even a country music star, he was a poor kid growing up in Houston's housing projects.

He returned Friday to Allen Parkway Village, which has recently been renovated.

After touring the complex, Rogers announced a donation of $5,000 to start a Kenny Rogers Scholarship Fund for residents of Allen Parkway Village who want to go to college.

The Housing Authority of the city of Houston presented Rogers with a brick from one of the original buildings, a copy of the floor plan for the renovated buildings and black-and-white photos taken of Allen Parkway in the 1940s.

``He's our most famous resident,'' said Lenwood Johnson, president of the resident council of Allen Parkway Village.

Clintons plan usual Vineyard vacation

President Clinton and his family are planning a return to Martha's Vineyard for their summer vacation sometime in mid-August, White House officials said Friday.

Plans are not yet final, but officials say the Vineyard is the most certain among the range of options the first family is considering.

Martha's Vineyard has been a magnet for the president and his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for all but two of their seven summers as White House residents.

This year's choice of the Vineyard comes somewhat as a surprise because of intense speculation that the Clintons would vacation in New York state, perhaps in the Adirondacks or the Hamptons, because Hillary Clinton is almost certain to run for the U.S. Senate in that state.

While the dates for their vacation have not been set, they usually arrive a few days before the president's Aug. 19 birthday.

OFFBEAT 

Researchers at Bar-Ilan University in Israel have determined that Viagra will help double the life span of plants, fruits and vegetables. ``Plants aren't all that different from people,'' said plant physiologist Yaacov Leshem. Viagra ``helps prevent aging.'' A few drops of Viagra dissolved in water helps to cut the emission of ethylene from cut flowers. It's ethylene that causes ripening and eventual spoilage.

Palestinians tie the knot at mass wedding

It was billed as ``the biggest wedding in Palestine.''

And somewhere among the 101 bridegrooms was Abdul Jalil Sbakhi, 22 - marching in the Gaza City procession onto a high stage, waving a bouquet of flowers and a Hamas flag. Somewhere below, amid more than 15,000 Palestinians crowded onto a sandy soccer field, stood Sbakhi's excited 18-year-old bride, Hiba.

Separated from the men at this mass Islamic wedding party, Hiba joined throngs of women who clapped, sang and wailed the distinctive tones of a Middle Eastern celebration. ``I'm filled with happiness,'' Hiba said.

Thursday night's event was organized by the Islamic Society, the social arm of Hamas, the militant Islamic organization better known for the deadly suicide bombings that stalled the Israeli-Palestinian peace process in 1996.

Despite holy words to the couples, the event seemed to have a political aim. Hamas gave each groom $100 cash and another $100 in gifts - including a Koran and a videotape of the evening's festivities. One lucky couple won a washing machine from one of the event's many corporate sponsors.

``Hamas wants to show it has support in the community,'' said a Palestinian journalist.

News Lite is compiled by Audrey Ramsay Prest from Daily News staff and wire reports.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) WOODSTOCK, '90s-STYLE

An unidentified woman and a giant beach ball bounce around on a sea of heads and hands at the Woodstock '99 festival near Rome, N.Y. Godfather of Soul James Brown, the hardest working man in show business, opened the three-day event Friday for more than 200,000 people. This year's event kicked off on a former Air Force base some 100 miles from the farm where the original Woodstock took place 30 years ago.

Peter R. Barber/Associated Press

(2) U.S. women's World Cup star Brandi Chastain signs an autograph for a young fan on Friday at the San Jose airport. Chastain was awarded the key to the city of San Jose.

Randi Lynn Beach/Associated Press