Baby Is a Hunk--With a Trunk

--The new star made his entrance on legs that were still a bit wobbly. Even so, he was a hit with the near-record crowd of 11,000 that turned out at the Washington Park Zoo in Portland, Ore., to see the newest addition to the zoo’s herd of 12 Asian elephants. (Zoo spokeswoman Jane Hartline said that a typical day’s crowd numbers about 4,000.) The bull elephant calf, born Sunday night, appeared with his mother, Me-tu, his grandmother, Rosy, and two other cows, Pet and her daughter, Sung-Surin. The unnamed calf, which weighs about 175 pounds, struggled to its feet several times in its first 15 minutes of life, only to fall or be knocked over by its mother’s trunk. But zoo executive director Gene Leo later said the calf’s legs were growing more steady and that “he looks like a really strong baby.” The elephant was the 24th born at the zoo since the April, 1962, birth of Packy, who was the first elephant born in captivity in 44 years. The zoo’s breeding program is “by far” the most prolific in the world, Hartline said.

--The June 2 edition of the National Enquirer features a photograph of model Donna Rice sitting on the lap of former presidential candidate Gary Hart, who has his arm around her. Another photo shows Hart and Rice standing with William Broadhurst, a friend of Hart, and Lynn Armandt, a friend of Rice who knows Broadhurst. A smiling Hart is depicted holding maracas; Broadhurst is seated behind a set of drums and the women are holding microphones. The foursome sailed to Bimini in the Bahamas in March. The Enquirer would not say where it obtained the pictures or how much it paid for them. “We certainly believe they’re authentic,” Enquirer editor Iain Calder said. Hart dropped out of the presidential race this month after questions arose about his relationship with Rice. Both denied they were romantically involved with each other.

--It was a very special delivery. The card had only a nickname, an incomplete address, an S&H; Green Stamp instead of postage and a one-name return address. But the U.S. Postal Service delivered it one day after it was mailed in Fort Worth, Tex. The card was addressed: “Nana, 1712 Watson,” without a city, state or ZIP code. The return address was simply: “lissa.” “I did it all myself,” Melissa Reeder, 6, said. “I wrote Nana a get-well card ‘cause she was sick.” It turns out that Nana is Vera Reeder, Melissa’s grandmother. “I was flabbergasted that it reached me,” Reeder said. Mail with incomplete addresses is referred to the uncoded city or quiz clerk, and Irene Owens, a Postal Service consumer affairs clerk, said: “We are delighted the letter got to Nana.”