Fashionably Late: Fashion designer Diane von Furstenburg,...

Fashionably Late: Fashion designer Diane von Furstenburg, 44, was described by Brewster, N.Y., police as “very cordial and pleasant,” although she offered no explanation of why she was driving--recklessly, they say--with (or without, as the case may be) a license that was suspended nine years ago. She will have to return to a Brewster court this week to answer charges of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and of driving 77 m.p.h. in a 55-m.p.h. zone.

Shadow Boxing: General Lee, the official Southern groundhog, stirred from his manse at the Yellow River Game Ranch outside Atlanta and saw no shadow, which is supposed to mean spring has arrived--totally contrary to the prediction of six more weeks of winter based on the emergence--and sighting of a shadow--by Yankee groundhog Punxsutawny Phil of Pennsylvania.

Weak Side: Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles says he’s looking for a dentist to “get my foot out of my mouth” after coming under fire for referring to women as the “weaker sex.” The reference came during a talk with high school students. He was urging young men to have more respect for women. “Being a man is allowing the weaker sex--women--to have a say-so and to have their own control,” he said. His wife, Rhea, and women on his staff were quick to jump on him about it, he said.

Mannerly Mugger: Boston resident Peter Pacare received an unexpected letter of appreciation Friday--from the man who mugged him two weeks ago near a subway station. Pacare’s wallet was returned along with the thank-you note, but not the money that it originally contained. “I want to thank you for the $13 you had it in it,” the anonymous letter said. “I needed to get home, and I know if I had asked you to help me you would have said no, so I thank you.”