1994

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke publicly for the first time Monday about the breakup of his 20-year marriage, saying he was responsible for the split even as he refused to talk about what caused it. In a somber meeting with reporters at City Hall, Villaraigosa declined to answer questions about whether the break with his wife, Corina, was triggered by another romantic relationship.

A few low, indecipherable noises escaped from the table where Shug McGaughey, trainer of even-money Preakness favorite Orb, sat during the post-position draw Wednesday. The horse had drawn the dreaded No. 1 gate, meaning eight horses will be closing him in as they race toward the shortest path to the first turn. McGaughey, though, was not among those who thought this meant anything significant. "Some people groaned," he said. "I didn't groan. " McGaughey acknowledged a preference to start on the outside of the field - where the jockey and horse can watch the field open up - but said he thought drawing the rail simply didn't matter in a nine-horse field running over a mile and three-sixteenths.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's giant Popocatepetl volcano may generate lava flows, explosions of "growing intensity" and ash that could reach miles away, the National Center for Disaster Prevention said Monday. Officials were preparing evacuation routes and shelters for thousands of people who live in the shadow of Popocatepetl, located 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. Officials have created a 7.5-mile restricted zone around the cone of the volcano. Popo, as the volcano is known, has displayed a "notable increase in activity levels" in the last few days, including tremors and explosive eruptions, according to a statement from the federal government.

Pat Summerall, who was half of one of the best known announcing teams in television sportscasting history as John Madden's broadcasting partner for more than two decades of NFL games, has died. He was 82. Summerall, who lived in Southlake, Texas, died Tuesday at a Dallas hospital, where he was recovering from surgery for a broken hip. Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell confirmed his death. Known for his deep, resonant voice and a smooth, understated delivery that wasted no words, Summerall worked with Tom Brookshier on the NFL for CBS from 1975 and was paired with Madden in 1981.

It was a happy, sad, frustrating, exhilarating, discouraging, encouraging, soothing, frazzling, stimulating, depressing, uplifting, bracing, painful, joyous, provocative, dull, exciting, hysterical, lackadaisical, exceptional, humdrum year. Just like 1993.

Any year that featured warring ice princesses, a pop icon who tried to alter the perception that he's weird as hell by marrying the daughter of another weird-as-hell pop icon, a celebrity double-murder suspect and Boris Yeltsin's nose job had to be a good one for comedians. Here are the top 10 things that affected comedy in 1994: 10 . David Letterman remains the man to watch in late night. 9 . But Jay Leno rebounded, with a new set and sensibility. 8 .

A Day Without O.J. Is Like a Day Without Live Team Coverage of Absolutely Nothing, Soon to Be a Movie of the Week "Somebody's in the back! ... Somebody's in the back! ... I can't see who it is! ... Now they're pulling away! ... No ... that's a woman I can't identify!" --KTLA-TV reporter Ron Olsen, in reportage typical of that from those on watch outside O.J. Simpson's mansion the day he disappeared (Calendar, June 19). * "As far as I'm concerned, it's a reprieve.

New venues changed the pat tern of dance presentation in Southern California during 1994, adding institutional nouns ("the Luckman," "the Carpenter") to the audience's vocabulary. Meanwhile other venues fell prey to weird programming obsessions.

Who would have imagined that rock 'n' roll would be so vital and inspiring at 40? Despite evidence as recently as 1990 that the music had once again lost its relevance, a new generation of musicians has stepped forward with purpose and direction--just as the Beatles and Bob Dylan did in the '60s, Bruce Springsteen and the Sex Pistols in the '70s, R.E.M. and U2 in the '80s.

In considering the year in movies, the word disappointing springs quickly to mind. But why? Is it that it's impossible to impress an audience in the afterglow of a season of cinema that reached a peak with notable efforts like "The Remains of the Day" and "Schindler's List"? Or was this year, with a few exceptions, simply riddled with bombs and stinkers? Then again, perhaps 1994 offered some pretty good movies, but we forget because it also produced "Bad Girls."

Ernie Schneider, the chief administrative officer of Orange County when it declared bankruptcy in 1994 because of its disastrous investment practices, died Saturday at his home in San Juan Capistrano. He was 66. His death, related to liver and kidney problems, was confirmed by former wife and current Laguna Beach City Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson. A longtime public servant, Schneider was the top appointed officer when Treasurer Robert L. Citron was discovered to have lost $1.64 billion in the value of the county's investment portfolio.

As one of the first high-ranking Latina administrators at a top American private university, Cecilia Preciado Burciaga inspired and mentored hundreds of Chicano and Latino students and faculty members during 20 years at Stanford University. She taught hesitant young women and men, many the first in their families to attend college, that they belonged and could thrive at the elite private school, and later kept more than a few from dropping out. She soothed nervous parents, persuading them, in Spanish and English, that the university was a safe place for their children and that it would open their eyes to new worlds.

It took 19 years, but the LAPD finally thanked Mike Kubeisy on Tuesday. Like the other residents of the Northridge Meadows apartment complex, Kubeisy was jolted awake early on the morning of Jan. 17, 1994, as the Northridge earthquake rocked the region. The building partially collapsed, killing 16 people and trapping many others, including LAPD Officer Joseph Jordan and his wife. Kubeisy, 32 at the time, crawled out of his third-floor apartment through a gaping crack that had opened in the wall, then went in search of people to help.

The only current NHL head coach with experience at guiding a team through a lockout-shortened, 48-game season has a good idea of what to expect if all goes as anticipated and teams open training camps Sunday in advance of a Jan. 19 return from lockout limbo. "We're all going to come up with ideas but you really don't have time to work on a lot of things," said Kings Coach Darryl Sutter, who coached the Chicago Blackhawks during the truncated 1994-95 season. "We're lucky we have our team returning, other than banged-up guys.

The only current NHL head coach with experience at guiding a team through a lockout-shortened, 48-game season has a good idea of what to expect if all goes as anticipated and teams open training camps Sunday in advance of a Jan. 19 return from lockout limbo. "We're all going to come up with ideas but you really don't have time to work on a lot of things," said Kings Coach Darryl Sutter, who coached the Chicago Blackhawks during the truncated 1994-95 season. "We're lucky we have our team returning, other than banged-up guys.

Kings fans had waited 45 years for their beloved team to win the Stanley Cup last June, so it seemed cruel that a labor dispute between the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Assn. delayed their chance to see the Kings raise their championship banner at Staples Center. Their wait is now near an end. The league and players' union early Sunday announced a tentative accord on a new collective bargaining agreement that will bring up to 10 years' labor peace to a league that has shut its doors three times because of conflicts.

Just say it was the league that went up a hill but came down a mountain. Twenty-two days after a top NHL official declared that term limits on player contracts were "the hill we will die on," the league engaged in a bit of selective amnesia. The NHL submitted an amended collective bargaining proposal to the players' union that featured movement on the terms of contracts, proposing a six-year limit with an exception of seven-year agreements for clubs to re-sign their own free agents.

The Holy or the Broken Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah" Alan Light Atria: 272 pp., $25 There's a great scene in Penelope Spheeris' 1992 film "Wayne's World" - find it on YouTube under the title "May i help you riff" - in which an impatient guitar-store employee prevents Wayne from plucking out the opening arpeggios of "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. Pointing with great urgency, the guy directs Wayne's attention to a sign hung on the store's wall: "NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN," it reads.