John Glenn

The current lot of announced candidates for the Democratic party presidential nomination just about assures another loss in 1988. There is one name, a Democrat, capable of winning. He has the necessary pedigree, and now has the qualifications and experience to go with it. Party leaders, think about John Glenn, senator from Ohio, and take note. B. F. FARBER Redondo Beach

I watched Neil Armstrong take his giant small step onto the moon at my best friend Brian's house. It was July 20 1969, and just before 8 p.m. in L.A., and the sun was still out. Thinking back, I see light filtering in through curtains, pulled shut possibly to help us better feel the history being made (remotely) before our eyes, on a big square black-and-white TV showing a black-and-white picture beamed from 238,900 miles out in space. Or perhaps they were always closed like that. Things we might otherwise have been doing then and may have been doing right before or afterward included swimming, reading comic books and making recordings on Brian's reel-to-reel.

Florida's Kennedy Space Center will debut a new viewing platform for space shuttle flights on Oct. 29, when John Glenn makes his historic return to space. The platform is about 10 miles away from the launch pad, across the Indian River. The space center is charging $21.20 per person for access to the site, where there will be music, briefings and NASA countdown commentary available. You also get reserved parking and a commemorative T-shirt.

WASHINGTON - President Obama pinned the Presidential Medal of Freedom around Bob Dylan's neck as the singer stood in the White House inscrutable in black sunglasses. "I have to say that I am a really big fan," Obama said as he introduced Dylan, one of a number of figures from the struggles and accomplishments of the 1960s, as well as other eras, whom Obama chose to honor Tuesday. Labor leader and civil rights campaigner Dolores Huerta and astronaut John Glenn also received the medal.

Thirty-six years after he first left the Earth's atmosphere, in the tiny Friendship 7 capsule, Sen. John Glenn is returning to space. In 1962 he was a 40-year-old Navy test pilot, who had broken a transcontinental speed record, flying from Los Angeles to New York in 3 hours, 23 minutes. Now, at 77, he is the oldest astronaut ever to fly in space. This time he will not be alone.

Today "To the Contrary": Federal budget; Paula Jones case, 1 p.m. KCET. "Evans, Novak, Hunt & Shields": Jack Kemp of Empower America, 2:30 p.m., repeats Sunday 8 a.m. CNN. "John McLaughlin's One on One": U.S. space program, 2:30 p.m. KCET. "Tony Brown's Journal": Eubie Blake; Chuck Jackson; Stevie Wonder; Lionel Hampton; Charles Brown, 3:30 p.m. KCET. "Reliable Sources": 3:30 p.m., repeats Sunday 8:30 a.m. CNN. "Capital Gang": Gov. Roy Romer of Colorado, 4 p.m., repeats Sunday 4:30 a.m. CNN.

Former senator and astronaut John Glenn, 85, and his wife, Annie, 86, were discharged from a Columbus hospital where they had been recovering from a car accident Friday night. They were returning home from a fundraiser when John Glenn hit an oncoming car while making a left turn, said his former press secretary, Dale Butland. The other driver was unhurt and police cited Glenn for failure to yield, Butland said.

Every day we get a little closer to John Glenn's launch off the pad, which will make him the oldest man in space since William Shatner. Every day I look forward to it a little more, because I am so in love with the idea of sending our politicians to another planet. I think Americans in general are happy to see Glenn go up, in what amounts to NASA's Old-Timers' Day. It figures to be the first flight in history in which an astronaut drinks Geritol instead of Tang.

U.S. Sen. John Glenn, a space pioneer who was one of the country's first astronauts, on Thursday was named grand marshal of the 1990 Tournament of Roses Parade amid praise for his courage, hometown values and public service. In a ceremony at the Tournament House in Pasadena, Glenn's wife, Annie, received the traditional bouquet of roses, while Glenn was given a customized football helmet "modified especially for astronauts," said tournament president Don Fedde. "This will come in handy in the U.

Former senator and astronaut John Glenn, 85, and his wife, Annie, 86, were in fair condition at Grant Medical Center in Columbus after being involved in a car accident. They were expected to be released today. The couple were returning home from a fundraiser Friday night when Glenn tried to make a left turn onto a highway ramp and struck another car. Police cited Glenn for failure to yield, according to family spokesman Dale Butland.

If there's a fight on the campus of John Glenn High in Norwalk, forget about calling security as long as Javier Molina is close by. "We would never use a student that way, but Javier could bring a quick end to the fight," Principal Linda Granillo said. Molina is the rarest of high school seniors, a professional boxer who made his winning debut on ESPN with a second-round knockout on March 27 at the Nokia Theatre. Classmates cheered for him when the announcement was made during a school dance.

Former senator and astronaut John Glenn, 85, and his wife, Annie, 86, were discharged from a Columbus hospital where they had been recovering from a car accident Friday night. They were returning home from a fundraiser when John Glenn hit an oncoming car while making a left turn, said his former press secretary, Dale Butland. The other driver was unhurt and police cited Glenn for failure to yield, Butland said.

Former senator and astronaut John Glenn, 85, and his wife, Annie, 86, were in fair condition at Grant Medical Center in Columbus after being involved in a car accident. They were expected to be released today. The couple were returning home from a fundraiser Friday night when Glenn tried to make a left turn onto a highway ramp and struck another car. Police cited Glenn for failure to yield, according to family spokesman Dale Butland.

U.S. space pioneer John Glenn said Thursday that President Bush's space exploration plan "pulls the rug out from under our scientists" and might waste too much money to ever put astronauts on Mars. Glenn, a retired Democratic senator from Ohio and the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, said NASA should not abandon research on the international space station, and he questioned the advisability of using the moon as a steppingstone to Mars.

Two spacewalking astronauts successfully checked out a little-used portal at the international space station on Wednesday and got a call of congratulations from John Glenn. "I'm envious at what you're doing up there," said Glenn, celebrating his 40th anniversary as the first American in orbit. "I never got to do a spacewalk. But I've joked and I said that NASA wouldn't let me do that because they were afraid at my age on that last flight in '98 that I might wander off someplace."

John Glenn's 77-year-old body handled the rigors of space every bit as well as astronauts roughly half his age, NASA scientists said Friday in disclosing some of the lessons they learned from Glenn's historic mission. Glenn, who became the world's oldest astronaut when he returned to space in 1998, suffered no more loss of bone mass or muscle than younger astronauts.

Events on the InternetToday * 6 p.m.: Miss America 1999, Nicole Johnson, leads a chat on diabetes awareness. Johnson was 19 when she was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. http://www.planetrx.com/community/specialguests/default.html Friday * 3:30 p.m.: Chat live with the pomo-folk-hop-funk king, Beck, whose slamming new release "Midnite Vultures" has just dropped. http://www.spin.com Saturday * 11 a.m.

Mayor Paul Yost and Kim Masoner, president of the Chamber of Commerce, announced that this week will be Boeing Week in the city. The week will feature a raffle with prizes donated by the company, including a plaque autographed by John Glenn, and Boeing employees will receive special merchant deals. The company employs about 3,000 people at its facility in the city. "It's our largest employer and taxpayer," Yost said. "We have excellent relations with them."