M Larry Lawrence

Seeking to snuff out a controversy, the Clinton administration on Friday released the names of 69 people given special permission for burial at Arlington National Cemetery as Democratic officials asserted that only one was a big party donor. Army Secretary Togo West Jr.

A House Veterans Affairs subcommittee promised to tighten the criteria for burial at Arlington National Cemetery, saying that the politically well-connected have an advantage when the White House and the Army grant exceptions to current rules. The subcommittee has led an investigation into how and why the Clinton administration granted a waiver for Democratic campaign donor and Ambassador M. Larry Lawrence, who died at age 69 in 1996.

The late Ambassador M. Larry Lawrence was a college student in March 1945--the same month the Democratic campaign contributor claimed he was on a torpedoed merchant marine ship, the New York Post reported. Citing documents from Wilbur Wright Junior College in Chicago, the Post said Lawrence was taking at least 12 hours of classes per week between January and June 1945. That would contradict the claims that helped gain Lawrence, who died in 1996, burial at Arlington National Cemetery.

The second stage of construction has begun on San Diego's second full-service Jewish community center and has been named for philanthropist M. Larry Lawrence , owner of the Hotel del Coronado. The $6-million second phase is part of three stages of development on a 12-acre site between Regents Road and Genesee Avenue. The first stage, completed in 1984, consists of the Friedenberg Olympic Pool, the Al Hutler Tennis Center and the Mandell Weiss Eastgate Park, adjacent to the site.

A U.S. ambassador's widow filed a $25-million libel suit Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court against conservative columnist Arianna Huffington, saying an allegation that the widow had an affair with President Clinton was a "pernicious lie." Shelia Davis Lawrence also separately sued the National Enquirer for publishing what she said were false statements concerning the alleged affair.

The Senate approved the nominations of four Democratic loyalists to ambassadorial posts Tuesday after a four-month delay because of questions about their foreign policy expertise. M. Larry Lawrence, a San Diego developer and hotel owner, was confirmed as ambassador to Switzerland by a 76-19 vote. The other three, Sidney Williams for the Bahamas, K. Terry Dornbush for the Netherlands and Thomas Siebert for Sweden, were approved by voice vote.

The body of Ambassador M. Larry Lawrence was exhumed from Arlington National Cemetery on Thursday, a week after Republicans questioned his claims of wartime service that helped win permission for burial there. Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said the Lawrence family handled the details of removing Lawrence's body and moving it to a new burial site.

UC San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene each swept through opening-round matches in the Labor Day Volleyball Festival at Christ College Irvine. PLNC also swept three matches as setter LeAnne Lopez had 55 assists. Christian Heritage finished the day 0-4. All three teams will continue pool play today at 9:30 a.m. at University High in Irvine. San Diego State's women (1-0) got 12 kills from Angela Martin in a 15-5, 16-14, 15-11 victory over Murray State at Peterson Gym. U.S.