Margaret Karcher

It took a very private election night party to get Pilar Wayne in public for the first time since her daughter was slashed by intruders on Oct 3. "I will be worried each second of the day," Pilar said after the attack on Aissa, 32, and her boyfriend, Roger Luby, 52. The comely couple were surprised by masked gunmen who bound and threatened them in the garage of Luby's $3-million Newport Beach mansion. Neither the motive nor the identity of the assailants has been established.

Carl N. Karcher, founder of the Carl's Jr. hamburger chain, and six of his relatives agreed Monday to settle civil charges of insider trading by paying a total of $664,000. "The case is settled. Carl just wanted to get it behind him for the benefit of his family and children," said Thomas Holliday, Karcher's attorney. Under the consent agreement, Karcher and his family members neither admitted nor denied the charges made against them.

Beverly Hills always seems bigger than life. It has bigger-than-life glitz and a stupendous civic center (even if not paid for) to prove it. The glitzy crowd, in black-tie and mostly black and white couture, turned out bigger than life to greet portly Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre Tuesday night. A handsome crowd stepped over Ferre's 2-foot-high initials in marble at the entrance of the new Ferre boutique at 270 Rodeo Drive, and everyone bustled up the stairs to see the pricey togs.

Ask Jack Shea about the value of his contemporary art collection, and the past president of the Newport Harbor Art Museum will smile, blush, clear his throat and tell you he doesn't buy art for market value. Or to impress. "It's just something I enjoy," he said Saturday night in his Palm Springs home. And you believe him.

Hundreds of theater buffs gathered for the world premiere of "Night and Her Stars"--a play about the network quiz-show scandals of the late '50s--at South Coast Repertory on Friday night. Donors of at least $1,000 to the Tony Award-winning theater mingled al fresco under a sprawling, light-studded canopy and feasted on roast turkey and pasta before watching the three-act work commissioned by SCR and written by Richard Greenberg of New York. The buzz? Game shows, now and then.

Get ready for a run on flashbulbs. Shirley Temple Black will be in Newport Beach on Nov. 20 (know it seems like star-years away, but invitations are being readied as we speak) to celebrate the release of her autobiography, "Child Star." Black will be the special guest at a celebrity-packed "Thanksgiving Gala" at the Newporter Resort. On the guest list? Hold your nostalgia-loving breath.

The first observance of a President's birthday after his death is a momentous and emotional occasion, John Taylor said on Monday at a luncheon held at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace in Yorba Linda. "So with the help of the state of California, we tried to make today a forward-looking occasion," said Taylor, the library's executive director.

He may be golden in Hollywood. Here, Oscar is persona non grata. A foam-cutout attendee at earlier parties, Oscar has sent regrets to tonight's benefits for the Muscular Dystrophy Assn., Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and Assistance League of Newport-Mesa. Only weeks after last year's parties, charities received word from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences that using a facsimile of Oscar was a no-no, say sources. "Somebody snitched," sniffs Liz Polo, a spokeswoman for Cystic Fibrosis.

The setting was Costa Mesa, but it "felt like the moon," whispered one guest, shivering in tissue taffeta as she swept into the austere Noguchi Gardens at South Coast Plaza Town Center. Indeed, a blustery wind rustled ball gowns and lifted coattails during the outdoor reception before "The Leading Edge . . . " gala Saturday night, a white-tie party for major donors that kicked off South Coast Repertory Theatre's 1987-88 season, netting $125,000 for new play development.

Tennis shoes, anyone? A high-heeled version (in basic black, but of course) would have been nice last week. Things were hectic. Used to be that weekday bashes were unheard of. Big party nights were Fridays and Saturdays. And that was that. But no longer. With the advent of the Orange County Performing Arts Center and its attendant openings, not to mention dozens of new support groups in the county, a serious party hopper can hop from Monday to Sunday if he or she wants.