Milestones

By Kathleen Adams, Melissa August, Randy Hartwell, Ellin Martens, Jodie Morse, Joseph Pierro, Alex Smith and Sora Song

ENGAGED. FREDDIE PRINZE JR., 25, doe-eyed heartthrob (She's All That), and SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR, 24, kick-ass girl empowerer (Buffy the Vampire Slayer); in Los Angeles.

BLOCKED. Publication of The Wind Done Gone, a reinterpretation of Gone With the Wind told from the point of view of a slave; in Atlanta. A federal judge rejected author Alice Randall's argument that her novel was a parody, instead saying it infringed on the copyright of the original novel written by Margaret Mitchell, whose estate had sued in June to stop its publication.

EXPECTING. PRINCESS MASAKO, 37, wife of Naruhito, heir to the Japanese throne; in Tokyo. According to the Imperial Household Agency, the Princess is "showing signs" that she is seven or eight weeks pregnant. It will be the couple's first child. The palace blamed Masako's 1999 miscarriage in part on media scrutiny.

ARRESTED. JOSEPH ESTRADA, 64, Philippine President ousted in January; on corruption charges; in Manila. He turned himself in after warrants were issued accusing him of taking millions of dollars in bribes while in office. He is free on bail.

CONVICTED. JULIE PONDER, 40, and CONNELL WATKINS, 54; of reckless child abuse; in Golden, Colo. The two therapists had led the "rebirthing" session of Candace Newmaker, 10, which involved wrapping the girl in a flannel sheet and forcing her to emerge from it. Though the child repeatedly cried for help, she was not released and died of asphyxiation.

SETTLED. Civil lawsuits against the families of Columbine High School gunmen Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, as well as the men who supplied them with guns; by the families of 30 of their victims; in Denver. It has not yet been decided how the settlement, which totals $2.53 million, will be divided.

RULED NEGLIGENT. CHARLES LAUX, former sheriff of Richardson County, Neb.; for not offering protective custody to Teena Brandon, a 21-year-old cross-dressing woman whose rape and murder inspired the movie Boys Don't Cry; by the Nebraska Supreme Court; in Lincoln, Neb.

DIED. JOEY RAMONE, 49, gangly front man of seminal punk band the Ramones; of lymphatic cancer; in New York. (See EULOGY, below).

DIED. MICHAEL RITCHIE, 62, director whose films, including The Candidate, Smile and Downhill Racer, often portrayed the unforeseen pitfalls of success; of prostate cancer; in Manhattan. Ritchie also directed Fletch, The Golden Child and The Bad News Bears.

DIED. ALFRED MOEN, 84, plumbing-fixture pioneer; in Destin, Fla. Moen hatched the idea for the single-knob faucet as a college student in 1937 after he was scalded by the then ubiquitous two-handled variety. His namesake company claims to sell more than 70% of the kitchen faucets in the U.S.