Milestones

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Elizabeth L. Bland, Sora Song, Deirdre Van Dyk

SEPARATED. DREW BARRYMORE, 26, free-spirited actress (Riding in Cars with Boys), from her husband of six months, comedian TOM GREEN, 30, who filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences; in Los Angeles. The prank-loving pair insisted the split was not a hoax.

OVERTURNED. Death sentence of MUMIA ABU-JAMAL, 47, charismatic former Black Panther and journalist whose book Live from Death Row spawned worldwide support among opponents of the death penalty; in Philadelphia. A federal judge upheld Abu-Jamal's conviction in the 1981 murder of white police officer Daniel Faulkner but found that the instructions to the jury were unconstitutional.

FOUND. A body carrying the identification of DON WILEY, 57, Harvard molecular biologist and researcher of deadly viruses like Ebola, who had been missing since Nov. 16; in the Mississippi River in Vidalia, La. Wiley had been attending a meeting in Memphis, Tenn.

SIGNED. KATIE COURIC, 44, empathetic but tough anchor for NBC's Today show; after exploring other offers and igniting much industry speculation about her future; a contract paying her a reported $60 million until 2006. The deal will make Couric, a key to Today's status as the top-rated TV morning show, the highest-paid person in TV news.

RETIRING. LINDA FAIRSTEIN, 54, chief prosecutor of New York City's sex-crimes unit who successfully pushed national and local legislation on behalf of rape victims; in New York City. Among her best-known cases was the conviction of preppie Robert Chambers in the 1986 manslaughter of teen Jennifer Levin.

DIED. STUART ADAMSON, 43, lead singer and guitarist for the proudly unhip 1980s pop band Big Country; after hanging himself in a Honolulu hotel room. Born in the tiny Scottish mining town of Dunfermline--where he maintained homes despite pleas from his record company to relocate to London--Adamson had long battled depression and alcohol addiction.

DIED. DICK SCHAAP, 67, witty, award-winning sports journalist and host of TV and radio shows, including ESPN's The Sports Reporters; after hip-replacement surgery; in New York City. In his five-decade career, Schaap befriended countless celebrities, covered sports and sometimes culture for Newsweek, nbc, abc and espn, and won six Emmys. Among his 33 books was the 1968 best seller Instant Replay, written with Green Bay Packer Jerry Kramer.

DIED. BILL BISSELL, 70, longtime band director for the University of Washington who in the early '80s invented, with an associate, the wave--the cheer in which fans stand and raise their arms section by section, causing improbable delight among football fans everywhere; in Bothell, Wash.

DIED. JOHN GUEDEL, 88, workaholic producer of popular '40s and '50s shows like Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life and Art Linkletter's People Are Funny; in Los Angeles. Before meeting Linkletter in 1941, Guedel got his start writing for TV's Laurel and Hardy and Our Gang comedies.

DIED. LEOPOLD SEDAR SENGHOR, 95, first president of an independent Senegal; in Normandy, France. A poet of negritude, a celebration of blackness, Senghor persuaded French President Charles de Gaulle to grant Senegal independence in 1960. He led the republic until 1980, when he became the first African President to retire voluntarily.