Monday, Apr. 05, 2004

Milestones

By Unmesh Kher; Kate Novack; Dody Tsiantar; Deirdre van Dyk

CLEARED. Six CINCINNATI, OHIO, POLICE OFFICERS; in connection with the Nov. 30 death of NATHANIEL JONES, 41, who died after they repeatedly struck him with nightsticks during an altercation in a restaurant parking lot; in Cincinnati. The prosecutor said the policemen--who responded after Jones lunged at them--committed no crime.

CHARGED. DANIEL PELOSI, 40, electrician; with second-degree murder in the bludgeoning death of wealthy Manhattan financier Theodore Ammon in Ammon's ivy-covered East Hampton, N.Y., mansion; in Riverhead, N.Y. The case captured tabloid headlines, as Pelosi married Ammon's widow three months after the murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

DIED. BRIAN MAXWELL, 51, world-ranked marathon runner who spawned an industry of high-energy snacks in his Berkeley, Calif., kitchen when he invented the PowerBar; of a heart attack; in San Anselmo, Calif. After running out of steam short of the finish line in a 1983 race, he set out to create a portable, endurance-boosting food. PowerBar was launched three years later--with an initial run of 35,000 bars in chocolate and malt-nut flavors--and in 2000 was sold for a reported $375 million.

DIED. JAN BERRY, 62, of the duo Jan & Dean, who produced a string of 1960s surf-music hits that won the pair 10 gold records; of a seizure; in Los Angeles. Berry and his partner penned such memorable tunes as The Little Old Lady from Pasadena, about a speedster granny; Surf City; and Dead Man's Curve--the last two co-written with Beach Boy Brian Wilson. A car accident in 1966 had left Berry with brain damage, partial paralysis and generally poor health.

DIED. CLAUS JOSEF RIEDEL, 79, Czech-born glassmaker who, as president of his family's 248-year-old glassware company, discovered that the design of a glass could enhance the flavor of wine; of a heart attack; in Genoa, Italy. He took control of the family business in 1957 and spent the next 16 years studying how the shape of a glass could direct wine to specific areas of the tongue. "Aesthetics and excellence are my criteria, not mere convenience," he said of his collection, which grew to six lines of glasses ranging from thimble to fishbowl.

DIED. JAN STERLING, 82, cool blond actress, who played sharp supporting roles in such films of the 1950s as Caged and Ace in the Hole and snagged an Oscar nomination for her role as a passenger on a troubled airliner in 1954's The High and the Mighty; in Woodland Hills, Calif.

DIED. PRINCESS JULIANA, 94, revered Queen of the Netherlands for 32 years; in Baarn, the Netherlands. Shy and informal--she liked to ride her bicycle in a simple flowered frock--she asked in her 1948 inaugural address, "Who am I that I may do this?" But shortly after taking the throne, she recognized the independence of Indonesia, ending 346 years of colonial rule, and she later helped guide her country through the social upheavals of the 1960s. Juliana's popularity helped the monarchy weather political storms when her husband was accused of accepting payoffs in 1976. Four years later, at 71, she abdicated to her daughter Beatrix.