Original rock DJ Freed enshrined in hall's wall

CLEVELAND -- The late, legendary disc jockey Alan Freed has been enshrined at the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame -- literally.

A brass urn containing Freed's ashes have been sealed in an undisclosed wall at the rock hall.

Freed, who died in 1965 at age 43, popularized the term "rock 'n' roll," and Cleveland staked its claim to the rock hall on his legacy.

His remains had been interred at a mausoleum in Hartsdale, N.Y. Freed's four children and third wife approved the move.

The marble plaque that marked his gave now hangs in the rock hall lobby.

"I'm sure some people will find it unusual and others might find it morbid," said Terry Stewart, rock hall president and chief executive. "It's certainly appropriate in a rock 'n' roll sense to have his final resting place here."

Lance Freed said it was what his father would have wanted.

"My father was very much a public figure. He said, 'Look, if something happens to me, just two things: I want to be near the music and I want to be near the public,'" he said.

19-year-old mayor goes to Hollywood

MERCER, Pa. -- Christopher Portman, the teen-ager who was elected mayor of this northwestern Pennsylvania town in November, is finding out quickly what a little political clout means in Hollywood.

Portman, 19, will appear in the opening of ABC's Academy Awards telecast tonight.

He and several slightly bigger celebrities -- Mikhail Gorbachev, Al Sharpton, Walter Cronkite and Donald Trump -- will appear on the telecast's videotaped opening segment, each talking about his favorite movie.

Radical Media, a New York production company, arranged for Portman to tape his spot in the Big Apple last week.

Portman, who hopes to one day run for Congress and president, discusses "Air Force One," the Harrison Ford thriller.

Small fire at Pacino's house rouses guests

PALISADES, N.Y. -- A pre-dawn fire heavily damaged a guesthouse on Al Pacino's Rockland County estate, sending several of the actor's friends into the subfreezing night, police said. No one was hurt.

Pacino, star of "Serpico," "Scarface" and the "Godfather" films, was in the main house and was roused as firetrucks arrived from Sparkill, Tappan and Piermont.

The fire was reported at 4:25 a.m. Friday and all the occupants left the guesthouse by the time police and firefighters arrived, said Detective Sgt. Terry Hutmacher of the Orangetown police. Neither the police nor Pacino's publicist, Pat Kingsley, would identify the guests.

Kingsley described the blaze as "no big deal," but Hutmacher said there was heavy smoke and water damage to the second floor of the guesthouse. Hutmacher said the fire apparently started in a bedroom and was accidental.

The Pacino property overlooks the Hudson River just north of the New Jersey state line.

--From wire reports