People talk 12/27/01

Mary Tyler Moore statue must wait until spring

MINNEAPOLIS -- Mary Richards won't be tossing her hat in downtown Minneapolis until spring.

The cable channel TV Land commissioned a $55,000 bronze sculpture by Milwaukee artist Gwendolyn Gillen showing Mary Tyler Moore -- as her TV news producer character, Mary Richards -- tossing her hat in the air in downtown Minneapolis, as depicted in the opening credits of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show."

TV Land shows reruns of the 1970s sitcom.

Originally, the sculpture was to have been installed this fall, but TV Land asked for a postponement after business slowed at its New York offices following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The sculpture now will be installed in April, said Mary Altman, spokeswoman for the city's Office of Cultural Affairs.

Florida town keeps busy with the Bushes

BOCA GRANDE, Fla. -- When the Bush family comes to town, everyone knows.

"We get really, really busy," said Lucy Gaudioso, assistant manager of Bike & Beach Rentals & Sales of Boca Grande. "Christmas week is the busiest week of the year, anyway. When they've been here, it makes things crazy. We rent out all of our golf carts."

The president and first lady won't be joining the family this year, but former President Bush, his wife, Barbara, Gov. Jeb Bush and other family members were due to begin arriving Wednesday for vacation in the tiny community of about 3,000 on Gasparilla Island.

With the economic downturn, residents aren't complaining about the increasing traffic from security and gawkers this year. Island businesses say they expect to keep busy with the Bushes in town.

-- From wire reports