Rainbow

Burton Lane,84, who composed the music for "Finian's Rainbow," "On a Clear Day You Can See Forever" and other stage and movie musicals, died of a stroke Sunday in New York.In a career that extended from Tin Pan Alley to Broadway to Hollywood, Mr. Lane collaborated with such lyricists as Ira Gershwin, E. Y. "Yip" Harburg and Alan Jay Lerner."Finian's Rainbow," a fantasy with a leprechaun, a pot of gold and a bigoted Southern senator, was written with Harburg in 1947.Among the highlights were "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"

Putting the finishing touches on "Little Castles" isn't the only thing keeping independent filmmaker Skizz Cyzyk busy these days. He's also preparing to serve as host for the first MicroCineFest, a film festival he promises will showcase "big ambition on a little budget."Set to run Oct. 1-4, the festival will include local and nationalfilmmakers. Scheduled highlights includeSuki Hawley's "Half Cocked" (set for opening night), the tale of five penniless teens who steal a van full of music equipment and hit the road.

A convicted murderer now in prison again on drug and weapons smuggling charges was hired by a nonprofit to help de-escalate gang conflicts at a Baltimore alternative school, officials confirm, though the extent of his involvement is unclear. Rainbow Lee Williams, who federal prosecutors say is a top lieutenant in the Black Guerrilla Family gang, was released from prison on a murder charge in September. From October to January, he worked sporadically at Achievement Academy at Harbor City High, a school for students with severe behavioral or academic problems, through nonprofit Partners In Progress.

To some, it's a long-overdue tribute to the men and women who fought for the United States during World War II. To others, it's an architectural disaster that will forever mar one of America's most important open spaces, the National Mall in Washington. This Saturday, in honor of Veterans Day, the American Battle Monuments Commission will hold a ceremonial groundbreaking for the $100 million National World War II Memorial, the first national monument dedicated to all who served in the armed forces and merchant marine during the war. The monument's location at the Rainbow Pool, 17th Street between Constitution Avenue and Independence Avenue, is controversial because it lies between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

SAN ANTONIO -- Rainbows often follow storms, breaking the darkness with an arc of iridescent hope.The storm of racial hate that swept across the life of James Byrd Jr. in Jasper, Texas, can never be expunged from that community's landscape or the nation's consciousness. The act was too brutal and resonated with memories of times past when black bodies hung from Southern trees.But in the aftermath of Byrd's death, hope is seen as Jasper's residents -- black, white and brown -- reach out to one another to grieve and comprehend the vicious crime.

Quote: "It looks like somebody cut up the drapes and made shirts out of them."-- Reds manager Jack McKeon, on the Astros' Turn Back the Clock rainbow jerseysIt's a fact: The Cubs have been out-homered at home 49-33.Who's hot: The Reds' Barry Larkin is hitting .416 (37-for-89) in June.Who's not: The Cubs' Steve Trachsel, who is 0-6 with an 8.47 ERA in eight starts since May 15, leads the majors in losses with 10.On deck: Both the Marlins and the Expos are in a stretch that has them scheduled to play 20 straight games without a day off.Pub Date: 6/27/99

Orioles manager Dave Trembley had just one question to ask singer Tony Orlando yesterday as they stood together on the field after batting practice. "Where's Dawn?" Unfortunately for Trembley, Orlando's former backup singers didn't make the trip. Orlando was a solo artist playing Fort Lauderdale Stadium. "Most of these guys have no idea who that is," Trembley said. Trembley knows his pop culture. Orlando had a string of No. 1 hits in the 1970s, including "Tie a Yellow Ribbon 'Round the Ole Oak Tree," and a highly rated weekly variety series on CBS called Tony Orlando and Dawn Rainbow Hour that ran for four years.

When it comes to candlepower, Times Square and "Neon" Deion Sanders have nothing on Shinjuku Station, which seems to be the center of the universe no matter what the hour. Bright tubes of colored light, proclaiming a destination or a product, pierce the night sky at this transportation and commercial hub and make darkness disappear. Business people, shoppers and tourists all hustle under the rainbow of advertising, a light so bright that they barely cast a shadow. Sunglasses would not be out of place, and coming off a 14-hour flight, are the only line of defense.

Talent and tenacity have achieved recognition for Iris Hirsch and Diane Perry, who perform as Partners In Song. Their newest cassette tape, "Rainbow Zoo" will be introduced at a free children's concert at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Florence Bain Senior Center on Beaverkill Road in Harper's Choice.A group of nine talented county girls and boys, ages 7 to 11, are featured on the tape. Ten of the 12 folk songs on the cassette were written by Ms. Hirsch, who has composed other songs for the Baltimore Childrens' Zoo and the Children's Cancer Foundation.

Nineteen ninety-three will likely be remembered as a watershed year in America's urban politics.It is not just that Rudolph Giuliani, a tough-talking ex-prosecutor, upset David Dinkins to become New York's first Republican mayor in more than a quarter-century.Or that vividly multiracial Los Angeles last spring decided to give the mayoralty relinquished by Tom Bradley, a black Democrat, to Richard Riordan, a white Republican businessman.Or that Detroit's Dennis Archer, a black centrist talking rapprochement with the overwhelmingly white suburbs, last Tuesday defeated Sharon McPhail, who was the hand-picked successor of outgoing Mayor Coleman Young and who ran a ''blacker-than-thou'' campaign.