News In Brief

HEY, CHECK THIS ONE OUT Ever seen one of those sidewalks whose every brick is engraved with someone's name and a message? John Novogratz had, too, and it gave him an idea. So he ordered one for the Alumni House patio at the College of William and Mary, in Williamsburg, Va. Then, for Valentine's Day he and fellow alum Tina Estes revisited the campus and just happened to end up on the patio. He found his brick among the hundreds of others and pointed it out to Tina. She bent down for a closer look and read: "Tina Estes '98, will you marry me? John Novogratz '96." Surely, she couldn't say no after all that, right? Right.

IT WAS, LIKE, EASY

Geneva, Neb., high-school senior Jessica Reinsch earned a cool $1,000 for just 15 minutes of effort. How? She edged out all other entrants in a radio-interview contest to determine who could utter those throwaway words "you know" the most times. Her total: 61.

Rating US airports by how many flights aren't on time

According to 1998 data released by the Federal Aviation Administration, New Jersey's Newark International Airport led the nation in flight delays for the third consecutive year. Newark officials say they're paying the price for air-traffic patterns that give preference to nearby LaGuardia and John F. Kennedy airports in New York. They are lengthening a runway, building more gates, adding equipment, and trying to adjust scheduling to reduce delays. The 10 worst airports last year, number of delayed flights reported, and the percentage at each:

1. Newark (6.9%) 31,924

2. San Francisco (6.8) 29,409

3. Chicago O'Hare (3.2) 28,751

4. Atlanta (3.2) 27,764

5. New York LaGuardia (6.8) 24,689

6. Boston (3.0) 16,400

7. St. Louis (3.16) 15,925

8. New York Kennedy (3.6) 12,962

9. Phoenix (2.2) 11,757

10. Philadelphia (2.4) 11,552

- Associated Press