JIM BUNNING (R-KY) announced his candidacy for the U.S.
Senate (CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 3/25)....SI's RICK REILLY walks
with O.J. SIMPSON on the golf course for a feature in the
current SI. Speaking on the record, Simpson tells Reilly
"his favorite O.J. joke and responds to a suggestion that he
may be the most unwelcome man in America" (SI)....UK coach
RICK PITINO and author BILL REYNOLDS have written "Success
is a Choice: Ten Steps to Overachieving in Business and
Life" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 3/26)....Twins Owner CARL POHLAD's
Conrad Co. "plans to pump up" to $4.95M into L.A.-based
National Mercantile Bancorp, a "struggling Hollywood bank
that specializes in catering to wealthy entertainers"
(MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL CITY BUSINESS, 3/24 issue)....Nike
Chair PHIL KNIGHT wants to "earmark a $1 million donation"
to the Univ. of OR "to boost pay and benefits" for Univ.
President DAVE FROHNMAYER (Portland OREGONIAN, 3/24).
...Tigers/Red Wings Owner MIKE ILITCH's Olympia Development
bought The United Artists Theater and office building in
Detroit. The move adds to land Ilitch already owns or has
the option to buy, "giving him control of a significant
chunk of city property just as the area is ready to blossom
with several major new developments" (DETROIT FREE PRESS,
3/25).....TARA LIPINSKI appeared on ABC's "Good Morning
America." Lipinski, on her upcoming autobiography: "It's
just going to mostly be about my outside life, other than
skating, and what I like and my memories and what I used to
do and what I do now" ("GMA," ABC, 3/26).