In Brief

Wedded bliss at last

REDLANDS, Calif. -- After spending

nearly a half-century as husband and wife, Bob and Norma Clark are finally married.

The couple from Redlands, an inland California city halfway between Los Angeles and Palm Springs, celebrated their 48th anniversary in August, and in November they were getting their end-of-life documents in order and sought a copy of their marriage license for Social Security purposes.

The Clarks, who met in college, took their vows at a church south of San Francisco in August 1964, shortly after Bob had served in the Army during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

But when clerks at the Hall of Records in San Mateo County tried to pull the license last month, they came up empty.

"They went back to the year 1956, but no record of our marriage could be found," Bob Clark told the Redlands Daily Facts.

The church where they had married still had a record of the ceremony so they knew they hadn't imagined it, and several of the couple's family members and friends who had been wedding guests were about to come to town for the Thanksgiving holiday.

On Nov. 21 they made their marriage legitimate, filing their paperwork and obtaining their license at the San Bernardino County Hall of Records, with the maid of honour and a junior usher from the original wedding serving as witnesses.

Bob Clark brought flowers for Norma, and at the urging of family and friends kissed the bride to seal the deal. "I got her a nice bouquet, and it was just a hoot," he said.

Right behind Lassie

NEW YORK -- New York City police whistle-blower Frank Serpico says Al Pacino played him better than he did himself.

Pacino played the detective who exposed widespread police corruption in the 1973 movie Serpico. The Daily News interviewed the real-life Serpico in Ghent, in New York's Hudson Valley, for a story published Sunday.

The 76-year-old retiree spoke weeks after the death of fellow whistle-blowing ex-detective David Durk.

Serpico smiled as an interviewer noted he is ranked No. 41, just behind Lassie, on the American Film Institute's list of movie heroes. He says that's "good company."

The newspaper says Serpico keeps busy trying to finish a book and taking solitary walks.

Serpico and Durk's efforts resulted in front-page newspaper stories and a city panel that recommended reforms to prevent police corruption.

Town mourns four youths

TRACADIE-SHEILA, N.B. -- A northern New Brunswick community is mourning the death of four young people who were killed Saturday after their car crashed into an icy river.

RCMP said 17-year-old Marie-Helene Gauvin of Pointe Canot, 18-year-old Tommy Losier and 19-year-old Brian Basque, both of Ste-Rose, and 20-year-old Alexandre McGraw of Losier Settlement died in the crash near Tracadie-Sheila.

Claude Landry, a member of the legislature who represents the area, said the community is in "shock."

"They are grieving and it's a difficult, difficult time," said Landry in an interview on Sunday. "It's a tragedy here."

Community members packed the Saint-Jean-Baptiste and Saint-Joseph Church Sunday morning for a service to pray for the friends and families of the victims, said Landry.

The vehicle lost control around 1 a.m. Saturday while driving on an unserviced road off Route 370 near Tracadie-Sheila, about 70 kilometres northeast of Miramichi, RCMP said.

-- From the wire services

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 24, 2012 A21