People in the News for May 26, 1998

Tuesday, May 26, 1998 | 10:29 a.m.

Las Vegas must be the dark tumor of the American psyche -- it seems every serial killer, mass murderer and free-lance wacko has tracked through here. The alleged latest: Michael Lance Carvin, a 43-year-old Las Vegan recently indicted for sending death threats to Howard Stern. Now, while a healthy loathing of Stern might normally be a sign of advanced good taste, it's probably not a good sign to send him letters addressed to "Dead Man Walking" and vowing, "I will absolutely, without a doubt, kill you. And this is 100 percent guaranteed." That was in March. In April, Stern received components of a letter bomb. "You can get your head blown off opening the mail," the accompanying letter reportedly said. Carvin was indicted on May 4, but the court papers didn't name his intended victims; Stern's name surfaced this weekend. This sort of thing must seem like old hat to the controversial Stern, who nonetheless has two good reasons to take this case seriously: 1.) In 1975, Carvin pulled a toy gun on then-presidential candidate Ronald Reagan. 2.) Carvin spent six years in prison for threatening President Gerald Ford in 1976. No comment from Carvin or his attorney.

Shorts

It'll take more than a medicine woman to heal the rift between Geraldo Rivera and Johnnie Cochran -- perhaps only mutually beneficial television exposure will do the trick. Rivera and Cochran began feuding during the Simpson trial, as Rivera hammered the defense team mercilessly on his shows. He now admits he "went overboard." "I apologized, and he accepted," Rivera says. For his part, Cochran adds, "The whole scheme of life is about moving on, forgiveness." And, if at all possible, career-enhancement! Tonight, the two will grill each other about legal issues on their shows, CNBC's "Rivera Live" and Court TV's "Cochran and Company," each speaking from his own studio. One small step for two men, one giant leap for inter-network synergistic cross-programming.

Compiled by Scott Dickensheets