Web posted on: Monday, August 03, 1998 5:44:22 PM

• Stevie Nicks fans stunned witnesses to hanging
• Alfred Shnittke remembered as 'musical genius'
• Suzanne Somers spicing up 'Candid Camera'
• John Tesh, cereal singer
• Harrelson supports father in hearing
• 'Seinfeld' finale lures jail guards away from their jobs

Stevie Nicks

CONCORD, California (CNN) -- A man who had earlier argued with his estranged wife at a Stevie Nicks concert hanged himself from a utility pole outside the concert venue following the show, police said Monday. The man, who has not been identified, argued with his wife after meeting her Sunday night at an outdoor amphitheater in Concord, a suburb of San Francisco.

The man, carrying a set of car battery jumper cables, apparently scaled a utility pole near the entrance of the pavilion. As police and fire crews arrived, and as hundreds of people watched in horror, the man attached the cables to the top of the pole and threatened to kill himself. It was not immediately clear whether he slipped accidentally or deliberately hanged himself, police said.

HAMBURG, Germany (CNN) -- Russian composer Alfred Shnittke, widely regarded as one of the greatest of this century, died Monday in a Hamburg hospital after a long illness. He was 63. Shnittke's avant garde music ranged from orchestral symphonies to film scores.

"He was a musical genius but also a very nice, very intelligent man," Maria Filatova, a spokeswoman for the Moscow branch of the Union of Composers, said in confirming his death. President Boris Yeltsin led official tributes to Shnittke, who was born of German descent in Russia's Volga region and had lived in Germany for the past eight years.

Suzanne Somers

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- A battle over hemlines seems to be developing on the latest version of "Candid Camera." Host Suzanne Somers says she has been ignoring notes from CBS management to lengthen her skirts. "I keep shortening them," she told People magazine.

Somers says the notes aren't coming from CBS television chief Les Moonves. "When Les hired me, he said, 'I want some sex on this show,'" she says. Somers' "Candid Camera" wardrobe is designed by her stepdaughter, Leslie Hamel. "I told her, 'Make me look cute but not stupid. Don't make me look like a desperate 50-year-old,'" Somers says.

John Tesh

HOLLYWOOD (CNN) -- New Age entertainer John Tesh is heading for breakfast tables across America. Tesh will be featured on more than 12 million Kellogg's cereal boxes, including All-Bran, Product 19 and various lines of the Just Right cereals.

Also included with the boxes: a specially produced CD of some of his most popular New Age tunes. The promotion is part of a campaign for heart-healthy eating that runs in tandem with the American Heart Association's national program, dubbed "For Heart's Sake."

Woody Harrelson walks with family members outside the Denver courthouse

DENVER (CNN) -- Actor Woody Harrelson attended a hearing Monday in which his father, convicted murderer Charles Harrelson, asked for a new trial in the 1979 contract killing of a judge in San Antonio, Texas.

Charles Harrelson received two life sentences for his conviction in the death of U.S. District Judge John Wood, Jr. Harrelson and his lawyers say FBI agents failed to follow up on other leads, and Harrelson claims he was in Dallas when Wood was shot.

Woody Harrelson hugged his father's attorney before the start of the hearing, then climbed over some benches to get a front-row seat. Previous reports from some media outlets had claimed that Woody Harrelson was estranged from his father.

"Seinfeld"

PLATTSBURGH, New York (CNN) -- The lure of the final episode of "Seinfeld" was too powerful for two deputies at the Clinton County prison, who have been disciplined for rigging their surveillance video monitor so they could watch the television show.

Jeffrey Lozier was fired. Bryan Van Tilburg, who was suspended, quit the force Thursday, saying he had already planned to move out of the area.

A security monitor was disconnected and hooked up to a cable wire to bring in the show May 14. The pair was caught by another surveillance camera that was monitoring them. Sgt. Pamela Atwood, their shift supervisor, also was accused in the controversy; she resigned in May, shortly after the incident.