GRAPEVINE

By DAVID ELLIS

When reporters questioned Ted Kennedy last Tuesday about the alleged rape on the family estate in Florida, he said he was too busy to answer because of his tight legislative schedule. But the Massachusetts Democrat failed to show up for an important hearing before the Judiciary Committee, on which he serves. The subject: violence against women. Committee members cited the fact that a woman is raped every six minutes in the U.S.

With reporting by Sidney Urquhart