MILESTONES

By Melissa August; Peter Bailey; Elizabeth L. Bland; William Han; Nadia Mustafa; Elizabeth Sampson

NOMINATED. MARION BARRY, 68, former Washington mayor infamous for being caught smoking crack on an FBI videotape; as the Democratic candidate for a city council seat; in a primary election in Washington. After serving six months in prison for his drug conviction, he made his first political comeback in 1992, winning a council seat and using it as a springboard to reelection as mayor in 1994.

ARRESTED. MACAULAY CULKIN, 24, former child star of the Home Alone movies; after marijuana and unauthorized prescription drugs were found in a car in which he was riding; in Oklahoma City, Okla. He was booked and released after posting $4,000 bond.

CHARGED. DONALD KEYSER, 61, former top-level State Department official; with concealing from his superiors that he took a four-day trip to Taiwan last September, in violation of security protocol; in Alexandria, Va. He admitted to meeting with a Taiwanese intelligence officer but said he had flown to Taipei only "for sightseeing purposes."

CONVICTED. Bounty hunter and former Green Beret JONATHAN IDEMA, his right-hand man BRENT BENNETT and freelance cameraman EDWARD CARABALLO; of entering Afghanistan illegally, making illegal arrests, establishing a private jail and torturing their captives; in Kabul. Idema claimed that he had high-level support from the Pentagon and Afghan officials for his group's efforts to hunt down terrorists. But the U.S. military says the men were operating without its knowledge, and the judge refused to admit evidence in support of the men's claim. Idema and Bennett were sentenced to 10 years in prison, Caraballo to eight years.

DIED. JOHNNY RAMONE, 55, guitarist and paternal driving force behind the Ramones, the seminal rock band that defined the 1970s punk movement; of prostate cancer; in Los Angeles. Born John Cummings in suburban New York, he and three other teens formed the group in 1974, taking the name from an alias Paul McCartney sometimes used in hotels. During the next 22 years, the band developed an underground following with its raw style of fast, angst-ridden music, including anthems like I Wanna Be Sedated and Blitzkrieg Bop. Despite his rebellious lyrics, Ramone (the third member of the group to die within the past three years) was a lifelong Republican who belonged to the National Rifle Association.

DIED. FRED EBB, 76, lyricist who, in partnership with composer John Kander, created the brassy, cynical-but-sweet scores of such Broadway musicals as Cabaret and Chicago; of a heart attack; in New York City. He grew up on the Lower East Side and first went to Hollywood to try to sell his short stories before turning to songwriting. After penning a few pop hits (including the novelty number Santa Baby), he teamed up with Kander for a renowned Broadway run that started with 1965's Flora the Red Menace. They were long associated with that show's star, Liza Minnelli, who, in a 1977 Martin Scorsese film, introduced their omnipresent big-city anthem, New York, New York.

DIED. HARVEY WHEELER, 85, political scientist who in 1962 co-authored the best-selling novel Fail-Safe,about an accidental nuclear attack on the Soviet Union; in Carpinteria, Calif. A native of Waco, Texas, he was also the author of political-science books and, as a senior fellow at the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions, did pioneering research on health care.

DIED. ROSE GACIOCH, 89, star pitcher and outfielder in the heyday of women's professional baseball; in Detroit. As a mainstay for the Rockford Peaches from 1945 to the team's demise in 1954, she was a three-time all-star and provided the model for Rosie O'Donnell's character in the 1992 film A League of Their Own.