‘Kendini’ Takes a Fall at Niagara

--What will Barbie doll say for this holiday event? Soap-opera actor Shawn Thompson was arrested for endangering a doll--he threw a Ken doll over Niagara Falls in a Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket. Thompson, 27, who plays Simon on “The Guiding Light,” was filming a segment for “Switchback,” his satirical Canadian television show, when he tossed the doll--named Kendini for the trip--over the Horseshoe Falls. He put cole slaw in the chicken box to break Kendini’s fall, but Niagara Parks Police charged him with dumping material in the park and illegally performing an act likely to cause people to congregate. Thompson was filming a parody of Live Aid--to be called Doll Aid--which was to highlight “the broken and neglected dolls and toys around the world,” his spokesman said. A park spokesman said Kendini apparently survived and, for his next trick, Thompson says the doll will jump off the Statue of Liberty after it is reopened this summer.

--Katharine Graham, chairman of the board of the Washington Post Co., is the most influential woman in America, with astronaut Sally Ride coming in second, a survey found. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and First Lady Nancy Reagan tied for third place on the World Almanac and Book of Facts list of the 25 women who “have the strongest effect on both public policy and public opinion.” The annual survey asked 1,700 editors and reporters to select the 25 most influential women of all categories. Olympic gymnastic champion Mary Lou Retton placed fourth and Beverly Sills, the general director of the New York City Opera, tied for fifth with Transportation Secretary Elizabeth Hanford Dole.

--The condition of Margaret (Peggy) Goldwater, wife of Arizona Republican Sen. Barry Goldwater, was downgraded to serious from satisfactory. Her leg was amputated at mid-thigh Dec. 1 after abdominal surgery three days earlier failed to solve a circulation problem. Good Samaritan Hospital spokesman Jim McVeigh said no other details about Mrs. Goldwater, 76, were available.

--George Delacorte, 92, and his wife, Valerie, 66, were mugged in Central Park, near the children’s zoo, about a block from 5th Avenue. Delacorte, the retired publisher of Dell Books, gave the park its Shakespeare Theatre. He was knocked to the ground and she was stabbed in the hand. The muggers escaped with a mink coat and $200, police said.