News In Brief

STAY AS LONG AS YOU LIKE The clerks at Peebles Department Store in Summersville, W. Va., were preparing to close one night last week when in ambled one last browser. And although it was obvious he wouldn't be buying anything, they were happy to give him the run of the place. That's because the latecomer was a bear, perhaps from nearby Gauley River National Recreation Area or a local state park. No one was hurt, and in the end the bear left via a path straight to the woods across the street provided by parallel lines of police cruisers.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED Brad Hauter has done it. The Minnesota soccer coach, whose coast-to-coast trip aboard a lawn tractor has been updated in this space from time to time, chugged into Santa Monica, Calif., on schedule last week, raising $200,000 for charity. He averaged 18 m.p.h. on the 5,100-mile jaunt. No word on whether he'll switch to a push mower for the rest of the summer.

US survey shows what sort of vacations are planned

The typical American is most likely this year to vacation in the summer, travel by car, and spend $500 to $1,500 on the trip, according to a recent poll. In the survey - conducted late last month for the Associated Press by ACR of Media, Pa. - 60 percent of respondents said they expect to spend about as much as they spent last year; 22 percent said they'll spend more; 12 percent, less. The amount of money respondents said they are likely to spend on vacation travel this year - and the means of travel they plan to use:

Anticipated spending

Less than $500 25%

$500 to $1,500 43%

$1,500 to $3,000 19%

$3,000 or more 8%

Nothing 1%

Primary means of travel

Car 55%

Airplane 30%

Bus 3%

Cruise ship 3%

Train 2%