Music Icon Dies, New Miss America

By Stephen M. Silverman

Sunday September 23, 2001 10:52 AM EDT

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DIED: One of classical music's most recorded artists, master violinist Isaac Stern, 81, died of heart failure on Saturday after a lengthy illness, a spokesperson for Carnegie Hall said. Stern was a solid musician (never flashy, never egocentric) and a living symbol of New York -- another sad loss for the already stricken city. Stern also helped lead the battle to save Carnegie Hall from the wrecker's ball in 1960. RULED: Andrea Yates, the Houston mother who admitted drowning her five children in June, was found mentally competent to stand trial on capital murder charges Saturday by a jury of 11 women and one man. Yates, 37, who was suffering from postpartum depression, had pleaded not guilty to the crimes by reasons of insanity . . . NAMED: In New Jersey's Atlantic City, the 81st annual Miss America pageant was held late on Saturday with organizers and contestants doing their best to boost national spirits amid tight security. Despite speculation that finalists from New York or the District of Columbia might pick up sympathy votes, it was Miss Oregon, Portland State University student Katie Harman, 21, who walked off with the rhinestone tiara. Host Tony Danza crowned her.