obstructing the course of justice.

P.c. David Bird 27, of Ely's Harbour, Sandys Parish, and P.c. Nicholas Sutton, 27, of Wreck Road, Sandys were charged with conspiring together to obstruct the course of justice and they were charged separately with refusing to do an act which was their duty to do.

They were not required to enter pleas. The first charge is indictable.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis bailed them in the sum of $2,500 each with like sureties each until a mention on April 14.

He also ordered them to report the Somerset Police Station every Wednesday between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Mr. Francis also said they had no permission to leave the juristiction except for two weeks each when they will travel to the UK for personal reasons.

PAULA ZAHN WALKS TV CBS journalist Paula Zahn will put her foot down for charity in the Bermuda End-to-End walk.

And walk organisers are hopeful she can give the Island a plug.

Charities benefiting this year include PRIDE and the Allan Vincent Smith Foundation -- which deal with drugs and AIDS.

Hope Homes and Pembroke Community Skating Rink will also receive a boost.

People intending to take part in the April 30 walk are being urged to practice.

To help them, organisers have laid on training walks -- the first one on Sunday.

It begins at 10 a.m. from the Shelly Bay playground. Walkers will make their way around Harrington Sound.

Mr. Rowlerson was hopeful Ms Zahn, co-anchor of the CBS Morning Show, could give Bermuda a plug.

In 1993, $75,000 was raised by the walk, now in its seventh year.

MAN ARRESTED CRM A 26-year-old Sandys man has been arrested in connection with an incident in which a metal file was thrown at a bus.

The incident occurred just before 4 p.m. last Friday near the Royal Naval field in Somerset.

Schoolchildren escaped unhurt when the file smashed into the bus window.

Police spokesman P.c. Gary Venning said the arrested man had been released on Police bail and would appear in court "in due course''.

JANUARY SALES UP BUC Local stores have showed another improvement in sales, latest figures show.

The value of their sales in January went up 6.4 percent compared to the same month last year.

Car dealers and gas stations enjoyed a big 35.6 percent boost. Only food stores were down, by 2.

6 percent.

"Although sales remained relatively weak for some retail outlets there were indications of stronger demand for certain consumer goods, in particular applicances, personal care products and home electronic items,'' said a spokesman.

DRIVER BANNED CTS A 61-year-old Pembroke man was fined $500 and disqualified for three years in Magistrates' Court yesterday after pleading guilty to driving while impaired.

Prosecuting Sgt. Cyril Plant told the court that Edmund N. Baker of Railway Terrace was seen by Police on February 19 driving along Frog Lane in Pembroke.

"He was swerving along the road and when asked if he had been drinking Baker told the officers that he had had one,'' Sgt. Plant said, adding his breath smelled of alcohol and he was unsteady on his feet.

Baker, who had a previous conviction for impaired driving, was unable to give a breath sample.

Senior Magistrate the Wor. Will Francis fined Baker $500 and disqualified him from all vehicles for three years.

BLAZE HITS HOUSE FIR Firefighters were called to Pembroke on Wednesday after a fire broke out in a house on Deepdale Road.

The inside and outside of the house suffered extensive heat and smoke damage in the blaze which started shortly after noon.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, a Fire Service spokesman said.