Playing Hardball: Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent...

Playing Hardball: Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke and his ex-wife squabbled in court Friday when Suzanne Martin Cooke asked $140,000 a year support for their nearly 2-year-old daughter, Jacqueline. Suzanne Cooke, 33, sought $1,650 a month for vacations for the child, among other things. “I think it’s important that Jacqueline be brought up in an environment with other children of her own stature,” she said during a child-support hearing. Other expenses include $600 a month for clothing and $375 for restaurants. Her lawyer, Rodney Page, argued that Cooke, 77, be required to pay extra each month because he “may not be around to pay this support.”

Revealing Work: In a capital city full of advocates, the new year has unveiled a new lobbyist who promotes only the bare facts. Kevin Kearney is the first paid and registered lobbyist in Washington representing nudists. Kearney, 38, is the spokesman for the 35,000-member American Sunbathing Assn. “No, I’m not a nudist,” he says, “but I guess I’m becoming one. I got nude at their convention last year--for business purposes.” Kearney says his group lobbies only for “non-sexual” fun such as “hot tubbing and skinny-dipping.” A major part of his lobbying job is to persuade officials in charge of public parks and forests officials to permit “clothing-optional” areas. “Finding a champion in Congress is a problem,” Kearney said. “But we’ll find one.”

There Goes the Neighborhood: Putting together a defense for Manuel Noriega hasn’t been the only problem facing Miami lawyer Frank Rubino lately. The city has been trying to boot Rubino out of his Coconut Grove law office because it’s in a residential area. Rubino’s request for a change in the zoning laws goes before city officials tonight. Long before Noriega was sent to Miami to stand trial on cocaine trafficking charges, Coconut Grove residents complained that they didn’t want Rubino’s criminal clientele coming to their neighborhood. Rubino told board members that if his rezoning request is defeated, he might have to convert the office into a home. “Their worst fears could come true,” Rubino said. “I could move in.”

For the Record: People magazine did not purchase the rights to the wedding of talk show and game show host Pat Sajak and Lesly Brown as reported Jan. 3. The magazine was granted the rights to the ceremony, a Sajak representative said.