Parade watchers who venture to Pasadena, Calif., for the 2002 Tournament of Roses parade on New Year's Day can expect tighter security as organizers try to uphold this year's theme "Good Times," following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"We are expecting the parade to be a safe and secure event," Commander Mary Schander of the Pasadena Police Department told UPI.

Schander said only ticket holders will be able to enter the main viewing bleachers on Colorado and Orange Grove boulevards, and anyone along the parade route is subject to search. She added that people would still be allowed to camp out along the five-mile parade route.

"There have been no threats made against the parade, however, we are in constant contact with the FBI," Schander said.

Unauthorized aircraft will be barred from flying within three miles of the parade at an altitude of less than 3,000 feet, while officers keep tabs on unattended recreational vehicles parked near the route.

Pasadena Police have also signed up people in motor homes to join a "Parade Watch" program that encourages them to report suspicious activity. "We have had a lot of motor home owners agree to cooperate with law enforcement officials," she said.

The 113th Tournament of Roses will show off plenty of red, white and blue in honor of the attacks. It'll feature 53 floats, with Regis Philbin serving as grand marshal.

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

Overheard by UPI at meeting of tribal elders in Kabul: "What Afghanistan needs is peace," exclaimed one dignitary. "Anyone who is against peace should be killed."

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

Chinese officials have accused McDonald's of selling Snoopy dolls illegally in the southern city of Guangzhou and have warned the restaurant chain that it could face a fine of up to $12,000, according to the South China Morning Post.

Guangzhou authorities say McDonald's is allowed only to sell food and drink and not toys. But the newspaper said McDonald's strayed from regulations when it illegally sold 233,140 dolls throughout its 34 outlets in Guangzhou during promotions in April and May of this year earning more than $280,000.

The Nanfang Daily newspaper quoted local officials saying the Snoopy dolls that sold for just over $1 to those customers who bought meals at the chain triggered a buying spree, creating havoc and causing distress to "the physical and mental health of children and teenagers."

A similar McDonald's Snoopy doll promotion in Hong Kong in 1998 created a black market for the small figurines as people pushed and shoved in lines at restaurants waiting to purchase the dolls.

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

A Chinese woman known throughout her country for her work caring for orphaned children has been accused by American donors of pilfering thousands of dollars.

The South China Morning Post reports that the New Jersey-based United Moms Charity Association, the major backer of an orphanage in Yunnan province, began a civil case against Hu Manli earlier this year. It quoted the Southern Weekend newspaper, published in Guangdong province, as saying the court case began at the Lijiang Intermediate Court in June.

The Guangdong newspaper accused Hu of misusing her position in the appropriation of funds. It claimed she inflated the prices of items bought with donated money. For example, according to the newspaper, Hu told U.S. donors it would cost more than $3,500 to send 36 orphans to a trade school when the actual cost was about $900. Hu also allegedly abandoned a number of sick or mentally disabled children outside government-run welfare institutions.

The paper quotes Zhang Chunhua, director of the United Moms Charity Association, as saying the American group had donated more than $350,000 from August 1999 to April last year and that possibly more than $120,000 of that sum might have been used inappropriately.

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

A toddler kidnapped from a Chicago bus station Christmas Eve was reunited with her family last Friday.

The FBI recovered 16-month-old Jasmine Anderson from a home in Williamson, W.Va., Thursday evening, ending a nationwide search. Her mother, Marcella Anderson, 21, flew to Charleston, W.Va., aboard a small FBI jet to reclaim her daughter and then immediately flew back to Chicago.

"The past few days have been real terrible and I'd never want to put anyone through it or put myself through it again," Anderson told a news conference at Chicago's Midway Airport.

Anderson, Jasmine, and Jasmine's sister, Alesia, 3, were en route home to Milwaukee from St. Louis when a blond-haired woman approached Anderson and offered to help her with the children. The woman said she would give the family a ride back to Milwaukee and hold Jasmine while Anderson cashed in her bus ticket. Anderson said as she waited in line, the woman disappeared.

Sheila Matthews, 35, has been charged with kidnapping. Police said Matthews served a previous jail term for kidnapping a 2 1/2-year-old Seattle girl more than a decade ago.

JOCKSTRIP is taking New Year's Day off. It will return Jan. 2, 2002.