Diane von Furstenberg designs hospital gowns

Cleveland — Fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg has helped the Cleveland Clinic create a more stylish hospital gown without the peek-a-boo back.

The gown features elements associated with von Furstenberg designs — a wrap dress with a bold, graphic print. The clinic’s logo is printed on the fabric.

The gown has side ties, which eliminate the embarrassing open-back look.

The Plain Dealer says the fabric was chosen to address a concern that patients were too warm in the hospital.

So designers had to find a material lightweight enough to be cool but tough enough to withstand frequent laundering and having monitors and drains pinned to it.

Feedback has been mostly positive. Some men have complained that the gown is too feminine, so the design team is considering an alternate print.

John Lennon’s killer again denied parole

Buffalo, N.Y. — John Lennon’s killer was again denied parole in New York, nearly 30 years after gunning down the ex-Beatle outside the musician’s New York City apartment building.

A parole board decided not to release Mark David Chapman after interviewing him Tuesday by teleconference at Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York.

It was Chapman’s sixth appearance before the board since becoming eligible for parole in 2000. He will be eligible again in 2012.

Chapman, 55, had been scheduled to appear last month, but the hearing was postponed by parole officials, who said at the time they were awaiting additional information. They did not elaborate.

After Tuesday’s decision, the board wrote to Chapman that it remains concerned about “the disregard you displayed for the norms of our society and the sanctity of human life when, after careful planning, you travelled to New York for the sole purpose of killing John Lennon.”