Marion Barry, the former Washington, D.C., mayor and current city councilmember, could be released from Howard University Hospital as soon as this weekend, according to a statement made by his physician. Barry, 72, underwent a kidney transplant last week from a 47-year-old woman. Years of high blood pressure and suffering with diabetes is said to be the cause of his kidney failure. Barry has been pulling his name out of the mud yet again after recent claims that he has violated probation for failure to file several years of back taxes. Barry has since filed his returns and blamed his illness for the reason the distraction. –WLW