March 23, 1999

JUDGE GIVES LVMH DUTCH TREAT: GUCCI

Bernard Arnault has won the latest round in the international slugfest over Gucci, but it's turning into a costly war. A Dutch judge is forcing Gucci to consider a new...

M'SOFT SET TO CRY 'UNCLE' TO UNCLE SAM

Lawyers for the embattled Microsoft Corp. are expected to open settlement talks with government trustbusters this week - signaling a possible end to the bitter antitrust trial that analysts believe...

BILL GATES' ROADSHOW HITS BIG APPLE

A monster first printing of 750,000 copies of Bill Gates new book "Business @ the Speed of Thought" is slated to hit bookstores starting tomorrow - and local sales should...

WILL OSCAR HELP PUNCH WINNERS TIX?

The Oscars are the financial facelifts of Hollywood - boosting studio coffers annually by upwards of $1.5 billion in extra sales. But some industry observers are wondering whether this year's...

TIME WARNER STANDS TO WIN BIG

There's another potential winner in Comcast's announced deal to acquire MediaOne - Time Warner. As MediaOne's partner in cable and entertainment, Time Warner claims a right to block the Comcast-MediaOne...

DOW JONES SHELLS OUT A 25% INCREASE FOR KANN JOB

"It's quite shocking. It's a commentary on how screwed up our company is." RON CHEN, employee union president Dow Jones Chairman Peter Kann got a 25 percent raise last year,...

HEIR TO AIRWAVES - COMCAST'S ROBERTS REELS IN TOP RIVAL WITH $60B PACKAGE

"The core of this company is broadband communica-tions. This is a defining transaction." BRIAN ROBERTS, Comcast chief Brian Roberts wants to be the King of Cable. The 39-year-old Comcast chief...

'SHRED' FOR THE HILLS ; EVEN NONSKIERS CAN FIND PLENTY OF ACTION IN TELLURIDE, COLO.

W HEN I arrived in Telluride, Colo., I had never tried to snowboard, and I had no intention of starting now. I expected the numerous other offerings at the Peaks...

FLA.'S BLACK HERITAGE ; TRACING THE WEALTH OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE SUNSHINE STATE

F EW states have the history that Florida offers - and even fewer have the rich strains of African-American lore, particularly in the Jacksonville-Orlando corridor. Slavery was introduced into Florida...

BIG 'HAND' FOR DUMMIES

GIVE YOURSELF A HAND Crash Test Dummies Arista Records Sometimes, at the expense of sense, certain words sound good together. Crash Test Dummies, who hit big back in '93 with...

TRAVELER'S UPDATE

Tot spot If you'd like to give your youngster a better appreciation of the world of fine art, take a day trip to the Crayola Factory in Easton, Penn., to...

OSCARS: THE BITTER END ; MISERABLE POST-AWARDS SHOWS COULDN'T WAIT TO KILL ALL THE FUN

YOU might have thought that 4 hours-plus of Academy-approved Oscar-polishing would have sucked all the oxygen out of all the rooms in Hollywood. You'd be wrong. At 12:35 a.m. Monday...

GETTING TO THE TOP, CNN-STYLE

CNN's top female executive, Gail Evans - who oversees all the news network's talk shows - is talking to publishers about writing a big-money guide for women on scrambling up...

TV TICKER

Baywatch NYC Forget about Australia and Hawaii, "Baywatch" is planning to touch down in Washington Square Park. The show will help promote NYC's Park's Department summer life-guard recruitment program with...

WHOOPS-I - GOLDBERG'S OSCAR PERFORMANCE A GAFFE RIOT

''It's absolutely the last time I want Whoopi Goldberg to host the Oscars. At least 45 minutes of the hour of overage was Whoopi mugging and milking jokes that weren't...

DRESSED TO THE NINES AND NOT PAYING A CENT

SO what if you're not Gwyneth Paltrow, with Prada, Ralph Lauren, Armani and Calvin Klein throwing gowns at you everytime you need to leave the house. Hordes of women -...

TRICK . . . OR TREATMENT? - CRITICS BLAST 'FRAUD' IN ALTERNATIVE 'CURES'

"When you do complain, almost nothing happens." PSYCHIATRIST STEPHEN BARRETT Fed up with conventional medicine, millions of Americans are putting their trust in unproven alternative treatments - without much protection...

SCHOOL HAS EXIT SIGNS TO NOWHERE

Workers erected two electrified exit signs on a solid wall in a Bronx school gym - raising serious fire-safety questions and charges of incompetence by school construction staffers. There are...

HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS BLAST OWN ATTORNEYS

"First the Germans were stealing from us. Then it was the Swiss banks. Now it's our lawyers." ROMAN KENT, DEATH CAMP SURVIVORED Outraged Holocaust survivors are blasting their lawyers for...

FEDS MAY SOON APPOINT MONITOR FOR NYPD - U.S. ATTORNEY WEIGHS ACTION AS RESULT OF LOUIMA PROBE; FEDS MAY APPOINT NYPD MONITOR

BROOKLYN U.S. Attorney Zachary Carter could be just weeks away from trying to force the city to accept federal monitoring of the NYPD. Carter's office has been investigating the patterns...

NATO READY WITH MISSILE ONSLAUGHT

The attack would start with a period of intense cruise missile attacks on the Serbs' air defense missile and artillery network. WASHINGTON - A massive NATO offensive aimed at crippling...

NEW HOPE FOR KIDNEY TEEN

Christina Esposito, the 19-year-old college freshman from Queens who has been waiting five years for a kidney transplant, is doing fine with a new organ - her third lease on...

WHY GUYS SNORE MORE

Score one for men in the battle of the sexes: They snore more. Scottish scientists say men are up to eight times more likely than women to snore and suffer...

JOE D. JERSEY ON AUCTION BLOCK

Joe DiMaggio is gone, but his clothes live on. A jersey worn by the famed Yankee Clipper during his phenomenal 1939 season is the highlight of a two-day sports-memorabilia auction...

KEVORKIAN WINS OK TO DEFEND HIMSELF IN '60 MINUTES' CASE

A Michigan judge reluctantly granted Jack Kevorkian's request yesterday to act as his own lawyer in his first murder trial. "Do you understand you could spend the rest of your...

IS QUICK DRAW LOTTERY'S NUMBER UP?

ALBANY - The Quick Draw lottery game could soon be making a quick exit. The 4-year-old electronic video game played in thousands of restaurants, bars and stores will bite the...

BRUNO TAKES RUDY'S SIDE IN FEUD WITH GOV

ALBANY - The state's second-most-powerful Republican defended Mayor Giuliani yesterday after Gov. Pataki blasted him over the explosive Amadou Diallo case. "I don't fault the mayor ... I happen to...

SLAIN COP'S KIN FURIOUS OVER 15-YR. PRISON TERM

The anguished family of slain cop Anthony Mosomillo hurried out of a Brooklyn courtroom yesterday after his killer's girlfriend was sentenced to 15 years to life. Sal Mosomillo, who followed...

ISRAEL INDICTS U.S. SLAY SUSPECT

A Maryland teen-ager who fled to Israel to avoid facing a murder charge was indicted yesterday in Tel Aviv for the grisly slaying. The two-page accusation against Samuel Sheinbein came...

OFFICER'S KIN COULD TEACH POLS ABOUT VIOLENCE; EXCLUSIVE

ALL those aging hippies who call themselves politicians and should be taking prune juice rather than getting arrested for civil disobedience should listen to the words of a widow. "Francesca...

KOCH IN HOSPITAL INSTEAD OF JAIL

Former Mayor Ed Koch had to cancel his plans to get arrested yesterday when he nearly fainted after his blood pressure suddenly plummeted before a workout at a Midtown health...

'TITANIC'-LESS OSCARS TAKE DIVE IN RATINGS

This year's Academy Awards show sank in the TV ratings without a blockbuster like "Titanic" to keep it afloat. About 78 million people tuned in to watch part or all...

ABORT ADS HIT G.W. BUSH, LIDDY DOLE

WASHINGTON - Pro-choicers yesterday launched TV ad attacks claiming GOP presidential wannabes George W. Bush and Elizabeth Dole are trying to "hide" their anti-abortion views. The ads - linking Bush...

HILLARY STILL ISN'T TALKING ON SENATE BID

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton said yesterday she still hasn't decided if she'll run for the Senate - but made it clear she wants to stay in public life after...

OL' DIRTY BASTARD BUSTED IN B'KLYN ON COCAINE RAP

Rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard was arrested yesterday for possessing several vials of crack cocaine after being questioned for driving his car with a suspended license, police said. O.D.B. - whose...

COP ACCUSED OF ORDERING SLASH ATTACK ON EX-LOVER; EXCLUSIVE

Three men bound Baez's hands and mouth with duct tape and slashed her across the face and forehead with a boxcutter. A Bronx cop has been accused of paying three...

H'WOOD HOWARD HURRIES HOME TO DEFEND STREET UNIT

Top cop Howard Safir, who happily schmoozed with Hollywood hotshots on Oscar night, drew unfriendly fire at home yesterday as he defended his embattled Street Crime Unit before the City...

HOW SWEET IT IS FOR RICE JUNIOR

It was a Sweet and sour Sunday in the CHSAA Class A championship game. With an all-around spectacular performance, Rice's 6-foot-6 junior Andre Sweet helped give Christ the King a...

U.S. 'ON THE BRINK' OF KOSOVO AIRSTRIKES

WASHINGTON - President Clinton's envoy Richard Holbrooke warned "we are on the brink of military action" as he headed into last-ditch talks today to get the Serbs to accept a...

MCCALL, FERRER ARRESTED IN CITY HALL PROTEST

A growing protest over police brutality ended yesterday in the arrests of 140 people - the most since the daily campaign of civil disobedience began - among them the state...

LATE BETS ON HOLYFIELD PROBED

"There was a lot of what I call 'unnatural money' wagered on Holyfield." SPORTS BETTOR LEM BANKER A flood of late bets - perhaps more than $1 million - was...

ALL EYES ON MONICA & NEW GUY

Vanity Fair's Oscar night party was packed with A-list celebrities - but Monica Lewinsky and the man who may be her new beau stole the show. Monica, wearing a low-cut,...

ROYALS SELLING FERGIE'S HOUSE

The royal feud over Sarah Ferguson's divorce heated up when Queen Elizabeth put Fergie's new house up for sale, it was reported today. Birch Hall, the seven-bedroom home bought for...

MIRACLE GIRL BORN HEALTHY AFTER MOM'S SUBWAY LEAP

Bellevue doctors delivered a miracle baby girl yesterday to a distraught Brooklyn woman who dived from an elevated subway platform to the street. Christine Terry, 32, and her baby were...

NEWBORN ABANDONED

A newborn girl was found in a darkened Bronx alley last night, and police were searching for her parents. The hours-old child was found at 9 p.m. on Eastburn Avenue...

DUCKS MAKING MOST OF APPLE

Oregon head coach Ernie Kent, unlike some, is not NIT-picking about the flaws of the National Invitational Tournament. Oh, sure, like any coach, he would rather be in the NCAAs....

COACHING A WIN-WIN PROPOSITION INTER-ESTING VACANCY FOR COACH

LONDON - Want to be a soccer coach? Me too. It's a can't-lose preposition, really. Decide which 11 players are actually taking practice sessions seriously, gather them in a classroom-like...

DUKE'S MOTTO: ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR IT ALL

The difference with Duke is not that its two main cogs, Mr. Inside Elton Brand and Mr. Outside Trajan Langdon, are so consistently productive. It is true that Langdon is...

MILES ALWAYS COMES TO RUTGERS' DEFENSE

NORMAL, Ill. - She might not have the most impressive statistics, but there is no more important player to the Rutgers' women's basketball team than Linda Miles. And in one...

TRADE WINDS ARE SWIRLING

There's a lot of sweating being done at this trade deadline. Among the Devils, Krzysztof Oliwa has joined Sheldon Souray among the perspirants whose names figure in trade talk, along...

GRETZKY MAKES AN EARLY RETURN

TAMPA - Duty called. Wayne Gretzky answered. One month after playing his last game and only one day after being cleared to both practice and play by the physician who...

IRABU'S PERFORMANCE A MINOR IMPROVEMENT

TAMPA - Based on the level of competition, Hideki Irabu needed to improve on his previous outing when he took the mound at the Yankees' minor league complex against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre...

STRAW TAKES RUN AT APRIL 5 ; SAYS HE'LL BE READY FOR OPENER

"If they want to put me in the outfield tomorrow, I will be ready to go."DARRYL STRAWBERRY TAMPA - He has talked the talk. Now Darryl Strawberry is ready to...

PIAZZA'S BAT STILL A LAUNCHING PAD

PORT ST. LUCIE - A baseball goes screaming so hard off Mike Piazza's bat, weather patterns are changed in southern Ireland. He hits the ball so far, Mulder and Scully...

MEET THE FLINT-STONES:MICHIGAN STATE'S FAB 4 ARE ROCK SOLID

ST. LOUIS - The saying goes that in the bruising Michigan town of Flint they produce Cadillacs, Chevys, Buicks - and basketball players. And now, as Mateen Cleaves flexes his...

MET AREA HAS PARADE OF STARS

Metropolitan-area basketball players fare well in Parade Magazine's annual list of high school all-American teams. Jason Williams, a 6-foot-1 senior guard from St. Joseph's in Metuchen, N.J., is a first-team...

JARVIS CHECKING OUT ARTEST'S PRO-SPECTS

Forward Ron Artest met with coach Mike Jarvis yesterday and told the St. John's coach that by the end of the week he would have a timetable in place regarding...

NO ONE WANTS WHAT ISLES ARE OFFERING

The Islanders were closing in on a couple of minor deals last night, but nothing appeared hot on the Trevor Linden and Rich Pilon fronts. Of course, that could change...

INJURY RUN IS DRIVING NETS BUGGY

2 more join list OK, pay attention, here's what we're going to do... OK, pay attention, here's what we're going to do... OK, pay attention... Gets a little frustrating repeating...

THUMB COULD KO JAYSON

NET NOTES All along, there has been no question in Jayson Williams' mind. He would play this season, despite the pain wracking his left thumb. But now he admits there...

STOTTLEMYRE: NO NEED TO RUSH PETTITTE

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - Breaking pitches today. Simulated action Thursday. That's progress for Andy Pettitte. But is there enough time for the only lefty in the Yankees' rotation to be...

KNICKS NEED LEADER, NOT COACHING CHANGE

Now Ewing, in an out of the lineup, ... seems to be grasping his mortality to a point where he would not get in the way of new leadership. Problem...

KNICKS STILL STIFFS ON OFFENSIVE BOARDS

KNICK NOTES Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding. The Knicks have been an awful rebounding team this season, underscored by Sunday's Toronto board massacre in which the Raptors held a 65-44 edge -...

VG SAFE...FOR NOW

Checketts gives Jeff a vote of confidence MSG President Dave Checketts said last night that not only wasn't Knick coach Jeff Van Gundy's job in jeopardy eight days ago, but...

GALVIN: USE ARBITRATORS

The lead attorney representing veterinarian Dr. Michael Galvin in his year-long legal tug-of-war with the New York Racing Association proposed yesterday that NYRA's charges against Galvin regarding his alleged "tubing"...

DEREK STILL GETS PUMPED UP FOR PENNY

ECLIPSED by Shaquille O'Neal's zealousness to demolish his original team - and further obscured by the celebration of the Lakers' demonstrative comeback victory over the Magic - was Derek Harper's...

CHECKETTS: JEFF'S JOB SAFE ... FOR NOW

MSG President Dave Checketts said before last night's atrocious 80-71 loss to the Hawks that Knick coach Jeff Van Gundy's job was not in jeopardy recently, as had been reported....

RU'S KNIGHTMARE FINISH

MIDWEST FINAL Purdue 75 Rutgers 62 NORMAL, Ill. - Rutgers was 20 minutes away from the women's Final Four last night, but Purdue showed the mettle of a No. 1...

WILSON CAREER IS IN JEOPARDY

PORT ST. LUCIE - The already cursed pitching career of Paul Wilson took a devastating turn yesterday. His season is over, and worse, his career is very much in jeopardy....

LITTLE-USED CARR GIVES NETS A LIFT

Nets 106 Raptors 87 Team president Michael Rowe was watching the Nets put on an exciting performance, led by some familiar and some unfamiliar faces. "That Stephon Marbury was a...

SERGEI COMPLETES CYCLE

Pat Conacher's reign ends tonight. When Sergei Nemchinov faces the Sabres tonight with the Devils, he will join the retired Conacher as the only men to play for all three...

MCILVAINE OUT FOR THE SEASON

NET NOTES One Net center will have surgery and be lost for the season; another Net center is finally considering going under the knife. Jim McIlvaine, the shot-blocker the Nets...

IN A WORD, DREADFUL

Lightning 6 Rangers 3 TAMPA - There isn't a single, legitimate excuse out there for the Rangers. Not mental strain, not physical fatigue. Not injuries, not this afternoon's 3 p.m....

SIMPLY WRETCHED: NEW YORK 'BRICKS' HUMBLED BY HAWKS - AND MSG BOOS

The Garden booed the Knicks lustily at almost every sorry turn of the second half. The home crowd had never turned this ugly on the Knicks this season. Perhaps that's...