December 11, 2003

BUSINESS GROUP'S FAMILY TIES TO PRE-PAID LEGAL

THE head of the National Black Chamber of Commerce last month gave an unusual endorsement to a controversial, publicly traded company, calling Pre-Paid Legal Services a "great opportunity for income"...

EX-TALK STAFFER SUES FOR $25M OVER HEALTH

Disney is embroiled in a $25 million lawsuit stemming from construction work at the offices of the now-defunct Talk Magazine that allegedly resulted in an employee losing a portion of...

LYNTON PICKED TO RUN SONY'S MOVIE STUDIO

Time Warner exec Michael Lynton has been tapped to head up Sony's Hollywood studio. Lynton, a longtime media executive, will become chairman and CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment. "It's a...

FOX NEWS HIRES TV VET VARNEY

Fox News has hired business journalist Stuart Varney to be a contributor and substitute host. Varney most recently worked at CNBC, where he hosted "Wall Street Journal Editorial Board with...

COMPANY SPURNS MATCH IN SEARCH FOR LOVE.COM

AOL is cheating on its partner, InterActiveCorp's Match.com, using - what else? - an online dating service. America Online announced yesterday that it was launching Love.com, an Internet personals site...

INFLUENTIAL WSJ EDITOR BARTLEY DIES AT 66

Robert Bartley, the influential editorial page editor of the Wall Street Journal who held sway for 30 years, died yesterday of cancer at age 66. Bartley, a supply-side supporter who...

5 WEEPING EX-HEALTHSOUTH EXECS SENTENCED

Weeping loudly, the first five of 15 execs snared in a $2.7 billion profits-rigging scandal at HealthSouth got their punishment yesterday. A 33-year-old finance officer, Emery Harris, brushed aside tears...

AOL AD-ING IT UP ; BIG MARKETING PUSH TO SCORE DURING SUPER BOWL

Suffering online service AOL plans to double its advertising budget next year and will kick off a new campaign by sponsoring the Super Bowl half-time show on Feb. 1. AOL...

RIVAL MEN'S MAGS DUE AT ADVANCE

Two men's shopping magazines are being readied by in-house rivals Conde Nast and Fairchild - sparking talk of a new sibling rivalry at Advance Publications, the Newhouse-owned empire that owns...

FREDDIE PAYING $125M FINE TO SETTLE ACCOUNTING CASE

Freddie Mac, the nation's No. 2 home finance company, tried to put accounting scandals of the past year behind it by agreeing to a $125 million fine yesterday. But the...

AG STRIKES AGAIN ; DEFENDING HIS TURF, SPITZER BLASTS D.C. AGENCY

New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer lambasted yet another Washington regulator yesterday, taking on a division of the U.S. Treasury he said is moving in on his turf. Spitzer said...

SIMMONS DEALS CASH CARDS TO POOR

Hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons is loading cash into a virtual bank that poor people can carry in their pockets to do business. He's reaching out to the 48 million Americans...

SEC SET TO CHARGE BOND FUND

The SEC is expected to file civil charges against a bond fund, addressing issues related to the mispricing of securities in the fund's portfolio, say sources familiar with the situation....

PIRANDELLO IN A FASHION, OVERDRESSED

RIGHT YOU ARE At the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts, Pace University, Spruce Street, between Park Row and Gold, (212) 239-6200. Through Dec. 21. THE situation is a puzzler:...

HE'S HOOKED; THE STAGE REPLACES BEER, DRUGS AND JAVA

BEEN there, drank that. As bios go, Mark Lundholm's is a doozy: beer at 7, dope at 13, coke at 17, followed by rehab, recovery - and headfirst plunges into...

'DON'T YOU TELL!' 'FRIENDS' FINALE NEAR

PRODUCTION on the final episode of "Friends" is less than a month away - and already security plans are in place to keep the secret from leaking. Taping of the...

SYDNEY HIRES AN AUNT

THE family of femme fatales on "Alias" just keeps getting bigger. "Blue Velvet" star Isabella Rossellini has been cast to play secret agent Sydney Bristow's (Jennifer Gardner) deadly ass-kicking aunt....

DAVE TO OPRAH: PLEASE BUTT IN

IT'S come to this: David Letterman is begging Oprah to forgive him and to be a guest on his "Late Show." "Here's what I'm proposing . . . We'll have...

SNEAKS AND THE CITY

WHERE do cheaters go to hide in New York? Anywhere they can - and usually out in the open. Anna, a married copywriter, sneaks around with a co-worker at dimly...

KID ROCKS AROUND THE CHRISTMAS TREE

"A Kid Rock Christmas" Sunday night at 9 on VH1 IN the tradition of Andy Williams, and Perry Como comes "A Kid Rock Christmas," a holiday special that opens with...

'AMERICAN' MADE: 'CHOPPER' INSPIRES TWO MORE

FOR Discovery Channel, the key word for 2004 is "American." Based on the success of "American Chopper," its hit series about an upstate motorcycle-making family, the cable channel is working...

TEACHER BUSTED IN SEX ABUSE

A Brooklyn elementary school teacher was arrested yesterday for fondling a 12-year-old boy, police said. Jason Beard, 35, who teaches at I.S. 96 in Bensonhurst, was picked up at the...

PARK WALKERS HIT BY BB SHOT

A man and a woman walking through Central Park were shot last night near the John Lennon memorial, Strawberry Fields, at West 72nd Street, police said. The pair were both...

COPS HUNT TALKATIVE BANK THIEF

Police on Long Island are asking for the public's help in identifying a check forger who uses a cell phone in banks as part of his scam, which has netted...

HONCHOS OF HARLEM SAY YES TO WES

ALBANY - Two of Harlem's top black Democrats will endorse retired Gen. Wesley Clark for president today in an "in your face" response to Al Gore's stunning support of Howard...

HACKING AWAY; ID-THEFT TEEN: I'M SWITCHING CAREERS

The smarmy teen hacker who pleaded guilty to stealing $30,000 in an Internet identity-theft scam said yesterday he's going into a new and more lucrative line of work - accounting....

GANG-SLASH SUSPECTS TAKE TRIAL OVER PLEA DEAL

Two suspected members of the Latin Kings gang pleaded not guilty yesterday to slashing a teenage student outside James Madison HS earlier this year. The suspects, Matthew Inductivo, 18, and...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A convenience-store manager quit her job after two men burst in, one wielding a shotgun, and ordered 11 staffers to get on the floor. Kristin Johnson said she was "traumatized"...

SAVE US FROM MIKE'S 'LIFESAVING' CIG-BAN BS

FACT: On Dec. 30, 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said of his proposed anti-smoking ban in bars: "We will literally save tens of thousands of lives." FACT: On May 12 of...

'CYBER-PERV' STING ON L.I.

An accused Long Island cyber-perv thought his plan to seduce vulnerable young teens on the Internet by posing as a teenage girl was foolproof - until he met the wrong...

HILLARY AND DEAN?

ALBANY - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday left open the slight possibility that she would become Democratic front-runner Howard Dean's vice presidential running mate next year. "I'm not going to...

WEEPING WEB-SITE WEIRDO

A cyber-whiz, who bombarded kids with porn when they misspelled the names of Web addresses for sites such as Harry Potter and the Teletubbies, sobbed uncontrollably yesterday while pleading guilty...

'GRAND' SCHEME $1B OVER BUDGET

A project that would re-route some Long Island Rail Road trains into Grand Central Terminal will cost $1 billion more than expected - bringing the price tag to $6.3 billion,...

RUDY'S LETTERS BARE SOME SALTY SURPRISES

Rudy Giuliani's once-private letters are about to explode into the public arena, revealing behind-the-scenes political deals, a heartfelt plea from Katharine Hepburn and a rare apology from hard-nosed political consultant...

LUNA GASSED UP 2 CARS BEFORE DEATH

Investigators picked up their first scent of Bronx-born federal prosecutor Jonathan Luna's killer yesterday when a gas station attendant on the Pennsylvania Turnpike reported that the slain lawman bought gas...

ISRAELI-VS.-ISRAELI FIGHT LOOMS

JERUSALEM - Jewish settlers and Israeli security forces are preparing for possibly violent clashes with one another if, as expected, the government resumes closing down West Bank outposts. A council...

GAME PLAN FOR NEW DOWNTOWN ; * MIKE HELPS PUSH TO BRING NETS IN * DEAL HINGES ON SALE OF N.J. TEAM

Developer Bruce Ratner upped the ante on his bid to own the New Jersey Nets yesterday - unveiling a Frank Gehry-designed basketball arena that would remake the heart of downtown...

CAMPAIGN-$$ CHANGE COULD ROAST WEINER

Dramatic changes being proposed to the city's campaign-finance laws would leave at least one possible Democratic mayoral candidate $1.5 million poorer for the 2005 election. If the board's recommendations are...

UPBEAT MIKE VOWS TAX CUTS

Mayor Bloomberg was in full campaign mode yesterday, effusively praising New Yorkers for saving the city from financial disaster and pledging that taxes would eventually go down. In a brief...

DRIVING MOM BUGGY; FINDING FLU SHOT IS MISSION IMPOSSIBLE

Baby Zeke is smiling because he escaped getting a flu shot, but his mom is irate after two days of trying to find one. First I can't find a pediatrician...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

Brooklyn Three muggers brutally attacked an 85-year-old Canarsie woman yesterday, fracturing her skull and breaking her nose before running off with her cash and a check. The woman was walking...

WALL STREETER CRIES INJUSTICE

The Wall Street researcher whose allegations against Manhattan Judge Marylin Diamond led to a federal investigation yesterday accused a second judge - who ruled against him in a recent case...

CLUB RAPE RAP ; BATHROOM ASSAULT IN JAY-Z'S PLACE

A clubgoer at rapper Jay-Z's popular Chelsea nightspot was arrested for rape early yesterday after a woman claimed she was attacked in one of the club's unisex bathrooms, law-enforcement sources...

GET ON THE BALL, MAKE THE STEAL AND GET HOOPSTERS HERE

I HAVE three words for the just-unveiled plan to build a stadium in downtown Brooklyn, the proposed new home for the basketball-playing Nets - a team now serving hard time...

GRIEF BINDS FDNY TO TOKYO

SATOKO SAKAI'S firefighting husband died on duty in Japan, but it was here in New York City where the widow found peace. It's the unfortunate pride the FDNY has -...

GROUND ZERO FOTOG CLICKS WITH JUDGE

An amateur photographer's exhaustive documentation of Ground Zero and the rescue workers he met there has gained him national recognition since Sept. 11 - and yesterday it won him a...

MIKE BRACES FOR $NAPPLE CHALLENGE

The city's controversial $126 million Snapple deal was approved yesterday, setting the stage for a possible legal showdown between Mayor Bloomberg and City Comptroller Bill Thompson. The deal makes Snapple...

DEAN'S DESPERATE FOES BANKING ON BLACK VOTERS

THE stop-Howard Dean movement is now on full red-alert - and his rivals are counting heavily on black voters. But the first question is Iowa, because unless Dean gets derailed...

MAN KEPT SLAIN WIFE AT HOME 2 DAYS

A Staten Island man shot his wife to death inside their home this week and kept her body in the house for two days before calling police, law enforcement sources...

SCHOOL PROMOTION RETHINK

Mayor Bloomberg's office promised yesterday that the city will revamp school promotion policy after a panel of experts complained that thousands of students who flunk standardized exams are still being...

DIRTY NARC FINGERS 2 MORE COPS

The retired narcotics cop caught pocketing $169,000 in drug money with a former partner has implicated two more detectives in drug dealer rip-offs in upper Manhattan - bringing to five...

EX-NYPD BIG IN $CANDAL

The NYPD's former top crime-control strategist was indicted yesterday on charges he raided a Baltimore police charity account to pay for romantic rendezvous with six women, gifts, pricey meals and...

BUBBA ELUDES WACKY OLD ABE

A federal judge yesterday spared Bill Clinton an encounter with nutty businessman Abe Hirschfeld. Hirschfeld is being sued by longtime Clinton nemesis Paula Jones, and wanted to depose the former...

DRUG-PUSH KINGPIN'S DEATH WISH

A Brooklyn drug boss would rather die than see his lawyers present "extraordinarily compelling" evidence that could persuade jurors to spare his life, the lawyers said yesterday. Emile Dixon, convicted...

PET-SHOP MYSTERY; COPS PROBE IF SLAIN THIEVES KNEW OF $TASH

Police are investigating whether a pair of robbers killed by the owner of a Brooklyn pet shop knew the store was expecting a shipment of puppies - and its owner...

MADHOUSE: GROUND ZERO TOWER DESIGNERS AT WAR

The fight over the Ground Zero Freedom Tower has spiraled completely out of control, with accusations of a "Watergate break-in" and bitter feuding between the two key architects, sources said...

LOSS OF GORE A 'NET GAIN: JOE ; SAYS BETRAYAL BOOSTING WEB FUND DRIVE

WASHINGTON - Jilted Joe Lieberman's campaign yesterday touted him as the Comeback Kid after Al Gore ditched him for Howard Dean - claiming sympathy sent his Internet fund-raising sky-high as...

JACKO'S PARENTS IN 'ADOPT' BID

The parents of Michael Jackson have vowed they would adopt his three kids if he is forced to give them up while he fights child-sex charges. "We're not going to...

3 KIDS ARRESTED IN SCHOOL-COP SCUFFLE

Three students at trouble-plagued Washington Irving HS were busted yesterday for clashing with a school safety officer who tried to stop them roaming the hallways. The latest incident occurred on...

BOBBY-BEAT BUST ; SURRENDERS AFTER HITTING WHITNEY: COPS

Bad boy Bobby Brown turned himself over to Georgia authorities yesterday to face charges of battery for smacking his wife, singer Whitney Houston, and threatening to "beat her ass," law...

LIBESKIND'S BLABBING PLANNER QUITS

Daniel Libeskind's design partner quit the World Trade Center project yesterday, saying he distorted the master planner's work in a lecture in which he boasted of using p.r. tactics to...

BUMBLING BOSS TO BLAME FOR THIS

GEORGE Steinbrenner gets to use his checkbook now for something other than proving who swings the biggest bat in baseball. All those times these past few winters when he's overpaid...

STICKING WITH 'UNFORGETTABLE' BATONS

Hoping to stop cops from forgetting their nightsticks in patrol cars, the NYPD plans to outfit them with an expandable baton they can wear. The new batons, 7.7 inches long...

S.I. WIFE MURDER HORROR

A Staten Island man with a history of mental illness shot his wife to death inside their home this week and kept her body in the house for two days...

FUNERAL TEARS FOR TEACHER

The life of beloved preschool teacher Effie Roseborough was celebrated yesterday, as hundreds gathered for a funeral filled with tears for the Queens woman brutally killed, allegedly by her own...

JUDGE SNUFFS ASHTRAY RAP

The ashtray fiend of Brooklyn has beaten the rap. In a ruling that could have profound implications for enforcement of the city's Smoke-Free Air Act, an administrative court judge has...

PAIR ATTACKED IN CENTRAL PK.

A man and a woman were assaulted last night near the West 72nd Street entrance to Central Park, police said. The woman, 21, of The Bronx, had contusions on the...

THE HYPE-Y COUPLE NOW THAT TRISTA & RYAN ARE [[CD7;KA-2]]MARRIED, WE CAN DIVORCE [[SN12]]THEM

HERE comes the bribe, all dressed in hype. Last night, for a mere 4 million big ones, the relentlessly camera-craving "Bachelorette" Trista Rhen finally married the equally exposure-mad Ryan Sutter...

TRISTA AND RYAN FINALLY GET LOST

"Bachelorette" Trista Rhen and Ryan Sutter didn't watch the world's most expensive wedding video last night with the rest of the country. They left for their honeymoon - shortly after...

HORROR TRIP ENDS AT 0-5

Jazz 95Knicks 73 SALT LAKE CITY - The final ironic indignity to this five-game Western Knick nightmare was provided by Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, whom Knick GM Scott Layden drafted for...

'DYESS COMEBACK HITS SOME BUMPS

KNICK NOTES SALT LAKE CITY - Antonio McDyess says he expects the "ups and downs" to continue during his comeback. He's hoping one of the "ups" will be his next...

HUNTER 'POINTS' WAY FOR ISLES

For nearly four weeks, the Islanders have been looking for a spark, a player they can rally around and count on to put the puck in the net when they...

FASSEL WON'T FLEE ; UNLIKE REEVES, PLANS TO FINISH SEASON

"I signed on this ship to coach 16 games."JIM FASSEL Jim Fassel repeatedly insisted he saw no reason to chime in with his opinion on what went down in Atlanta...

HAPPY TRAILS ARE HERE AGAIN

IT has been a great start to the ski season, both for the resorts and the U.S. Men's Ski Team. You could not ask for better conditions after the nor'east...

JETS MULL MOVING ABRAHAM TO LB

John Abraham to linebacker. John Abraham in a Derrick Thomas-, Lawrence Taylor-type role next year. Sounds tantalizing, doesn't it? The thought of the Jets moving their two-time Pro Bowl defensive...

REJUVENATED RUIZ HAS HUNGER BACK

There was a time right after losing the WBA Championship to Roy Jones last March when John Ruiz was ready to quit boxing. Losing a 12-round decision in Las Vegas...

THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD . . . IF NOT GREAT

THE Mets tried to make this feel like a big deal. They rented out a nice, big ballroom at the Sheraton New York, they put on a two-hour lunch buffet...

IT'S NOT ALL SO QUIET ON NETS' FRONT

The Nets go as their forwards go, and with inexperience comes inconsistency. Richard Jefferson and Kenyon Martin have spurred the team's recent three-game win streak, but both players have shown...

DICE COMEBACK HITTING BUMPS

SALT LAKE CITY - Worn down out West, Antonio McDyess says he expects these "ups and downs" to continue during this early stage of his comeback. He's hoping one of...

VLAD NEWS FOR MET FANS: FORGET HIM

MET NOTES The Mets have a huge hole in right field. Free-agent Vladimir Guerrero is the game's best right fielder. Seems like a match, right? Not exactly. Asked about Guerrero,...

KAZ DAZZLES APPLE FROM THE GET-GO ; MATSUI: I LOVE N.Y. AND WANT TO HELP BRING METS A RING

"He's a personality. He's going to play shortstop with a flair."FRED WILPON He placed the cap on his head and wrapped the jersey around his shoulders. Then the new shortstop...

SHEFF: DEAL CAN STILL GET DONE

In his first public comments since negotiations with George Steinbrenner broke down, Gary Sheffield proclaimed that his deal with the Yankees would still get completed. "We'll get it done," Sheffield...

RICE ISN'T CONCEDING SPOTLIGHT

Russell Robinson knows most of the attention at Fordham today will revolve around the Lincoln-Edgewater (Fla.) game that tips off at 7 p.m. on national television (ESPN2), but the Rice...

PETTITTE, ASTROS CLOSE AS YANKS GET TO MAKE LAST PITCH

The enduring image of Andy Pettitte on the mound is a cap pulled down and dark eyes laser-focused toward the plate. After benefiting from that penetrating glare for nearly a...

JETER: WEIRD TO SEE ANDY GO

Derek Jeter thinks it would be strange not to see Andy Pettitte in a Yankee uniform. "It would be weird," Jeter said last night at the ESPN the Magazine party....

PALMER EXCITED TO START

GIANT NOTES No one has to worry about the Giants' new starting quarterback taking a blase attitude about his new role. Jesse Palmer gets in the game Sunday night in...

OTTIS DOESN'T BLAME FASSEL

What would have happened if Ottis Anderson fumbled as much then as Tiki Barber does now? Would Bill Parcells have tolerated it? "I would never have seen the field," Anderson...

SAME OL' SONG FOR RANGERS

Canadiens 2 >Rangers 1 The Rangers have played 28 games this year, the same number they played last year for Glen Sather after the GM replaced Bryan Trottier behind the...

ELIAS WORKS OT FOR WIN

OVERTIMEDevils 1Islanders 0 The stumble on his overtime solo, hockey's most exciting play, only set the stage for Patrik Elias to triumph in a moment of even greater drama. Fire...

SUPER SNOW KEEPS IT CLOSE

Garth Snow looked as shaky as a goalie can in the first period, throwing his stick one way and his body the other, just trying to get a piece of...

KNICKS END TRIP AT 0-5

Jazz 95Knicks 73 SALT LAKE CITY - The final ironic indignity to this five-game Western nightmare was provided by Utah's Andrei Kirilenko, whom Knick GM Scott Layden drafted for the...

BOMBERS ON BRINK OF LOSING ANDY: PETTITTE, ASTROS CLOSE AS YANKS GET TO MAKE LAST PITCH

The enduring image of Andy Pettitte on the mound is a cap pulled down and dark eyes laser-focused toward the plate. After benefiting from that penetrating glare for nearly a...

PALMER EXCITED ABOUT FIRST START

GIANT NOTES No one has to worry about the Giants' new starting quarterback taking a blase attitude about his new role. Jesse Palmer gets in the game Sunday night in...

RANGERS CALL IT EVEN: .500 RECORD OK IN AVERAGE EAST

It is most definitely true. The Rangers have adopted a greater defensive consciousness this year, are far more aware of their responsibilities without the puck. But it's interesting: The Blueshirts...

DEVILS TRY TO ADD WINS IN DIVISION

This unofficial Holiday Tournament means more than kewpie dolls to the Devils. It may be their last chance to contend for the division title that was so vital to their...

EVEN AT HALF SPEED, LAKERS FLATTEN KNICKS

KNICK NOTES SALT LAKE CITY - To the Lakers, the Knicks are nothing more than weak sisters in the inferior East. That's even if the Knicks are the last team...