February 16, 2005

RADIO NUMBERS JAM SPORTING NEWS BUY

A possible sale of The Sporting News has been put on hold for at least nine months as the company sorts out potential liabilities from reporting inacurate audience numbers in...

SPITZER'S TRIPLE PLAY: 2 AIG, 1 MARSH EXEC PLEAD GUILTY

Three insurance executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges yesterday as the companies most sullied by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's probe into the industry had more mud splattered on...

MGM BIG SCOPES $300M VENTURE

The soon-to-be-former MGM vice chairman Chris McGurk has his eyes on his next gig: a partnership with Miramax's outgoing chiefs Bob and Harvey Weinstein, The Post has learned. McGurk, who's...

AD BIG DENIES BILL $CAM

Former Ogilvy & Mather ad executive Shona Seifert denied charges that she schemed to cheat the federal government by over-billing it for an anti-drug campaign. Seifert, formerly executive group director...

ENQUIRER SETS MOVE TO N.Y.

HORRORS - the National Enquirer is headed back to New York City. The tabloid that once transformed southern Florida into the home for a slew of scrappy supermarket tabloids is...

COURT RULES AGAINST REPORTERS

A chill went through major news media companies as a three-judge federal appeals panel ruled that two reporters, Judith Miller of the New York Times and Time magazine's Matthew Cooper,...

PRINCES OF CITI - SAUDI BIG WANTS END TO SCANDALS FROM BANK GIANT

Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal - the biggest Citigroup shareholder - is demanding the bank become scandal-free. If not, heads could roll - starting at the top with CEO...

BRITAIN'S KAISER CHIEFS ARE ON A ROLL

SAY the name out loud, right now: Kaiser Chiefs. Say it now, because everyone will be saying it later - when the Chiefs show the United States what they've already...

IT'S 'REALLY' IN THE KNOW

WELCOME to the peculiar world of Gary Wilson. He was 24 when, in 1977, he and a few buddies calling themselves the Blind Dates recorded a 12-track album of funky...

GOING FOR BAROQUE - ATELIER CHEF PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ

ATELIER proves there are second acts in the lives of great restaurants. The sycamore-paneled womb tucked inside the Ritz-Carlton lobby lost its chef, Gabriel Kreuther, to The Modern last fall....

MILLER LIGHTER - THE MAN OF LETTERS LIKED A GOOD LAUGH

IN public, Arthur Miller played the role of Great American Dramatist to perfection. He was big, he was strong, he was stoic and imposing - the Mount Rushmore of American...

OVERLONG DOCUMENTARY TRIO IS HARD TO BEAR

WATCHING one highly personal French documentary is just fine. But sitting through three totally unrelated ones in a row - with all that puzzling (subtitled) dialogue and those long (enigmatic)...

'PROBST WILL REPLACE ME': REGIS

THERE could be a new Regis on the block. Regis Philbin appears to be grooming "Survivor" host Jeff Probst to take over "Live with Regis & Kelly" when he one...

TRUMP SHUTS OUT CIPRIANI

WHERE Cipriani goes, nobody knows. Donald Trump has terminated his contract with Giuseppe Cipriani to relocate the famed Harry Cipriani restaurant at Trump Park Avenue from its present storefront space...

CUT & PASTE - CREEPY BRIT DOC BASIS OF JACKO SPECIAL

TOMORROW night's heavily promoted Michael Jackson special on ABC relies in large part on a controversial British show that aired last month. The British show - called- "Michael Jackson's Boys"...

LI MURDERER DUNNE IN BY COURT TV

If ever a case had Dominick Dunne's name all over it, it is the Ted Ammon murder. Rich man; bitter, social-climbing ex-wife; their Ukrainian, orphan children; the knock-around unlicensed contractor;...

GO TO THE DOGS - WHY DO THE PEOPLE LOOK WORSE THAN PETS?

A couple of my friends and I were sitting around on Tuesday, Monday-morning quarterbacking the biggest championship tournament of the year. And really, who wasn't? And while no long money...

ACE OF BASS - JAZZ PHENOM JOURNEYS FROM THE STREETS OF THE BRONX TO THE BRIGHT LIGHTS OF LINCOLN CENTER

It's been an amazing ride for bass prodigy Carlos Henriquez, from playing acoustic guitar at his local Bronx church Templo de Renovación Espiritual as a child to gracing the stage...

CAMPAIGN IN THE NECK - FOXX GOES INTO OVERKILL WITH OSCAR BID; OUT OF THE FOXX HOLE

HAD enough Jamie Foxx yet? While the Best Actor nominee has been universally acclaimed for his performance as Ray Charles in last year's biopic "Ray," his shameless campaigning for an...

SWEET NOTHINGS - NEW DESSERTS BIG ON FLAVOR - NOT SUGAR

HOW sweet it isn't! Some of the trendiest kitchens in town are turning out desserts made with minimal sugar - or none at all. Rather than tooth-aching chocolate and sticky...

'94 RAPE VICTIM TAKES THE STAND

The rape was more than 10 years ago, but the victim can still feel the thug's gun against her head. The 35-year-old woman took the stand in Brooklyn Supreme Court...

CARLEE BOW-WOWS 'EM - POISED POINTER TOP DOG AT GARDEN

The pointer didn't disappoint. A German shorthaired pointer named Carlee won over the judge and a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden to take best in show last night at...

GIRL, 5 SHOT IN THE FACE

A 5-year-old girl was struck in the face by a stray bullet after walking into crossfire on a busy Bronx street last night. Natalie Ramos, 5, was walking home hand-in-hand...

SIX MORE ACCUSERS FOR 'DIRTY' DOC

Six women have come forward to accuse a Long Island doctor of fondling them after he was arrested on similar charges, police said yesterday. Dr. Steve Fakheri, 70, of Kings...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

It was jolting to hear that 84-year-old Mary Lawson had died - especially for Mary herself. A staffer at Lawson's doctor's office called the sprite retiree to tell her that,...

GATES, DELL BOO$T CITY SCHOOLS

Microsoft mogul Bill Gates has joined forces with the city Department of Education again - teaming up with Dell Computers founder Michael Dell to donate $32 million for the creation...

GOV RIPS STATE GOP BOSS FOR DEM-TERROR SLAM

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday rebuked his handpicked state Republican chairman for calling Democrats the party of terrorist supporters. Pataki took GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik to the woodshed after the...

BUTCHER KEPT IN KOOK CLINK

It's more time in a locked nuthouse for the 1989 "Butcher of Tompkins Square." A judge yesterday ruled against madman Daniel Rakowitz's latest bid to be transferred from Kirby Psychiatric...

'PHONY COP' LAWYER: DA HAS NO CASE

The lawyer for the man charged with impersonating a cop and killing a Long Island banker after stopping his car claims prosecutors have no hard proof against his client. Lawyer...

SPITZER CAN FIX ALBANY: POLL

ALBANY - New Yorkers trust Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, and not Gov. Pataki, to reform state government, a new Pace University poll shows. "If reform becomes a top-line issue, then...

COURT PANEL BOOSTS CITY ON SHELTERS

Twenty-two years after courts assumed oversight of the shelter system for homeless families, a court- appointed panel has recommended that the city be allowed to operate shelters without supervision. "This...

MORE AMERICANS APPROVE OF ISRAEL & PALESTINIANS

JERUSALEM - The attitude of Americans toward both Israel and the Palestinians is soaring in the aftermath of last week's Mideast summit and the shaky but continuing truce, a new...

BILL WOULD LET YOU SUE FOR THE CITY

New Yorkers could sue companies that defraud the city - and pocket up to 30 percent of the settlement - under a bill that's expected to pass in the City...

WATCHDOG WEIGHS IN ON BUDGET-BALANCING ACT

Taxing dry-cleaning services and shoe repairs: $36 million. Giving corrections officers a bonus for not calling in sick: $3 million. Issuing fines for quality-of-life misdemeanors instead of arrest: $32.6 million....

U.N.ERS WERE OIL 'TANKED' - 'DRUNK' ON DUTY IN IRAQ

WASHINGTON - A former U.N. oil-for-food inspector told a Senate panel yesterday that he witnessed managers drinking on the job while hundreds of trucks carrying unknown cargo crossed the Iraqi...

MIRACLE ESCAPE - MAN SURVIVES HORROR HIT FROM FIRETRUCK

The driver of a car horribly mangled in a Brooklyn crash with an FDNY ladder truck miraculously emerged from the wreckage with only a broken leg, emergency workers said. Witnesses...

HEVESI AUDIT SLAMS GOP PART-TIMER

ALBANY - A small state authority dealing with harness racing is inappropriately giving full- time pension and health benefits to a part-time employee with Republican Party ties, state Comptroller Alan...

POLS JUST SPRAY NO TO GRAFFITI

City lawmakers yesterday continued their look into a slew of bills aimed at wiping out graffiti. Among the proposals discussed in a hearing of the Public Safety Committee were a...

KILLER XMAS-FIRE KIDS COP PLEA

Two 13-year-old cousins charged with setting a deadly Christmas Day fire will likely serve no more than 18 months in a low-security juvenile detention center, thanks to a last-minute plea...

CANCER IS AIR 'BORN' - N.Y. RISK FOR UNBORN

The city's heavily polluted air can cause genetic abnormalities in babies that are linked to a higher risk of cancer - before they even leave the womb, according to a...

BRITNEY IN PARADISE - BEACH BLISS & KISS ON S. PACIFIC HONEYMOON

Britney Spears and her hubby, Kevin Federline, clearly enjoyed some enchanted evenings on their South Pacific honeymoon. As these never-before-seen photos from the next Us Weekly show, Spears and Federline...

EVEN HILLARY OKS CHERTOFF

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton buried the hatchet and joined the rest of the Senate yesterday in unanimously approving ex-Whitewater special prosecutor Michael Chertoff as the nation's second Homeland...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN * A 68-year-old California resident stabbed himself in front of the United Nations to protest the international agency's relationship with Taiwan, police said. The demonstrator, identified as Philip Linn,...

'REALITY' SUICIDE - NBC 'CONTENDER' BOXER SHOOTS SELF

An up-and-coming boxer who could have been a contender on a soon-to-air NBC reality show was seething with frustration about having to stay out of the ring when he shot...

BILLION$ IN CITY ED. AID CAN WAIT A YEAR: BRUNO

ALBANY - Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno yesterday said the state can delay for at least a year providing billions of dollars more New York City school funding because of...

N.Y. ARCHDIOCESE TO SHUT 6 SCHOOLS

Six Catholic elementary schools in the New York Archdiocese - including one in Manhattan - will close for good after the current school year, diocese sources and labor leaders said...

MTA ROLL$ A LUCKY '7'

A plan to expand the No. 7 subway line to Manhattan's far West Side is back on the express track after the city doled out $45 million to the MTA...

BETTING THE HOUSE - HOMEOWNERS WIN AS PRICES SOAR IN VEGAS, ATLANTIC CITY

The biggest winners in Las Vegas and Atlantic City gambled on real estate. New figures show prices of homes in Vegas rising faster than anywhere else in the country. They...

BAIL-JUMPING PRINCIPAL BACK TO FACE PERV RAP

An assistant principal who fled the country after being charged with sexually abusing seven teenage boys at his Manhattan high school was back in a New York court yesterday, where...

ZONGO WIFE WAILS - SEES DEATH-DAY VIDEO

Shrieking sobs interrupted the second day of Police Officer Bryan Conroy's manslaughter trial yesterday, when the victim's widow became hysterical over video of her husband taken just before Conroy shot...

CAMELOT SELL-A-LOT - JFK AUCTION TAKES IN A FORTUNE

The tchotchkes of Camelot were a treasure to many yesterday at auction - with one anonymous bidder shelling out $96,000 for an oak rocking chair used by John F. Kennedy....

BLOODY V-DAY - COPS: EX MURDERS TEEN HOLDING BABY

An insanely jealous Long Island man fatally stabbed his illicit, underage ex-lover on Valentine's Day as she clutched their infant and while her horrified mom looked on, cops said yesterday....

PLANT STAFF GRILLED IN TANK SLAY

Detectives yesterday narrowed the list of suspects in the mysterious murder of a top chemist at a New Jersey water-treatment plant. For the second straight day, they grilled the 85...

ESCORT LADY'S 'SLAVE' - IMMIGRANT NANNY SUES

An Upper East Side woman linked to an upscale escort service was sued yesterday for allegedly treating her child's nanny and domestic worker like an indentured servant. The nanny, Luzenilde...

MALL MAN WANTED COP TO KILL HIM

The loner who went on a shooting spree at an upstate mall wanted to commit suicide-by-cop and prepared for his rampage by firing assault rifles and making and detonating pipe...

JERSEY CITY MASSACRE KIN SEEK FEDS' HELP

WASHINGTON - Relatives of the Christian Egyptian immigrant family butchered in their Jersey City home lobbied federal officials yesterday for help in unraveling the crime - which they believe was...

RETCHING, KVETCHING JACKO IN HOSPITAL, HALTING TRIAL

Wacko Jacko was on his backo in a hospital bed yesterday with a bad case of the flu that halted jury selection in his child-molestation case. The pop star began...

BLOOMY'S KICKOFF BASH IS CALL TO VOLS

Mayor Bloomberg last night kicked off his re-election campaign - unofficially - with a lavish party and a declaration that he aimed to attract 50,000 volunteers. "We will create the...

GWYN HEADING FOR 'BURBS

Little Apple won't be growing up in the Big Apple. After The Post reported that Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow has put her West Village townhouse up for $7.85 million, her...

WOMAN TESTIFIES IN 1994 RAPE

The gunpoint rape was more than 10 years ago, but the victim says she still can still feel the thug's weapon pressed against the back of her head. The 35-year-old...

HEEBIE-JEEBIES - FAMED MUSIC CLUB CBGB IN RENT PERIL

If CBGB's plight were a song, it would be a blues tune, complete with a sad guitar riff and a line about back rent. But for the owner of the...

SUPER-AIDS STRAIN HITS CALIFORNIA

Authorities in San Diego have reportedly found another case of the drug-resistant "superstrain" of the AIDS virus that was recently discovered in a New York man. The new patient's "HIV...

WHOLE NEW BALLGAME - LET MORE FIRMS JOIN STADIUM FIGHT: MTA

The battle over a West Side stadium took a dramatic turn last night when the MTA suddenly opened up development of its Manhattan rail yards to any firm interested in...

GOV RIPS GOP BOSS ON DEM SLAM

ALBANY - Gov. Pataki yesterday rebuked his handpicked state Republican chairman for calling Democrats the party of terrorist supporters. Pataki took GOP Chairman Stephen Minarik to the woodshed after the...

MIRACLE ESCAPE - MAN TELLS OF HORROR HIT FROM FIRETRUCK

The driver of a car horribly mangled in a Brooklyn crash with an FDNY ladder truck says he was incredibly lucky to emerge from the wreckage with only scrapes and...

PUBLISHER SUES 'AUTHOR' DIDDY

Random House has sued Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, claiming the hip-hop mogul reneged on an agreement to write his autobiography for the Ballantine imprint of the publishing house. The nation's...

PLEA IN NICOLE KILLING - GIRL, 14, ADMITS ROB

The 14-year-old alleged sidekick in the Lower East Side murder of Nicole duFresne has pleaded guilty to robbing the actress before she was killed, a law-enforcement source said yesterday. Sixth-grader...

A POETIC LOOK AT HARLEM

Acclaimed children's book author Walter Dean Myers shares his childhood memories through poems in his book "Here in Harlem." He chatted with Classroom Extra about the book. Walter Dean Myers...

WRITER'S $OCK: SUIT VS. DIDDY

Sean "Puffy" Combs is a deadbeat author - at least in the eyes of Random House Inc. The nation's largest publisher filed suit on Valentine's Day, claiming the legendary hip-hop...

COPTICS IN PLEA TO FEDS - SOLVE 'HATE' MASSACRE

WASHINGTON - Relatives of the Christian Egyptian immigrant family butchered in their Jersey City home last month lobbied federal officials yesterday for help in unraveling the crime - which they...

BAIL-JUMPING 'PERV' TEACH IS DRAGGED BACK TO COURT

An assistant principal who fled the country after being charged with sexually abusing seven teenage boys at his Manhattan high school was back in a New York court yesterday, where...

TIMBER!!! - NETS' SHOOTING FALLS FLAT IN LOSS TO MINNESOTA

T-Wolves 82 - Nets 71 MINNEAPOLIS - Vince Carter had another 30-plus point game. Jason Kidd flirted with a triple double. Ron Mercer scored double figures off the bench. And...

JUDAH MAN! FATHER'S ADVICE HELPED CHAMP

IT was early during a train ing camp that began the day after Thanksgiving when Yoel Judah sat down his son and offered some advice that came from a father,...

IT'S IN THE BAG - EAGER PEDRO: 'I FEEL GREAT'

PORT ST. LUCIE - On top of Pedro Martinez's locker, it sits: A duffel bag, the words "Red Sox" emblazoned on it. "I just brought it [Monday] night because I...

THE POST'S TOP 25

Rank(prev) -- TEAM -- RESULT -- NEXT1 Illinois (25-0) beat Wisconsin 70-58 at Penn State (1) The three-headed monster.2 Kansas (20-2) lost 80-79 at Texas Tech vs. Iowa St. (3)...

HE'LL MANAGE - TORRE FACES 'TRICKIER' SPRING THAN USUAL

TAMPA - Thirty minutes. Joe Torre had to wait a half-hour into his first group session with print reporters yesterday in his Legends Field office before being asked a pure...

A TALL ORDER - NETS HOPING 6-10 ROBINSON WILL BOLSTER PLAYOFF PUSH

MINNEAPOLIS - A deal the Nets thought was as dead as Julius Caesar may be the win-now move that provides them life for the playoffs. "I do," said Vince Carter...

GARNETT THROWN TO WOLVES DURING MINNESOTA SLIDE

NET NOTES MINNEAPOLIS - Vince Carter knows what Kevin Garnett is going through. As the face of a franchise, the guy with the highest paycheck, much of the attention falls...

KNICKS MISS SOUND OF VAN HORN

Chemistry. You can't explain it but you know it when you see it. And last February, entering the All-Star break, Knick fans saw it in spades from their team. One...

EX-BULL MAY TOE THE LINE

KNICK NOTES Knick wannabe Eddie Robinson, spurned by the club three months ago when its medical staff recommended he undergo surgery on a congenital defect in his big toe, is...

THE HEAT'S ON HAMILTON

Lamont Hamilton has proven you get in his face, he won't back down. It's a trait coaches love in a player and a trait St. John's coach Norm Roberts found...

RELIEVER WAS KIDD'S BACKCOURT MATE

MET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - Mets pitcher Joe Nelson is in camp on a minor-league deal. But you might be more familiar with his high school baseball and basketball...

D-DAY FOR NHL - BREAK IN ICE - BUT LEAGUE'S 'LAST' OFFER COULD KILL SEASON

After a day of hope, harsh reality hit home. The NHL will likely scuttle the season anyway today. The league last night lowered the boom when it raised its salary...

HONOR FOR TELFAIR

H.S. HOOPS Sebastian Telfair won three straight PSAL titles at Lincoln - two more than did his cousin, Stephon Marbury. Telfair also became the most prolific scorer in state history...

MATTINGLY GOES TO BAT FOR TROUBLED GIAMBI

TAMPA - Jason Giambi received important support yesterday from the man assigned to turn around his career. Yankees hitting coach Don Mattingly told The Post he's convinced Giambi is a...

MAY BE WRIGHT PLACE FOR JARET

TAMPA - By now, most Yankees fans know the trajectory of Jaret Wright's career. Wright emerged as a right-handed rookie phenom for Cleveland in 1997 - but by 2003, shoulder...

PEACE IN HOCKEY? DON'T BETT ON IT!

ALL you need to know about the confidence NHL players have in Gary Bettman's ability as commissioner is that they've declared their preference for playing under a designated team hard...

OPENING ROUT FOR WARRIORS

PSAL PLAYOFFS: Curtis 95 - Beacon 56 For the second straight season, the Curtis Warriors opened up the PSAL playoffs on their Staten Island floor - where they unleashed an...

CARTER: ROBINSON KEY TO NETS' PLAYOFF RUN

NET NOTES MINNEAPOLIS - Acquiring Cliff Robinson in a deal the Nets thought was as dead as Julius Caesar may be the win-now move that provides life for a playoff...

TANYON ROOTS FOR JASON

TAMPA - Tanyon Sturtze, who was Jason Giambi's closest friend on the Yankees last season, said he knows boos affect Giambi. But Sturtze is confident Giambi can return to form...

GOOD-FAITH TALKS? DON'T BETT ON IT!

ALL you need to know about the confidence NHL players have in Gary Bettman's ability as commissioner is that they've declared their preference for playing under a designated team hard...

BREAK IN THE ICE? - NHL AND UNION IN DEADLINE DANCE TO SAVE SEASON

The first cuts were the easiest, for both sides, but both the NHL and its Players Association rejected the other's supposed "final offer" last night, in the bid to beat...

BACKPEDALING - BASEBALL DENIES FBI MADE STEROID INQUIRY 10 YEARS AGO

Major League Baseball sources refuted a published report yesterday that an FBI agent told an MLB executive 10 years ago about steroid use in the game. The report said Greg...

GABBY GARY - SHEFFIELD SOUNDS OFF ON GIAMBI, MVP, STEROIDS

TAMPA - His batting practice hacks were soft but the brutally honest Gary Sheffield held nothing back yesterday when asked about a variety of subjects. Sheffield said he never admitted...