March 26, 2005

BLOCKBUST-ED; VIDEO GIANT DROPS $1B OFFER FOR H'WOOD ENT.

Blockbuster bowed out of the battle for control of Hollywood Entertainment because of regulatory concerns, paving the way for smaller rival Movie Gallery to press ahead with its bid. Blockbuster...

AIG BOARD TO HANK: TALK TO ELIOT, OR ELSE

For Hank Greenberg, after 40 years of running AIG, it's come down to this: talk or walk. The embattled AIG chairman is going to have to answer all questions from...

NEUTRON JACK GETS ALL MUSHY

Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch says he has no regrets about leaving his wife for a former magazine editor, 24 years his junior, nor does he feel badly about...

GIMME SHELTER

GOLDIE GETS NEW LOCKS? GOLDIE HAWN must have saved a few bucks since her bikini-dancing days on "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. "Sources say the eternally perky actress (who will turn...

EMPIRE STATS - WANT TO INVEST IN NEW YORK STATE? HERE ARE THE TOP COUNTIES, BY THE NUMBERS

YOU may not believe in momentum in poker or sports, but when real estate's your game, it's good to be in a hot market. As real-estate guru Dolf de Roos...

HOME SHOPPING CLUB - TAKE A SEAT

ABH Designs 401 E. 76th St., at First Avenue (212) 249-2276 Sale: through April 20 Open: Mon.-Sat., 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Table accessories are discounted 10 percent to 50 percent. Astier...

MY NEW HOME

FREELANCERS SEEK MORE SPACE WHAT THEY BOUGHT: Jackson Heights Two-Bedroom, $375K SEARCH TIME: 1 year WHEN it came to purchasing a coop, Ari Kreith and Ben Morss had a big...

THE MILD WEST - INGALLS FAMILY'S OLD-FASHIONED VALUES TIMELESS

"LITTLE HOUSE on the Prairie" Tonight at 8 on Ch. 7 (four stars) 'THE Wonderful World of Disney" finally is again! Wonderful that is. And the wonder is in the...

'IDOL' TIME TRUMPS 'APPRENTICE' ; SPECIAL EPISODE ON FOX EATS INTO NBC'S PRIME-TIME MENU

FOX's "American Idol" eliminated a chunk of "The Apprentice" audience Thursday night - siphoning off about 4 million viewers from NBC's reality show. Thursday's special live "Idol" episode, which was...

WHAT'S UP? YOUR BEST BETS THIS WEEKEND

MAD HATTER'S PARTY: If you have an Easter bonnet of your own, go ahead and show it after the parade - you just may win a prize! The annual Mad...

A HAIR-RAISING ACT

Maybe the elephants would disagree, but the hardest-working performer at Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has got to be Bello Nock. The 36-year-old, high-haired comic daredevil not only...

INSIDE THE BIG TOP - TAKE A TUMBLE WITH THE GUYS FROM THE WINDY CITY

Elephants, acrobats and clowns - oh my! Just when you think life in these five boroughs couldn't get more exciting, a three-ring circus comes to town. The Ringling Bros. and...

A SUNDANCE FAVORITE COMES TO TOWN

The Museum of Modern Art is braced for a "Junebug" invasion. No, not those pesky beetles - rather, Phil Morrison's film, which unreels at MoMA at 1 p.m. tomorrow, as...

I SURVIVED SHARK ATTACK - FOTOG'S MIRACLE ESCAPE

This Great White (above) almost had Mark Currie's number. The British tourist (right) barely escaped a shark's pearly whites off the South African coast and walked off with all his...

STATE BIG GETS IN GEAR

ALBANY - The well-paid civil servant who spent the last three years reading books and twiddling her thumbs on the state's dime has landed a new post - as part...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Amazed undersea scientists spotted a couple of crafty octopuses "tiptoeing" along the ocean floor on two tentacles - and pretending to be algae by wrapping their remaining six arms around...

SICKO CHOKED PUP: COPS

A Bronx drugstore worker is under arrest on a charge of strangling his 4-month-old pit bull because the puppy had made "a mess" on the kitchen floor, authorities said. Cross,...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN *** A one-time heavyweight boxer and actor who now suffers from Alzheimer's diseaase disappeared from outside his Harlem apartment, cops said yesterday. Claude Chapman (above) was last seen in...

NEW HACK AT DJ 'CABBIE'

The feds' case against deejay "Crazy Cabbie" took a U-turn yesterday as a judge delayed sentencing for tax charges - and revealed he could stiffen the radio personality's prison term...

OIL-FOR-FOOD PROBE WILL POINT AT KOFI

U.N. chief Kofi Annan will be blamed for failing to pay enough attention to the conflict of interest caused by his son's work with a contractor involved in the Iraq...

KIDS: OUR TEACH IS NO PERV

A popular teacher at a prestigious Brooklyn high school - accused of inappropriately touching a teenage pupil - was almost in tears yesterday as several of his students showed up...

CONDI SLAPS ISRAEL; IRE OVER W. BANK

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has blasted Israel's plans to expand a West Bank settlement and said it was "at odds with American policy," in her loudest slap...

THE BATTLE IS OVER - LET HER REST IN PEACE

IT is time to let go of Terri Schiavo. Please, let this poor woman die in peace. The national shouting match that has erupted over the inevitably grim fate of...

STATE 'GOP GATE'; SENATE OFFICE BREAK-IN

ALBANY - Police are investigating the mysterious overnight break-in and theft of $7,000 in cash from a Republican Senate office complex yesterday, The Post learned last night. The money was...

SWEET DAY FOR FAITH; GOOD FRIDAY FINDS FLOCK IN REFLECTION AND ON EGG HUNTS

Christians thronged to the city's churches yesterday to contemplate the Good Friday sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the cross. At St. Patrick's Cathedral, an overflow crowd stood in the aisles...

BX. 'STRIP' PARENTS STILL FUME

The boys who claim they were illegally strip-searched at their Bronx elementary school are scarred for life - and the $150,000 the city has offered three of them doesn't right...

EMOTIONS RUN HIGH OUTSIDE HOSPICE

PINELLAS PARK, Fla. - Resignation was mixed with anger yesterday among the protesters standing vigil outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo is nearing death. The solemnity of the day was...

IT'S 'RALLY' BAD NEWS

The Daily News Scratch n' Stiff scandal took a new twist yesterday, as City Councilman Charles Barron vowed to keep pressure on the paper. A fuming Barron said that, next...

FEDEX PHONIES IN $7M JEWEL HEIST; ARMED DUO CLEANS OUT DIAMOND DISTRICT STORE

Two gunmen posing as FedEx deliverymen took advantage of lax security on a quiet Good Friday, snatching $7 million worth of diamonds and other jewels from a Diamond District wholesaler,...

OUT OF TOWN BOMB; SOUR 'CHARITY' CLOSING

The producers of the troubled revival of "Sweet Charity," which was scheduled to opened in New York next month, are closing the show in Boston, as I predicted yesterday. The...

PRINTS ON JACKO PORNO; ACCUSEROGLED HIS SMUT: COP

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Michael Jackson's young accuser was found with his fingers all over the King of Pop's private porn stash, according to fingerprint evidence presented to jurors at...

JOGGING GRAMPS KILLED IN HIT-RUN

An 85-year-old retired Russian-born astrophysicist on his usual early-morning jog along Bay Parkway in Brooklyn was killed by a hit-and-run driver, officials said yesterday. Ilya Aptekar, 85, was jogging near...

KARATE PERV SUSPECT MAKES BAIL

A Staten Island karate master who was accused of molesting two teenage girls was freed on bail yesterday. Robert Kim, 37, who co-owns the Dragon Kim's Karate USA chain with...

LENNY'S LAST PLAY CALL A SCORE FOR WILLIAMS

KNICK NOTES SEATTLE - Turns out Lenny Wilkens' final act as Knicks coach Jan. 21 was one of his best. According to a source close to Wilkens, he recommended to...

WEAKENED JOHN PAUL SHOWS ONLY ON VIDEO

Pope John Paul II, weakened by illness, skipped Good Friday observances for the first time since becoming pontiff and opted to appear before the faithful in a video shot in...

HER EYES SAY 'PLEASE HELP' ; 'DOWN TO LAST HOURS' AS FEDS REFUSE TO STEP IN

A federal appeals court yesterday refused to order the reinsertion of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube - hours after the severely brain-damaged woman's father said she was weakening and down "to...

SEXY SARAH'S 40 IN THE CITY

Sarah Jessica Parker makes her grand party entrance last night, accompanied by spiffy hubby Matthew Broderick. Sex never looked so good at 40. "Sex and the City" siren Sarah Jessica...

AILING POPE APPEARS ON VIDEO

Pope John Paul II, weakened by illness, skipped Good Friday observances for the first time since becoming pontiff and opted to appear before the faithful in a video shot in...

MAYOR CALLS COUNCIL'S 'PLAZA' BILL A BIG LOSER

A controversial City Council proposal to prevent The Plaza hotel from converting more than 20 percent of its space to condos would be tossed by the courts in "two seconds,"...

MIKE DUMBFOUNDED BY ED. TEST-PREP BUNGLE

A flabbergasted Mayor Bloomberg yesterday said he could hardly believe it when he learned that city educrats produced math test-prep manuals that were rife with errors. "Every day you wake...

FOES PAN GARDEN'S 'ROCKY' W. $IDE BID

Supporters of the West Side stadium charged yesterday that Cablevision's claim it submitted a $760 million plan was fuzzy math. Jim Whelan, executive director of the Hudson Yards Coalition, turned...

SURPRISING NEW HACK AT DJ CABBIE

The feds' case against deejay "Crazy Cabbie" took a U-turn yesterday as a judge delayed sentencing for tax charges - and revealed he could stiffen the radio personality's prison term...

ANGUISH AS N.J. FAMILY CHOOSES LIFE FOR THEIR KID

TWO years ago, Rena Lynne del Rosario was a straight- A student enjoying the life of a typical 15-year-old: playing piano, reading Harry Potter books and heading to the shore....

TRAVELING HOME: LATE CALL THWARTS 'NOVA UPSET BID

SYRACUSE REGIONNo. Carolina 67Villanova 66 SYRACUSE - Twenty years later it was almost a second Perfect Upset. Except for one Imperfect Call. Trailing 66-63 with 11.6 seconds left, Villanova had...

RAIN MAY PUSH TPC TO TUESDAY

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -The showdown between the "Big Four" on the big stage will have to wait another day because yesterday's Players Championship second round at Sawgrass was washed...

PRADO ENJOYS HOMECOMING

Edgar Prado rode three winners in his first full day back after spending winter at Gulfstream Park. Short prices dominated card, with four winning favorites and only one winner paying...

EW DA MAN! ALL DUKE'S EWING HAS DONE IS WON

AUSTIN - When Duke took the court last night to face Michigan State in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game, Daniel Ewing took his accustomed place in the starting lineup....

NOBODY TOO BIG FOR BOGUT

AUSTIN NOTES AUSTIN - As the first-year head coach at Utah, Ray Giacoletti knew how tall and talented 7-foot center Andrew Bogut, was but he didn't know much about his...

TAKING OFFENSE ; N.C. STATE, WISCONSIN DEFEND THEIR STYLES

SYRACUSE - College coaches, assistant coaches, high school coaches and AAU coaches had their VCRs on last night. Smack dab in the middle of the NCAA tournament, right there in...

DAYDREAMING TAKES NEXT MOVE

Talk about going from the ridiculous to the sublime. Over the winter in Florida, trainer Shug McGaughey couldn't buy a winner. But after returning from Gulfstream Park, McGaughey has won...

BRACKET BUSTERS ; LOUISVILLE, ; WEST VIRGINIA SURPRISE ELITE EIGHT FOES

ALBUQUERQUE - They talked about getting here all season, of course, because that is always the dream. Every team comes out of October believing it can make it to this...

CENTER OF ATTENTION ; PITTSNOGLE PLAYS INSIDE-OUT

ALBUQUERQUE - Sometimes, the old timers look with wonder at what has become of their game. They see things on a basketball floor that nobody ever could have dreamed of:...

IS NY FAMILY FEUD NOW FLAMING OUT? MARBURY: TELFAIRDIDN'T KNOW BETTER

SEATTLE - Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair meet again tonight in Portland, the two point-guard cousins from Coney Island. This time, there's more intrigue than ever. Telfair, who faced Marbury...

SWEET 16 LOSS LAST YEAR PROPELS ILLINI THIS SEASON

CHICAGO - Before the eyes were even dry in their Georgia Dome locker room, before Illinois had even digested their Sweet 16 loss to Duke a year ago today, coach...

NETS JUST TRYING TO KEEP THEIR COOL

When they vaulted themselves right back into the playoff race with five straight victories, the Nets didn't rush to the mountain tops to shout their praises to the world. It...

BOMBERS RELEASE GLANVILLE

YANKEE NOTES CLEARWATER - Before camp opened, Doug Glanville could've been considered an odds-on favorite to be Bernie Williams' backup this season. But going just 10-for-47 this spring, the Yankees...

TORRE STILL MULLING STARTING ROTATION

Phillies 6Yankees 5 CLEARWATER - Unless you're enthralled by the battle between Bubba Crosby and Damian Rolls for the Yankees' 25th roster spot, there's really only one question left in...

STIFF N' SCRATCHED ; BAD BACK KEEPS MARTINEZ OUT OF SCHEDULED START

Marlins 7Mets 4 PORT ST. LUCIE - All through spring, Pedro Martinez had been exactly what the Mets dreamed - dominant and durable. Until last night. Martinez was scratched from...

DEVIL DOGS ; TOP-SEEDED DUKE TRASHED BY MICHIGAN STATE

AUSTIN REGION Michigan St. 78 Duke 68 AUSTIN - For all that's been achieved under Tom Izzo, the one thing Michigan State had never done was slay the dragon called...

WILDCATS TAME RUNNIN' UTES ; UTAH, BOGUT NO MATCH FOR UK

AUSTIN REGION Kentucky 62 Utah 52 AUSTIN - It is one of those strange quirks of happenstance that shouldn't work this way but almost always does. For some reason, come...

MARBURY: TELFAIR DIDN'T KNOW BETTER

KNICK NOTES SEATTLE - Stephon Marbury and Sebastian Telfair meet again tonight in Portland, Coney Island's point-guard cousins. This time, there's more intrigue than ever. Telfair, who faced Marbury at...

EXTRA PAINFUL - ALLEN'S OT HEROICS SPOIL LATE KNICK MAGIC

OT: BOXSCORE / P. 60Sonics 109Knicks 101 SEATTLE - The Knicks had the magic at the end of the fourth quarter but the Sonics had Ray Allen all night long....

IT'S ON, WISCONSIN ; N.C. STATE LOSS END FOR HODGE

SYRACUSE REGIONWisconsin 65N.C. State 56 SYRACUSE - The two players from St. Raymond, one who put N.C. State back on the basketball map and the other who intends to keep...

MAY DAY FOR 'NOVA - CAROLINA FORWARD BIG PROBLEM FOR 'CATS

SYRACUSE - If North Carolina's Sean May were an NBA free agent instead of a college junior, we would call this a salary drive. If May were a free agent,...

IT'S ON, WISCONSIN - N.C. STATE LOSS END FOR HODGE

SYRACUSE REGION Wisconsin 65 N.C. State 56 SYRACUSE - The two players from St. Raymond, one who put N.C. State back on the basketball map and the other who intends...

ILLINI AIM TO FINISH JOB

CHICAGO - Before the eyes were even dry in their Georgia Dome locker room, before Illinois had even digested their Sweet 16 loss to Duke a year ago today, coach...

MAY DAY FOR 'NOVA - CAROLINA STAR FORWARD BIG PROBLEM FOR 'CATS

SYRACUSE - If North Carolina's Sean May were an NBA free agent instead of a college junior, we would call this a salary drive. If May were a free agent,...