December 12, 2002

IMG SET TO LAUNCH FASHION DAILY

There's a new battle in town between 7th on Sixth and Bonnie Fuller's US Weekly. IMG's Fashion Week production division is launching a publication to go head to head with...

BUSH TO BACK FRIEDMAN

Refusing to give in to right-wing pressure, President Bush could announce his choice of Stephen Friedman as chief economic adviser as early as today. Friedman is Bush's first choice to...

HANDSHAKE DEAL TO SELL BURGER KING

Diageo may finally have found a home for the Whopper - by slashing its price on Burger King. After scrambling for weeks to salvage the sale of its troubled Burger...

DONALDSON MAY BE HAUNTED BY HIS NYSE PAST

DON'T go attaching the title SEC Chairman to William Donaldson's name quite yet. Despite all the wonderful things said about this guy in the past few days, he has a...

666 FIFTH AVE. ON SALE; MAY FETCH DEVILISHLY HIGH PRICE

The 41-story Fifth Avenue tower that's home to the National Basketball Association store and a landmarked Isamu Noguchi lobby sculpture is being offered to potential buyers at a price that...

HOLLYWOOD ENDING ; DILLER MAY KILL PRICEY DEALS WITH CELEB PRODUCERS

Barry Diller is wielding the ax. And some of his possible victims are among the biggest stars in Hollywood. Diller is giving close scrutiny to deals with production companies owned...

AOL SENDS OUT PINK SLIPS: ONLINE GIANT SLASHES 300; 1,000 MORE JOBS MAY GO

America Online slashed more than 300 jobs yesterday as part of a wide-ranging effort to cut costs at the beleaguered company. The cuts are described as a first wave, and...

CNBC PICKS FRIEND FOR TOP EDITORIAL POST

Business news network CNBC named David Friend to its top editorial job yesterday. The appointment is effective immediately. Friend will oversee all aspects of the network's business day programming, Pamela...

MEN HIT THE SALON TO FIGHT TOUCH OF GRAY

The first stop men seeking jobs should make may be the hair salon. Rising unemployment has driven men looking for jobs to use every ploy to get a leg up...

DASH FLEES $7M UPTOWN-HOUSE

HIP-HOP mogul Damon Dash has hopped away from a contract to take a $7.2 million Upper East Side townhouse, sources say. Could the Roc-A-Fella Records president - whose company's products...

BANK TALKS RESUME; PRU, WACHOVIA BROKERAGE MERGER BACK ON TABLE

Prudential Financial and Wachovia Corp. have rekindled talks to launch a joint venture combining their brokerage operations, The Post has learned. After putting talks of a proposed merger on ice...

'DIE' SET TO SMASH BOND BOX-OFFICE RECORD

James Bond never dies - he just keeps making billions. After 40 years, Bond's action thrillers are still raking in more blockbuster bucks than any motion picture franchise ever -...

TURNER WTC GAFFE SHOCKS AUDIENCE

Ted Turner still has a knack for putting his foot in his mouth. The 64-year-old vice chairman of AOL Time Warner shocked some in his audience yesterday when he compared...

NFL COST TO DIRECTV UP 300%

DirecTV will pay $2 billion to carry NFL games over the next five years - a whopping 300 percent increase over its current eight-year deal. The satellite service will carry...

BUSH WON'T YIELD; BACKS FRIEDMAN

Refusing to give in to right-wing pressure, President George W. Bush could announce his choice of Stephen Friedman as chief economic adviser as early as today. Friedman is Bush's first...

ANOTHER TASTELESS TURNERISM

Ted Turner still has a knack for putting his foot in his mouth. The 64-year-old old vice chairman of AOL Time Warner shocked some in his audience yesterday when he...

NEW FASHION DAILY IS DUE HERE FROM IMG

There's a new battle in town between 7th on Sixth and Bonnie Fuller's US Weekly. IMG's Fashion week production division is launching a publication to go head-to-head with US Weekly's...

FUN 'GO' AND A SLUSHY 'SNOW'

THE WAY THINGSGO ON SNOW'S WAVELENGTH,ZOOM OUT On your avant-garde.Combined running time: 86 minutes. Not rated (nothing objectionable). At the Anthology Film Archives, Second Avenue and Second Street. TWO documentaries...

STARR REPORT

Travolta gets 'Biography' treatment A&E will air a two-hour "Biography" segment on John Travolta next month - with Travolta's cooperation, including an interview with the usually elusive actor. "Biography: John...

PORN TO BE WILD

ADULT ENTERTAINMENTAt the Variety Arts Theatre, 110 Third Ave. Call TeleCharge, (212) 239-6200. A Robin Byrd-like porn queen called Heidi the Ho is hosting her show on public access. She...

WRITERS: NO DAY IN COUNTRY

WHAT DIDN'T HAPPENAt the Duke, 229 W. 42 St.. Through Dec. 22. Call Ticket Central, (212) 279-4200. CHRISTOPHER Shinn is a bold, young and limber playwright who's trying his hand...

'IDOL' TALK - WINNER KELLY LIED, CLAIM SONGWRITERS

KELLY Clarkson may not be the doe-eyed amateur she appeared to be when she won "American Idol" last summer. Clarkson may have already had a recording contract - and was...

'THE PRACTICE' BOUNCED OFF SUNDAY NIGHT

ABC is moving "The Practice" to Monday nights. The network also announced that an episode of its cult-hit spy drama "Alias" will air after Super Bowl XXXVII on Jan. 26....

'JEOPARDY' FOR $100, THANKS ALEX

THE quiz-wiz producers behind "Jeopardy!" are putting the show's set up for sale on eBay. The sale, which includes three contestant podiums, small, signed wood and glass panels from the...

'GMA' SURVIVES HOSPITAL DRAMA

ABC'S "Good Morning America" was the winner of this week's battle for the West Virginia man who survived being trapped in his car for nearly a week. "GMA" interviewed Robert...

MARIAH CAREY HAD ONE OF HER BEST FIRST WEEKS EVER.

SHE'S bounced back from a breakdown - but the early returns for Mariah Carey's new album don't qualify her as a comeback queen. In its first week on the shelves,...

BRYANT'S SONG

"The Junction Boys" Saturday at 9 on ESPN ½ IN our household, silence is maintained whenever a football coach appears on TV. Any coach will do - Jim Fassel, Herman...

'BIG FAT' AWARDS BLOOPER

THE Independent Spirit Awards all but snubbed "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" - the most successful independent film ever made in this country - when its nominations were announced yesterday....

LEO ROARS - TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY - HOLLYWOOD SURE DOES

THIS isn't the Leo you usually read about in the New York Post. He isn't holding a bottle of Cristal or nursing a wicked hangover from partying past 4 a.m....

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANhATTAN An envelope containing pornographic pictures and a note praising Hitler was mailed to an Upper East Side home-care agency. The envelope was received Tuesday at the Visiting Nurse Service...

BET-FIX SCAMMER: I JUST CASHED THE TIX

A Manhattan man who joined with two buddies to attempt to scam a $3 million win in the Breeders' Cup race pleaded guilty yesterday and smugly told a federal judge...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

It may be America's most fashionable ski resort, but Vail wants visitors to take home a common souvenir - manhole covers. The Colorado ski mecca discovered that people were stealing...

CHEW ON THIS: GROW-YOUR-OWN TEETH

Smile - you one day may be able to grow new teeth to replace the old rotting ones. That possibility came a step closer to reality this week when scientists...

THE GLOVES COME OFF; BUT U.S. LACKS LEFT HOOK

AMERICA'S military posture toward terrorists and tyrants finally escaped the Clinton legacy of cowardice and wishful thinking. In a distinctly un-Washingtonian display of common sense, President Bush told the world...

BOYS, 12, IN 80G SCHOOL RAMPAGE

Three 12-year-olds have been busted for vandalizing their former Long Island elementary school over the Thanksgiving weekend, causing $80,000 in damage and killing the students' pets - a tank full...

MYSTERY ISRAEL TERROR BOMB VICTIM ID'D MONTHS LATER

An Israeli man who disappeared six months ago - and was believed by his family to be hiding from creditors - was identified yesterday as the sole unknown victim of...

DWI RAP DROPPED IN WEDDING-CRASH TRAGEDY

Long Island authorities yesterday dropped DWI charges against a man involved in a car crash that claimed the lives of three of his relatives as they were returning home from...

CITY EYES $40M LOST IN TAX-ASSESSOR SCANDAL

The city is looking at crafting legislation that would give it new powers to charge some building owners in an effort to collect more than $40 million lost because of...

PRESIDENT BUSH'S HARD-LINE DEFENSE STRATEGY IS DESIGNED TO WARN IRAQI GENERALS

WASHINGTON - President Bush's hard-line defense strategy, which went to Congress yesterday, is designed to warn Iraqi generals that they could be nuked for using chemical or biological weapons, according...

WHOLE LOTT OF BACKPEDALING

WASHINGTON - Trying to dampen escalating criticism, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott yesterday said he's "the son of a sharecropper" and believes in racial equality - not segregation. "The words...

EARTH TO JIMMY

FORMER President Jimmy Carter was in Oslo Tuesday to accept his Nobel Peace Prize. "For powerful countries to adopt a principle of preventive war may well set an example that...

RAILROADS ON TRACK FOR RELIEF

Transit officials yesterday unveiled contingency plans for a subway strike that will use Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road trains to help frustrated commuters in The Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn...

BOMB PRANK HALTS UNION SQUARE TRAINS

A subway bomb scare snarled train service in Manhattan yesterday after a sick prankster left the Union Square station littered with more than three dozen mystery packages emblazoned with the...

DEMS SLAM GOV'S WALK ON STRIKE TALKS

Gov. Pataki yesterday wouldn't budge from his decision to stay out of the city's transit negotiations, even as Harlem Rep. Charles Rangel came out swinging against the governor's refusal to...

TEAM DUBYA CAN AFFORD TO BIDE ITS TIME

WHERE'S the smoking gun? Nervous hawks on Iraq fret that President Bush is getting sucked into the U.N. morass with endless weapons inspections that go nowhere, but other experts insist...

KOREAN SCUDS CAN SKEDADDLE ; YEMEN GETS TO KEEP MISSILES BY PROMISING 'DEFENSE ONLY'

WASHINGTON - The United States yesterday agreed to release a North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles to Yemen, after officials said the weapons were for that country's defense and would...

ICE STORMS CLOSE AREA SCHOOLS BUT SLIP BY CITY

Ice storms slicked over roads and closed schools through New Jersey and upstate New York yesterday - but Gotham got lucky and only endured a cold, miserable rain as temperatures...

'JOGGER 5' MUST WAIT UNTIL JAN.

It looks like Raymond Santana won't be home for Christmas. Lawyers for the so-called "Central Park 5" filed papers in a Manhattan appeals court yesterday, seeking to get their clients'...

EYE IN SKY REVEALS OUR BOMBERS

WASHINGTON - Dramatic new satellite photos surfaced yesterday showing long-range U.S. bombers - apparently ready to strike Iraq on a moment's notice - poised for action at the Diego Garcia...

MITCHELL NIXES 9/11 PANEL SLOT

WASHINGTON - Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell backed away from taking a top spot on the new 9/11 Commission yesterday because he doesn't want to quit his law firm....

UNION BASHES NO-GOTIATORS - OFFER TO CUT PAY DEMAND 2% FAILS TO SATISFY MTA

Despite concessions by the Transport Workers Union, talks between union reps and the MTA wrapped up yesterday without an agreement. TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint said he was "absolutely...

JAIL CAN WEIGHT FOR FAT FELON

A felon fighting flab so he can donate a kidney to his mom got his sentencing on gun charges delayed again yesterday by a federal judge who gave him one...

LAWSUIT: GAL CAN'T E-LUDE LESBIANS

A heartsick cybersurfer who went looking for a man on the Internet is suing a matchmaking service, claiming she got a flood of e-mails from lonelyheart lesbians after someone broke...

MOB WOE FOR 'CON' LAWYER

A disbarred lawyer poised to plead guilty to bilking his clients out of $2 million is under investigation for allegedly using mob muscle to scare off witnesses in the case....

OFFICERS WOULD TAKE THE WHEEL TO BUS FELLOW COPS

The NYPD has a secret plan to have cops drive city buses to move officers and other emergency personnel to Police Headquarters and the 911 command center if there's a...

CRISIS OF MED ERRORS

Nearly half of all Americans - and more than one-third of U.S. doctors - said they or family members have been the victim of medical mistakes, an alarming new study...

BAR HUMBUG - MIKE'S CIGARETTE BAN IS OFFICIAL; GREAT NEW YORK SMOKEOUT A DONE DEAL

It's lights out for smokers. Mayor Bloomberg and City Council leaders announced yesterday that they've reached a long-awaited deal to ban smoking in most indoor public spaces - including bars,...

LOUIMA COPS WANT OLD JOBS

Off the hook on charges they impeded the investigation of the Abner Louima attack, ex-cops Thomas Bruder and Thomas Wiese want their jobs back - and back pay from the...

THREE TEACH ATTACKS AT QNS. SCHOOL

The teachers union charged yesterday that three instructors were attacked by students at a severely overcrowded Queens middle school. Union president Randi Weingarten said that on Tuesday a 13-year-old boy...

SPY SATELLITES SET UP COMMANDOS' DARING SEA RAID

WASHINGTON - An ultra-secret U.S. ocean-surveillance satellite system helped guide Spanish commandos to this dramatic high-seas confrontation Monday with a North Korean ship carrying Scud missiles to Yemen, The Post...

QAEDA GOT WMD FROM IRAQ: U.S.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has credible evidence that al Qaeda-linked extremists obtained a deadly chemical weapon in Iraq in recent weeks, it was reported today. Details of the transfer...

KLEIN'S PRINCIPAL PURGE

Mayor Bloomberg and schools boss Joel Klein said yesterday that 50 principals will be fired this year for "persistent educational failure." "We're making the hiring of principals a core element...

COPS NAB POT TOTS

Cops have busted a pair of pint-sized pot pushers who allegedly planned to sell bags of marijuana to their classmates at a Florida elementary school. The accused dope peddlers -...

'ROAD RAGE' POL TABBED TO BE JUDGE

ALBANY - A Republican state senator accused of "road rage" was nominated by Gov. Pataki yesterday to be a judge on the state Court of Claims. Pataki said Sen. James...

LIMO DRIVER: JET'S A KNEE-JERK

A limo driver claims that a member of the New York Jets attacked him and broke his kneecap outside a Long Island steakhouse. Donald Matinsky said he drove five Jets...

PERFUME MAY DAMAGE SPERM

A common chemical used to preserve cosmetics and fragrances may damage sperm in adult men, scientists say. Exposure to the chemical, from a group called phthalates, apparently hurts the genetic...

FAT CHANCE MOM WILL EVER GET NEW KIDNEY

A felon fighting flab so he can donate a kidney to his mom got his sentencing on gun charges delayed again yesterday by a federal judge who gave him one...

BANKS HOLD $22M AWARD HOSTAGE: SUIT

Two big New York banks are balking at coughing up $22.4 million in Iraqi government money that a judge has ruled should be paid to four men who while working...

BABY IS OK AFTER MOM'S DEATH LEAP

A tiny baby miraculously survived her mother's fatal suicide jump in front of a commuter train yesterday at a quiet New Jersey station. Hospital officials say 8-month-old Allison Kahn was...

BUSH GETS A PEEK AT IRAQ ARMS

WASHINGTON - President Bush is already getting briefed on what's in Saddam Hussein's weapons declaration as the CIA and other experts do a quick analysis, administration officials said yesterday. The...

JETS CAN'T BEAR JET NOTES / PAGE 71

This is a game Herman Edwards dreads more than a three-hour dental procedure. His 7-6 Jets are riding high in their playoff push, having won five of their last six...

YANKS MIGHT GO FOR FLOYD

Even though Hideki Matsui is in the center of the Yankees' radar screen, GM Brian Cashman and the representative for Cliff Floyd are talking about the free agent outfielder joining...

GIAMBI: BOSS WON'T LET ME DOWN

Jason Giambi's faith in George Steinbrenner is so strong that the Yankee first baseman isn't concerned about being remembered as a great player who never won much. When the Angels...

BEASLEY GETS BETTER, PLANS TO FACE BEARS

JET NOTES Among the Jets' injured players, it looks as if cornerback Aaron Beasley will return to the lineup after missing the Denver game with a mild concussion while running...

DEVILS ZAP ELIAS DEAL AS 'RUMOR'

Both Devils coach Pat Burns and forward Patrik Elias dismissed rumors of a trade that would send Elias to Colorado for winger Alex Tanguay and defenseman Martin Skoula as just...

PETERSON TO CORNER COWBOYS ; READY FOR GALLOWAY

GIANT NOTES The Cowboys are no powerhouse offense, but they do arrive Sunday at Giants Stadium with a receiving weapon: Joey Galloway, a speedster who has 60 catches and six...

ADD $2M BONUS FOR TRIPLE TIARA

The "Triple Tiara," New York's version of the filly triple crown, will offer a $2 million bonus next year to the 3-year-old filly who can sweep the series, consisting of...

DIXON'S ANTICS ALARM: FASSEL SUSPENDS INJURED RECEIVERFOR SECOND TIME

GIANTS Last Friday, the future was full of promise for Ron Dixon. Even though he was slowed by a bum knee, Dixon exuded pride at what he had proven to...

BACK PAIN KEEPS MESSIER OFF ICE

It's one way to keep Mark Messier's minutes down, that's for sure, but it's hardly the way the Rangers or their captain would have chosen. But then, no one was...

MCDYESS EYES EARLY RETURN

What once was unthinkable has now become possible - Antonio McDyess admitted yesterday he hasn't ruled out a comeback this season. "I'm healing pretty fast. I'm not going to try...

LET HIM INTO HALL, NOT GAME

YOU are invited to stay at a friend's home. The friend gives you the run of the house. You can eat from the refrigerator, wear any clothes in the closet,...

KING'S WORDS SPUR ANTONIO

KNICK NOTES Antonio McDyess was down and nearly out. Two major knee injuries in a row had made him question whether he had the strength to keep playing. Then Bernard...

HIS SPEED WILL BURN COACH SLOW TO ACT

RON DIXON has been late more often than Ron Dayne to hit the hole, had more chances than Ernie Accorsi to give Jim Fassel a vote of confidence. Also, Dixon...

FRANCO ON TRACK FOR A JUNE RETURN

John Franco received his latest clean bill of health Tuesday, passing another doctor's inspection of his left elbow with flying colors. While Franco's latest visit to team doctor Andrew Rokito...

ROSE EXPOSED: PROBER: HE LIKELY WAGERED AGAINST THE REDS

John Dowd, who wrote the damning report that led to Pete Rose's expulsion from baseball 13 years ago, said the report was not as damning as it could have been....

JOE STILL HAS FAITH IN ROGER

Two months haven't changed Joe Torre's mind when it comes to Roger Clemens. He still believes Clemens can help the Yankees win, even if the future Hall of Famer's body...

MCDONOUGH TELLS METS NO

Sean McDonough, who last week reached a preliminary agreement to become a Mets' TV play-by-player, late yesterday informed Mets' TV rights holder, MSG Network, that he has decided to stay...

STANTON TURNS TO METS, OTHER OFFERS FOR RELIEF

Mike Stanton pulled his truck into the Yankee Stadium players' parking lot yesterday for the final time. For six years he made the trek from his Bergen County home. "It...

JARVIS LEADS CHEERS FOR DEPARTED BROTHER

St. John's 80St. Francis 58 As the memorial service for his brother Richard was about to conclude Sunday, Mike Jarvis asked the assembly of friends, family, former players and all...

MAN OF STEAL SAVES NETS

Nets 105Blazers 104 This had all the makings of a collapse of Biblical proportions. Up 11 points with fewer than four minutes to go, the Nets were in position to...

BLACKHAWKS BURN RANGERS GOALIE

Blackhawks 4Rangers 3 If Glen Sather previously had been blinded by the light of his prize teenage prospect Dan Blackburn, surely the Rangers GM now can see the urgency of...

MARTIN'S 'D' SHUTS DOWN WALLACE

NET NOTES At halftime, Kenyon Martin was ticked. Very ticked. "I played like [garbage] in the first half," said Martin, whose halftime line showed 2-of-9 shooting, four points and five...

STANTON WAITING FOR METS

Mike Stanton pulled his truck into the Yankee Stadium players' parking lot yesterday for the final time. For six years he made the trek from his Bergen County home. "It...

ALMOST PERFECT IN HOME JERSEYS

NET NOTES Home is where the heart is. And the sweat, the pride and above all for the Nets, a winning touch. The Nets are not invincible at home -...

ROGERS A HOT ROD AGAIN - DIDN'T LET SLUMP GET HIM DOWN

No one is ready to claim that Rodney Rogers is back just yet. But suffice to say he is a lot closer than the impostor who hung around for nearly...

ROSE-PROBE BOMBSHELL - DOWD HAD EVIDENCE PETE BET AGAINST REDS; ROSE EXPOSED -PROBER: HE LIKELY WAGERED AGAINST THE REDS

John Dowd, who wrote the damning report that led to Pete Rose's expulsion from baseball 13 years ago, said the report was not as damning as it could have been....