July 17, 1999

FARAH WINS - AND IT'S STILL 'VENATOR'

Two out of three's not bad. Venator Chairman and CEO Roger Farah largely beat back a challenge from his biggest shareholder, Alfred Kingsley. Kingsley's Greenway Partners owns about 14 percent...

GATES' M'SFT SHARES CLOSING IN ON $100B - GAINS ON COURT WIN, EXPECTED TRACKING STOCK

A hot report, a legal victory and the expectation of strong earnings sent Microsoft's stock soaring yesterday, making it the first company ever with a market value of more than...

BLACK, CARTER CAN'T PAPER OVER DIFFERENCES

The New York Observer isn't becoming part of Conrad Black's newspaper empire after all. A deal for Black's Hollinger International of Canada to acquire the Observer has fallen apart. The...

TROUPERS SOLDIER ON & TRIUMPH

SIX into five don't go, unless you are into fractious fractions. And even fractions won't help if you are dealing with people, fractious or otherwise. The Pilobolus Dance Company, at...

NOW IT'S WAR! - CNN TO LAUNCH OFFENSIVE AGAINST ARCH-RIVAL CNBC

CNNfn will announce today that it's launching two new business shows that will air simultaneously on CNN - and compete with arch-rival CNBC. The new shows, "Money Talks" (11 a.m.-noon)...

UNLUCKY 13: 'NET SNARED IN PBS SWAP SCANDAL

WASHINGTON - Public television station WNET/Ch. 13 has swapped donor lists with Republican and Democratic organizations, it's spokeswoman said yesterday - and the station may be sucked into the growing...

DID BIN LADEN TARGET U.S. DEFENSE CHIEF?

Defense Secretary William Cohen abruptly canceled a trip to Albania this week because of new threats from master terrorist Osama bin Laden, Pentagon officials said last night. Cohen was scheduled...

BRITS IN BID TO REVIVE N. IRELAND PEACE TALKS

The British government began new attempts to salvage Northern Ireland's tattered peace process yesterday amid fears that hard-line Protestant and Catholic guerrillas, fed up with a year of talks that...

AT LONG LAST! LAWMAKERS SEWING UP STATE BUDGET

ALBANY - Legislative leaders yesterday announced a tentative deal on the long-overdue state budget that will provide a record amount of state funding for schools - more than $850 million...

FLT. 800 BLAST STILL A MYSTERY THREE YEARS LATER

Three years after TWA Flight 800 was blown out of the skies off Long Island, the investigation is ending with angry words and fears that the exact cause may never...

BRIDGE-BUILDING GOV MAY REPLACE THE ZEE

Commuters could soon be seeing double on the Tappan Zee Bridge. The 45-year-old bridge is in such bad condition the state is considering junking it and building a new one...

PEACOCK RUNS ROSEANNE OUT OUT OF TOWN

It's costing NBC $12 million to pull the plug on the gab-fest. NBC is yanking Roseanne's new talk show from its 10 biggest markets - including New York - even...

RUDY SCOLDS DEAD TEEN'S MOM - DEFENDS '95 POLICE SHOOTING

Mayor Giuliani got into an angry shouting match with the mother of a police shooting victim yesterday - telling the woman to ask herself questions about how she raised her...

NAACP SUES GUN MAKERS IN MOVE TO MUZZLE SALES

The NAACP filed a massive suit against nearly 100 gun makers yesterday, hoping to drastically decrease pistol sales and put an end to gun shows. The civil-rights organization said it...

SILENT SEN. PAT TRIES TO SATISFY WIFE & HILLARY

WASHINGTON - Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.) joked yesterday that his wife has ordered him to stay mum about his pick for president - an endorsement that could complicate Hillary...

NEW HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS FOR SHOVE VICTIM

Legless subway-push victim Edgar Rivera was released from a Manhattan hospital yesterday, saying he is relieved the city finally offered him a new home designed to handle his handicap. "It's...

GENETIC PARENTS GET EGG-MIXUP TOT

Joseph Fasano officially became Akeil Richard Rogers yesterday after a Manhattan judge awarded legal custody of the switched-before-birth baby to his genetic parents, Robert and Deborah Rogers. "It's a relief,"...

CON ED INTERNAL REPORT IS A SHOCKER

Con Ed officials yesterday insisted their system is ready to handle the latest heat wave - despite an internal report saying two-thirds of the utility's substations are on the brink...

NUDE PHOTO SHOOT IS BARE-ABLE: JUDGE

A federal judge yesterday ordered the city not to arrest a photographer and up to 100 nude models when they gather on a downtown Manhattan street for a photo shoot....

BARAK: PEACE WILL HAVE PRICE FOR U.S.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is telling U.S. officials he hopes to negotiate peace accords with Syria and the Palestinians in 15 months - and will need an unprecedented amount...

'SPEEDING' STREET UNIT COP RUNS DOWN TEENS

Two 15-year-old Brooklyn girls crossing a Rockland County highway were badly injured - one left brain dead - when they were struck by a speeding car driven by an off-duty...

WASH. HTS. BREAKS INTO COLD SWEAT

Isaiah Miller isn't taking any chances in case of another Washington Heights blackout - he's filling his bathtub with water. "I had to walk up and down 15 flights of...

ONE GIANT ANNIVERSARY PARTY FOR 1ST MOON MEN

Moonwalkers gathered on Earth yesterday to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11, the first manned spacecraft to make a lunar landing. "It was probably the greatest...

CITY ADDING OPERATORS TO TROUBLED 911 SYSTEM

The NYPD is beefing up the staff of the 911 system by 6 percent as part of a reorganization of the troubled emergency network, officials revealed yesterday. The department is...

JURORS CLEAR VET IN CANCER MERCY KILL

"My client is not Jack Kevorkian. He did not have an agenda." LAWYER ROBERT SMITH A Manhattan grand jury yesterday cleared an East Side veterinarian in the mercy-killing of a...

ANOTHER WEEKEND OF HELL ON EARTH - BAKED APPLE GOES ON BLACKOUT ALERT

Con Ed and city officials yesterday were on full alert to ward off another massive blackout as the Big Apple baked through the third brutal heat wave this year. Today's...

FINGERPRINT NAILS B'KLYN SLAY SUSPECTS

A single fingerprint in a stolen car helped nail two slay suspects also sought in a string of Brooklyn carjackings and robberies, police said yesterday. The suspects - Derrick Blyther,...

'MISTAKEN' DRUG COPS BUST 'RAGTIME' STAR

The star of the Broadway blockbuster "Ragtime" was nabbed in a drug raid in front of his Harlem home last night, strip-searched - and then released five hours later after...

SOARING SOFTLY IS TOAST OF N.Y.

THIS year the Breeders' Cup will add a new $1 million event on the turf for fillies and mares, a race trainer Jim Toner has been eyeing ever since his...

YANK PHENOM OUT TWO WEEKS

Perhaps the best prospect in the minors, the Yankees' Alfonso Soriano said yesterday that he will be out for two weeks with a strained oblique muscle . The 21-year-old Soriano...

NEGOTIATION, NOT ARBITRATION, FOR DEVILS' ARNOTT, BOMBARDIR

Setting the stage for a situation such as Scott Niedermayer endured last season, Devils center Jason Arnott has declined to file for salary arbitration, and instead will negotiate with GM...

SHARK IN THE HUNT DESPITE TRIPLE ON 17

"Once you get yourself back in position ... the flood of good stuff comes back your way." GREG NORMAN CARNOUSTIE - Greg Norman, who may be known as a tragic...

30-OVER-PAR PHENOM SAYS GARCIA LATER

OPEN NOTES CARNOUSTIE - The ballyhooed Spanish phenom Sergio Garcia followed his first-round 89 with an 83 yesterday to bow out of the British Open at 30-over-par, finishing last and...

IT'S THE FORE DE FRANCE - VAN DE VELDE LEADS OPEN AT MIDPOINT

CARNOUSTIE - Bon jour. Comment ca va? Are you ready to toast a Frenchman as the British Open champion? With two rounds to go at wind-battered Carnoustie, unknown Frenchman Jean...

TORRID SE RI STAYS AHEAD OF THE PAK

At the time when the LPGA needs its own Mia Hamm, its hottest player is volunteering. She's already used to being compared to bigger names than that. "Many people say...

PLAYOFFS & MILESTONES DRIVE OREL

ST. PETERSBURG - After pitching for 17 seasons in the majors, Orel Hershiser looks hard for new feelings of excitement like a pitcher peering in for the sign. Those feelingsare...

JORDAN STILL WOULD PLAY FOR TORRE

While Brian Jordan sat in the visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium last night, he couldn't help but think that had last winter's negotiations gone differently, he would've been putting on...

DEREK LAUGHS OFF 'SHOOTING'

By now, Derek Jeter is used to hearing his name in rumors, how he dances with Jennifer Lopez and was getting ready to marry Mariah Carey. Still, the news that...

PETTITTE'S BIG PITCH - LOOKS TO REBOUND VS. BRAVES TODAY

"There has been a lot of little stuff (going wrong). But the whole thing is that I am walking guys and I am not good right now. I have to...

SAMPRAS-LESS U.S. JUST CAN'T COM-PETE

BROOKLINE, Mass. - Even circumventing the rules and playing Pete Sampras in singles tomorrow may not be enough to save the desperate and dying U.S. Davis Cup team now. The...

KOURNIKOVA'S PACKING 'EM IN AT A&P

She's as affected as Liza Minnelli and as cocky as Saddam Hussein. But nevertheless, for someone who has never won a singles tournament, Anna Kournikova has become one of the...

ANTHENIAN THUNDER RUMBLES

Anthenian Thunder closed strong in the stretch to overtake favored Miss Thermal Tech and drew off to a 2 length victory in the $56,400 Bouwerie Stakes for 3-year-old New York...

MADDUX RECOVERED; CLEMENS CAN, TOO

WHOEVER that was doing a bad imitation of Greg Maddux rented his outfit at the Bobby Valentine School of Disguise. The guy was over the middle of plates more consistently...

GARNETT PROVES A REAL GEM - MINNY STAR SHOWS CANADA THERE'S NOTHING HE CAN'T DO

SAN JUAN - The NBA is peering into a telescope, searching not for stars but supernovas. The league needs new points of light, players who possess a brilliance and magnetism...

EX-JOHNNIE BARRETT TRYING TO GET NOTICED

NOTEBOOK SAN JUAN - Rowan Barrett still dreams of an NBA career. And his experience at St. John's is why that dream remains alive. "Coming to St. John's from Toronto...

PETTITTE'S LOOKING FOR HIS LUCK TO CHANGE

Andy Pettitte is living in a Murphy's Law world right now. He is 5-7 with a bloated 5.59 ERA, dead center in trade rumors that won't die and watching things...

CR RENEGADE SURVIVES IN BEACON COURSE FINAL

The $430,000 Beacon Course Final last night at The Meadowlands was a race filled with breaks, most were the bad kind but one turned out to be very good. The...

KLESKO GETS HIS REVENGE FOR '96 FLOP

Some Yankee fans may remember Atlanta outfielder Ryan Klesko by his anemic performance in the 1996 World Series, when the Bombers came from behind to beat the Braves in six...

FAN-FAVE KOURNIKOVA OUSTED AT MAHWAH

Anna Kournikova has never won a tournament, not that her fans have noticed. Especially not the conspicuous clique of five guys who attended her match at the A&P Classic in...

YANKS DISCOVERING MO'S NO SURE THING

THE Yankee lock is being picked. The bad guys have the key to Fort Knox, and are hauling out the bullion as we write. Mariano Rivera used to be safe...

ROGER, RICKEY HELP METS DO IT AMERICAN WAY

ST. PETERSBURG - Playing in an American League park has given the Mets a tantalizing look at the way things could be if only ... With the designated hitter in...

MO PLAYS THE STOOGE - MARIANO FAILS TO FINISH OFF BRAVES

Oh, Mo. In the span of five appearances, Mariano Rivera has gone from automatic to being forced to explain why suddenly his fastball is no mystery to hitters. Asked to...

BOBBY V STILL FAVORS DEAL FOR RELIEVER

ST. PETERSBURG - While Steve Phillips is out looking for a quality starter or perhaps a reliever, Bobby Valentine indicated he would be more in favor of the latter. With...

PUMMELING'S NO SHOCK TO EL DUQUE

YANKEE NOTES The Braves hitting a career-high four homers off Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez last night was no mystery to man who threw the ill-placed pitches. "On the four homers,...

ANDRUW 'FANS' THE FLAMES

Part of it was Andruw Jones' sense of drama, part of it was to shut up the boisterous crowd in The Bronx, and part of it was the memory of...

YANKS DISCOVERING MO'S NO SHO' THING

THE YANKEE lock is being picked. The bad guys have the key to Fort Knox and are hauling out the bullion as we write. Suddenly, one of the most dominating...