January 15, 2000

INVESTORS LIKE MICROSOFT'S 'NEW LOOK'

The markets seemed to like the idea of Bill Gates stepping aside, and responded well to news of expected strong earnings out of Microsoft. In a strong day for tech...

BARNEY TAKES MANHATTAN

Barney's back - at Radio City Music Hall, that is. The Purple One returns with Baby Bop, BJ, and Australian supergroup the Wiggles for 15 shows, beginning Wednesday. The Post...

INDOOR FUN AND GAMES

As the temperature drop, so does your child's tolerance for being cooped up indoors. But with sleet rain and the flu bug at large, you can't always let them frolic...

DANCE REVIEW 'SWAN' SWIMS

FAMILIARITY is proverbially said to breed contempt -- but that has not always been my experience. In the theater in general and in ballet in particular, it quite often breeds...

MUSIC REVIEW CONNICK AT HIS BEST WITHOUT ALL THAT JAZZ

AS much as Harry Connick Jr. wanted his Radio City Music Hall show to be a democratic musical experience, his debut in that great theater was at its best when...

MOVIE REVIEW IT'S GOT STAR POWER

DESPITE reports of a troubled production and the departure of two directors, "Supernova" turns out to be a perfectly enjoyable sci-fi thriller. Sure, its story is recycled from a number...

BELL TOLLS FOR CHURCH MANAGER

CHILD prodigy Charlotte Church has dumped the man who turned her into an international superstar. Jonathan Shalit, who discovered the 13-year-old Welsh soprano and won her a lucrative five-album deal...

SURGEONS HAND AMPUTEE TWO FOREARM TRANSPLANTS

An international team of 18 surgeons performed an unprecedented transplant of both hands and forearms onto a 33-year-old man, hospital officials in Lyons, France, said yesterday. The patient is a...

KING SON REMEMBERING THE DREAM

Martin Luther King's eldest son will lead a march and speak about his father's "I Have a Dream" address Monday as the nation observes the national holiday in the slain...

O'CONNOR TURNS 80 WITH A WISH: ANOTHER 100 YRS. WITH FLOCK

John Cardinal O'Connor has a simple wish as he turns 80 today -- to be able to live among the people he loves for the next 100 years. The spiritual...

CHECHNYA FIGHTS ON WITH ENEMY WEAPONS

Chechen rebels, outgunned, outmanned and surrounded, are able to continue their fierce resistance to the Russian invasion by secretly buying large quantities of weapons from rogue Russian military officers. The...

DOGS TAKE BITE OUT OF THE MAIL IN QUEENS

Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night prevents mail carriers from completing their appointed rounds -- but a German shepherd is another story. More than 30 houses...

CLOTHING'S OFF FOR TAXMAN THIS WEEK

Ready ... Set ... Shop. It's that time of year again, when the 8.25 percent sales tax is removed on clothing purchases under $500 in the city and hordes of...

N.Y. HOSPITALS DUCK MEDICARE BUDGET AX

WASHINGTON -- New York hospitals, especially those that serve the poor, were saved yesterday from another round of budget cuts that could have jeopardized their survival. The Clinton administration abruptly...

CLINTON-LOCK: APPLE'S LOSS IS W'CHESTER'S PAIN

It takes a village traffic cop / Editorial: Page 16Road rage gripped Westchester residents yesterday when cops turned their suburbs into a massive parking lot, sealing off miles of busy...

LETTERMAN RUSHED IN FOR HEART OP

Funnyman David Letterman underwent emergency heart surgery yesterday -- a day after revealing he was worried about his health because of high cholesterol and family history of heart trouble. Letterman,...

BUMBLE & BUMBLE SALE SEEN

Bumble & Bumble, operator of the swank East 56th Street hair salon and owner of the popular hair care products, could be up for sale. California-based Robert Taylor Companies, which...

GRANDMA: I'LL BRING HIM BACK ELIAN'S KIN LASH OUT AT FLA. FAMILY

The frustrated grandmother of little Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez yesterday vowed to come to the United States and bring the boy home herself -- as massive protests demanding his return...

PREZ INSISTS ANTI-DRUG TV PLOTS AREN'T CENSORSHIP

President Clinton yesterday denied the White House is censoring prime-time TV shows like "ER" -- and defended a deal giving networks big-bucks incentives to come up with anti-drug story plots....

MANY CELEBS JOINED DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY

What do Tony Bennett, Drew Barrymore and Ralph Nader have in common? Not to mention Dr. Joyce Brothers, Barbara Bush, Danny DeVito, Paul McCartney and Liz Taylor? They're all fans...

WEATHER'S JUST GLOVELY ; THE WIND CHILL MAKES IT FEEL LIKE 20 BELOW

Global warming suddenly got the cold shoulder from Mother Nature yesterday. And it looks like the Big Apple, which has been basking in unseasonably balmy temperatures, should brace for more...

COPS BUST GRAFFITI RING VANDALIZING NO. 7 TRAIN

Undercover transit cops busted a ring of graffiti vandals who they say videotaped their crime wave -- painting a "tag" on the hat of a sleeping straphanger and defacing subway...

HAITIAN IS THANKFUL HER CHILDREN CAN JOIN HER

A pregnant Haitian woman whose two young children were sent home after their boat ran aground off Florida said yesterday she was grateful that U.S. authorities had agreed to let...

SUPREME COURT WILL DECIDE ON PARTIAL-BIRTH ABORT

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court yesterday jumped into the biggest abortion fight in years -- agreeing to decide whether states can ban controversial partial-birth abortions. The high court also will...

ARTIST: DOC HAD A HURTING HAND

"I used to do 8-10 cartoons a week. Now I can hardly do four."RANAN LURIEOne of the world's most popular political cartoonists is suing a renowned doctor and St. Luke's...

D'OH! CREATOR OF 'SIMPSONS' FORGOT 10TH ANNIVERSARY

The creator of "The Simpsons," Matt Groening, says he just forgot. While newspapers, magazines and TV shows marked the 10th anniversary of the little cartoon show that revolutionized prime-time TV,...

STATE BIG CLEARS WAY FOR NEW CHANCELLOR ; LIVID RUDY TO FIGHT IT OUT IN COURT

State Education Commissioner Richard Mills sparked a nasty showdown with City Hall yesterday after swiftly clearing the way for corporate lawyer Harold Levy to become the city's new interim schools...

DAVE'S PROGNOSIS GOOD, BUT NO CIGARS: DOCS

David Letterman has every chance of living a normal life after undergoing an emergency quintuple bypass, experts say. But he'll have to give up cigars. "This is a very successful...

ROCKER TOO 'TWISTED' TO USE SONG AS ANTHEM

Heavy metal rockers Twisted Sister say they're not gonna take it anymore -- they want the Atlanta Braves to stop playing one of their anthems whenever hothead hurler John Rocker...

MCCAIN USING 'SCARE TACTICS' ON TAX CUTS: BUSH

DES MOINES, Iowa -- GOP 2000 wannabe George W. Bush charged yesterday that chief rival John McCain is using President Clinton-style scare tactics on tax cuts as they rev up...

CANADA FEARS IT'S BECOME DEN FOR TERRORISTS: REPORT

Canadian intelligence officials are worried the country is becoming a magnet for deadly terrorists thanks to overly lax immigration laws, a new report says. "Canada's immigration system, because it's both...

NEWBORN ABANDONED IN BX.

A newborn boy was found abandoned but alive in a Bronx apartment building hallway last night. A 911 caller told cops about the child, who was found inside 1385 Stratford...

DEVILS NEARING MORRISON DEAL

The roster crunch finally cost the Devils, but another trade is said to be looming - the one Brendan Morrison has wanted since September. Sources say the Devils are close...

FAST-PACED CELTS POSE PROBLEMS

NET NOTES The suddenly-surging Nets find themselves preparing to host Boston tonight at 7:30 at the Meadowlands, and despite their modest three-game winning streak, they aren't looking past how difficult...

MONEY TALKS IN YOSHII DEAL ; YOSHII DEAL ALL ABOUT CASH

IN sports, when anybody says it's not about money, it's about money. Players say it all the time. Yesterday, in announcing his latest deal, Mets general manager Steve Phillips came...

RADIO CITY PERFECT FOR TAP-DANCIN' ROY

GEEZ, I feel like such a nag, but when, oh when, will I go to watch Roy Jones Jr. perform with the reasonable expectation that I might also see a...

MANNY IN MIDDLE OF TOUGH SITUATION

Even in playing a fourth-line wing position against the Islanders this afternoon at the Coliseum, he is still very much the Manny in the middle. The Manny in the middle...

AQUEDUCT'S AFFECTIONATELY DRAWS CROWD OF HOPEFULS

With 15 fillies and mares, including three also-eligibles, entered in today's Grade 3, $75,000 Affectionately Handicap at the Big A, handicapping the 1 1/16-mile event is a crapshoot. That's why...

KITTLES RETURN IS KEY AS NETS CHASE DOWN PLAYOFF BERTH

The amazing resuscitation of the Nets' season is too complete and too impressive to all be the work of a single man. They've been better on defense, more versatile on...

BRUNELL STILL QUESTION MARK JAGS QB HOBBLING AROUND

JACKSONVILLE -- It's all seemed so easy for the Jaguars this season. It's as if they've already been anointed as Super Bowl contestants before playing a single post-season game. Throw...

ARIEL REINJURES KNEE, OUT SIX WEEKS

Apprentice jockey Ariel Smith will be out six weeks after reinjuring his knee while working out. He had just returned to Aqueduct after a stint in northern California and recovering...

TUNA'S TITLE IS VITAL ; RETIREMENT COMMENT KEY TO LITTLE BILL'S CASE

Bill Parcells is responsible for Bill Belichick's resignation -- and the resulting chaos surrounding Gang Green -- by not clearing completely out of the team's football operations, according to Belichick's...

PERSON, NOT THE PLAYER, IS WHAT PEOPLE WILL MISS

CHARLOTTE -- Nobody talked about how well Bobby Phills played basketball when they spoke of him at his memorial service yesterday. Coach Paul Silas praised his captain's unselfishness, told of...

SAPP AGAIN SULTAN OF SACK

TAMPA -- He reported to training camp 40 pounds lighter and more determined than ever not be a weak link. Warren Sapp wasn't about to be blamed if the Bucs...

HORNETS' WESLEY MOURNS PASSING OF HIS 'PARTNER IN CRIME'

CHARLOTTE -- Trying to speak over his own crying, Hornets guard David Wesley delivered a brief but tearful speech during yesterday's one-hour, 40-minute memorial service for Bobby Phills. Perhaps on...

NEWTOWN'S HOME EDGE TOO MUCH FOR JAMAICA

Newtown59Jamaica54 Playing on its miniature home-court -- which is a little larger than half of an NBA floor -- Newtown High School didn't do anything unexpected yesterday. It came out...

'PICK OF EAST' PACERS SNAP LAKER STREAK

Pacers111Lakers102 INDIANAPOLIS -- Phil Jackson proclaimed the Pacers to be "the pick of the East" before the game -- hear that, Knicks? -- and then they showed it, knocking off...

OATES SINKS DEVIL STREAKS

OVERTIMECapitals3Devils2 This cold winter night was not the place to find signs of a better spring, the only season that matters anymore to the Devils. While it was one more...