January 17, 2000

WHAT FRIDAY'S INFLATION REPORT MISSED

THE panic over inflation is about to begin. That probably seems like an odd statement, given the fact that Washington announced on Friday that the Consumer Price Index rose just...

M'SOFT PEACE TALKS? BALLMER MAY BE POINT MAN FOR SETTLEMENT

The big management shake-up at Microsoft, in which Bill Gates relinquished day-to-day control of the company, has cracked open the door for a possible settlement in the Justice Department's antitrust...

NEW ENTRY IN THE QUIZ SHOW BOWL

PASADENA -- Still pinching itself with disbelief over the success of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," ABC has a new British-import game show lined up where the big first...

ALL 'WRONG': AN AVALANCHE OF BAD REVIEWS IS BRINGING DOWN BROADWAY'S $1.5 MILLION 'WRONG MOUNTAIN'

'WRONG Mountain" is being billed as the only new American play on Broadway this season.On Friday, after opening to generally negative reviews, it acquired another, more dubious distinction: It is...

ONLY WOMEN'S WRESTLING

GET ready for a new show for next season that will feature only new female wrestling. The company that first brought "GLOW" (for "Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling") to television in...

HE'S STILL ROBIN GOOD ; WILLIAMS IGNORES JABS OF THE PRESS

IT looks like the warm and fuzzy Robin Williams is here to stay.The once-edgy comic -- blasted this month by Post movie critic Lou Lumenick as "the sultan of schmaltz"...

IN LABYRINTH'S 'STOPLESS,' FORM SUPERCEDES CONTENT

THEATER REVIEW THE theme of David Deblinger's "Stopless," now being given by the LAByrinth Theater Company, is a mixture of the trite and the pretentious. And its fairly basic semi-multi-media...

A DANISH SWAN GLIDES IN

DANCE REVIEW IT is not polite, not even fair, to say something good has come out of the flu bug that has mildly devastated the ranks of New York City...

WOMEN SAY NO TO NYLONS

THIS winter it's what you don't wear on your legs that makes you look smart - no matter how stupid going bare in the dead of winter may seem. Barring...

THE STARR REPORT

BET on Smiley Black Entertainment Television talk show host Tavis Smiley has written "Doing What's Right," a new book published by Doubleday in which he offers his guidelines for advocacy....

'MARY KAY,' YOU MADE MY DAY, KID

"The Mary Kay Letourneau Story: All-American Girl" Tomorrow at 8 on USA Network HERE it is -- the TV movie I've been waiting for all my life: "The Mary Kay...

MAKING MERRY WITH METROCARDS

PROFESSOR Putter was on the phone and, as I have learned over the years, when Professor Putter calls, you don't let it go to voice mail. "We've got to do...

SCHOOL-BUS DRIVER IN KID-SEX BUST

A Brooklyn man has been charged with sexually abusing five boys -- and investigators are looking into whether he attacked other kids he drove to city schools daily on his...

MCCAIN BLASTS GOP BOSS OVER BALLOT; EXCLUSIVE

STATE GOP Chairman William Powers and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain had an angry, foul-mouthed go-round last week, as campaign tensions continue to grow. Witnesses told The Post that Powers,...

STEPHEN KING REGAINS FRIGHT STUFF FOR TV

PASADENA, Calif. -- Scaremeister Stephen King's new miniseries -- to air on ABC next year -- will feature a haunted house that "wants" a 15-year-old autistic psychic named Annie. "Rose...

U.S. STILL HOPING SYRIA WILL SHOW UP FOR TALKS

JERUSALEM -- The United States still expects Israeli-Syrian peace talks to resume Wednesday -- despite hedging by Syria about when it will return to the negotiating table. "We continue to...

WHO WILL FALL OFF CAMPAIGN STUMP?: NEXT 2 WEEKS COULD MAKE OR BREAK PREZ CANDIDATES

DES MOINES, Iowa -- It's crunch time in the pressure cooker. Every presidential campaign is now making the high-stakes decisions that could win or lose the race as Iowa's caucuses...

NYPD BEEFS UP CHURCH-VANDAL PATROL

Extra patrol cars are being sent out, and bias-unit investigators are intensifying a probe in the Borough of Churches, where an alarming spate of desecration of Catholic statues have clergy...

CASTRO'S MAN RIPS CONGRESS ON ELIAN 'KIDNAP'

A top Cuban official said yesterday it was "nonsense" for members of Congress to talk about granting citizenship to the 6-year-old boy at the center of a bitter international custody...

NYPD LAUNCHING ALL-OUT DRUG SWEEP

Narcotics cops today begin a pre-emptive strike against rising crime -- and a major push to improve a slumping drug-arrest rate, the Post has learned. Dubbed "Operation Condor," the effort...

HERO MOM OF DOWNING ST. HAPPY TO BE BACK IN N.J.

The hero mom hit by a car while saving her child's life outside the British prime minister's residence returned to New Jersey yesterday saying: "There's no place like home." "We're...

EX-CIA CHIEF HURT IN FATAL PLANE CRASH

Former CIA Director Adm. Stansfield Turner was injured in a Costa Rica plane crash that killed his wife and an American couple, officials said yesterday. The Czech-built Taxi Aereo Centroamericano...

WILLS GETS HOT WITH SWISS MISS ; HUNK WHO WOULD BE KING KISSES UP A STORM

A stunning Swiss blonde says she spent the night making out with England's Prince William during a red-hot dirty-dancing session at a posh nightclub. "It was an incredible night. I...

FLU LEAVES POLS' AIDES GOING AT A FEVER PITCH

DES MOINES -- Call it the Flu Factor. There's a new worry this year for presidential campaigns as they near the crunch -- fear of the highly contagious bug that...

QUIPPING CARDINAL SHARES 'JOY' AT MASS

An ecstatic John Cardinal O'Connor said he was filled with "great joy" yesterday as more than 3,500 worshipers sang "Happy Birthday" at a special Mass. "This is wonderful, but does...

HIS WILL TO LIVE DEFEATS PRO-ABORT ARGUMENT

A NYONE who doubts that inexplicable fiber called "will to live" should have seen the emotion as the Waldorf rocked to the joyous strains of "Happy Birthday." As he wisecracked...

HIT OR MYTH, LADY 'SNIPERS' TERRIFY GROZNY INVADERS

A group of women snipers -- with nerves of steel, hearts of ice and perfect aim -- are roaming the battle-scarred countryside of Chechnya, terrorizing Russian troops with their deadly...

HILLARY'S 'YELLOW' STREAK

If Hillary Rodham Clinton takes her decorating tastes from the White House to her new Chappaqua house, she'll probably paint the entire $1.7 million home various shades of yellow. A...

SPECIAL SCHOOL IS OUT OF REACH WITH BUREAUCRAT WAY OUT OF TOUCH

IN A moment of blind fury he'd like to have back, 16-year-old Dean Heslop wrapped a bandanna around a classmate's neck during a fight in a Queens high-school cafeteria. He...

SHARPTON HOSTING DIALLO'S MOM, HILL

Hillary Rodham Clinton will share a podium with Kadiatou Diallo, the mother of slain police-shooting victim Amadou Diallo, at the Rev. Al Sharpton's Martin Luther King commemoration today. Both women...

MIRACLE 'EYE' LETS BLIND MAN SEE

A Manhattan scientist has helped a blind man see again -- with a tiny TV camera and a book-sized computer wired to dozens of electrodes implanted in the brain. His...

GI CHARGED IN SEX SLAY OF KOSOVO GIRL

An American soldier in Kosovo sexually assaulted and murdered an 11-year-old girl from the ethnic Albanian population he was sent to protect, U.S. officials said yesterday. Army Staff Sgt. Frank...

900K NEW REASONS FOR CITY TO BANK ON CENSUS

City officials yesterday boldly predicted that some early homework in preparation for this year's census will help find at least 900,000 more New Yorkers -- worth billions of dollars in...

BUSH: MY WIFE WON'T BE A HILL-CLIMBER

WASHINGTON -- GOP leading man George W. Bush vowed yesterday that if he becomes president, his wife will not follow the political footsteps of First Lady Hillary Clinton. "There is...

DAVE PROVES HIS FUNNYBONE IS HEALTHY AS EVER

David Letterman is doing "terrific" while recovering from emergency heart surgery -- yukking it up with friends and watching football in his private room at New York Presbyterian Hospital. "I...

POLS, RELIGIOUS LEADERS GATHER TO HONOR DR. KING

New Yorkers today celebrate the 71st birthday of Martin Luther King Jr., the man credited with forever changing the nation's social landscape. Former Mayor David Dinkins yesterday told a gathering...

INVESTING IN SLAVERY?: POLS IN GOV'T PENSION-$$ NIGHTMARE

Trafficking in human slavery. Forcing young girls to become concubines. Brainwashing young boys to become killers of their own people. These are not the sorts of issues over which Mayor...

SPICE GUY SEEKS ]]A $CARY DIVORCE

The estranged hubby of Scary Spice will demand a whopping $5 million divorce settlement from his pop-star wife, it was reported last night. Dancer Jimmy Gulzar also wants joint custody...

JOLIE GETS HER JOLLIES FROM S&M

Sizzling wild-child actress Angelina Jolie has emerged as Hollywood's queen of kink - confessing she has a bizarre fascination for sadomasochism and has even cut herself open for kicks. "S&M...

CITY FINDS 900,000 REASONS TO BANK ON CENSUS

City officials yesterday boldly predicted that some early homework in preparation for this year's census will help find at least 900,000 more New Yorkers - worth billions of dollars in...

DAVE'S FUNNBONE HEALTHY AS EVER, PALS SAY

David Letterman is doing "terrific" while recovering from emergency heart surgery - yukking it up with friends and watching football in his private room at New York Presbyterian Hospital. "I...

WIRED AND WONDERFUL 'EYE' LETS BLIND MAN SEE

A Manhattan scientist has helped a blind man see again - with a tiny TV camera and a book-sized computer wired to dozens of electrodes implanted in the brain. His...

MERCEDES RACE KILLS COUPLE, HURTS 8 MORE

Two Mercedes that witnesses said were drag-racing at breakneck speeds on the Belt Parkway early yesterday sparked a horrific crash that killed a young couple and injured eight others, one...

TEEN RAPED ON SUBWAY PLATFORM

An 18-year-old woman was raped yesterday on the East Side IRT subway platform at 116th St., cops said. The attack took place at 6:13 a.m., as the teen was waiting...

'SPIDER-MAN' SUSPECT IS ARRESTED AT BORDER

A Brooklyn fugitive nabbed at the Canadian border with a phony passport and a sword claims he's the "Spider-man" mugger wanted for a string of knifepoint robberies, investigators said last...

'LUCKY' LINCOLN HANGS ON

Lincoln BD+>69 Cardozo 64 Lincoln's win over Cardozo yesterday further cemented the Railsplitters as one of the premier teams in the PSAL, but also continued a disturbing trend for coach...

KELLY KIP OFF BOARD IN COMEBACK

Kelly Kip, making his first start since recovering from a serious hock infection that almost took his life, finished fourth as the 3-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Hallandale Beach...

CASEY EYES BIG MAC

After three consecutive DNPs, Jim McIlvaine may start tonight in Philadelphia when the Nets take on the 76ers. Nets coach Don Casey said at practice yesterday there is a "50-50"...

KNICKS REALIZE PISTONS FOR REAL

KNICK NOTES The Knicks, after days of being engulfed in the Hornets' mourning of the late Bobby Phills, now turn their attention to basketball full-time again, and whom do they...

IN THE END, HE PROVES A HORNE OF PLENTY

ST. LOUIS -- Every time. It is the way Tony Horne thinks. It is the way the Rams think when they line up to return a kickoff and the ball...

NUMBERS DON'T TELL TALE OF VIKE LOSS

NFC NOTEBOOK ST. LOUIS -- They piled up 476 total yards. Their quarterback, Jeff George, completed 29 of 50 passes for 424 yards, along with four touchdowns and only one...

BATTERING RAMS: ST. LOUIS MAULS VIKES, WILL FACE BUCS FOR TITLE

ST. LOUIS -- A few of the Rams were kicking back on Saturday, watching football on a weekend afternoon. On the tube was the Jaguar-Dolphin game, and as Jacksonville's 62-7...

MOST CONN-VINCING VICTORY: SJU TO STORM TOP 25 POLLS AFTER BIG WIN OVER HUSKIES

St. John's 82 - UConn 77 STORRS -- Rank them! No more talk about the Red Storm's lack of size or depth. No more bemoaning the loss of Ron Artest...

DEVIL SALE COULD PAY OFF

THE crucial phrase was "an offer he can't refuse," and it means that while John McMullen is still agonizing over selling the Devils team he loves to an outfit he...

TWILIGHT TIME GUNS FOR BIG A FEATURE

Twilight Time, who according to the "dosage boys" is a leading contender for this year's Kentucky Derby, makes his 3-year-old debut today at Aqueduct in the $75,000 Fred "Cappy" Capossela...

POSTELL DELIVERS FOR NBA SCOUTS

STORRS -- St. John's coach Mike Jarvis knew what was wrong with Lavor Postell's game at the start of yesterday's showdown with Connecticut: too many NBA scouts in Gampel Pavilion....

PATSIES POSE NO PROBLEMS

Rangers 6 Thrashers 3 The Rangers took care of business this weekend, beating up on the two patsies at the very undersurface of the 28-team NHL. But then, the Rangers...

SCORE? NOT 'TIL I DANCE - BRACKENS' SELF-PROMOTION HITS A NEW LOW

THERE it was, folks, the play that epitomizes what we've come to call "our modern sports culture." It was a play that, until further notice, will serve as a shining...

WOODY, TUNA GOING ONE-ON-ONE AGAIN

With the stock market closed today in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Woody Johnson, billionaire investor-philanthropist and Jets owner-in-waiting, can clear his calendar for another meeting with...

HARD WORK, BIG CALL PUSH TITANS FORWARD

Titans 19 - Colts 16 INDIANAPOLIS - There was no fancy-schmanzie Music City Miracle this time. Just good old-fashioned smashmouth football and a big assist from the replay rule. No...

FRUSTRATED JEFF TIRED OF EXCUSES

For the Knicks, it must seem something of a relief to get back to basketball, and some semblance of normalcy. Several have admitted that getting caught up in the whirlwind...

JONES STILL AN AMATEUR: CHAMP NEVER LEARNED BASICS

OVERALL impression of the superhyped marriage of Roy Jones Jr. and The Great Stage of Radio City Music Hall? Two words. Over. Rated. There, I said it. True enough, it...

JAGS' ROUT KOS DOUBTERS, TOO

JACKSONVILLE - It's unrealistic to think that any NFL team is 55 points better than another, as the scoreboard showed Jacksonville was against Miami in the Jaguars' shocking 62-7 divisional...

BUC 'D' BRACING FOR TOUGHEST TEST YET

TAMPA - The Buccaneers have a great defense; there's no question about that. But is it great enough to stop the Rams in Sunday's NFC Championship Game in St. Louis?...

NO MIRACLE NEEDED: TITANS TOO MUCH FOR COLTS

INDIANAPOLIS -- No fancy-schmanzie Music City Miracle this time. Just good old-fashioned smashmouth football and a big assist from the replay rule. No Home Run Throwback, just a Callback. The...

ISLES WELCOME ODJICK BACK

Still searching for their first victory at Nassau Coliseum in 2000, the reeling Islanders will welcome Gino Odjick back for his first game of the calendar year when they play...

TITAN 'D' GETS AN 'A'

INDIANAPOLIS -- Defense wins championships and the Titans' ability to shut down the Colts' Big Three of quarterback Peyton Manning, running back Edgerrin James and wide receiver Marvin Harrison was...

MORA HAS NO MAGIC

AFC NOTES INDIANAPOLIS -- Jim Mora again showed the world yesterday why he has never won a playoff game in five tries. The Colts' coach was at his conservative worst...