February 17, 2000
STOCKS HEAD SOUTH
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amAfter two days of big gains, sentiment for stocks turned negative again yesterday, with the Dow Jones industrial average losing 156.68 points to close at 10,561.41. Traders said the rally...
WIN2K (& 1,000S OF BUGS) DUE TODAY
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amConfused? You will be. Microsoft, led by President and CEO Steve Ballmer, launches its Windows 2000 operating system today -- but consumers who think it's the next step up from...
BONY PHONIES COP PLEA ; 'CUSTOMERS WITH MACHINE GUNS' AMONG CLIENTS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amA former Bank of New York officer and her husband admitted in court yesterday to laundering a staggering $7 billion from Russia -- including big chunks for "customers with machine...
ABERCROMBIE HUMBUG: SLOW HOLIDAY SALES REPORT KNOCKS STOCK FOR 38% LOSS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amInvestors stampeded out of Abercrombie & Fitch yesterday, leaving shares of the popular clothing retailer in tatters. Abercrombie stock dove 38 percent after the company said Christmas sales had been...
THESTREET'S GOING TO THE STREET
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amStaffers at TheStreet.com were in a tizzy yesterday after bosses canceled a planned conference call to tell them why the financial news site had retained a team of investment bankers....
STUNNING $75M PAID FOR SPORTING NEWS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amPaul Allen's Vulcan Ventures picked up The Sporting News from Times Mirror for a price estimated at an eye-popping $75 million. The bidding was spirited and in the early rounds...
TIME-AOL JITTERS ; FALLING $HARE$ TAKING HOLDERS TO 'DEAL HELL'
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amThe nonstop plunge in AOL and Time Warner shares is making some people on Wall Street very, very nervous. At yesterday's Big Board close, the "spread" -- the premium Time...
EXECS' DIS-APPEARING ACT; TWO MORE TURN TAIL AND EXIT MOUSE HOUSE'S REVOLVING DOOR
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amEven as it celebrated a record number of Oscar nominations, Walt Disney got hit with still more turmoil in the escalating brain-drain from its executive suite. Two more top executives...
S&H GREEN STAMPS BORN AGAIN ONLINE
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amSlinkies and bellbottoms have already made their comeback. Could S&H Green Stamps be far behind? Sperry & Hutchinson, which introduced the trading stamps in 1896, is betting on it. But...
COURT RULES FOR CARVER PROXY PLAY
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amAmid accusations of a dirty tricks proxy fight, Carver National Bank's chief Deborah Wright yesterday won a court fight that could keep her pal former Mayor David Dinkins on the...
FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT ; THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE FOR A COUNTRY THAT DIDN'T WANT THEM
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amHE used to fly through the wild blue yonder during World War II, fighting the good war for the good guys -- and his country couldn't have cared less. Roscoe...
MANN, CAN THEY PENN SONGS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amROCK REVIEW 'HEY Aimee, what's your Oscar speech going to be?" a fan shouted out from the crowd at Joe's Pub, where Aimee Mann and her husband, Michael Penn, began...
DIALLO TRIAL RATINGS HIT
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTHE Amadou Diallo trial has proven to be a ratings boon for Court TV -- especially here in New York. Televising the trial of four New York City cops accused...
THE STARR REPORT
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amMemoirs of a lifetime ABC News Chairman Roone Arledge is close to finding another collaborator for his memoirs, being published by HarperCollins. Arledge had worked on a book proposal with...
JUDY GIVES HILL HELL
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amJUDGE Judy thinks Hillary Clinton's bid for the U.S. Senate is "a shame" and "a travesty." And she accuses the First Lady of usurping a candidacy which should have gone...
'ALLY' LOSES LOVERS; CAST DEPARTURES OPEN DOOR FOR NEW CHARACTERS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amMAJOR cast departures on "Ally McBeal" have thrown the Fox legal dramedy into a courtroom tizzy. Original "Ally" cast members Courtney Thorne-Smith (Georgia) and Gil Bellows (Billy) both announced this...
SPRINGSTEEN TIX ON SALE MARCH 4
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTICKETS for the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's concert series at Madison Square Garden, originally scheduled to go on sale Saturday, will now be placed on the block...
'MARRY A MILLIONAIRE' SCORES
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amIF you found yourself riveted by the embarrassing sight of 50 wanna-be brides trying to win the hand of a millionaire husband they'd never met -- you were not alone....
'BOILER' A HOT TOPIC ; WALL STREETERS SAY FILM IS ON TARGET
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amSEX, drugs and scandal swirl about the brokerage business in "Boiler Room," a much talked-about film about a Long Island operation peddling phony stocks to unsuspecting investors. Though the film's...
CRYSTAL-CLEAR JOKES
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amLEONARDO DiCaprio and Brad Pitt won't be at the Oscar ceremony. Neither will the traditionally cringe-inducing dance numbers. Billy Crystal, thankfully, will. And so will Arnold Schwarzenegger, added yesterday to...
B'WAY TURNS ON TV: PLAYS FOR STAGE AND BROADCAST
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amBROADWAY is eyeing the small screen in a big way.Theatrical producers Robert and Harry Nederlander and former HBO chairman Michael Fuchs yesterday announced the formation of Broadway Tonight, a new...
$100M SPELLING'MISTAKE' ; H'WOOD HONCHO SUES MAGAZINE OVER LITTLE 'JOKE'
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTV producer Aaron Spelling has sued Gear magazine for its red-hot feature on "7th Heaven" star Jessica Biel. The suit -- filed Tuesday in Los Angeles country Superior Court --...
SERVICE WITH A SMILE ; HOW TO BE A BARTENDER'S BEST FRIEND
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amBARTENDERS are a notoriously surly lot.They smile often and might even remember your favorite drink, but chances are that two seconds after serving you they're griping about your bad attitude...
REAL NEWS OR JAILHOUSE CROCK?
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amDEBORAH Norville may have gone to jail in the name of news, but what she and her show got most out of the stunt was publicity. Norville's five-day stretch in...
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER : AS THE 21ST CENTURY DAWNS, BLACK HISTORY MONTH IS, MORE THAN EVER, A TIME TO LOOK BACK AND MOVE FORWARD
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amFROM the 1880s into the 1960s, most American states enforced segregation through "Jim Crow" laws (so called after a black character in minstrel shows). Many states and cities could impose...
'MARKED' MONEY MAKES BIN LADEN A MARKED MAN
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amAds for the Clinton administration's $5 million bounty on terror chief Osama bin Laden are appearing on Pakistani money - but neither U.S. nor Pakistani officials know how they got...
WHAT THE JURY SHOULD HEAR - WITNESSES FOR THE DEFENSE: RUDYARD KIPLING AND THOUSANDS OF UNMURDERED NEW YORKERS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTHE defense rested yesterday in the Amadou Diallo trial, and now only one question of significance remains: What sort of a charge will State Supreme Court Justice Joseph Teresi administer...
MICHIGAN CATHOLICS CRUCIAL TO GOP HOPEFULS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amCOLUMBIA, S.C.NO MATTER the result of Saturday's bitterly fought GOP primary here, the Michigan contest three days later could be a more important indicator of how the New York primary...
KIDS SEE WOES AS 'END OF THE WORLD'
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amSuicide by 10-year-olds is extremely rare, but children are sometimes more susceptible to the emotional traumas that drive adults to take their own lives, experts said. Child psychiatrists report that...
LAKE PLACID: MY WINTER BLUNDER-LAND - OUR GUY'S SHOT AT GOODWILL 'GLORY'
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amHow is it that great athletes can speed down mogul-pimpled mountains without breaking a leg and turn triple-jumps on ice without twisting an ankle? Are the skills -- the grace,...
PROSECUTORS AND PROTESTERS SHOULD JUST LET THESE GOOD MEN GO HOME
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amICARE not to argue with the wisdom of John F. Kennedy, but wouldn't it be grand, just even for today, if life was fair. If it was, then Chuck Schwarz...
HILLARY EATS CROW, APOLOGIZES TO WAITRESS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amA red-faced Hillary Rodham Clinton called to apologize to the waitress she stiffed at an upstate diner -- but not to fork over any cash to the single mom, who...
NEIGHBORS OUTRAGED THEY HAD NO WARNING - BUT CON ED INSISTS LEAK WAS NO THREAT
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amNew Yorkers living in the shadow of the Indian Point 2 power plant went nuclear yesterday because officials didn't alert them to a leak that released radioactive gas into the...
NEW PROGRAM MAKES A DENT ON ASTHMA IN SCHOOLKIDS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amKids involved in a new program to combat asthma are missing fewer days of school, and the number of their asthma hospitalizations is dropping, city Health Commissioner Neal Cohen said...
FIGHTING WORDS: WORM TURNS ON COMMISSIONER
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amHoly basketbrawl! A furious Dennis Rodman wants to punch the NBA commissioner's lights out. The tattooed hoop star -- in a red-hot rage after being ejected from a game Tuesday...
EXPERTS WARN: LAX STANDARDS MEAN MORE TROUBLE
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amRelaxed federal safety standards could mean more accidents like the radioactive steam leak at Indian Point 2, nuclear-power experts say. "This was an accident waiting to happen," Jim Riccio, a...
VOLPE FINALLY TO TELL HIS STORY UNDER OATH TODAY
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amConfessed torture cop Justin Volpe is set to take the stand and tell his story for the first time under oath today as the likely lead-off defense witness in the...
TWO-WEEK NASTY STREAK MAY DOOM GEORGE
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amGREENVILLE, S.C. IT'S as if George W. Bush's campaign team decided it had to destroy the candidate to save him. The Texas governor came into the presidential race last spring...
DIALLO-CASE JURY CAN MULL LESSER CHARGES - IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE MURDER
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amALBANY -- Unwilling to roll the dice on an all-or-nothing murder verdict, lawyers on both sides in the Amadou Diallo case agreed yesterday to let jurors consider lesser charges against...
BOY, 10, KILLS HIMSELF OVER POOR GRADES
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amA 10-year-old Bronx boy, distraught over a bad report card, hanged himself from his bunk bed, authorities said yesterday. Grieving mom Marvell Archibald said tragedy struck unexpectedly Tuesday night after...
2 ARRESTED AS QUEENS SENIOR IS FOUND DEAD
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amAn elderly Queens woman who sang in the choir at the Rev. Floyd Flake's church every week was brutally beaten to death in her own home yesterday, police said. Lillian...
ED. BOARD MOVES TOWARD SELLING ITS HQ & DOWNSIZING
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amThe Board of Education -- with Mayor Giuliani nipping at its heels -- yesterday took a step toward selling its dilapidated downtown Brooklyn headquarters and shaking up management. "Do I...
KEY CALIF. BACKER DESERTS BUSH - ENDORSES MCCAIN AS GOP'S BEST BET
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amGREENVILLE, S.C. -- Republican upstart John McCain scored his first big defection from rival George W. Bush yesterday as new polls boosted McCain just days before Saturday's South Carolina primary....
TEACHERS ATTACKED BY STUDENTS AT 4 SCHOOLS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amSchoolwork was dangerous business for four city teachers attacked by students yesterday, police and union officials said. Three of the teachers were treated at hospitals in the separate, unrelated incidents,...
WOMAN IS KILLED IN BX. ELEVATOR HORROR
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amA 21-year-old woman was crushed to death in a freak elevator accident yesterday at the troubled Parkchester apartment complex in The Bronx, police said. Nerupa Mati stepped into an elevator...
JAIL GUARDS: BAR 'KILLER' RAP SONG
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amA new rap song that urges bored inmates to kill or maim jail guards should be yanked off the airwaves, says the outraged president of the city's correction officers union....
'WORM' TURNS ON COMMISH - SUSPENDED AFTER FIGHTIN' WORDS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amHoly basketbrawl! First, a furious Dennis Rodman gets ejected from a game and says he wants to punch the NBA commissioner's lights out. Then the league slaps him with a...
CLINTON GETTING HEAT FOR HOME-FUEL HELP
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amPresident Clinton yesterday uncorked $125 million for poor people to buy heating oil -- prompting charges that his timing was a pre-primary-election bonus for the first lady and Veep Al...
KID KILLS HIMSELF OVER BAD GRADES
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amA 10-year-old Bronx boy, distraught over a bad report card, hanged himself from his bunk bed, authorities said yesterday. Grieving mom Marvell Archibald said tragedy struck unexpectedly Tuesday night after...
LOWLIGHTS OF HIS CAREER
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amDennis Rodman stalks off the court in Dallas after being tossed out of a game Tuesday. "I wish me and [NBA Commissioner] David Stern (inset) can get some damn gloves...
A MOTHER SHOULD NEVER KNOW SUCH TERROR
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTHE mother frantically unfastened the belt buckle that was pressed against her son's neck. "Anthony!" Marvell Archibald screamed as her fingers worked against the metal and leather. Archibald says she...
IT COULD BE MOTHER OF ALL OSCARS FOR BENING
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amAnnette Bening could be getting a surprise Oscar this year -- for best baby born during the Academy Awards ceremony! The sexy star is determined to attend the glitzy Oscar...
NEW SCHOOL TAPS KERREY
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amSen. Bob Kerrey is heading back to school -- as president of the New School in Manhattan. The Nebraska Democrat, who last month announced he would not seek re-election, said...
UNDERACHIEVING KNICKS TUNING OUT JEFF'S RIPS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTHE FROWN was back on Jeff Van Gundy's face last night. All the smiles that he flashed during the All-Star weekend in Oakland as the coach of the Eastern Conference...
PANTHERS SEE NEW DVORAK
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amFORT LAUDERDALE - He left as a defense-oriented forward and returned last night as an offensive weapon. No wonder good guy Radek Dvorak couldn't stop smiling. "It's nice to come...
MORE THAN READY IS ON 'FOUNTAIN' FENCE
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amWhen More Than Ready suddenly got sick last summer, throwing his whole campaign out of whack, trainer Todd Pletcher learned not to make plans too far ahead for the standout...
ISLES TEST ODJICK, FLYERS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amAs if they need a reason. It may be more ring than rink when Gino Odjick makes his home debut as a Flyer tonight against the very Islander team that...
BRODEUR, ROY CHASING HISTORY
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amRunning different races on the same track together, the mentor and his prodigious protege are on a collision course tonight as each chases an NHL victory record of his own....
HOW TO BUY A TITLE SHOT: IN LEE'S CORRUPT IBF, IT ONLY COST ABOUT 6G
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amSecond in a series of articles documenting the federal racketeering case against the International Boxing Federation. IN boxing, some title shots, like some fortunes, are earned. Some are inherited. And...
BERNIE CAN SEE BETTER DAYS AHEAD
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTAMPA -- The first question the Yankees had for Bernie Williams echoed the one his eye doctor asked when it came to the All-Star center fielder undergoing laser vision correction...
BOSS: WE'LL SIGN DEREK
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amYANK NOTES TAMPA -- Listening to George Steinbrenner speak yesterday, it appears the Yankees and All Star shortstop Derek Jeter will eventually agree to a long-term contract. "We do not...
PIAZZA FEELS THE POWER : HEALTHY, HUNGRY& READY FOR MORE
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE -- The Mets clubhouse was completely dark. The power had gone out at Thomas White Stadium yesterday morning and players were getting dressed in darkness, cracking jokes...
METS & BENITEZ STILL FAR APART
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amMET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE -- The Mets not only can't get together with closer Armando Benitez on a contract -- the two sides are headed for an arbitration hearing...
LEADING MAN WANTED ; LJ SAYS KNICKS NEED SOMEONE TO STEP UP
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amIn the wake of Tuesday's Toronto disaster, Knicks tri-captain Larry Johnson made a plea for more vocal leadership. It's a plea that likely will fall on deaf ears. LJ was...
GEORGE: THE ROCKET WAS HURTIN' IN '99
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTAMPA -- George Steinbrenner finally admitted yesterday what many people suspected about Roger Clemens last year: The Rocket was suffering from leg problems. "I think we are going to see...
JAYSON IN LIMBO AS NETS STRUGGLE
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amJayson Williams says he is not supposed to talk about a possible return to active duty this season. So naturally, given the chance yesterday, Williams spoke about just that. And...
NELSON RIDES 1000TH WINNER
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amWith her ride aboard 73/4-length winner Selma Ala in yesterday's eighth race, jockey Diane Nelson notched her 1000th career victory. "If they were all like that, the next 1000 would...
BOMBERS HUNGRY FOR THREE-PEAT
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTAMPA -- This is the calm. Tino Martinez, Darryl Strawberry and a more muscular Derek Jeter line batting-practice fastballs around a back field at the Yankee minor league complex. About...
ROBESON BEATS FDA WITH UGLY SHTICK
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amPSAL A PLAYOFFS Robeson 69 Douglass 43 You can almost picture Dr. James Naismith watching yesterday's Frederick Douglass Academy-Robeson playoff game and saying, "This isn't what I had in mind."...
PIAZZA FEELS THE POWER: MIKE'S FATHER TAUGHT SON WELL
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amPORT ST. LUCIE -- Back from a two-year, overseas hitch in the service, Vince Piazza had $350 in muster-out pay in his pocket. His father Russell, a Sicilian immigrant, told...
NEXT GIANT QB HAS NO SHOT TO BEAT OUT COLLINS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amIt is important to the Giants that the backup quarterback they sign accepts his role as the No. 2 man behind Kerry Collins. That is comforting news for Collins, who...
KILBURN'S 28 POWER KANGAROOS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amBoys & Girls 79 Campus M. 49 Coach Ruth Lovelace of Boys & Girls preaches to her team every day that defense, toughness, and unselfishness can take you a long...
JETS IN TIGHT SPOT AT TIGHT END
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amThe Jets don't have a lot of cash to throw around to prospective free agent recruits because they're not far under the salary cap -- believed to be less than...
BARKLEY'S BEEN IN CONTACT WITH AGENT
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amErick Barkley has spoken to agent Andy Miller, which is not an NCAA violation as long the two have not entered into an oral or written agreement. Miller said they...
STORM, NCAA DIG IN DEEP
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amThe NCAA and St. John's are arming themselves for a showdown, The Post has learned. The NCAA opened a second probe of St. John's last Friday and the governing body...
VAN GUNDY RIPS FLIP COMMENT
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Jeff Van Gundy and Chris Childs fired back at Minnesota coach Flip Saunders for his "waste management" reference made last January. Saunders' remark came in the wake of...
VG'S SEMI-TOUGH KNICKS PROVE PERSISTENCE PAYS
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amTHE frown was back on Jeff Van Gundy's face last night. All the smiles that he flashed during the All-Star weekend in Oakland as the coach of the Eastern Conference...
PANTHERS FOIL MUCKLER PLOY ; LW LEETCH DOES GOOD JOB ON BURE
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amPanthers 3 Rangers 0 SUNRISE, Fla. -- The operation was a success. The patient died anyway. That's pretty much the sum and substance of last night's 3-0 Ranger defeat here...
HOSPITAL WARD ; KNICKS WIN, BUT BROKEN PINKIE KOS POINT GUARD
February 17, 2000 | 5:00amKnicks 93 T'wolves 89 It took Charlie Ward nine days to decide to get X-rays on the right pinkie that he hurt against Charlotte Feb. 7. Following last night's 93-89...