June 7, 2000

MAYTAG BOOSTED BY MERGER BUZZ

THE two corporate jets spotted last week at the municipal airport in Newton, Iowa, probably didn't belong to AB Electrolux, as the local newspaper there said they might. But even...

NASDAQ MULLS VOTING CONTROLS AFTER IPO

The Nasdaq is considering a plan to limit the voting control any one shareholder would have after it completes its conversion to a publicly traded company. Under the terms of...

EBAY TAKES STEPS TO CUT FRAUD

Stung by criticism that too many fraudsters are putting in bids for goods on its site, eBay has teamed up with Wells Fargo Bank to offer an "electronic check" payment...

SELL PROGRAMS TAKE DOW, NASDAQ LOWER

The stock market watched a bad day turn worse in the last 30 minutes of trading yesterday, as pre-programmed sell orders from big brokerages deepened losses for the three major...

M'SOFT CEO SURE OF WIN ON APPEAL

Steve Ballmer is Microsoft's answer to the Soup Nazi. The Microsoft CEO was at it again yesterday, insistently declaring that Microsoft would win the antitrust case on appeal. Ballmer has...

'WILL I LOOK PHAT?' RUSSELL SIMMONS' PHAT FARM LAUNCHES LINGERIE

Phat Farm is busting out of its seams and launching a sexy lingerie line. While the eight-year-old urban-inspired sportswear brand launched by Hip-Hop king Russell Simmons has already released its...

CELLULAR INFECTION ; VIRUS ATTACKS CELL PHONES - EN ESPANOL

It's for you. Unfortunately. Computer viruses that target cell phone users are coming to the USA. As the "Timofonica" virus swept Spain yesterday, dialing numbers at random and sending scurrilous...

250G UP FRONT FOR SKINNY D'AMATO TITLE

MAGAZINE editor-turned-writer Jonathan van Meter has just scored an estimated $250,000 advance from Crown Books to do a story on fabled Atlantic City nightclub owner Skinny D'Amato. D'Amato was a...

SUP NEAR THE 'PUP' ; DINING TAKES CENTER STAGE IN ROCKEFELLER PLAZA NABE

ROCKEFELLER Center is bustling.Cameras are flashing blindingly around the Center's newest attraction: a 42-foot-tall "Puppy," sculpted from living plants. The leafy canine occupies the spot where the famed Christmas tree...

GUSTATORY DELIGHTS ARE THAI HIGH

THE RICE BOX ½ 78 E. FIRST ST. (BETWEEN FIRST AVENUE AND AVENUE A) (212) 777-2552 THOSE who thought they knew Thai cuisine might ask themselves what the Siam hill...

UPTOWNERS REVELIN MODERN ITALIAN

REVEL ½ 24 E. 81ST ST. (212) 249-5720 'LEAF-eaters to my right, the sharing-one-course eaters to my left," my English friend Jane chuckles. "I'll bet I'm the first woman to...

SOME BUTTERY PRAISE FOR 'EGG MAN' REVIVAL

THE BUTTER AND EGG MAN Jean Cocteau Repertory, 330 Bowery, (212) 677-0060. SHOWBIZ was evidently not so different back in 1925.At least to judge from George Kaufman, the master American...

EAT TRASH FOR CASH? SURE! WEB STUNTS SHOW ... JUST HOW LOW YOU CAN GO

SOME people will do anything for money.Dustin Romney, a 21-year-old college student who needed $2,500 to visit his girlfriend in Hong Kong, took a bath in mealy bugs, cockroaches and...

PEACHY KEEN ON GREAT WHITE HOPE

THERE'S so much peach and apricot in some bottles of Viognier that it's tempting to think of them as grown-up wine coolers in dress clothes - Bartles & Jaymes in...

MEET THE NEW JACKIE O

JACKIE'S back! Sexy brunette Jill Hennessy - who wowed viewers as an assistant DA on "Law and Order" - has been tapped to play Jackie Kennedy in an upcoming NBC...

'FEUDING' QUIZ SHOW HOSTS PATCH THINGS UP ; REGIS TELLS ALEX: JUST JOKING, PAL

'JEOPARDY!" host Alex Trebek became a phone-a-friend to "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" host Regis Philbin after their recent "feud." Trebek, who twice refused to appear on ABC's smash...

XFL ON THE (WELCOME) MAT IN MEADLOWLANDS

A METRO-area XFL team may touch down at Giants Stadium as soon as two weeks from now. The New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority has unanimously voted to pursue a...

THE STARR REPORT

Jersey removed Regional News Network (WRNN) has made some behind-the-scenes changes. Last Friday, RNN closed its New Jersey bureau, located at Montclair State University, and fired its New Jersey reporter...

'SURVIVOR:' LOVE IT...OR LEAVE IT? WHAT A BUNCH OF CLUB MED COCONUTS

I WANTED to like "Survivor." No, I wanted to love "Survivor." Instead the first episode made me feel like I was trapped. On Club Med. With annoying guests and an...

GREAT FRENCH & AMERICAN CHEF BARBECUE DUE AT ROCK CENTER

CAN you say barbecue in French?That should come in handy at Rockefeller Center Monday when France's top toques join stateside superchefs for the Great French & American Chef Barbecue. Michel...

CARREY'S CALL WAITING

FUNNYMAN Jim Carrey is likely taking a pay cut to star in "Phone Booth," a low-budget nail-biter about a media consultant who picks up a ringing phone on a busy...

'SURVIVOR:' LOVE IT... OR LEAVE IT? HOKEY, SURE - AND IT'S PURE GENIUS

'SURVIVOR" does so many fundamental things right, they should teach the making of this show in TV school. In just one episode, it has become the most talked-about show of...

'PARTY' POOPERS! PUBLIC'S FLOP COSTS BACKERS $5.1 MILLION

AFTER losing money every week for almost two months, the Public Theater's "The Wild Party" bowed to the inevitable yesterday and posted a June 11 closing notice. The show, which...

TALE OF A TV PITCH-DOG

SOMETHING'S afoot at Pets.com. In the last few days, $20 replicas of the quick-witted Pets.com mascot known as Sock Puppet - a popular star of television commercials - have been...

RED-FACED GORE AIDES RUE GAFFE

Vice President Al Gore yesterday made a pitch for safer kiddie day care - but did it at a posh East Side toddler school accused of child abuse in a...

BLAME CANADA FOR JUDGE WHO NIXED BX. ENGLISH

A 76-year-old Bronx native yesterday blasted a judge for denying her Canadian citizenship - telling her she does not speak English well enough. "It was the most ridiculous thing I've...

HILLARY PUT$ THE BITE ON RUDY AIDE

One of Mayor Giuliani's top City Hall staffers yesterday got a letter from an unlikely source - Hillary Rodham Clinton. Sunny Mindel, the Republican mayor's press secretary, was surprised to...

MARTINA FIRES VOLLEY AT SEXY TENNIS TOUR

Martina Navratilova has ripped into the Women's Tennis Association - saying it encourages players to flaunt their sex appeal in skimpy clothing. Navratilova told the French sports daily L'Equipe that...

BRUNO BUYS INTO A BAD IDEA ; POSTURING AGAINST HATE

IF any doubt remained as to just how nervous New York Republicans are about losing control of the state Senate this fall, Joe Bruno has put it to rest. As...

PHOTO-THERAPY HELPS ANOREXICS OVERCOME OBSESSION WITH WEIGHT

FOR years, Lynn, a 46-year-old Long Island wife and mother, had looked in the mirror and seen monstrous obesity. But the reality was, at 5-foot-5, her weight was a dangerously...

DEM CORZINE VS. GOP'S FRANKS IN JERSEY SENATE RACE

Big bucks ruled the ballot box in New Jersey yesterday, with a Wall Street millionaire spending a whopping $33 million to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate. Jon Corzine,...

PUTIN: CHURCH FEUD PREVENTS VISIT BY POPE

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday defended his refusal to invite Pope John Paul to Moscow - after asking the pontiff's support for improving the Kremlin's ties with Europe. Putin's meeting...

ASSEMBLY COUP LEADER ; CUT DOWN TO SIZE

ALBANY - The ax fell again yesterday on the legislator who tried to dump Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Assemblyman Michael Bragman (D-Syracuse), who was fired as majority leader after launching...

TITO'S FANS BID ADIOS

"Beethoven" of salsa.Latin music king Tito Puente, whose groundbreaking sound brightened the world of salsa music and beyond, was laid to rest yesterday on a dark, rainy, cold spring day....

EGAN BIDS TO SETTLE DIOCESE SUITS

New York Archbishop-designate Edward Egan has met with a federal magistrate in an effort to settle suits filed against his Bridgeport Diocese by plaintiffs claiming sex abuse by priests, it...

YOU CAN'T HAVE YOUR CHEESECAKE AND EAT IT, TOO

OUCH. Retired racquet babe Martina Navratilova must've taken a few too many Wilsons in the noggin. Now, I like a good cat fight among senior divas as much as the...

DEAF EX-SLAVES NOW LIVE LIFE OF FREEDOM

Three years after 62 deaf Mexican immigrants were rescued from a brutal slave ring, many are living their version of the American dream - with jobs, city-supplied apartments and sign-language...

PROSECUTORS GRASP AT STRAWS IN EFFORT TO NAIL GOOD COPS

FORMER Police Officer Tommy Wiese might have been a hero cop, but I can reveal he is a crazed monster. He didn't pay his taxes in 1977, according to his...

NEXT ROUND OF MIDEAST TALKS SLATED FOR THE U.S.

JERUSALEM - The deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace talks will resume Sunday in the United States - as both sides indicated Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's latest round of shuttle diplomacy was...

KATHIE LEE HAS WORDS OF WARNING FOR NEW GAL

Kathie Lee Gifford has some no-nonsense advice for her successor: Get ready to be crucified by the press. The perky co-host of "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee" told the...

JUDGE KEEPS APPLE PARKED

A judge yesterday asked state and city lawyers to consider an independent monitor to oversee New York Apple Tours, the double-decker bus company ordered off the streets last week. But...

MAN HAS PAT ON BACK FOR DOCTORS WHO SAVED HAND

A 33-year-old Bronx father of four who had his left hand cut off in a vicious machete attack is on the road to recovery, thanks to the amazing work of...

A BROOKLYN HEARSE HORSE PASSES ON TO OAT HEAVEN

Another chapter closed on old New York yesterday when Gretel, half of the two-horse team that pulled funeral hearses and wedding carriages through South Brooklyn, died of old age. Police...

NEW PUSH FOR SAFER SUBWAYS

The city is on track this year to double last year's tally of subway pushing attacks - leading Mayor Giuliani to pledge new safety measures yesterday to slow the alarming...

RICK: HILL COULDN'T HACK IT ON THE HILL

Rick Lazio yesterday tried to demolish one of the main reasons opponent Hillary Rodham Clinton says New Yorkers should send her to the Senate: that she'd work well with other...

PLAQUE HONORS COPS KILLED ON DUTY

Police officers in Brooklyn's 75th Precinct set up a plaque yesterday to honor eight cops from the station house slain in the line of duty from the 1930s to the...

LAWYER GRILLS LOUIMA ON STAND ; QUESTIONS ON TESTIMONY 'CONTRADICTIONS'

Police torture victim Abner Louima spent more than two hours on the stand yesterday, as the lawyer for a cop accused of lying in connection with the attack grilled him...

FIRED NURSE WITH CANCER SUES HOSP FOR $10M

A nurse who says a Long Island hospital fired her because she contracted breast cancer has filed a $10 million suit against her former employers. Marilou Sadd, 41, a single...

'DRUGGED OUT' WHITNEY REFUSED REHAB: REPORT

Pop star Whitney Houston rejected heartfelt pleas to enter rehab from distraught friends and family members after a frightening drug crisis in Beverly Hills last summer, a new magazine report...

RAPPER FLEES LATEST 'HIT' ; DMX ON LAM OVER CAR CRASH: COPS

Police were seeking to question platinum-selling hip-hopper DMX after he allegedly slammed into a car full of women and then fled - snarling that he wouldn't pay for the damage....

FEDS DUNK VEEP'S 'ICED TEA' DEFENSE IN FUNNY-$ SCANDAL

A new Justice Department document from the funny-money campaign-funding investigation says Al Gore's famous "iced-tea defense" is all wet. Gore told the FBI he missed parts of a key fund-raising...

COPS HUNTING EX-BOYFRIEND OF SLAIN MOM

Cops have launched an international manhunt for the former boyfriend of a Brooklyn woman who was savagely beaten to death while her young children cringed in horror, police sources said...

ADULT SLAY RAP EYED FOR TEENAGE MOM OF N.J. BRIDGE TOT

Prosecutors say they want to charge a 17-year-old New Jersey mom as an adult for the murder of her baby son - whom cops say she threw off a bridge...

ENRIQUE WILL SYNC, ER, SING FOR HOWARD

Latin pop star Enrique Iglesias says he'll make Howard Stern face the music tomorrow - by performing live on the shock jock's show to prove he doesn't have to lip-sync....

VETS ON PARADE FOR OPENING OF D-DAY MUSEUM

Thousands of World War II veterans paraded through New Orleans yesterday to mark the grand opening of the National D-Day Museum. For one veteran, it was the first parade he...

BOY, 12, NABBED AS DRUG 'MULE'

Colombian police seized a 12-year-old boy yesterday as he tried to fly to New York with half a million dollars worth of heroin - some of it hidden in latex...

KANSAS CYBERFIEND EYED IN FIVE SEX SLAYS

Authorities were searching yesterday for more bodies after linking the corpses of five women to a Kansas man who met women for kinky sex on the Internet using the name...

HEY, ROCKER, VA. IS FOR LOVERS - NOT HATERS

They won't be rolling out the red carpet for royal pain John Rocker when he reports for the minors in Richmond, Va. "We have enough loudmouth racists in Richmond already...

ROBIN WON'T PANIC: RAIN WON'T ALTER V'S ROTATION

MET NOTES After last night's Mets-Orioles game was rained out, manager Bobby Valentine said his pitching rotation will stay on schedule through the Yankee series. That means the Mets will...

FOREARM MAY LAND KNOBBY ON DL

YANKEE NOTES The Yankees are toying with the idea of putting Chuck Knoblauch on the 15-day DL to see if two weeks of inactivity will cure a sore left-forearm problem...

CONE (1-6) STILL THINKS HE CAN WIN

MONTREAL - If David Cone is finished, don't expect him to hang one of the smartest heads in baseball. "If I can't get it done anymore, there is no shame...

GRIMSLEY GETS BIG W AT BIG O

MONTREAL - Eleven years ago, a raw rookie who hadn't pitched above Double-A made his major-league debut at Olympic Stadium. "Tim Raines hit a grounder to second base, I gave...

KNOBBY MIGHT LAND ON DL

YANKEE NOTES The Yankees are toying with the idea of putting Chuck Knoblauch on the 15-day DL to see if two weeks of inactivity will cure a left forearm problem...

WHAT BETTER WAY TO SPEND A SPRING DAY

IT WAS a day that you couldn't buy even if you're Bill Gates. There was a slight breeze coming from the south, the sun was warm, and both the fishing...

SHEIKH PINS CROWN HOPES ON CURULE

Whatever Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum of Dubai wants, he gets. And what the oil-rich royal horseman wants most is to win a Triple Crown race with a colt...

ONE WIN CERTIFIES DEVILS

With stunning swiftness, Devil disarray is rearranging itself into retroactive demi-dynasty. After all the disasters and disappointments, the firings and angry recriminations, one more victory transforms them into one of...

MIGLIORE FINALLY HAS A CONTENDER ; FINALLY, MIG ENDS CONTENDER DROUGHT

AFTER more than 3,000 winners, nearly $100 million in earnings and 20 years in the saddle, Richard Migliore has finally got himself a live contender in a Triple Crown classic....

GODOLPHIN PULLS PLUG ON CHIEF SEATTLE

BELMONT NOTES The Belmont Stakes lost another starter yesterday when Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin stable decided not to run Chief Seattle, who'd been aiming for the Belmont since missing the Kentucky...

LOU MAY STAY BUT WILL NEVER CHANGE ; GM KNOWS ONE WAY TO RUN DEVILS

LISTEN closely to Lou Lamoriello, Harvey Schiller. Listen closely, Mr. CEO of the YankeeNets that will on July 12 assume ownership of the Devils. Listen closely if you truly do...

ARMSTEAD GIVES HAIL TO REDSKINS

You can't help but notice. Bruce Smith. Mark Carrier. Jeff George. The bonanza draft duo of LaVar Arrington and Chris Samuels. And then, the topper: Deion Sanders. What the heck...

TRINIDAD: I'LL BEAT ALL COMERS

When Felix Trinidad says "I'm the best," it's hard to argue. The WBA super welterweight champion with a 37-0 record and 30 knockouts is completely confident in his ability and...

STARS FACING GRIM REAPER

DALLAS - The Stars skate slower than they have been to grasp the reality that the Devils are a better team. They look even more tired than reporters have gotten...

TYNER STILL AGLOW AFTER BIG-LEAGUE DEBUT

Rarely has someone seemed so content, even happy, to be soaking wet. But with the rain coming down before last night's washout at Shea, Met rookie Jason Tyner stood on...

AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER - OR IS IT? REALITY STARTS TO SET IN ON DEFENDING CHAMPS

IRVING, Texas - How'd they do it, Stars center Mike Modano wants to know. How did the Canadiens, Islanders and Oilers pile on the Stanley Cups in the 1970s and...

AIN'T OVER TILL IT'S OVER - OR IS IT? YOU DON'T HAVE TO TELL DEVILS IT CAN BE DONE

The Devils need only remember how they got here. They were the first team since 1967 to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the semis or finals, winning three straight from...

BURKE BEATS RAIN AT OPEN QUALIFIER

The rain-swept, soaking weather conditions - reminiscent of a typical British Open day - only made yesterday's 36-hole U.S. Open sectional qualifying round at Canoe Brook CC in Summit, N.J.,...

ROBIN WON'T PANIC: MET THIRD BASEMAN CALM AMID SLUMP

The batting average is not where Robin Ventura wants it to be. He is hitting just .240, which is 61 points below where he finished last season. But the 32-year-old...

AMAZIN'S PLAY WAITING GAME ... AND LOSE

Here's the excuse the Mets used about why they waited until 7:20 p.m. to postpone their game with the Orioles at Shea last night. "The forecast all during the day...