April 26, 2002

HITMAKER SCORES A $6M WARNER DEAL

Songwriter Desmond Child - whose hits include "Who Let The Dogs Out" - has sold half of his company to Warner Music for as much as $6 million. Child and...

TRUMP'S CASINOS BIZ ON A WINNING STREAK

Donald Trump is hitting the home stretch in his Atlantic City casino turnaround, posting his best cash flow ever for the slow winter doldrums. Stock in the casino group also...

DYNEGY DISASTER: PLUMMETS AMID DOWNGRADE THREAT, SEC PROBE

Dynegy Inc.'s stock had its biggest decline ever amid write-offs, accounting woes and threats that $4.5 billion of its debt might be downgraded to junk status. Dynegy said it would...

CHELSEA BLAST SHAKES UP TALK MEDIA

Talk Media staffers were among those evacuated after the explosion that hurt 32 people in their Chelsea building yesterday. Six people have life-threatening injuries. None of the people in the...

SEC JOINS IN PROBES OF ANALYSTS

The Securities and Exchange Commission added to the woes of Wall Street research analysts, initiating a formal inquiry into conflicts that will be coordinated with scores of investigations already underway....

BUDGET LIVING SPRINGS TO LIFE

THE economy shows no sign of improving and magazines continue to falter. So what is magazine entrepreneur Don Welsh - the magazine man who launched everything from Barbie and the...

BURGER KING BIDS WILL BE SUPER-SIZE

Beverage giant Diageo PLC is getting ready to flip Burger King. And hungry buyers are lining up to give their orders for what may be a whopper of an auction....

FASHION DILEMMA: 7TH ON SIXTH STRUGGLES WITH 9/11 SCHEDULE

The people who put on Fashion Week are struggling with how to recognize Sept. 11 - which falls right in the middle of their planned shows this year. Execs are...

DON'T WATCH THIS MOVIE ALONE! ; 'IT'S MAYBE THE SCARIEST GHOST STORY EVER FOR TV'

"Living With the Dead" Sunday at 9 on CBS ½ DEAD people are to TV this year as Britney Spears was to pop last year. If you're not dead, well...

NO, THIS FUMBLING EXERCISE IS NOTHING 'LIKE IT'

LIFE OR SOMETHING LIKE IT 1/2 Shameless, embarrassing psychobabble romance. Running time: 100 minutes. Rated PG-13 (mild sexuality). At the Empire, the Ziegfeld, the Chelsea, others. 'LIFE or Something Like...

SLASHER REHASHER

JASON X 1/2 He's back (sigh). Running time: 93 minutes. Rated: R (strong horror violence, language, some sexual content). At the Empire, the Kips Bay, Chelsea, others. IN the year...

STARR REPORT

Oprah who? Ripa's book club takes off Kelly Ripa's "Reading with Ripa" book club is off to a flying start. The club, announced on yesterday's "Live with Regis & Kelly,"...

SIDEWALK SURFIN' SUPERSTARS

DOGTOWNAND Z-BOYS 1/2 A free and easy ride.Running time: 90 minutes.Rated PG-13 (language andsome drug references). At theEmpire, the Angelika, others. YOU don't need to know or care about the...

BRITS' SHOW A REAL TRIP

SPIRITUALIZED IN the dreamy drones and repetitions of Spiritualized, music is a recreational hallucinatory drug injected aurally. At the Beacon Theatre, the Brit band toyed with sound, rhythms, light and...

WHAT'S LOVE GO TO DO WITH IT?

SADE In French, with English subtitles. Running time: 100 minutes. Not rated (nudity, sex, headless bodies in topless grave). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, between Fifth Avenue and University...

GLUB, GLUB, GLUB

THE SALTON SEA 1/2 Confused and confusing contemporary noir.Running time: 103 minutes. Rated R (gory violence, drugs, sex, profanity). At the Lincoln Square, the Angelika, others. 'THE Salton Sea" is...

YOU'LL GO WITH THE FLOW

RAIN Haunting coming-of-age tale. Running time: 97 minutes. Not rated (language and strong sexual content). At the Angelika, Houston and Mercer streets. STUNNING cinematography allows "Rain" to drift with the...

SEND IN THE CLOWN - IF YOU CAN TAKE IT

VULGAR Clown comedy is no laughing matter.Running time: 92 minutes. Not rated (rape, violence, profanity). At the Angelika, Houston and Mercer streets. TO say that "Vulgar" is not for all...

HEY, GUYS! LAY OFF NAKED KATHLEEN TURNER!

THE play's the thing - or is it?Based on the reviews of "The Graduate," Broadway's retooling of a movie classic, it all seems to boil down to this: What does...

ALL HIS LOVIN' ; PAUL CHATS ABOUT HIS TOUR, HIS WEDDING & WHEN HE'S 64

EXCLUSIVE: HIS ONLY NEW YORK INTERVIEW THE past 40 years have been a long and winding road for Paul McCartney, but this past year the world's best-known pop star has...

ENJOY THE BLUNDER YEARS

EVERY now and again, a pearl can be spotted on the shores of off-off-Broadway. There are two more chances - tonight and tomorrow night - to see one of them:...

'MYSTERY' IS SOLVED BRIT ACTOR EXPLORES DICKENS

THE MYSTERY OFCHARLES DICKENSThe Belasco Theatre, 111 W. 44th St. (212) 239-6200. BRITISH actor Simon Callow doesn't look the slightest bit like Charles Dickens.But that doesn't dimish Callow's adroit lead...

DEVITO DOES MAMET ; PACINO IS THE PRODUCER'S NEXT TARGET FOR REVIVAL

HERE'S a good lead:Danny DeVito closed the deal this week to star in a Broadway revival ofDavid Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross" next season, sources close to the actor told The...

'BACHELOR' SETS (RATINGS) GOLD STANDARD

ABC has a message for its competitors after last night's finale of "The Bachelor" - who's laughing now? The sneered-at reality show - expected to find a quick place on...

CBS INSISTS IT'S STILL EARLY DAYS FOR VIEIRA

CBS hasn't given up on Meredith Vieira - and is still pushing hard to land her for its morning show. Sources close to Vieira say she has yet to sign...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Georgia supermarket had an unexpected visitor in its meat department - a live deer. The beast wandered into the Kroger store in Athens at 8 a.m. Wednesday after triggering...

HEALTH RISK FOR MR. MOM GUYS

Men who give up their careers to become house husbands are more at risk of a fatal heart attack, new research suggests. The study, presented at a meeting of the...

SKATER BULLIED BY AXEL OF EVIL

A 12-year-old boy is too scared to go to school after being repeatedly kicked and punched by bullies - just because he's a figure skater, his parents said yesterday. Boris...

GIRL MAIMED IN SCHOOLYARD ATTACK

A Long Island high-school dropout broke a bottle over another girl's head and repeatedly slashed her face during an argument in a schoolyard, causing terrible injury to the teen's face...

THE SAUDIS DECLARE WAR?

HOW nice! Saudi Arabia's Prince Abdullah came to the United States to stay at the president's own house in Texas. And while accepting George W. Bush's hospitality, he may have...

EXPLOSION ON 19TH ST.

Fearing another terrorist strike, TV news aggressively attacked yesterday's building explosion in Chelsea, unleashing wall-to-wall coverage on local stations and cable news channels. After the massive explosion in the basement...

JACKPOT JOUSTING: N.J. RIVALS EACH CLAIM $59M LOTTERY TICKET

New Jersey Lottery officials said yesterday there's a custody battle over a winning ticket in last week's Big Game - worth nearly $59 million. Carole Hedinger, the lottery's acting executive...

NYPD BOOZE BOOST: FELLOW COP: I TRIED TO GIVE GRAY BEST TEST

The officer in charge of testing disgraced ex-cop Joseph Gray for drunkenness after he fatally ran down a family asked union officials to check which DWI test Gray was most...

CANCER THREAT FOR SNACKERS

A shocking new study says french fries, potato chips and bread may contain high levels of a substance believed to cause cancer. Tests show they all contain high quantities of...

SILVER SERVES UP PLAN TO LET MAYOR RUN SCHOOLS

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has drafted a detailed proposal that would give Mayor Bloomberg control of city schools, sources told The Post. Silver finalized his plan - which is now...

LAUNDRY LAW HAMPERS HAMPTONITES

Fashion is more than welcome in the Hamptons - unless it's hanging from a clothesline. The town of Southampton has made it illegal to hang laundry out to dry in...

9 YOUTHS, 2 MONKS LEAVE THE 'NATIVITY'

JERUSALEM - Nine young Palestinians and two monks emerged from Bethlehem's besieged Church of the Nativity yesterday and negotiators were optimistic about a possible deal to end the 3-week-old standoff....

COPS: B'KLYN FIEND STRANGLED GRANDPA

Police have arrested a 34-year-old homeless man in the strangulation slaying of his 85-year-old grandfather at a Brooklyn Heights senior-citizen apartment building. Louis Echavarria, 34, was charged with first strangling...

TOURISTS 'HIGH' ON BROOKLYN BRIDGE

If a company from Down Under gets its way, tourists will soon be scaling up and over the Brooklyn Bridge's suspension cables like so many koalas. BridgeClimb International is seeking...

YES DROPPED FROM SUIT

Angry Yankees fans who filed a class-action suit accusing Cablevision and the YES Network of conspiring to prevent the broadcast of Bomber games dropped YES from the lawsuit yesterday. But...

'PLEASE, GOD, HELP: 911 TAPE BARES CARNEGIE-SLAY HORROR

"We've been shot! Please! Please!" a Carnegie Deli massacre victim - bleeding from a bullet to the head - cries into his cell phone in a heartrending 911 tape played...

NYPD GRID TEAM IN PA BENEFIT

The NYPD football team will play the South Florida Bandits, made up of cops from Palm Beach and Broward County, Fla., at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Cochrane Stadium in Jersey...

MIKE CLOSE TO $850M BUDGET BONUS FOR CITY

Mayor Bloomberg is on the verge of winning $850 million in additional aid for the city, including $250 million more for schools and a whopping cigarette tax hike, Assembly Speaker...

350G PHONE-CARD HEIST

Apparently, someone really needed to phone home. More than $350,000 worth of phone cards were swiped from Vision Phone Card in The Bronx sometime between closing time Wednesday and the...

BURGLAR GOES WINDOW SHOPPING AT CARTIER

It was the second smash job in seven weeks. A burglar or burglars smashed the display window of the Cartier jewelry store on Madison Avenue early yesterday and escaped with...

WTC $PIN DOCTORS ; GROUND ZERO BOARD TO SPEND $2M ON FLACKS

Officials overseeing lower Manhattan's redevelopment are planning to spend $2 million of federal rebuilding funds to hire a p.r. firm. Some 70 communications firms have already answered a request for...

THREE-CARD DROPOUT ; THE BOARD OF ED'S NEW GAME

BAD news from the Board of Ed: The dropout rate is up. In some city high schools, more kids quit than actually graduate. "This is a national problem," says Schools...

FICKLE FEMS GIVING GIRLS' DAY A PINK SLIP

HELP me, ladies of the National Organization for Women. Please, gals, make up your minds. The feminist establishment, not known as a particularly fruitful bunch, has abruptly declared victory on...

'20TH HIJACKER' MAY BE READY TO SQUEAL

WASHINGTON - Suspected 20th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui sent a message from jail saying he wanted to talk to prosecutors about "the death penalty and classified information," the feds revealed yesterday....

AIR FORCE PAL WEEPS FOR 9/11 POLICE HERO

An Air Force sergeant home from the war on terror said farewell yesterday to a lifelong friend who died a hero on Sept. 11. Sgt. Frank Berlanga was one of...

BEER-BLAST TRAGEDY: HS STAR IN COMA AFTER FIGHT WITH TEAMMATE

A Westchester teen is clinging to life in a coma after his friends frantically tried to cover up a boozefest instead of calling 911 for the medical aid he desperately...

SUBWAY THIEF GETS 5-10 YRS.

A Queens judge yesterday sentenced a former transit worker to 5 to 10 years in prison for preying on middle-aged female subway riders in a string of robberies. Justice Stanley...

STATE MUST SEPARATE CHURCH IN SACRILEGIOUS CASES

'THE church determines the sin - we determine the crime." Those words didn't come from the pope or his American cardinals. They came from state Assemblyman Jack McEneny (D-Albany) -...

'BARETTA' WON'T BE FACING THE DEATH PENALTY

Robert Blake won't face the death penalty if he's convicted of blowing away his wife Bonny Lee Bakley, it was revealed last night. Instead, prosecutors in Los Angeles said they'll...

MOM IMAGINED WORST FOR HER TRAPPED GIRL

Yesterday's horrific Chelsea explosion brought back bone-chilling memories of Sept. 11 for Olga Quinones. Quinones was on the phone chatting with her daughter, Katherine Baerga, who was working on the...

'WRONG MAN' TASTES FREEDOM

A Brooklyn man, wrongfully jailed for six years, spent his first full day of freedom shopping, watching TV and eating his favorite meal of chicken stew with rice and beans....

NURSING STUDENT SET TO SUE OVER 'FALSE ARREST' NIGHTMARE

A Brooklyn nursing student claims cops busted into her apartment, pulled her out of bed, locked her up for two days - and then released her with no explanation or...

BUSH PUTS HEAT ON ISRAEL: CALLS FOR PULLOUT AFTER TALKS WITH SAUDI

WASHINGTON - President Bush pushed Israel to "finish its withdrawal" from Palestinian towns after a "very cordial" meeting yesterday with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah at his Texas ranch. Before the...

EGAN'S 'POSITIVE' SPIN STILL DOESN'T QUIET THE CRITICS

America's Catholic cardinals returned home yesterday from Rome, amid a storm of criticism of their proposals for dealing with the priest sex abuse scandal rocking the church. "Our meeting was...

PALESTINIAN CLEARED IN SPORE HOAX

A Palestinian man was acquitted yesterday of spreading terror by dumping powder into a mailbox at the height of last fall's anthrax scare. Kamal Dawood, 51, was found not guilty...

BLAST IGNITES TERROR FEARS: CHEMICAL DISASTER RATTLES CHELSEA

A police officer tends to a man injured in yesterday's blast, which authorities say was triggered by volatile chemicals A thunderous explosion rocked a Chelsea commercial building yesterday, sending glass,...

MONSTERS FOREVER CHANGED HOW WE THINK

THE first thought was obvious - the bastards got us again. "As soon as I heard about it I called my son Joey," said Rosalie Downey. Joe Downey is a...

SCHOOLS WORKER BUSTED IN ID THEFT

A technical worker at the School Construction Authority was arraigned last night on charges of selling his co-workers' IDs for profit. Marshall Fine, 27, of Manhattan, was nabbed in a...

GREEN LIGHT FOR CAB-SAFETY PLAN

ALBANY - In a victory for cab-driver safety, the state's top court yesterday upheld an NYPD program allowing for the random stops of livery vehicles. The Court of Appeals ruled...

LEMRICK KOS DEAL IN CROWN HTS. RIOT SLAY

Accused Crown Heights riot killer Lemrick Nelson Jr. has shut the door on plea negotiations and plans to take his case to the U.S. Supreme Court - where he hopes...

HOUSE VOTES TO SPLIT IMMIGRATION AGENCY IN RESPONSE TO BUREAUCRATIC INSANITY

WASHINGTON - The House voted yesterday to split the Immigration and Naturalization Service into two parts, a move taken in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and part of...

CORPSE FOUND ON ROOFTOP

A homeless man was found dead on the roof of a Harlem building by firefighters responding to a small blaze. William Pope, 65, whose body was discovered just after 8...

DRIVE-BY HIT TEAM KILLS B'KLYN MAN

Detectives yesterday were hunting for two drive-by killers who used separate vehicles to ambush their 34-year-old victim, greeting him with a barrage of gunfire as he sat behind the wheel...

CRASH INTO AMBULANCE 'MURDER'

A boozed-up driver who slammed into a city ambulance last week now faces murder charges after one of the emergency medical technicians he hit died yesterday, police said. Andre Lahens,...

POP STAR JEWEL HURT IN HORSEBACK FALL

Folksy pop star Jewel was recuperating yesterday after breaking a rib and her collarbone in a horseback riding accident. The beautiful blond balladeer was visiting her boyfriend, rodeo champ Ty...

METS FIND THEIR STROKES: JOHNSON PINCH-HIT HR BEATS CARDS

Mets 7 Cardinals 6 Throughout their recent offensive drought, the Mets have claimed that when the offense kicked in, the hits would come in bunches and the runs would follow...

OH, WHAT A RELIEF METS BULLPEN WAS LAST NIGHT

MO Vaughn continued smoking baseballs into the outfield and Robbie Alomar showed a glimpse of his greatness with a snazzy play on a ball hit up the middle, and with...

BARE BENCH WINS IT ALL IN A PINCH

MET NOTES With Mike Piazza, Timo Perez and Rey Ordonez all nursing injuries, Bobby Valentine had just 22 players and only two healthy bodies on the bench - Mark Johnson...

'DUBAI' CARRIES HIGH HOPES

Essence of Dubai, who'll be the fifth horse in the past four years to run in the Kentucky Derby for Sheikh Mohammed's powerhouse Godolphin Stable, worked seven furlongs in 1:28.2...

MACKS ARE ON THE MOVE

PRIOR to the return of spring there was a tremendous amount of fish in the New York Bight and along the South Shore, with flounder, blackfish, blues, striped bass and...

JET CAMP MOTTO: BRING IN THE NEW

The Jets' three-day minicamp, which begins today at Weeb Ewbank Hall, represents an unveiling of the new Jets. Name tags might be required for the first 48 hours or so...

MATS ALL FOR MAPLE LEAFS

TORONTO - After eight years of praying for something good to happen to their franchise, the Islanders finally are having the breaks go their way. The latest break came in...

NET BENCH HAS EDGE

INDIANAPOLIS - With all due respect to Jermaine O'Neal, who clearly believes that Game 3, if not this entire best-of-five series playoff series, is all about him, there are other...

CABLE REBATE MAKES YOU PAY

I KNOW what you're thinking: That 55-cent rebate Cablevision is offering for the loss of the Yankees on MSG Network is one mighty sweet deal. But wait. Before you decide...

TWILIGHT LOOMS FOR DEV DYNASTY

If tomorrow is indeed to be the Devils' final home game of the season, it may also be the last time the Meadowlands sees the Stanley Cup playoffs for years....

SCOTT'S PLAN: KEEP PEDAL TO THE METAL

NET NOTES INDIANAPOLIS - Byron Scott has a checklist for tonight in Game 3 against the Pacers. It's simple, really. Stay aggressive. Defend and rebound. Get out and run. And...

PLENTY OF FIGHT LEFT: LEAFS PRIMED TO FALL

TORONTO - Technically, as long as Mats Sundin is holding his broken left wrist up on a Bible, he does have an upper body injury, like Pat Quinn said. It...

PLENTY OF FIGHT LEFT ; ISLES OUT TO WREST CONTROL OF SERIES

TORONTO - Chris Osgood said he lost a rivet from his skate and that's why he was rolling around, apparently in great pain, in the middle of the fight that...

NETS AREN'T COWED BY JERMAINE'S BULL

INDIANAPOLIS - Jermaine O'Neal wasn't backing down and the Nets weren't quaking over his trash talk, choosing instead to focus on what needs to be done in Game 3 of...

COLLINS GOES DEEP WITH LADDER FIVE; QB DONATES $125,000 TO BRAVEST

Walking into Ladder 5, Engine 24 in Greenwich Village it is impossible not to notice the large, framed, white Kerry Collins jersey positioned directly in the middle of the action...

AMAZIN'S LINEUP STILL BANGED UP

MET NOTES With catcher Mike Piazza, center fielder Timo Perez and shortstop Rey Ordonez all injured and unavailable for even pinch-hitting duty, manager Bobby Valentine had just 22 players total...

GARNETT A STUD? THAT'S REAL MINNY HA-HA

WHEN Kevin Garnett echoed the multi-millionaire's mantra (upon signing a six-year, $126 million extension with the Timberwolves), that it's not about the money, he was right-on. It's about the results....

NO MIKE STRAINS OFFENSE ; METS BATS SLEEP WITHOUT PIAZZA TURNING UP HEAT

Even a short-term injury to Mike Piazza seems to have left the Mets' flagging lineup hamstrung. While the all-star catcher isn't the Amazin's entire offense - as he often seemed...

NO DEFENSE FOR METS' MYRIAD PROBLEMS IN FIELD AND AT BAT

REY ORDONEZ is so muscled up he has lost the flexibility that made him a Gold Glove shortstop. The Shea Rey Kid went into last night's series finale against the...

NO SWEEPING BEAUTY: ZITO ZAPS YANKEE BATS AS A'S BLAST MUSSINA

A's 6 Yankees 2 OAKLAND - There are times when a pitcher tries to transform chicken slop into chicken salad just to survive. Yesterday, Mike Mussina had his hands on...

TALKED-OUT JASON: I'VE SAID IT ALL

YANKEE NOTES OAKLAND - Three emotionally charged games at the Coliseum did what nobody believed possible: They took away Jason Giambi's vocal chords. As Giambi moved toward the clubhouse door...

PETTITTE'S PROGRESS A GOOD SIGN

YANKEE NOTES OAKLAND - Since Roger Clemens was in a catcher's crouch and Mel Stottlemyre watched every toss, it appeared Andy Pettitte was doing a little more than just playing...

NO SWEEPING BEAUTY : ZITO ZAPS YANKEE BATS AS A'S BLAST MUSSINA

A's 6 Yankees 2 OAKLAND - Greed kills. Having won the first two of a three-game series against the A's at the Coliseum, the Yankees searched for the sweep yesterday....

METS FIND THEIR STROKES : JOHNSON PINCH-HIT HR BEATS CARDS

Mets 7 Cardinals 6 Throughout their recent offensive drought, the Mets have claimed that when the runs came, they would come in a torrent. And on a rain-soaked night at...

NET GAIN FOR STERLING: LOOKS LIKE YANK VOICE WILL HOOP IT UP, TOO

Nets win! Thuuuu-uuuh Nets win! That is the noise you could be hearing next year if Yankee radio play-by-player John Sterling has his way. Sterling expects to be offered the...

NET GAIN FOR STERLING: JETS BOOT JENNINGS - AND KICK FANS IN TEETH

Jets' radio analyst Dave Jennings, as prepared and professional as any ex-player from any sport to work from a broadcast booth, has been canned by the Jets, after 14 years...

BAT MAN! ICHIRO & MARINERS FACE YANKS IN ALCS REMATCH

After his Mariners lost Games 1 at 2 of the ALCS at home last year, Lou Piniella boldly vowed they'd bring the Yankees back to Safeco Field. So what if...