January 4, 2003

HOME DEPOT STOCK HAMMERED

Home Depot will need more than some drywall and a few two-by-fours to repair the hit it took yesterday. Shares of the retailer's stock plunged to levels not seen in...

WILLOW'S SHOW IS CANCELED BY CNN

CNN's Willow Bay is in limbo again. As part of an overhaul of its weekend business news coverage, CNN recently shut down Bay's show, "Pinnacle," a CNN spokesperson confirmed. Four...

EXPECT JOLT FROM DEC. ENERGY BILL

New Yorkers may be shocked when they open their next energy bill. Con Edison's typical residential customer is paying 4.5 percent more for gas than a year ago, The Post...

CNBC, WSJ BRAWL : JOINT VENTURE IN TROUBLE AS NETWORK BACKS OFF

Relations between CNBC and its partner Dow Jones are increasingly fractured, The Post has learned. Yesterday CNBC canceled the "Wall Street Journal Editorial Board with Stuart Varney," which aired on...

THE PHANTOM'S A STEAL AT $332,000

James Bond may ditch his Aston-Martin for this new ride. BMW's new Rolls-Royce comes complete with a humidified cigar case, door-mounted umbrella holsters and a souped up new engine. The...

NASD GOING AFTER BLODGET

Regulators are preparing to drop the ax on former Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget for helping inflate the Internet bubble with his misleading plugs. The National Association of Securities Dealers...

MUSIC FIRMS MAY RENEW WEB ATTACK

The recording industry is ready for a renewed war on Internet music pirates for wrecking album sales for the second year in a row. Albums sales were down 10.7 percent...

CONFUSING TIVO FACES HEAVE-HO

TiVo, the digital recording device that was supposed to change how we watch TV, has yet to take off. The gadget kind of a digital VCR with a brain, has...

NICE (STUDENT) BODY : THE WB HOLDS A 10TH HIGH SCHOOL REUNION IN HAWAII

"High SchoolReunion" Tomorrow night at 9 on Ch. 11 (replaying Thursday night at 8) IF "High School Reunion" were a high school yearbook, Nicole Redmond would be voted Most Pathetic....

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Do you ever watch the Jets or the Giants and just know you could throw the ball better than Chad Pennington or Kerry Collins? Well, this week you have a...

FAN FARE

Football really works up an appetite - especially if you're watching. Having local teams in the playoffs makes them even more nosh-worthy. So here are some tips for eating to...

PLAY IT OFF: BLUFF LIKE YOU KNOW YOUR STUFF AT THIS WEEKEND'S PLAYOFF PARTIES

If you're wondering where everybody is this weekend, we'll tell you: They're in front of a TV - watching football. Today and tomorrow, both New York teams kick off their...

SWEET 16 PARTY: BRACE YOURSELF FOR THE MOTHER OF ALL TAILGATE BASHES

Tailgate parties - they're not just kegs and George Foreman grills anymore. For the hard-core Jets fans who party in parking lot Section 16H outside Giants Stadium (where the Jets...

DINNER PARTY CHEAT SHEET

With Jets and Giants fever reaching the heights of some punted pigskin, Football Party Cheat Sheet will attempt to score some sporting laughs - like a Vinny Testaverde pass on...

HOG HEAVEN

The Bar Belles prefer to do their sipping in style, but when the occasion calls for getting down 'n' dirty, well, we're up for that too. Today's big showdown between...

TEENY TINY THEATER

Sometimes, less is more - and little beats big. At least that's the thinking behind the Great Small Works Theater Company, which just raised the curtain (a teeny, tiny curtain)...

ACTIVISTS TO CHURCH: SHOW US YOUR BOOKS

A grass-roots Long Island Catholic reform group has called on church leader Bishop William Murphy to end an era of "undue secrecy" and tell parishioners how the money they donate...

HAMAS BOOK BREWS BIOCHEM TERROR

JERUSALEM - A Web site for the Hamas terrorist group offers advice on how to mass-produce poison for attacks, the Israeli army charged yesterday. But Hamas said the lengthy "Mujahedeen...

HOUSE FIRE 'INSURES' A BLEAK NEW YEAR FOR BROTHERS

A roaring blaze gutted a Long Island home early yesterday and left two owner-brothers devastated and unable to rebuild - because they had no fire insurance, sources said. The fire...

BIG LOTTO SCAM A 'SPAIN' PAIN

Authorities on Long Island are warning locals to be on the lookout for a letter scam that tells recipients they've won the Spanish lottery "El Gordo" - "The Fat One"...

ISRAEL PREDICTS SIEGE OF BAGHDAD

JERUSALEM - The U.S. will begin a war with Iraq by surrounding Baghdad and other major targets but avoiding street fighting, Israel's defense minister predicted yesterday. Shaul Mofaz, who was...

DAD'S TEEN-BOOZE FUROR : HOSTS BEER BASH AFTER OTHER SON'S ALCOHOL HORROR

A New Year's Eve beer-and-pot party that ended with the arrests of 26 teens took place in hotel rooms rented by a man whose son drowned after a night of...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Berlin judge has Germany's pet owners more than peeved. He ruled that motorists should not brake for small animals. If they brake and cause an accident, he said, they...

MAYOR: HACK AWAY! GIVES $TRAPPED POLS GREEN LIGHT TO ISSUE PINK SLIPS

THE Bloomberg administration has told other elected officials grappling with massive budget cuts that it's OK to start handing out pink slips. "We are just reaching out to elected officials...

PLEA IN 'WRONG MAN' SLAY

A career criminal pleaded not guilty at his arraignment yesterday on murder charges for a 1992 Queens killing that cost a wrongly convicted man 10 years behind bars. Jarrett Smith...

MAYOR'S $OUNDING LIKE CABLE APOLOGIST

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday defended soaring cable TV rates, telling New Yorkers that if they don't like it, they should try reading a book. Bloomberg also called for the cable industry...

HOOP STAR STIFFED ME: 'DAD'

When NBA star Tim Thomas signed his first big deal worth $18 million, he stiffed a New Jersey sports storeowner who treated him like a son and helped him through...

COMPLETED PASS : GIANT STAR HOOKS UP WITH EX-JET'S DAUGHTER

In a marquee cross-generational NFL canoodle, Giants rookie tight end Jeremy Shockey spent his off-hours before tomorrow's big playoff game nuzzling former Jet Mark Gastineau's beautiful daughter. "Don't tell my...

APPLE INCHING TOWARD YEAR'S 1ST BIG STORM

The first slippery white-out of the New Year was expected to hit the Big Apple today as forecasters predicted up to 3 inches of snow in the city and a...

RAPPER DEFIANT OUTSIDE COURT

Three days after getting busted for guns in his armored car outside the Copacabana nightclub, rapper 50 Cent returned to court with two bodyguards and an attitude yesterday. The sweat-suited...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

MANHATTAN An unlicensed driver struck and critically injured an elderly woman in Spanish Harlem, police said yesterday. Lynette Caban drove her car into the 70-year-old woman, who was crossing East...

MAKE ALL ILLEGALS CITIZENS: MIKE

Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday that he favors blanket amnesty for illegal aliens in the United States. "There are things the city has to provide and because they don't have papers...

COPS HAD TO SHOOT: COMMISH BACKS MEN IN KILLINGS

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly sprang to the defense of his cops yesterday, saying three of the shootings that left four civilians dead in the first two days of the New...

SECRET SERVICE ON ALIEN HOT SEAT

WASHINGTON - The Secret Service said yesterday it is investigating how an illegal alien with fake identity papers got access to the White House for two years - right under...

PHISH HOOKS FANS WITH HANKS PRANKS

Is Tom Hanks a Phish head? The New York Times, The Associated Press and other news outlets reported that the "Cast Away" star performed onstage at Madison Square Garden on...

SHOT BY SHOT: HOW ALL 4 DIED : * KELLY CALLS 3 DEATHS JUSTIFIED ; * DETAILS BARED ; * THIEF-SLAYING MAY BE ACCIDENT

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly - along with other police officials and the medical examiner - gave a detailed, chronological account yesterday of each of the four fatal police shootings to...

KLEIN WINS ARGUMENT ON PRINCIPAL

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein won a key legal battle yesterday when a state labor judge rejected claims that his plan to recruit, transfer and monitor principals amounted to union busting....

STABBING RAMPAGE : COPS: 'PSYCHO' KILLS EX, KID BEFORE SUICIDE BID

A Queens woman's jilted boyfriend went on a crazed stabbing spree yesterday, killing her and her 7-year-old daughter before slashing his own wrists, police said. Before his failed suicide bid,...

BLOOMBERG TAKES UP CALL TO AX ALL STREET FIREBOXES

Mayor Bloomberg wants to sound the last bell for more than 14,000 remaining fire alarm boxes on city streets. On his weekly WABC radio show yesterday, Bloomberg said "virtually" all...

PEE-WEE TAKES LOWE ROAD

LOS ANGELES - Paul Reubens - famed for playing the Pee-wee Herman character - could end up in prison for possessing a sex tape also owned by lots of Hollywood...

BUSH'S BATTLE CRY ; TROOPS GO WILD AS PREZ RATTLES SABER

President Bush yesterday gave a pumped-up pep talk to Army soldiers in Texas, telling them "crucial hours may lie ahead" in the looming war with Iraq. "We are ready; we're...

BUSH SOLDIERS ON: TROOPS GO WILD AS PREZ RATTLES SABER

President Bush yesterday gave a pumped-up pep talk to Army soldiers in Texas, telling them "crucial hours may lie ahead" in the looming war with Iraq. "We are ready; we're...

JETS TO FANS: BRING IN DA NOISE! CROWD CAN MESS WITH MANNING

He is The Thinking Man's Quarterback. Peyton Manning eats, sleeps and breathes football, and if you had the Einstein of quarterbacks on your side, you would give him the freedom...

FIESTA FOR OHIO ST. : UNDERDOGS STUN MIAMI TO CAPTURE NATIONAL TITLE

FIESTA BOWL / 2 OTOhio St. 31Miami 24 TEMPE - In what will go down as one of the greatest college football games in history, Ohio State pulled off an...

BARBER SAYS BACK TIGHTNESS IS NO PROBLEM

NFC WILD-CARD CONFIDENTIAL SAN FRANCISCO - As the Giants broke their team huddle following yesterday's final practice before heading west, one key player was not on the scene. Tiki Barber...

JINTS DOMINATED BUT COULD NOT FINISH JOB

DEC. 5, 2002Niners 16Giants 13 The NFL opened the 2002 season with a first-ever Thursday night prime-time game, and when it ended, it appeared as if the Giants were headed...

ECLIPSE AWARD FINALISTS ARE ANNOUNCED

Finalists for the 2002 Eclipse Awards honoring thoroughbred racing's year-end champions, to be presented Jan. 27 in Beverly Hills, were announced yesterday. They are, in alphabetical order:Horse of the Year:...

FIRED UP IN FRISCO : NOW THAT THEY'RE IN, GIANTS BURN TO WIN

SAN FRANCISCO - They don't care how they got here, don't care who they go against, could care less how they're perceived and absolutely aren't getting jittery about some mouthy...

BURIED BLUESHIRTS HAVE A LOT OF WORK TO DO

Facts and more facts on a Ranger team that opens a three-game homestand and the second half of its season at the Garden tonight in a must-win situation against the...

GANG NOT SO GREEN

AFC WILD-CARD CONFIDENTIAL The Jets are hoping experience carries them to their first playoff victory of the Herman Edwards era today. The Jets brought in nine players last offseason with...

PEYTON & INDY NEXT ON CHAD'S HIT LIST :JETS HAVE BIG PLANS IN PLAYOFFS

The last gunslinger to saunter into Giants Stadium with his arm loaded for a kill limped out of the building quietly and with a new-found respect for the Jets and...

GREAT SCOTT! BYRON HONORED

MIAMI - Last season, Byron Scott could have won NBA Coach of the Year - and felt he should have. He didn't. Jason Kidd? Well, he could have been the...

POUND-FOR-POUND, JASON'S BEST, LAUDS RILEY

MIAMI - Of course, Pat Riley knew about Jason Kidd while the Nets' guard was toiling in the Western Conference for seven seasons. Riley just didn't know how good Kidd...

FAVRE & VICK: QB SHOWCASE

Chances are a torch wouldn't stay lit long in this frigid snow country, but if it did, you might see it passed in tonight's first-round NFC tilt between the Packers...

FIESTA FOR THE AGES : TRADITION OF SUCCESS INSIPRES ACHIEVEMENT IN MIAMI, OHIO STATE

TEMPE - This was a showdown between a team that was trying to make history and one that was trying to recapture it. Miami went into last night's Fiesta Bowl...

STRAHAN KNOWS CBS 'WILL' GET IT DONE

SAN FRANCISCO - As the Giants' first line of defense, Michael Strahan's primary job is to move forward and wreak havoc in front of him, but there are times when...

BCS SCHOOLS MULL SWITCH TO PLAYOFF

TEMPE - The most controversial question in college football today (no, it's not if the players should get paid) is whether there should be a national championship playoff in Division...

SF'S MOUTH THAT ROARS : T.O. A TALENTED HOT DOG

SAN FRANCISCO - Showboating superstar or dedicated pro? Football fans every Sunday see Terrell Owens revel in his touchdowns and all-about-me celebrations. But coaches and teammates insist Owens is terribly...

JARVIS DECLARES: WE'RE READY TO PLAY

This St. John's team possesses talent, but not enough to have any slip-ups in games it should win. At noon today at the Garden, in its Big East opener, St....

RANGERS EYE OILER REJECT

Just when it seemed as if it couldn't get any more insane, here's this: The Post has learned that the Rangers are in negotiations to sign 34-year-old center Jiri Dopita,...

ISLES SHOWING SIGNS 2002 WOES ARE GONE

Islanders 8Bruins 4 The worm has officially turned. For the last week, the Islanders were percolating with passion and bubbling over with emotion with every step they took toward achieving...

SCHWAB GIVES UP NOTHING

Devils 2Leafs 0 Such is life as the Devils' backup. Corey Schwab notches his first shutout as a Devil, skunking the Leafs team he saved last year, and he rides...

KERRY BACK BUT HARRIS STILL STARS

MIAMI - Lucious Harris may only be a temp, but he has played - and is playing - as if he is a permanent fixture at off-guard for the Nets....

ANGRY ARTEST DUNKS TV CAMERA

It was a quiet night for native New Yorker Ron Artest until he went ballistic, picking up and hurling a TV monitor in the tunnel and pushing a television camera...

RUSHING TO CANTON: SUPER BOWL RING WOULD BE MARTIN'S HALL PASS

When Curtis Martin has completed his NFL career, he'll certainly have the credentials to be considered for the Hall of Fame: eight consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and counting, and among just...

HERM'S HEROES HAVE MORE HORSEPOWER : JETS WILL LEAVE INDY IN REAR-VIEW MIRROR

This is a game most Jets fans never thought they'd see this season. Not after a 2-5 start. But here they are, the 9-7 AFC East champions, facing the 10-6...

KIDS CATCHIN' ON TO JOLTIN' JEREMY'S WAY

It's a subtle phenomenon, but Craig McBroom could spot it almost from the beginning. Ada, Okla., used to be like most football-mad towns across America: the best kids always wanted...

NATURAL-BORN THRILLERS: PENNINGTON AND SHOCKEY TRANSFORMING N.Y.FOOTBALL IN THEIR OWN UNIQUE WAY

They are polar opposites and identical twins. They are exactly the same and completely different. Jeremy Shockey and Chad Pennington. Chad Pennington and Jeremy Shockey. Welcome to the yin and...

LITTLE GIANT STANDS TALL : TIKI'S SECRETS FOR SURVIVING AND THRIVING IN NFL

The Giants took poor losses, made terrible decisions, suffered awful injuries, but proved built to last, like their formerly best offensive weapon, who is redeemed by becoming their second-best weapon....

GIANTS COOKING UP SAN FRANCISCO TREAT : BIG BLUE 'PASSING' THROUGH ON WAY TO SECOND ROUND

Nothing special was expected from the Giants heading into training camp. They lost four of their first seven games, key players went down with injuries and speculation grew about the...

FOR DEVILS, A CENTRAL OVERLOAD: LACK OF FIREPOWER FORCES PIVOTS OUTSIDE

Since the Devils' scoring follies can't be Pat Burns' fault, and he said so, perhaps part of the problem is the dearth of true scoring wingers on the squadron. Perhaps...

BENCH IS A FORCE FOR KNICKS

KNICK NOTES Three of the Knicks' current bench men - Charlie Ward, Clarence Weatherspoon and Shandon Anderson - began the season in the starting lineup. Now they're proving more valuable...

STILL MR. SOFTEE: WEIS NOT WOWING IN SPAIN, EITHER

Place him on the Knick roster now and he'd easily be their tallest player - half a foot taller than 6-foot-8 starting center Kurt Thomas. But not much has changed...

BLAKE'S HUSTLE AN ISLE CONSTANT

Many Islander fans have been saying all season that if you cut out Jason Blake's heart and put it in the chests of the other 20 Islanders players that they...