January 19, 2003

BULL'S EYE

No good time for sales call AT&T may have taken the mantra "Always be selling" a little too far. The telecom, which The Post reported on Friday is restructuring its...

ARM YOURSELF WITH FUNDS HEAVY IN MILITARY STOCKS AS WAR LOOMS

MUTUAL fund shareholders are often reminded to take a long-term view about their investments. Frequent trading in and out of fund shares costs investors big - both in fees and...

MARCIA KILGORE'S BLISS IS ALL WORK

While it's not the most glamorous of offices, Marcia Kilgore's space in DUMBO is certainly functional. The long, skinny office the founder of the Bliss spas occupies is chock full...

DVDS FAST-FOWARD, PASS VCR CONSUMER SALES

Consumers pushed the "stop" button on VCRs in 2002 and resoundingly hit "play" for DVD machines, marking a decisive blow in this increasingly one- sided home entertainment battle, industry sales...

STARR REPORT

Kathie Lee's got a new morning gig Kathie Lee Gifford is returning to morning television - at least for three days. Gifford, who split from "Live with Regis & Kathie...

IN THE DARK WITH MR. DARCY

With the light fading across the Argentine Pampas, I sat on a horse with the dark, handsome lawyer from Buenos Aires. "If I was Mr. Darcy, would I kiss you...

SO WHAT IF THEIR PETS CAN'T READ? OWNERS WRITE TO THEIR ANIMALS

Have you ever felt compelled to send a letter to your pet?Michael La Rue has. He's so crazy about his Shih Tzu, Lexi, that he was inspired to put his...

SEX IN SEARCH OF A DISTRIBUTOR

THE notorious "Ken Park" has yet to land a U.S. distributor, but it will be getting a screening here. Directed by Larry Clark and Ed Lachman, it unreels Feb. 9...

THE PERILS OF THE PRE-SHOW: KNIVES OUT! JOAN AND MELISSA GET READY FOR TONIGHT'S GOLDEN GLOBES

She may not know "Lord of the Rings" from Harry Winston, but Joan Rivers will prove that she still rules the red carpet at tonight's Golden Globes. At last week's...

HOPES OF A BOWL NEW WORLD RAIDERS & TITANS SUPED UP FOR CLASH

OAKLAND - Tim Brown is the poster child for the Raiders' quest to capture their first Super Bowl title in 18 years. Brown has played for the Raiders for 15...

LEONA'S FRUIT OF THE LOOMS

ONE wore her undies, so she gave him a pink slip. The other was into leather, so she gave him the boot. Is Leona Helmsley a kind, if misguided octogenarian,...

TRY THE PRIESTHOOD

LAST week, the world was rocked when rocker Pete Townshend was arrested for viewing kiddie porn sites, despite the fact that he says he never downloaded any child pornography, and...

HEY, JOE, WHADDYA KNOW? A KOSHER CANDIDATE!

LAST week, Sen. Joe Lieberman, the first Jewish candidate for president of the United States, threw his yarmulke into the ring, saying he's confident voters want a "strong U.S.-Israel relationship."...

FESTIVAL FILMGOERS CATCHING AN EARLY BUZZ

IT'S the early days at the Sundance Film Festival, and official kudos won't be doled out until Saturday night, but after two days of back-to-back screenings, The Post has seen...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Tycoons are begging on the streets of Moscow in a game to fight stress. They pay to wear clothes that are stained to give them a foul odor - and...

COPS EYE FISHY HUBBY OVER 2ND MISSING GAL

The husband of a missing pregnant woman is now being eyed in the bizarre disappearance of a blond college coed six years ago, California cops said yesterday. Scott Peterson -...

NYERS IN ANTI-WAR CRY AT D.C. RALLY

Hundreds of New Yorkers joined tens of thousands of button-wearing, sign-waving, slogan-chanting protesters in Washington, D.C., yesterday at an anti-war rally - one of several worldwide denouncing America's pending war...

BUSH BOUNCES BACK IN POPULARITY POLL

President Bush's popularity grew this week - up 3 points from a poll conducted just days earlier. The Gallup Organization released numbers early last week showing Bush's approval rating plummeting...

THE 411 ON 311: WAIT & $EE

The city is set to open its new high-tech 311 non-emergency call center next month, but no one seems to know just how much it will cost the cash-strapped city....

ALLY HELD KEYS TO DEM 'JAIL BREAKS'

ALBANY - A secret federal report says a close ally of Brooklyn Assemblyman Roger Green steered a scandal-linked company's campaign help to prominent politicians, The Post has learned. The feds'...

COPS SHOOT EX-DETECTIVE'S 'GUN'-WAVING SON

The son of a retired New York City narcotics detective was shot in the leg by police outside his family home in Queens yesterday - after brandishing what looked like...

A-TRAIN CONDUCTOR TRAGEDY

A subway conductor on the job for a little more than a year was killed on a Queens station platform early yesterday after she stuck her head out of a...

NEW LAFAYETTE HS ATTACK

Brooklyn's beleaguered Lafayette HS is failing the grade for safety again after another kid was beaten up last week. Freshman Kristina Martinez said she was attacked by another girl after...

NEW REALITY: VIEWERS PLAY MATCHMAKER

Here's a dilemma: You're a reality TV fanatic who's got an itch to get hitched, but just can't find the perfect mate. Why not let America decide whom you should...

SURVIVOR'S HORROR STORY ; BRAVE STUDENT URGES: DON'T CUT TRANSIT STAFF

The courageous student viciously slashed on a subway platform barely a week ago wants to meet with Mayor Bloomberg and persuade him to fight to keep token booths open -...

SHAME OF DIPLOMA-LESS HUNK

LOS ANGELES - Not only is "Joe Millionaire" a financial fraud, he's also a high school dropout. Evan Marriott, the 28-year-old star of Fox's reality mega-hit, confessed yesterday he left...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

QUEENS This is a police sketch of the thug who tried to kidnap two women on Thursday afternoon. Cops said the man pulled up beside a 35-year-old woman at 33rd...

OLD MAN WINTER FROST-BITES BIG APPLE

Arctic-like temperatures continued to freeze the Big Apple to its core yesterday - keeping many New Yorkers indoors and driving the city's homeless people into shelters. "It's packed in here....

GLOBAL SWARMING ; TOP TALENT SHINES OVER AWARD BASH

A gaggle of Tinseltown's pushiest drama queens - including Meryl, Nicole, Julianne, Renee and Catherine Z-J - are all after the same thing tonight: the gleaming Golden Globe Award. This...

VICTORIA GOTTI

THE QUEEN RULES: I don't know who is telling the truth in the juicy discrimination case between Leona Helmsley and her gay former Park Lane Hotel manager Charles Bell, but...

OH NO, LOOK OUT, JOE ; 'MILLIONAIRE'S' MOJO JUST A GOLD-DIGGER, SAY OLD PALS

Be warned, Joe Millionaire - it's time to give MoJo the heave-ho. The leggy Indianapolis blonde has not only let it slip that she's interested in your "hefty" bank account,...

'WORRIED' BLIX READY TO PUSH SLOW SADDAM

The United Nations' chief weapons inspector in Iraq said today that he is "worried" by the discovery of nuclear weapons documents in the home of one of Saddam Hussein's scientists...

FIRED PAIR: BOSS BIASED

Two cell-phone store workers from Brooklyn say they were the victims of an anti-Semitic intimidation campaign waged by their boss, who joked about the Holocaust and blamed Jews for the...

BANK BANDITS TAKING 'NOTE' OF EASY TAKE AT TELLER WINDOWS

Brazen bandits have used notes to demand cash in 25 bank holdups in the first 13 business days of this year, according to a high-ranking law-enforcement official. Only a few...

BUSTS FOR 9/11 UNIONS

Members of a union that cleared debris from Ground Zero are set to be charged with taking pay for ghost jobs and scheming with underworld figures, The Post has learned....

YOU'VE GOT E-MAIL

FROM: avpriori: "Linda, you missed the biggest irony of all. This guy Joseph Massino, boss of the Bonanno family which you pointed out means 'Good Year,' is the family blimp."...

INSIDE LOOK AT LAVISH LEONA ; SHE MAY BE THE QUEEN, BUT HER CANINE IS KING

Leona Helmsley loves Trouble . . . and "Columbo." Those are just two of the tidbits that have emerged in former Park Lane Hotel manager Charles Bell's $40 million gay-bias...

RUDY $ECURITY SHOCKER

The city spent $4.5 million a year on up to 44 detectives to protect former mayor Rudy Giuliani, his family and his fiancee, The Post has learned. Nine detectives, each...

CLUB KID CULKIN ; GROWN-UP MACAULAY A SURPRISE IN SLAY TALE

When the body of 26-year-old club kid Angel Melendez, stuffed in a box, washed up on a beach on Staten Island in 1996, suspicion fell on Melendez's roommate, Michael Alig,...

UNION BIG WRITES WAY INTO PRISON

A well-connected union worker is expected to plead guilty this week to racketeering after his misplaced address book provided key evidence that exposed a long-running no-show job scheme at city...

ANALYZE THIS: HOW UNLIKELY WALL ST. STAR FELL

SELDOM does a sullen underachiever who earned D's in high school get to conquer New York, let alone Wall Street. But brunette charmer Holly Becker hit town at 24, armed...

9/11 VACUUM 'SCHEMERS' CALLED ON THE CARPET

Federal officials are warning New Yorkers to avoid unscrupulous salesmen seeking to profit from a 9/11 program to provide residents with air filters and vacuums - by misleadingly peddling their...

TOP TALENT SHINES OVER AWARD BASH

A gaggle of Tinseltown's pushiest drama queens - including Meryl, Nicole, Julianne, Renee and Catherine Z-J - are all after the same thing tonight: the gleaming Golden Globes award. This...

SHARK DECLINES IN DISPUTE

COMMERCIAL longliners have decimated shark populations in the North Atlantic to such an extent that some species may never be able to rebound, researchers say. A study in Friday's issue...

'CATFIGHT' BEER AD WENT TO BAD FROM WORSE

EVEN the frenzied race to see who can establish a new low has its boundaries. You've likely seen the new TV commercial for Miller Lite that displays two large-breasted young...

JEROMY CAN SAY NO TO O'S DEAL ; COULD WAIVE CLAUSE - FOR A PRICE

Jeromy Burnitz has a no-trade clause to the Orioles, so Steve Phillips can do all the window shopping he wants. Ultimately, Burnitz isn't going anywhere near Baltimore unless he's paid...

HOPES OF A BOWL NEW WORLD ; RAIDERS & TITANS SUPED UP FOR CLASH

OAKLAND - Tim Brown is the poster child for the Raiders' quest to capture their first Super Bowl title in 18 years. Brown has played for the Raiders for 15...

YASHIN'S PLAY IS 'D'-VELOPING

ATLANTA - Alexei Yashin will never be in the running for the Selke Award as the league's best defensive forward, but in the last week, his play has been noticeably...

GONE IN 60 MINUTES

OAKLAND - The Final Fourlorn reach for the Super Bowl today. This is the day that truly defines the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The Eagles have...

PHILLY 'O' MUST SHOW

PHILADELPHIA - The old adage is that offense wins games, defense wins championships. Tell that to the Bucs, who haven't been to a Super Bowl despite perennially having one of...

TIME TO FACE THE COLD, HARD TRUTH ; BIRDS CAN ALMOST FEEL WARMTH OF SUNNY SAN DIEGO

PHILADELPHIA - At some point, the climb either has to reach the peak or else everything comes tumbling down and those making the journey are back where they started. For...

PLAYOFFS SEEM TAYLOR-MADE

NFC CONFIDENTIAL PHILADELPHIA - Cornerback Bobby Taylor, in the NFC Championship Game against the Buccaneers today, plays in his 10th playoff game for the Eagles, more than anyone in franchise...

KNICKS NEED HOME RUN ; RETURN TO GARDEN BREAKS UP GRIND

ATLANTA - No matter what happened last night in Atlanta, the Knicks will embrace coming home to the Garden for a five-game homestand. Despite their home sellout streak being snapped...

NEDNEY GETS SHOT AT DOUBLE REVENGE

CHAMPIONSHIP CONFIDENTIAL OAKLAND - Titans kicker Joe Nedney booted a 26-yard overtime field goal to propel his team into today's AFC Championship Game against the Raiders. It would be wildly...

EVERYTHING'S ALIGNED FOR DONOVAN'S STAR TO SHINE

PHILADELPHIA - The first lesson along the fast track that today has Donovan McNabb playing the game he was always meant to play was a quick study in grace in...

STORMING BACK; HATTEN'S 19 IN FINAL 6:21 RALLIES ST. JOHN'S

St. John's 77G'town 72 WASHINGTON - The horn sounded in a silent MCI Center and St. John's, arms raised, towels waving, charged off the bench. They collided with the five...

CONFIDENT NETS PLAN PERFECT TRIP

Call it bravado, confidence or plain old optimism. Whatever it is, the Nets are feeling it. As they embark on a telling West Coast trip tomorrow, one that features four...

LADY HUSKIES CAN DRIVE 55; SPEED PAST G'TOWN FOR RECORD-SETTING WIN

UConn 72G'town 49 HARTFORD - As the Civic Center crowd chanted, "Fifty-five, fifty-five," UConn women's basketball program added another piece of history to their three national titles. An advertisement on...

BUCS BEST BE READY TO BUNDLE UP AGAIN

PHILADELPHIA - The Buccaneers feel their dreadful record (1-21) in games played in temperatures below 40 degrees has little to do with this current team, since 13 of the losses...

FINALLY, 'CANE CURSE ENDS ; DEVILS GET REVENGE IN RALEIGH

"Winning against them is a relief because we haven't beaten them in a long time."MARTIN BRODEUR It required goals that were anything but routine, yet the undermanned Devils Friday managed...

SNAKE MOUNTAIN ROARS

Snake Mountain, coupled with Voodoo as the 1-5 favorite, sat off the pace set by his entrymate, blew past him at the top of the stretch and drew off to...

WILKENS AT A LOSS ; RAPTORS CONSIDER DUMPING COACH

TWICE enshrined Lenny Wilkens probably has no idea to this composition how close he came to being deported from Toronto less than two weeks ago. Yet surely the Hall of...

LINDROS HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT GOOD SOLDIER

If you heard it once, you heard it a thousand times out of Philadelphia, how Eric Lindros was this selfish, immature, trouble-making, root cause of the Flyers' failure to win...

SERGEI-WINGS MARRIAGE MAY BE ON ROCKS ; FEDOROV SAYS NYET TO 5-YEAR, $50M OFFER

SERGEI Fedorov's future in Detroit is now very much in doubt. Slap Shots has learned the 32-year-old center has rejected a five-year, $50-million offer that has now been taken off...

HOT ELIAS MAKES DIFFERENCE

Devils 5Hurricanes 2 It started when he started, and it's still going. The Devils haven't lost since Patrik Elias rediscovered his goal-scoring touch seven games ago. Team, team, team is...

'WEATHER' BRIGHTENS: KNICKS REBOUNDON 'SPOON GEM

Knicks 95 Hawks 92 ATLANTA - Clarence Weatherspoon had already saved the Knicks on the offensive end, mounting a season-high 18 points. But the Knicks needed one last defensive stop...

CHANEY GANG EYES HOME RUN

KNICK NOTES ATLANTA - Following last night's win in Atlanta, the Knicks will embrace coming home to the Garden for a five-game homestand, starting tomorrow in their MLK Day matinee...

NOTHIN' DOIN': TITLE WEEKEND A WASTELAND FOR NEW YORK FANS

OAKLAND -- These are the toughest games to watch, the one here at the Network Associates Coliseum, the other one 3,000 miles away at The Vet, conference championship games with...

THE INSIDERS: THE POST TAKES YOU BEHIND THE LOCKER-ROOM DOORS

Party Crasher So what does the world's greatest gate crasher do when the Super Bowl is in his own backyard? What he does best, of course. "Oh sure, I'm going...

THE MATCHUPS: PLENTY OF CHILLS & SPILLS AS EAGLES ROCK VET ONE LAST TIME

The Buccaneers return to their house of horrors, the Vet, to play the Eagles in today's NFC Championship Game. The following is a matchup look at the game: QUARTERBACKS and...

THE MATCHUPS: COLISEUM CRAZIES WILL PLAY ROLE IN CRASH OF THE TITANS

The Raiders host the Titans in today's AFC Championship Game at Network Associates Coliseum for the right to play in Super Bowl XXXVII. Here's a look at how The Post...