March 10, 2005

RUMOR MILL MAKES OIL - SPECULATORS PROFIT FROM SHARPLY RISING PRICES

THE Bush Administration is considering investing hundreds of billions of dollars to develop alternative forms of car engines, including hybrids, in an attempt to quickly wean Americans off oil, according...

$2M MERRILL HARASS-CASE WINNER FIGHTS FOR OLD JOB

The Merrill Lynch stockbroker who won a landmark $2.2 million sex-harassment award for the firm's frat-house antics returns to court today - to get back her old job. Hydie Sumner...

TRADE SECRETS - NYSE TRADER BUSTED FOR 'FRONT-RUNNING' SCHEME

A 48-year old former floor trader at the New York Stock Exchange was busted yesterday for operating a "front-running" scheme that netted him $300,000 over 17 months. Frank Furino, who...

COACH PURSE-SUES LVMH IN JAPAN

Coach is taking on Bernard Arnault's LVMH, specifically its Louis Vuitton brand, in Japan. The American luxury accessories-maker, besides opening new stores there, yesterday filed a complaint accusing Paris-based LVMH...

BIKE CELL CHARGER PEDALED

First there were cell phone chargers for the car, then solar-powered chargers, USB chargers and then hand-crank chargers - all designed to ensure that people, no matter where they were,...

OPTIONS EXCHANGE IPO CLIMBS 69%

International Securities Exchange blasted out of the gate yesterday to post the best first-day performance of an initial public offering in almost four years. The four-year old New York-based electronics...

HEALTHY, WEALTHY, & WISER

Galleys for a racy new self-help book co-written by Rodale vice chairwoman Maria Rodale and her daughter Maya are being hotly passed around by employees at the health-conscious publishing giant....

SIGNS OF CHANGE AT KMART

Kmart Holdings Corp. said yesterday that it plans to convert more than a quarter of its stores to Sears nameplates, following its acquisition of Sears, Roebuck & Co. The roughly...

BOEING TO EXTREMES - SECURITY FEARS MAY HAVE FORCED OUT CEO

The love affair between a sexy lobbyist and defense industry chief Harry Stonecipher of Boeing may have compromised Pentagon secrets, leading to his abrupt ouster. As CEO, Stonecipher had headed...

BRITS IN SNITS - WENNER WINS LEGAL TUG OF WAR FOR HOT EDITOR

The tug of war for hot Brit editor Nicola McCarthy is over, The Post has learned, throwing the launch plans for an American version of OK! into question. Richard Desmond,...

OPTIONS EXCHANGE IPO SOARS

International Securities Exchange blasted out of the gate yesterday to post the best first-day performance of an initial public offering in almost four years. The four-year old New York-based electronics...

STARR REPORT

Radio daze at 'NEWHere we go again . . . WNEW, which changes formats and lineups with alarming regularity, has now dropped RuPaul from its DJ roster after six months,...

HIP-HOP DON - 'APPRENTICE' FUSES WITH NEW MUSIC NET

TONIGHT'S episode of "The Apprentice" features words you might not recognize - unless you're familiar with the worlds of rap and hip hop. The usually businesslike world of "Apprentice" teams...

GO AHEAD, MAKE MY LIST . . .

SORRY, "When Harry Met Sally" fans, but the list of funniest movie lines of all time has been inscribed in glossy paper by the magazine gods, and "I'll have what...

MAKING LITTLE 'PROGRESS' IN COMEDY

JOHN Stamos' new show, "Jake In Progress," is a cudda-been a contendah sitcom that probably won't be - unless it gets better writers. Not that the show doesn't have a...

NEED A CUBE FIX - ASTOR PLACE ICON GONE

WHAT happened to the cube? That was the question on many minds in the East Village yesterday as passers-by eyed an empty space where the Astor Place sculpture has stood...

LONG GOODBYE - DRY-EYED RATHER SIGNS OFF

DAN should have quit while he was ahead. "We've shared a lot in the 24 years we've been meeting here each evening and, before I say goodnight this night, I...

DISABLED GET IN THE BOARDROOM

A quadriplegic lawyer from St. Louis has reached a settlement with the producers of "The Apprentice" in a discrimination lawsuit. The lawyer, James Schottel Jr., alleged that language in the...

STUD FINDER - PICKUP IN AISLE 1: HARDWARE GIANT A SINGLES HOT SPOT

WHEN it comes to meeting women in Manhattan, Matt Weinberg, a 39-year-old salesman, says there's no place like the bathroom fixtures aisle of the Home Depot on West 23rd Street....

MIKE KEEPS ON GIVING TO FOES

MIKE Bloomberg just wound up taking a political hit on an issue where he's entirely in the right. Consider it one measure of why this year's mayoral election still isn't...

HS THEFT BUST BAGS POT STASH

A student was arrested with 17 bags of marijuana after swiping a Nintendo Game Boy from a classmate and attacking him in their Brooklyn high school, authorities said yesterday. The...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

STATEN ISLAND * A 19-year-old man allegedly carrying marijuana was arrested after he beat an acquaintance with a broomstick in the victim's Great Kills home, authorities said yesterday. Police said...

BILL GETS IN SWING FOR OP - UPBEAT ASHE GOES TOHOSP TODAY

Bill Clinton enjoyed a round of golf yesterday - and said he's at peace with his life - just one day before he was to check into a hospital for...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

Bruce Charles Englar is a bahhhhh-d boy. Cops busted the 53-year-old man for allegedly using twine to tie up a sheep and have sex with it in a barn in...

ANOTHER 'DONNIE BRASCO'

The FBI agent who infiltrated the Gambino crime family did it so effectively, he was nearly "made." The 48-year-old unidentified agent became a "listed" member of mobster Greg DePalma's crew...

POLITICAL FOOTBALL IS CO$TLY

ALBANY - A whopping $29 million was spent last year on lobbying related to Mayor Bloomberg's proposed West Side stadium for the Jets, a new report shows. Anti-stadium advocates vastly...

COOKIE RUSH FOR GIRL SCOUT

Post readers have opened up their hearts - and gone off their diets - to help Girl Scout Gracemarie Louis, whose dad was ticketed by NYPD for helping her deliver...

'911' HUSBAND FREEZES TO DEATH

A Long Island dad froze to death in Tuesday night's snowstorm - because he fell and hit his head on the ice in the Hamptons and couldn't tell police on...

JURY LEARNS HOW TO ROB A BANK

A burly bank burglar who confessed to hundreds of heists that netted more than $5 million schooled jurors on the art of emptying night-deposit boxes, as he fingered an alleged...

WINTER HAS MADE US THE BLUE APPLE

Down in the dumps as our unusually harsh winter drags on and on? You're not alone - New York is smack in the middle of the cold-weather blahs, with the...

COPS WILL UPDATE RAP SHEETS

The NYPD is beefing up its hip-hop surveillance teams following the beef between rapper 50 Cent and his former protégé The Game, law-enforcement sources said yesterday. "They're going to feel...

TV CRITIC HILLARY A GOP ALLY - PUSHES ANTI-SMUT BILL

WASHINGTON - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton teamed up yesterday with two of the Senate's most conservative Republicans to warn Americans about the impact of televised sex and violence on young...

YOU, TOO, CAN BACK UP THE BRAVEST

New Yorkers are opening their hearts and wallets for the Heroes Fund - and you can, too. The fund was set up by the New York Post and the Uniformed...

TAXI FIX IN WORKS FOR B'KLYN

Hailing a cab in Brooklyn could go the way of the horse and buggy if an economic think tank has its way. The Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn, an organization...

FITTY AND GAME'S PHONY WAR JUST A CON TO SELL DISCS

IN RAP, it's all about keeping it real. Yet, in an orchestrated exercise in spin control yesterday, 50 Cent and his old friend and new sworn enemy The Game kissed...

BUBBA'S BUSH BOOST A BIG HIT FOR THE MRS.

THE Oval Office love fest between Bill Clinton and President Bush showed Clinton masterfully doing his trademark triangulating - in a manner that could boost his wife, the presumptive 2008...

DEFIANT SISTERS' QUEST FOR JUSTICE IN IRA SLAY

On the evening of Jan. 30, Robert McCartney went to Magennis's Whiskey Cafe in Belfast to have a quiet drink with a friend. The father of two young children was...

BOY SAVES SIBS FROM FATAL FIRE

An early-morning fire in a Bronx apartment killed a woman yesterday, but her 11-year-old son managed to save himself and lead his two brothers to safety. Although the fire at...

MOBSTERS' BEDSIDE BLUNDER

The Gambino crime family turned the nursing-home bedside of a comatose mobster into a wiseguy headquarters where they could talk shop without fear of being overheard, authorities said. But federal...

KLEIN: SEND 'LEMON' TEACHERS TO JUNKYARD

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday kicked up his criticism of the teachers' contract - urging principals to put the squeeze on a practice known as "passing the lemon." The custom...

311 IS 'HOT' LINE - FREEZING CITY TENANTS ARE NO. 1 CALLERS

Lack of heat and hot water were the top reasons steamed New Yorkers sounded off to the 311 non-emergency line since it kicked off exactly two years ago. Some 18...

'GAY'BOB DEBUT - CITY PUPILS FIRST TO SEE SQUAREPANTS MUSIC VIDEO

Students at a Manhattan elementary school today will be the first in the country to view a controversial children's video starring SpongeBob SquarePants and other animated characters that conservatives charge...

'MACAQUE' MAN FACES WELFARE RAP

The "disabled" ex-con who owned an "attack macaque" that bit a child was arraigned yesterday on charges that he monkeyed around with his welfare benefits. Steven Seidler, a former cop...

MIRACLE MAN LEAVES HOSP - LAST OF 'BLACK SUNDAY' FIRE HEROES

The last of four firefighters severely injured when they jumped from a burning Bronx building left the hospital yesterday to a hero's welcome as colleagues joined family and friends to...

DROPOUT RATE FALLS IN CITY SCHOOLS

Strong improvements by black and Hispanic students helped cut the dropout rate in city schools last year, new figures show. At the same time, on-time school graduation rates continue to...

KID SAVES SIBS - BUT MOM DIES IN BRONX BLAZE

An early-morning fire in a Bronx apartment killed a 33-year-old Bronx woman yesterday, but her brave 11-year-old son managed to lead his two younger brothers to safety. Although the fire...

SPONGE AND HIS BUBBLY BUDDIES TICKLE ME PINK

WHILE some may argue that any sponge who's square can't be straight, the "We Are Family" music video hitting schools this week pretty much proves it. Of course, Bob is...

PRODUCER SUES CBS

A former "60 Minutes" producer says CBS used her minor role in the Dan Rather "memogate" scandal to demote her and replace her with a younger worker - a 60-year-old....

TRAITOUR DE FRANCE - LANCE BACKS PARIS OVER N.Y. FOR GAMES

He dumped his wife and now he's turned his back on his country. Lance Armstrong, six-time winner of the Tour de France cycling race, said yesterday that Paris, not the...

COPS HEADING EAST - THIRD OF NASSAU CLASS IS EX-NYPD

More than one-third of the cops joining the Nassau County police tomorrow quit the ranks of New York's Finest for greener suburban pastures, The Post has learned. Lured primarily by...

G-MAN A MOLE IN THE MAFIA - UNCOVERSEXTORT VS.RADIO DJ 'GOUMBA'

An iron-nerved undercover FBI agent infiltrated the Gambino crime family and uncovered a wealth of rackets - including the extortion of wisecracking DJ "Goumba Johnnie," who was pressured into giving...

CANCER DOCTOR BUSTED - GOT WAKSAL TIP: FEDS

The ImClone insider- trading scandal that landed domestic diva Martha Stewart in prison claimed two more casualties yesterday, including a top doctor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Martha pal Sam...

PERVY POP KING LURED ME ONLINE TO LOOK AT PORNO PIX

Michael Jackson's young accuser took the stand at the King of Pop's sex trial yesterday, locked eyes with his alleged molester and told of how he spent his first night...

JETS DRAFT GIANTS FOR HELP IN STADIUM BLITZ

The Jets have approached the Giants about joining them in the fight for a West Side stadium, a source said yesterday, as negotiations between the Giants and New Jersey collapsed....

IRA-SLAY KIN TAKE QUEST FOR JUSTICE TO BUSH

On the evening of Jan. 30, Robert McCartney went to Magennis's Whiskey Cafe in Belfast to have a quiet drink with a friend. The father of two young children was...

G-MAN A MOLE IN THE MAFIA - UNCOVERS EXTORT VS. RADIO DJ 'GOUMBA'

An iron-nerved FBI agent infiltrated the Gambino crime family and uncovered a raft of rackets that included extorting wisecracking radio DJ "Goumba Johnny" to get free ad time for mobbed-up...

311 A 'HOT' LINE FOR COLD TENANTS

Lack of heat and hot water were the top reasons steamed New Yorkers sounded off to the 311 non-emergency line since it kicked off exactly two years ago. Some 18...

HEALTH SCAMMER SENTENCED

A former Health Department fiscal administrator was sentenced to 18 months in the slammer yesterday for embezzling more than $120,000 by submitting payments to a bogus catering company. Imeh Jones...

DETECTIVE STABBED IN DRUG BUY-BUST

Drug dealers stabbed a narcotics detective during a buy-and-bust operation in a housing project near Lincoln Center last night, cops said. The 11-year NYPD vet, whose name was withheld because...

KLEIN SOUR ON 'LEMON' TEACHERS

Schools Chancellor Joel Klein yesterday kicked up his criticism of the teachers' contract - urging principals to put the squeeze on a practice known as "passing the lemon." The custom...

GOD SHALL KILL ARIEL: TOP RABBI

One of Israel's most prominent rabbis said that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be struck dead because he is "evil," it was reported yesterday. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of...

E. SIDE DEATH PLUNGE

A 28-year-old man who was smoking out the window of an Upper East Side apartment plunged six stories to his death yesterday morning, police said. Cops are unsure whether Ian...

B'KLYN TAXI FIX - ONE-CALL SOLUTION FOR CAB CRISIS

Hailing a cab in Brooklyn could go the way of the horse and buggy if an economic think tank has its way. The Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn - an...

WINTER HAS MADE US BLUE APPLE

Down in the dumps as our unusually harsh winter drags on and on? You're not alone - New York is smack in the middle of the cold-weather blahs, with the...

CLASSROOM EXTRA - WOMEN'S HISTORY EDITION - BELLA ABZUG - NATURAL BORN REBEL

"Sometimes I'm asked when I became a feminist, and I usually answer, 'The day I was born.' " - Bella Abzug Bella Savitzky was born in The Bronx on July...

HAND IT TO CARTER FOR BOUNCING BACK

NET NOTES NEW ORLEANS - Vince Carter vowed he would shoot better than the previous night when a bruised right index finger and hand led to a 4-of-18 nightmare. Well,...

KNIGHTS' DREAM LIVES - RUTGERS KOS FIGHTING IRISH IN MSG UPSET

Rutgers 72 - N. Dame 65 After the most inexplicable - and arguably most damaging - loss of the season, the Notre Dame players initially deferred questions about their postseason...

HERB'S EARNED HIS KEEP - RIGHT MAN FOR KNICKS IF JAX, BROWN SAY NO

THERE will be no contract extension forthcoming for Herb Williams now, nor should there be. The days when James Dolan lavished Don Chaney with two extensions for being a good...

SEASON SLIPPING AWAY - NETS' PLAYOFF CHANCES DWINDLE

NEW ORLEANS - The world is falling down around the Nets. The season is virtually in flames and they are fiddling away, somehow trying to convince themselves they'll get this...

CARTER ABLE TO GIVE NETS HAND

NET NOTES NEW ORLEANS - Keep telling yourself "It can always be worse." Now, as difficult as that may be to digest for the Nets these days, it really could...

SKI RESORTS OFFERING LOTS OF GREAT DEALS

THIS winter just about every ski trail in the Northeast is snow covered, which is great for skiers, but not always the resorts. There are only so many skiers to...

KNICKS GOING BOWLING

The Knicks will hold their annual fundraiser, Knicks Bowl VI, at Chelsea Piers tonight at 6 p.m., an event that supports the Red Holzman Cheering for Children Foundation. The Knicks...

A FEW GOOD PEN - MANY CANDIDATES FOR METS RELIEF

PORT ST. LUCIE - Braden Looper. Mike DeJean. Felix Heredia. Then uncertainty, uncertainty and uncertainty. The Mets bullpen still ranks as the team's biggest concern, just as it was heading...

KARSAY MAY NOT BE READY FOR OPENER

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - When Yankees camp opened, Joe Torre said he planned to carry 12 pitchers and that Steve Karsay was one of the dozen. Though Torre isn't ready...

'NOVA HERO: NOT HIGH VS. HOYAS

Twenty years after beating Georgetown in arguably the greatest upset in the NCAA Tournament championship history, Villanova (21-6) is back among the nation's elite teams. The Wildcats begin play today...

FDU COACH TIPS CAP TO WAGNER

Chasing a remarkable fourth NCAA trip with Fairleigh Dickinson, Tom Green didn't begrudge Wagner its Cinderella togs. He was just hoping glass slippers weren't suitable hardcourt footwear. "I'd rather be...

MARTINEZ IS PLEASED WITH OUTING

MET NOTES PORT ST. LUCIE - With rain washing out yesterday's Mets-Cards contest, Pedro Martinez's second spring start turned into a simulated game instead. Martinez fired 65 pitches against two...

COVE CREEK HOLDS OFF 'HONEY'

1ST RACE - Is there more formful horse on grounds than filly Honey Fritters? Beaten favorite two straight, including last out when she set pace, finished second by neck. She...

BIG BLUE BUTTERS UP BURRESS

Finally, he arrived. Plaxico Burress yesterday afternoon got to Giants Stadium from his home in Miami and commenced with some socializing. He met the coaching staff and last night was...

HEAT'S ON THE IRISH - THEY NEED SOLID TOURNEY SHOWING FOR DANCE INVITE

For the last four years there have been constants at Notre Dame: The football coach has come under fire from fans, boosters, trustees, alums, former players, talk-show hosts. The debate...

RAF'S APPEAL TO THE CHIEF - MAY ASK PAL DUBYA TO KO SUBPOENA

FT. LAUDERDALE - Yesterday morning, before he was served with a subpoena, Orioles slugger Rafael Palmeiro said he might contact his old friend, President Bush, to help him get out...

COLES DEAL BECOMES FINAL

No Jets receiver has ever been more in sync with Chad Pennington than Laveranues Coles. And so no one around the team figures to be happier that Coles is back...

STONE HINGE - XAVERIAN SENIOR FRIES RICE IN 4TH

CHSAA FINAL: Xaverian 67 - Rice 66 Saiquon Stone said that he and his teammates had learned from last year. He and fellow senior Levance Fields were determined not to...

SEAHAWKS' CINDERELLA SLIPPER SHATTERS

NEC FINALS: FDU 58 - Wagner 52 Wagner's Cinderella glass slippers didn't have high enough heels. The 4-inch advantage at center was glaring, and Fairleigh Dickinson coach Tom Green exploited...

GIRLS' TITLE A REMATCH

PSAL SEMIFINALS: Lewis 58 - Midwood 49 Francis Lewis has been in this position before. A year ago at this time, Lewis was on its way to Madison Square Garden...

SETON FALL - LATE COLLAPSE ENDS PIRATE'S SEASON

G'town 56 - Seton Hall 51 The meltdown was a microcosm of Seton Hall's disappointing season, a perfect picture of the growing pains the Pirates have had to endure. Miss...

NETS SURVIVE IN OT

OTNets 86Hornets 85 NEW ORLEANS - Maybe the death knell would not have been official. But it would have sounded for the Nets, no question. Reeling with a three-game losing...

JASON, OBVIOUSLY, IS ONE OF THE STEROID SEVEN

TAMPA - In what many people connected to Major League Baseball believe is nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt to stroke politicians egos, Jason Giambi was one of seven...

BOSS: LET'S PICK IT UP

TAMPA - Rain poured all over Florida yesterday, which meant the Yankees didn't lose again. Publicly, the "lousy weather" seemed to bother George Steinbrenner more than his team's lousy record,...

CONGRESS CALLS BASEBALL STALLS - HOUSE COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS SEVEN PLAYERS, BUT MLB PREPARES TO FIGHT IT

Major League Baseball and Congress moved closer to a steroids showdown yesterday. The House Committee on Government Reform issued subpoenas to seven current and former players including Jason Giambi, Jose...

THE TEFLON BONDS: BARRY NOT ON THE LIST

TAMPA - Where's Barry? Seven subpoenas were issued yesterday to past and present players to testify next week before a congressional committee investigating baseball's steroids scandal. Not one of them...

CONGRESS CALLS, BASEBALL STALLS - COMMITTEE SUBPOENAS 7, BUT MLB READY TO FIGHT IT

Major League Baseball and Congress moved closer to a steroids showdown yesterday. The House Committee on Government Reform issued subpoenas to seven current and former players including Jason Giambi, Jose...

FROM NOW ON, LET'S JUST CALL HIM THE TEFLON BONDS: BARRY IS NOT ON THE LIST

TAMPA - Where's Barry? Seven subpoenas were issued yesterday to past and present players to testify next week before a congressional committee investigating baseball's steroids scandal. Not one of them...

NO SURPRISE HERE: JASON'S NAMED

TAMPA - In what many people connected to Major League Baseball believe is nothing more than a cheap publicity stunt to stroke politicians egos, Jason Giambi was one of seven...

SCOTT SAYS AGAIN: I'M OK WITH KIDD

NET NOTES NEW ORLEANS - Byron Scott said it again, for about the bazillionth time: There is no animosity toward Jason Kidd. "I thought it was done with a long...