March 11, 2005

REALITY KING SOCKED - SUIT CLAIMS BURNETT POCKETED MILLIONS

Reality bites for Mark Burnett. The Hollywood product-placement firm sued this week by television's reality show king for allegedly pocketing millions of dollars by misrepresenting its relationship with Burnett, wasted...

ECHOSTAR RECORDS PROBED

Shares of satellite TV provider EchoStar Communications dropped sharply yesterday after a report said the company may have improperly booked transactions with suppliers. The report said the EchoStar audit committee...

COSTLY AFFAIR - THREE MONTHS OF RECKLESS PASSION = $38M

The torrid affair that got Boeing chief Harry Stonecipher fired could be one of the most costly flings on record - $38 million for just three months of passion. As...

MIN THERE, DONE THAT - TOP HONOR COULD AID EDITOR'S TALKS WITH WENNER MAG

The much-watched AdWeek/Mediaweek Hot List is due out next week, and sources tell Media Ink that Janice Min, Us Weekly editor, will cop Editor of the Year honors. Adweek and...

$10M SPACE SHOT - CHUCK'S HIGH-STAKES BID TO KEEP VOOM ALIVE

The 78-year-old cable tycoon Chuck Dolan is spending his first $10 million to break up his entertainment empire so he can build another new version of TV. Industry watchers believe...

AMERICAN EAGLE EXECS SELLING OUT IN A HURRY

A major American Eagle Outfitters shareholder has been selling stock in recent days, signaling that the best times could be behind the teen retailer. Jay Schottenstein, American Eagle's chairman, and...

STOCK SALES WORRY RETAILER

A major American Eagle Outfitters shareholder has been selling stock in recent days, signaling that the best times could be behind the teen retailer. Jay Schottenstein, American Eagle's chairman, and...

STARR REPORT

"Star Trek: Enterprise" wrapped principal photography this past Tuesday at Paramount Studios in L.A. - with "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry's widow, Majel Barrett- Roddenberry, and his son, Eugene Roddenberry...

DAN FINALLY WINS ONE

DAN Rather finally beat his evening-news competitors - in his last broadcast as anchor of the "CBS Evening News." Rather's Wednesday-night signoff from the perenially third-place "Evening News" snared a...

IT'S MAD TO ORDER

IT'S awfully tempting to overpraise the flawed dramedy "The Upside of Anger," the first major studio release of the year with any sort of artistic ambition. But even with critics'...

EVERY DOC HAS HIS DAY WORKER

A wealthy doctor with an elegant wife chances upon a trashy hotel maid when his car breaks down in some godforsaken Rome suburb. She invites him home so he can...

BUNGLED DIN

IS the overbearing thriller "Hostage" a warm-up for Bruce Willis' fourth "Die Hard" movie - or an attempt to hype his flagging career by revisiting past glories? Quite possibly both,...

'MILLIONS' SOFT AS AN OVERSTUFFED MONEY BAG

'MILLIONS" is a jittery jumble, a weird Christmas fable about two kids and a bag of money that falls from the sky. The kids aren't sure what to do with...

HIPPIES LURE TAXMAN BACK TO THE GARDEN

CAMPBELL Scott's "Off the Map" is a beautifully acted if fairly poky coming-of-age story set in New Mexico during the summer of 1974. The Groden family lives in such a...

MERCY, MERCY

WHEN apartheid fell and Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa in 1994, he had to make a choice. Forgiveness or revenge? New Testament or Old? Mandela made a Christlike...

'IDOLS' PICK MARIO TO WIN - TOP 12 READY FOR SINGLE ELIMINATIONS

IF you ask the people who really know - the 12 finalists on this year's "American Idol" - they'll tell you the winner will be . . . Mario Vasquez....

'YOU LET ME DOWN' - TRUMP FIRES STREET-WISE BLOWHARD

THE music stopped for a former nightclub owner last night on "The Apprentice" on NBC. John Gafford, 32 - who claimed to have a rapport with recording artists - was...

ROBO ROOTERS - LOVABLE AUTOMATONS ARE ALL HEART; WINSOME 'ROBOTS' SOLDER ON

WE'RE living in a golden age of animation, and "Robots" is 24-karat stuff, even if it has a soul of tin. With the voices of Ewan McGregor, Robin Williams and...

'HOUSEWIVES' TELLS ALL

'DESPERATE Housewives" fans rejoice: The show's two main mysteries will be solved this season. Show creator Marc Cherry told fans of the show that the secrets involving Mary Alice Young's...

'ROTTEN' TIMING - 'SPAMALOT' MAY WIN THIS JOUST

CAN "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" withstand the coming "Spamalot" onslaught? That's the big question on Broadway right now - one week after "Scoundrels" opened to mixed reviews and one week before...

FAREWELL TO FEZ

FOLLOWING the demise of the Bottom Line and the Village Underground (and with the fate of Tonic and CBGB up in the air), New York will lose two more essential...

CAPO TO COP

HERE'S your first look at "Sopranos" star Michael Imperioli - in his temporary role as a good-guy detective on "Law & Order." Imperioli, who plays mobster Christopher Moltisanti on "The...

WAY TOO MUCH TO 'CONFESS'

From the best-selling novel of the same name, "Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber" stars Jennifer Love Hewitt as Katya, a San Fran exec who is an incredibly shallow, socialclimbing...

MARY'S HOT PICK

The 21st Annual Lester Young Memorial Celebration - "To Prez With Love" - sends a 21-note salute to the jazz giant on Sunday at 7 p.m. at Saint Peter's Church...

NYPD DAILY BLOTTER

BROOKLYN * A man has been arrested for slashing a woman with a knife after breaking into her Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment, authorities said yesterday. Police sources said Russell Buffaloe, 37, climbed...

'GUT' CHECK FOR PLAZA - INTERIOR 'LANDMARK' REVIEW

The Landmarks Preservation Commission will hold public hearings to determine whether The Plaza hotel's famed public rooms are worthy of preservation. But The Plaza's new owners say the hearings won't...

BX. SLAY SUSPECT ROLLS THE DICE

A biker, accused of killing an aspiring detective who bumped his livery cab into the suspect's motorcycle, rejected a plea deal yesterday that would have given him 22 years in...

WEIRD BUT TRUE

A Wisconsin student sued his high school - saying it didn't have the right to assign him homework. Peer Larson, 17, said it was unfair that his math teacher gave...

PUPILS GIVE DIVERSITY VID 2 SPONGES UP

Conservatives say gay, kids say happy. An animated music video that right-wing family groups blasted as "pro-homosexual" was a smash hit among first-graders during its premiere yesterday at PS 87...

WEAPONS-PROBE BOSS: IRAQ TRIED TO BRIBE ME

WASHINGTON - A former chief U.N. weapons inspector revealed yesterday that he was offered millions of dollars in bribes from Tariq Aziz, Iraq's ex-deputy prime minister - to give a...

CONDO-MAXIMUM - DOWNTOWN PRICES EDGE PAST THOSE UPTOWN

Downtown is giving uptown a run for its money. For the first time since the Real Estate Board of New York began tracking residential prices in 1995, the downtown area...

HILLARY FIT TO BE TIED - EVEN WITH RUDY & MCCAIN IN '08 PREZ POLL

ALBANY - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Rudy Giuliani are running neck and neck in the race for the White House in 2008, a poll revealed yesterday. The Quinnipiac University...

BILLION-$$ DIVA - EX-JAILBIRD MARTHA CRACKS EXCLUSIVE FORBES MAG LIST

She's out of the slammer and into the Billionaire's Club - barely. Martha Stewart, fresh from her stint in a federal pen, has landed for the first time on the...

WHOSE SIDE IS MIKE ON?

'PEOPLE are really looking for somebody to do the right thing," says state Sen. Martin Golden. Is Mike Bloomberg a canny enough politician to rise to the occasion? Golden wants...

J.LO PICTURE PERFECT FOR HUBBY

Here's Jennifer Lopez, looking super-sexy and smokin' hot in an eye-popping photo snapped by her hubby, Marc Anthony (right). The luscious Latina says her hunky man, who took the pic...

SNOWSTORM SAVIORS FOR KIDNEY MAN

A Long Island man who was unable to get to a hospital for an emergency kidney transplant during Tuesday's snowstorm owes his life to cops and firefighters, who formed a...

SWORD VICTIM 'A NAZI' - SAMURAI KID'S DEFENSE

The lawyer for a Long Island teen accused of killing his stepfather with a samurai sword stunned a packed courtroom yesterday when he painted the murder victim as a gun-obsessed...

POST-OP BUBBA'S RESTING EASY AT HOSP

Former President Bill Clinton was resting comfortably at New York-Presbyterian Hospital yesterday following successful surgery to remove scar tissue from a lung. Dr. Joshua Sonett, Clinton's physician, termed the operation...

BLAZE KILLS MOM - 5 KIDS SAVED IN BROOKLYN CANDLE HORROR

Heroic neighbors and firefighters rescued five Brooklyn kids from their burning apartment yesterday, but could not save the 44-year-old mom who headed the household. The Fire Department said the early-morning...

GIRL, 5, DIES IN STATEN I. HOUSE INFERNO

A bubbly 5-year-old girl was killed yesterday in a Staten Island house fire that left her mother fighting for her life, officials said. Residents at 46 Brook St. woke up...

SCHOOL WILL 'RAT'CHET UP CITY RODENT CONTROL

Rats are so smart that the city is opening the nation's first "rat college" to teach professionals the best techniques to get rid of the rampant rodents. Enrollment in the...

NEW RAPS FOR FIREFIGHTER

The city firefighter awaiting trial for his alleged role in a massive stolen-motorcycle ring was arrested on a slew of new charges yesterday when he showed up for court. Eric...

MAYOR BLOOMBERG IS JETTING OFF TO ISRAEL ...

Mayor Bloomberg is jetting off to Israel for the fourth time since he's been in office. The mayor announced the trip yesterday, saying he'd been invited by President Bush to...

COPS FOIL 'HIT' TRY ON FITTY'S LYRICAL RIVAL

Police may have foiled a late-night Chelsea hit on volatile hip-hop star Jadakiss yesterday - just hours after he released a new single targeting his bullet-prone rival 50 Cent, sources...

POL: TOSS SCHOOL COP FOR 'B*#!H' SLAP

A Queens City Councilman is calling for the immediate removal of NYPD school safety chief Gerald Nelson, who allegedly called unruly parents "bitches" who "need to be body-slammed." Democrat Leroy...

MIKE'S GIANT STEP - BEEN IN TEAM'S HUDDLE

The Giants' possible return to the city at a West Side stadium is more than a ploy - and has involved direct talks with City Hall in what could be...

9/11 HIKED CAR DEATHS

The nation's highways became deadlier after the Sept. 11 terror attacks, as jolted Americans ditched air travel to drive instead - leading to a dramatic increase in traffic fatalities, a...

BED-STUY DEBUTS 'PROUD' SLOGAN

Bedford-Stuyvesant will no longer be known as the gritty "Do or Die" section of Brooklyn - from now on, it's "Bed-Stuy and Proud of It." That's the new slogan that...

HANDICAPPED GIRL RAPED AT 'HOME'

A mentally challenged 9-year-old girl was brutally raped and sodomized by a "supervisor" at a Queens group home during an after-school program, law enforcement sources said yesterday. The victim was...

MARTHA PONCHO PAL A COKE CON

The woman who hand-knitted the now-famous poncho that Martha Stewart wore on her recent trip home from prison is a 45-year-old convicted crack and cocaine dealer. Xiomaro Hernandez knitted the...

RAT CAPO WHINES: I WANNA BE A WITNESS

The Luchese underboss who allegedly kept two mobbed-up cops on his payroll - and then fingered them for murder in a failed bid to become a cooperator - is bitter...

GIFF WINNING DEM MONEY RACE

He may be trailing in the early polls, but City Council Speaker Gifford Miller is first over the finish line in fund-raising for the Democratic mayoral primary. Miller reported yesterday...

FIRE-DEATH MOM DIED OF STABBING

A mother thought to have perished in a fire that erupted in her Bronx apartment was actually stabbed to death before the blaze, authorities said yesterday. Althea Brown, 33, was...

TEEN WORLDS APART FROM TWISTED 'DIVA'

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - In Jacko's world, opposites attract. On one side of the courtroom sat an all-American boy. He marched into the room yesterday in a military- style fade...

DAY-CARE LEAD SHOCK

More than half of 300 day-care centers checked by the city Health Department had lead-paint violations - and 7 percent had 100 or more violations, officials reported yesterday. Testifying before...

FEDS: BADGES SHIELDED MOB - EX-NYPD DETECTIVES CHARGED WITH KILLING FOR THE LUCHESES

Two brazen former NYPD detectives led secret lives as Mafia hit men, whacking one mobster and giving a Luchese underboss secret information that led to the slaying of seven others,...

BROOKLYN JURY NAILS BIN LADEN'S SHEIK

A sheik who boasted he was Osama bin Laden's spiritual adviser was convicted yesterday of scheming to financing terrorism, in a case that nearly went up in smoke when a...

JACKO'S JAMMY DOUBLE WHAMMY - * PJ-CLAD POP PRINCE GETS JAIL THREAT * BOY TELLS OF SICKO SEX ENCOUNTERS

A woozy Michael Jackson arrived late for his kiddie sex abuse trial yesterday dressed in pajama bottoms and a black dinner jacket - claiming he was suffering from back trouble...

ARMSTRONG BACKPEDALS

Lance Armstrong threw up his arms in surrender yesterday and insisted in true weasel fashion that he's really rooting for New York, not Paris, to clinch the 2012 Olympics. "If...

BUSTED BX. TEACH RIPS 'RAGE' COPS

A teacher who was arrested in front of his students inside a Bronx high school this week said yesterday the cop that cuffed him barked: "That Ph.D. is doing you...

QNS. POL: AX 'CUSS' CHIEF

A Queens city councilman is calling for the immediate removal of NYPD schools-safety boss Gerald Nelson, following claims that the two-star chief called unruly parents "bitches" who "need to be...

KIM'S JURY RAP - SAYS PROSECUTORS WERE BULLYING HER

A defiant Lil' Kim yesterday painted herself as a victim of zealous prosecutors in the 2001 shootout outside radio station Hot 97's Greenwich Village studios - and said she felt...

MIKE'S IN GIANT HUDDLE

The Giants' possible return to the city at a West Side stadium is more than a ploy - and has involved direct talks with City Hall in what could be...

'SITH' SENSE TELLS ME 'STAR WARS' TRAILER IS OLD NEWS

THE full trailer for the final "Star Wars" movie is like déjà vu all over again. The preview - which debuted last night on TV's "The O.C." - is awfully...

CITY 6 NABBED IN DISABILITY 'FRAUD'

A group of municipal employees receiving workers' compensation actually had jobs while bilking the city out of more than $100,000 in disability funds, authorities charged yesterday. Brooklyn DA Charles Hynes...

SUBWAY KNIFE FIGHT HURTS 4

Four teens were injured yesterday in a knife fight on an A train at 34th Street, police said. Two groups of teens, who had just left a nearby high school,...

MURDER AT THE DENTIST - KID THERE AS MOM DIES

A Queens woman was shot to death in a dentist's waiting room by her boyfriend yesterday - as her 13-year-old daughter was in the dentist's chair, police said. The victim,...

TEARS AND PRIDE - FIGHTING 69TH HAILS KIN OF LOST HEROES

They've been devastated by tragedy, but all stand tall with pride. Families of the eight members of New York's Fighting 69th who lost their lives in the Iraq war came...

PEDESTRIAN IS KILLED ON QUEENS BLVD.

A woman running to catch a bus died after hitting the side of a minivan on Queens Boulevard in Forest Hills last night, police said. Sheng Ping Fang, 58, of...

I WILL NOT BE MOVED

Nearly a hundred years before the Montgomery Bus Boycott, legal segregation on New York City's buses was dealt a fatal blow by the courage and defiance of Elizabeth Jennings. In...

BED-STUY TROTS OUT ITS 'PROUD' NEW SLOGAN

Bedford-Stuyvesant will no longer be known as the gritty "Do or Die" section of Brooklyn - from now on, it's "Bed-Stuy and Proud of It." That's the new slogan that...

DAY CARE NEEDS TO GET LEAD OUT: HEALTH DEPT.

More than half of 300 daycare centers checked by the city Health Department had lead paint violations - and 7 percent had 100 or more violations, officials reported yesterday. Testifying...

ARMSTRONG BACKPEDALS ON PARIS GAMES PICK

How very French! Benedict Arnold bike champ Lance Armstrong threw up his arms in surrender yesterday and insisted in true weasel fashion that he's really rooting for New York, not...

AZIZ TRIED TO BRIBE U.N. BIG

WASHINGTON - A former chief U.N. weapons inspector revealed yesterday that he was offered millions of dollars in bribes from Tariq Aziz, Iraq's ex-deputy prime minister, to give a favorable...

ACC YOU LATER - BC UPSET ON WAY OUT OF BIG EAST

West Virginia 78 - Boston College 72 It didn't take long for the hillbillies to fill Madison Square Garden with the derisive chant all of their brethren gladly would have...

PROPOSAL THROWS BACK FISHING CLOSURES

THE Freedom to Fish Act, legislation that would protect against permanent and arbitrary fishery closures, has been introduced in New York. The bill, A6067, was introduced by Assemblyman Robert Sweeney...

NOW 'NOVA'S . . . TOUGH ENOUGH

Villanova 67 - Pittsburgh 58 Midway through a 16-3 body blow that knocked Pittsburgh out of the Big East Conference Tournament yesterday, Villanova guard Randy Foye of Newark hit a...

LAUREN'S WISH UNFULFILLED

1ST RACE - St. John Dress was hard-ridden by Ariel Smith to set pace down backside. Entering turn, Philly shipper Majestic Slewville, slight 2-1 favorite under Mike Luzzi, went up...

HUSKIES CAN WIN IT AGAIN - CHAMPS ARE ON ROLL

Boston College had the surprising undefeated run in the regular season, West Virginia a stirring run in this Big East tournament. But the league team poised to storm through March...

CROSBY HOLDS HOPE OF BEING FOURTH OF

TAMPA - Bubba Crosby doesn't normally swing a bat after the season ends, but this past offseason was different. Crosby was frozen out from hitting for as many as 19...

STEVE HAS NEW SLIDER ON TRACH

MET NOTES FORT LAUDERDALE - Steve Trachsel threw 59 pitches yesterday, but only four of them were truly noteworthy. Trachsel has begun experimenting with a slider, and he threw four...

NETS 'WATCH' AS OFFENSE WITHERS

MIAMI - It is now safe to say that the Nets' offense officially is not as potent as recent years. Just in case you were wondering. "We get stagnant sometimes....

BOATENG'S BATTLE CRY: GO FOUR IT!

H.S. NOTES Nyan Boateng is one of the best wide receivers in the country and his talent on the football field earned him a scholarship to Florida. His gridiron skill...

GIANTS SAY PLAXI-NO

In the end, the Giants decided Plaxico Burress was not worth it. Not worth the money, not worth the potential aggravation, not worth the risk for a talented receiver prone...

NOBODY'S PERFECT - BELTRAN MISPLAYS HELP BIRDS SOAR

Orioles 8 - Mets 2 FORT LAUDERDALE - Sometimes it seems like Carlos Beltran can do just about anything. Crush a ball into a neighboring area code? No problem. Swipe...

VILLANOVA OUSTS PITT

Villanova 67 - Pittsburgh 58 Midway through a 16-3 body blow that knocked Pittsburgh out of the Big East Conference Tournament yesterday, Villanova guard Randy Foye of Newark hit a...

NO TRUTH TO RUMOR: RIVERA'S JUST FINE

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - The heart-stopping rumor started in New York yesterday and galloped through baseball so fast that it was impossible to stop. Supposedly, Mariano Rivera was killed in...

WHAT ELSE CAN ZO WRONG?

DID YOU happen to eyeball Alonzo Mourning trying to rough up harmless Sixer Samuel Dalembert the other night in Miami? Allen Iverson complained to the refs about gettin' bowed by...

FIELDER EXPECTED TO JOIN JETS

No one needed to show Jay Fiedler around, considering he's from Oceanside, L.I., just a tight spiral away from Weeb Ewbank Hall, where the Jets complex is located. Fiedler last...

ORANGE CRUSH - SYRACUSE SAILS PAST RUTGERS

Syracuse 81 Rutgers 57 And now the main event: UConn-Syracuse tonight will be the Big East equivalent of Dean Smith versus Mike Kryzyewski. In this corner, wearing his familiar frown,...

MO RUMOR IS FALSE

YANKEE NOTES TAMPA - The heart-stopping rumor started in New York yesterday and galloped through baseball so fast that it was impossible to stop. Supposedly, Mariano Rivera was killed in...

HUSKIES HANG ON VS. HOYAS

Connecticut 66 - Georgetown 62 It was not the high-octane basketball Connecticut had played for the past month, the championship look that stamped them a favorite in the Garden and...

ORANGE CRUSH - ROMP OF RUTGERS SETS UP CLASH WITH UCONN

Syracuse 81 - Rutgers 57 And now the main event: UConn-Syracuse tonight will be the Big East equivalent of Dean Smith versus Mike Kryzyewski. In this corner, wearing his familiar...

'OWNER'S' COMMISH SHOULD OWN UP TO DUTIES

BUD Selig, if he were the rabid anti-drug baseball boss that he only lately claims he has always been, should demand to testify next week, no subpoena of him nor...

RAFFY CLAMS UP; SAMMY STILL SILENT

FT. LAUDERDALE - Rafael Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa walked into the Orioles clubhouse together yesterday chatting, but as soon as they saw reporters the conversation stopped. Both declined to speak...

PINCH-HITTING FOR THE TRUTH FAR TOO LONG

HERE's a message for MLB. Stop whining and start testifying. Fans should be thrilled that Congress is getting involved in the steroid mess in a subpoena kind of way. Maybe...

FANS IN A PICKLE - NO GOOD GUYS TO ROOT FOR IN THIS FIGHT

TAMPA - The sun was shining in Florida yesterday, but there were dark clouds all around because there is no one to root for in baseball right now. Not the...

LEGAL BATTLES APPEAR ON DECK - THE STEROID SUBPOENAS SOLICIT STRONG ARM OF LAW

The war between Major League Baseball and Congress escalated yesterday when House leaders, conducting a hearing on steroid use in baseball, said it would be "unwise and irresponsible" for subpoenaed...

CALM & COOL CALM & COOL - D.C. DEMANDS DON'T DISTRESS GIAMBI

TAMPA - Until Jason Giambi hears what the House Government Reform Committee wants to talk about next week in Washington, D.C., the Yankees' DH doesn't have an opinion on being...

BRACKET BUSTERS - OUR HOOP EXPERTS ARE 'MAD' ABOUT THESE MARCH UNDERDOGS

They are the teams that can break your bracket, or make you look like a college-basketball genius. They are the low seeds that shock the Tournament in the first 48...

5 QUESTIONS FOR DON CRIQUI

This week, NYP TV Sports' Andrew Marchand spoke with CBS' and ESPN's Don Criqui. Criqui has been broadcasting for 41 years, and is in the broadcasting wing of the Pro...

JUSTICE JOINING YES LINEUP - BOLTS ESPN FOR YANKS' BOOTH GIG

David Justice is leaving ESPN to become a Yankee analyst for YES. Justice will replace Joe Girardi, who now is Joe Torre's bench coach. Girardi did 20 to 25 games...

MARCHAND'S MEMO OF THE WEEK

To: Sideline Reporters From: Andrew Marchand Re: Jim Gray's Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame CC: Rudolph Valentino, Marilyn Monroe Dear Sideline Reporters, Finally, Jim Gray has received a star...