March 24, 2005
PROOF YOU'RE GETTING ROBBED AT GAS PUMP
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amHERE'S all you need to know to understand that Americans are getting screwed at the gas pump. Fact 1: The inventory of crude oil in the U.S. right now is...
FUNDS DUNNED; CITI, AMEX, JPM, PUTNAM GET BIG SEC FINE$
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amMajor mutual fund companies got slammed yesterday, paying big fines to settle two different cases that put them in the regulators' crosshairs. Citigroup, whose reputation has been taking a beating,...
FLORIDA JUICE FOR PERELMAN
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amMorgan Stanley suffered a setback in its legal battle with financier Ron Perelman yesterday, when a Florida state court judge ruled the investment bank aided Sunbeam Corp. in falsely inflating...
LOTS OF INTEREST IN TWO MET LIFE SITES
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amBidders are lining up to take home Met Life's One Madison Ave. and 200 Park Ave. Sources say at least two groups have teamed up to bid on the two...
PUBLISHER OF WRITER'S DIGEST GOES ON BLOCK
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amF+W Publications, which publishes specialty magazines including Writer's Digest and Popular Woodworking, is on the block, The Post has learned. The company, which is headed by publishing veteran William Reilly...
PERLE DIVING ; SEC'S HOLLINGER PROBE TARGETS EX-REAGANITE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amHollinger International director and former Pentagon bigwig Richard Perle might face civil charges for his involvement in the alleged looting of the company by ousted newspaper baron Conrad Black. The...
QWEST CONTINUES FOR MCI; VERIZON WILL WAIT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe MCI takeover battle drags on. The long-distance company said yesterday that it will continue to consider the underdog $8.45 billion offer from Qwest. The Ashburn, Va.-based company agreed on...
TEST DRIVE DODGE MAGNUM SXT AWD
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIF you're a family guy looking to buy something that can give you great performance, a wide grin and still haul your wife and kids plus all their gear, this...
CHILDABUSE SINKS 'SWAP'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amA father who allegedly struck his 13-year-old daughter during the taping of "Wife Swap" has forced ABC to scrap the entire episode. Yanni Panagiotakis, a Nashville, Tenn., restaurant owner, was...
'IDOL': AMERICA VOTES AGAIN
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amA barrage of angry e-mails instantly tipped off Fox and "American Idol" producers Tuesday night that something on the show had gone horribly wrong. "We found out as it was...
SHIITE OR SUNNI, THEY CAN BE FUNNY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amHOW do you convince a two-drink-minimum comedy club to host an all-Muslim bill? "Just charge $5 for a soda," says Preacher Moss, the organizer of the world's first Muslim comedy...
BAD BOY STILL GOOD
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amSTEPHEN PETRONIOJoyce Theater, Eighth Avenue at 19th St. (212) 242-0800. Through March 27. STEPHEN Petronio is still - at almost precisely 49 years old -one of dance's badder boys and...
STARR REPORT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amBut who's counting?Jennifer Aniston will sur prise Ellen DeGeneres todayas the "The Ellen DeGen eres Show" celebrates its300th episode (10 a.m./Ch. 4).Aniston, who's filming hernext movie, will call in whileDeGeneresis...
MASON'S JAR HAS NEW JUICE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amJACKIE MASON: FRESHLY SQUEEZED 1/2 (two and one half stars)The Helen Hayes Theater, 240 W. 44th St. (212) 239-6200. AS plumply dapper as ever, that strutting bantam-boxer stance undaunted, Jackie...
'OFFICE' OURS; FUNNY BUSINESS HITS AMERICA
March 24, 2005 | 5:00am"The Office" Tonight at 9:30 on NBC/Ch. 4 (three stars) IT'S no secret to me: Offices are funny. They're absurd, ridiculous places populated by eccentrics - the perfect location for...
SAY GOODNIGHT, GRACIE - 'MISS CONGENIALITY' TURNS IN HER CROWN
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amMISS CONGENIALITY 2: ARMED AND FABULOUS (two stars) DVD fodder. Running time: 115 minutes. Rated PG-13 (sex-related humor). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square, the Chelsea West, others. MILDLY amusing,...
WAR OF THE MOROSES - NEW GOTH SCENE BUMS OUT OLD-SCHOOL GHOULS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIT'S fast becoming one of the most popular parties at the downtown bar Happy Ending - but at first, manager Bob Hughes wanted nothing to do with the Visions of...
PURIM ANOTHER!
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amTypically, Jewish holidays go something like this: They tried to kill us, they failed, let's eat. But if you prefer your carbs in a liquid form, here's good news: The...
EX-CON'S FATAL APT. PLUNGE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amA Brooklyn ex-con who pounded on his former girlfriend's door demanding money for drugs fell to his death while trying to evade cops who responded to her 911 call, police...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amMANHATTAN *** Police yesterday were searching for a man who tried to rob an East Harlem bank last week. Damon Cypress (above), 29, walked into the Ponce De Leon Bank...
STAFFER BARED SEXUAL PENSION; ANGRY NOTE BLASTED BOSS' SLEAZY 'FAVORS'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe irate employee who toppled the head of the city's largest retirement system spoke out because promotions that should have gone to the worker went instead to a woman who...
DATE WITH EVIL; KILLER SAID HE'D STRIKE ON 'COLUMBINE' DAY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amBEMIDJI, Minn. - The Native American neo-Nazi who gunned down nine people - seven at his high school - before turning a gun on himself told a friend a year...
'DOMESTIC PARTNER' BOO$T
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amDomestic partners would be entitled to all benefits and services provided by the city to spouses under a measure introduced yesterday by City Council Speaker Gifford Miller. Officials said the...
GUNMEN FLEE WITH 100G
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThree masked gunmen carried off a daring daylight stickup of a Midtown union office and fled with $100,000 after beating an armed security guard. Police said two armed security guards...
'CHEAT' GETS NAILED; 'SOLD' CITY TEST DATA
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amWhen the Department of Consumer Affairs needed a poster boy to advertise an important tax-credit program, one of the staffers it selected for the honor was Dino Franco. And the...
ELECT PANEL DAZED; E-MAIL INFO MONTHS LATE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe city's Board of Elections has finally gotten around to answering e-mails from voters who were wondering where to cast their ballots Nov. 2 - nearly five months after the...
CHIHUAHUA TUG OF LOVE NIPPING AT L.I. COURT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe judge in a Chihuahua custody case has ruled that the tiny dog is property - "a chattel" - not a feeling creature whose best interests should be protected. But...
JACKO E-ROTICA BARRED- BUT JURYIS SHOWNMAG SMUT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amSANTA MARIA, Calif. - Porn recovered off Michael Jackson's computers was barred from the child-molestation case against him yesterday - a setback for prosecutors who say Jackson used the cybersmut...
YECCCH! CITY GETS ONE COLD, WET KISS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amSpring? Never heard of it. Any hopes for a finale to a seemingly endless winter were dashed to the ground yesterday as a storm for all seasons - rain, sleet,...
GIFF GRABS MAYORAL NODS IN HARLEM
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIn a move aimed at cutting down Fernando Ferrer's lead in the race for mayor, City Council Speaker Gifford Miller will today unveil endorsements from several Latino district leaders in...
MIKE ON THE MARCH IN POLITICAL FOOTBALL GAME
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amMayor Bloomberg isn't given to public displays of emotion - but if he were, he'd be hugging Al Sharpton today. In a single swoop, Sharpton has undercut the central argument...
DUO BUSTED IN BISHOP STAB SLAY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amTwo teenage thugs have been arrested for the brutal stabbing death of a Brooklyn clergyman who answered a knock at the door of his Flatbush home and was slain just...
THIS PROUD HOUSE; GRIEVING L.I. FAMILY REBOUNDS VIA 'EXTREME MAKEOVER'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIt was the most exciting event to hit the tiny town of St. James, L.I., since George Washington rode through it in 1790 - the transformation of a tiny house...
CHURCH: 3 SCHOOLS STILL HAVE A PRAYER
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amNearly 40 days and nights of Hail Mary efforts to save three struggling Catholic schools after they were ordered shuttered paid off yesterday as the Brooklyn Diocese revived the schools...
SCHOOLS LEARN ZIP FROM ID SNAFU
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amSchools Chancellor Joel Klein said yesterday there is no reason to change how the Department of Education issues photo ID cards - even after an imposter successfully posed as a...
BURIED N.J. 'ANGEL' ; GARDENING PRIEST FINDS TRAGIC TOT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amA New Jersey priest planting Easter flowers outside his church was astonished to find a dead baby girl buried in the ground and wrapped in a piece of cloth beside...
SUBWAY SLUGFEST - BATTLE OVER $20B BORROWING AS WOES ROLL ON
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amLawmakers wrangled over how much to give the MTA for its five-year capital program as straphangers - reeling from a string of subway snafus over the past week - endured...
LIVING-WILL QUERIES SURGING IN N.Y.
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amALBANY - Interest in living wills has skyrocketed in New York because of the Terri Schiavo case. The state Health Department said its Web site had as many hits this...
JAM MASTER'S DEGREE IN HOPE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe family of slain hip-hop artist Jam Master Jay was honored with a City Council proclamation yesterday for helping to boost college education for inner-city kids. The JMJ Foundation for...
SHELL SHOCK FOR NEWS NUTS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe desperate Daily News wants to pay peanuts to the thousands of readers bamboozled out of big bucks in its botched Scratch n' Match game - so The Post yesterday...
MORE HS-BOUND KIDS REJOICE IN 1ST CHOICE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amNearly 37 percent of students who applied to city high schools this year were admitted to their first choice - but 10,217 children are still waiting for a placement, the...
ISLAND BARS GAY LOVE BOAT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIt was more than the tiny Caribbean country of St. Kitts and Nevis could bare. A Miami cruise ship carrying gay and nudist passengers was blocked yesterday from entering the...
JEB JUMPS IN TO SAVE TERRI ; SURPRISE BID FOR CUSTODY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Florida Gov. Jeb Bush yesterday launched a surprise last-ditch effort to save Terri Schiavo's life by having the state take legal custody of her. With options dwindling, Bush...
POL DILEMMA ON 'SURVIVAL' STRATEGIES
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amTO some of the most sensitive advocates of abortion rights, the Terri Schiavo case is a red alert. "Terri Schiavo is like a fetus - a being who cannot speak...
TRAGIC AFTERMATH ; TOWN FEARS BLAME OVER BLAZE THAT KILLED 4 KIDS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amFire officials who investigated and dismissed a smoke call at a New Jersey home that later erupted in an inferno, killing four children, fear the family will hold them responsible...
CAR TROUBLE FOR CLEMENS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amRoger Clemens' car crashed head-on into his karma yesterday. A thief stole the back- stabbing baseball star's orange Hummer, which the Yankees had given him as a gift before he...
CHEATS FACE A DAILY NOO$E; OUTRAGED POL BARRON: BOYCOTT RAG UNLESS THEY PAY RIPPED-OFF WINNERS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amAn outraged City Council member yesterday threatened a boycott of the Daily News and its advertisers until New York's hometown scammers pay in full thousands of winners in its botched...
WHITNEY LANDS BACK IN REHAB
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amHouston, we have a problem. Pop diva Whitney Houston has once again checked herself into rehab. Her rep, Nancy Seltzer, yesterday told the Associated Press that Mrs. Bobby Brown "has...
A LIFETIME OF COMPASSION AND STRUGGLE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amLost in the frenzied debate over whether a stricken Florida woman should be allowed to live or die has been one central question: Who is Terri Schiavo? The 41-year-old woman...
AL'S GOAL-LINE STAND ; REV. CARRIES BALL FOR JETS VS. CABLEVISION
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe Rev. Al Sharpton joined the battle to build a West Side stadium yesterday and immediately tackled Cablevision - accusing the company of failing to create jobs for minorities like...
SUPER! NEW YORK WINS SUPER BOWL
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIf we build it, the Super Bowl will come! The Jets' drive to put up a West Side stadium got a huge push from NFL owners yesterday when they voted...
SLASHED QNS. COP ON MEND
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amA Queens narcotics cop slashed across the throat with a carpet knife was recovering from his brush with death yesterday - and the suspect, who got shot, was charged with...
TEXAS GOV USES HILL TO SLAP 'LIBERAL' FOE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - A video snippet that shows Sen. Hillary Clinton hugging a female Republican senator from Texas is being used to brand her as too liberal for the Lone Star...
DUO BUSTED IN SLAY OF HOLY MAN
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amTwo teenage thugs have been arrested for the brutal stabbing death of a Brooklyn clergyman who answered a knock at the door of his Flatbush home just after Christmas. Tymel...
GRAND RABBI IS MOURNED
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThrongs of mourners filled the streets of Borough Park in Brooklyn last night for the funeral of Grand Rabbi Naftali Halberstam, the leader of the Bobov sect, who died yesterday...
METS LOOKIN' SWEET & SOUR
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amCards 3Mets 2 JUPITER, Fla. - The biggest misconception in spring training is that it doesn't count down here. So maybe the Mets don't get any regular season rewards for...
SUPREME BID TO SAVE TERRI ; JEB CALLS FOR STATE CUSTODY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Lawyers for Terri Schiavo's parents yesterday asked the Supreme Court to issue an emergency order allowing her feeding tube to be replaced. The request was made to Justice...
'PROPERTY' PUP FIGHT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe judge in a Chihuahua custody case has ruled the dog is property - "a chattel" - not a creature whose interests should be protected. Both families in the leash...
ED. DEPT. IN EASTER BACKTRACK
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe city Department of Education yesterday softened its stance on allowing employees to take Easter Monday off for religious purposes after hundreds of teachers complained of discrimination. The department's about-face...
JACKO E-ROTICA BARRED; BUT JURY IS SHOWN MAG SMUT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amSANTA MARIA, Calif. - Porn recovered off Michael Jackson's computers was barred from the child-molestation case against him yesterday - a setback for prosecutors who say Jackson used the cybersmut...
GOTTI GRIPING; L.I. NEIGHBORSSLAM TV FANS IN THE 'HOOD'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIn the tony Long Island town where a family fell victim to a brazen $120,000 home invasion, upper-crusters are sniffing that their exclusive enclave has been invaded by an unseemly...
PILES OF EVIDENCE VS. 'HORSE DOPERS'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe feds bombarded 17 defendants charged in January with horse doping and illegal sports betting with their evidence yesterday: 5,000 intercepted phone calls, surveillance photos, and bank, credit card and...
CITY TB RATE HITS NEW LOW
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe number of cases of tuberculosis has reached a historic low in the city, but it's still prevalent among foreign-born New Yorkers, officials said yesterday. Last year, there were 1,039...
FEDS' LONG LINE OF WITNESSES VS. 'JUNIOR'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe feds have lined up a list of 10 rats to testify in the racketeering trial against John "Junior" Gotti, new court papers show. Gotti is charged with plotting to...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amTwo rip-off artists in Lindale, Texas, made off with a house - brick by brick, shingle by shingle, and board by board - in broad daylight. For three months, motorists...
SUBWAY SLUGFEST; BATTLE OVER $20B BORROWING AS WOES ROLL ON
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amLawmakers wrangled over how much to give the MTA for its five-year capital program as straphangers - reeling from a string of subway snafus over the past week - endured...
DATE WITH EVIL- KILLER SAID HE'D STRIKE ON 'COLUMBINE' DAY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amBEMIDJI, Minn. - The Native American neo-Nazi who gunned down nine people - seven at his high school - before turning a gun on himself told a friend a year...
JACKO E-ROTICA BARRED - BUT JURY IS SHOWN MAG SMUT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amSANTA MARIA, Calif. - Porn recovered off Michael Jackson's computers was barred from the child-molestation case against him yesterday - a setback for prosecutors who say Jackson used the cybersmut...
CLASSROOM EXTRA - WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH EDITION - THE VILLAGE THAT ALMOST WASN'T
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amIt's impossible to think of New York City without Greenwich Village. The famous neighborhood was almost history until the community, led by Jane Jacobs, fought back - and won. To...
FALLEN PEZUA ESCAPES INJURY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amTrack was sealed, muddy, went to sloppy for fifth race when weather really started getting nasty, with snow flurrying and wind whipping across track. * Apprentice Eriluis Vaz has been...
MAYWEATHER: I'LL KO GATTI
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amNo one talks trash and backs it up better than Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Unbeaten in 33 fights (22 KOs), he is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in his...
KURT STILL HURT - ELBOW INFECTIONJOINS PINKIE PAIN
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amKnicks starting center Kurt Thomas emerged from the hospital yesterday after fighting off a 102.3 degree fever that resulted from an elbow infection. After the team's morning shoot-around, during which...
NETS KNOW PLAYOFF PUSH GETS TOUGH
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe Nets have no idea what they're getting themselves into. It's been simple for them the past few years. They've earned three playoff berths and two NBA Finals appearances with...
ERNIE'S ON MISSION TO BECOME TOP GUN
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amPONTE VEDRA BEACH - Chasing the No. 1 spot in golf's world rankings has become a weekly dramatic subplot to nearly every PGA Tour event. Who's No. 1? At the...
THE GREAT ESCAPE ; GANSEY LEADS WVU CHARGE AFTER DISASTER AT ST. BONA.
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amALBUQUERQUE - What you need to remember about those awful days in Olean, N.Y., two years ago is that the St. Bonaventure players had been abandoned by their leadership, ignored...
CAMERON'S PUMPEDFOR 1ST TEST OF SPRING
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amMET NOTES JUPITER - For the first time this spring, Mike Cameron will do it for real. Cameron, who's spent most of camp recovering from offseason surgery on his left...
RIVERS: WE ACTED 'LOW-CLASS'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amKnicks 107Celtics 82 Ricky Davis sure had a lot more to say during the game than he did after the Knicks embarrassed his first-place Celtics 107-82 at the Garden last...
PITINO COULD'VE HAD JUGGERNAUT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amALBUQUERQUE - Sometimes, Rick Pitino allows himself to think of what might have been. Sometimes, he can visualize what these Louisville Cardinals would have looked like if they hadn't suffered...
STANTON SAYS HE 'STINKS'
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES TAMPA - Mike Stanton was visibly upset late Tuesday night after an inning of work against the Phillies at Legends Field. "I [stunk]," the 37-year-old lefty reliever admitted...
RODRIGUEZ PLAYS NICE ; A-ROD SHOWS RED SOX SOME R-E-S-P-E-C-T
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amSARASOTA - Give Alex Rodriguez credit. He stepped up to the plate last night in a big way and made it clear that he respects the Red Sox and wants...
A MAGIC POTION FOR HOOPS' ILLS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amEarvin "Magic" Johnson was at the NBA store in midtown for a taping yesterday to promote his new basketball skills DVD - "Magic Johnson Presents: The Fundamentals of Basketball." Johnson,...
BENSON PUTS HIS MIND OVER BATTER
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amJUPITER, Fla. - Two of the best pitching heads of this generation are better than one that thinks 47-53 for his career is a pretty dumb record. "There wasn't anybody...
KARSAY'S SHOWING PROGRESS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amYANKEE NOTES SARASOTA - Steve Karsay isn't progressing by leaps and bounds in an effort to come back from almost two years inactivity due to shoulder problems. However, the progress...
KURT BATTLES PAIR OF HURTS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Kurt Thomas emerged from the hospital yesterday after fighting off a 102.3 degree fever resulting from an elbow infection and missed his second straight game last night as...
TECHNICAL KNOCKOUT ; KNICKS PUT UP FIGHT VS. CELTS
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amKnicks 107Celtics 82 Thanks Ricky Davis. Thanks Paul Pierce. The cocky Celtics kicked awake a sleeping dog last night at the Garden and out poured a wave of orange-and-blue Knick...
WALKER STARTS CELTS' RUN
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amt's tough to determine who has been more rejuvenated by the trade that reunited Antoine Walker with the Celtics: the player or the team. "He seems to be more focused,"...
IT'S MORE PINS FOR PENNY
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES When the Knicks embark on their four-game West Coast trip today, beginning in Seattle, Penny Hardaway will remain in New York for acupuncture treatments in another attempt to...
GETTING WELL SOON - BOMBERS CLOSING WOUNDS BEFORE OPENING SEASON
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amTAMPA - Is there such a thing as an important baseball day in March? When it comes to Bernie Williams, the answer is yes. And that day is tomorrow when...
BARRY'S ABSENCE SPARKS VOID RAGE - ON DAY AFTER, SLUGGER IS STILL TALK OF BASEBALL
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amBarry Bonds kept his mouth shut yesterday, but the ripples of the comments he made Tuesday spread across baseball. The Giant slugger's announcement that he may not play this season...
SAY WHAT YOU ILL - ANGERED ILLINI FANS WON'T FAZE UWM COACH
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amROSEMONT, Ill. - Bruce Pearl - the man who blew the whistle on Illinois 16 years ago - actually claims that the cheers his Wisconsin-Milwaukee team will get from Arizona...
VETERAN COACHES SHARE THE SPOTLIGHT
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amROSEMONT, Ill. - Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton and Arizona's Lute Olson have 65 years of coaching experience between them, 1,521 wins on their resumes. But after tonight's 9:57 Sweet 16...
FAMILY MATTERS - HARLEM'S HODGE OWES DEBT OF GRATITUDE TO MOTHER AND BROTHER
March 24, 2005 | 5:00amThe neatly framed picture that hangs in the living room of Mary Hodge's 6th floor apartment on 151st street shows one brother - tall, slender, looking every bit the part...