June 22, 2006
A HIGH-TEST FAILURE - DRIVERS BUY, BUY REGULAR, BYPASS PREMIUM
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amSUPER gasoline isn't feeling so superior anymore. But its status in the ever-pricier octane world is still higher than its poorly named, badly misunderstood mid-grade cousin. Both grades of gas...
MOVIE MOONVES - CBS BOSS ADMITS FILM BIZ AMBITIONS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amCBS boss Les Moonves, a one-time actor who has long been enamored of the movie business, said yesterday he is planning on opening up his own film shop. While it...
EVER-RICHER ELLISON KEEPS WELSHING ON CHARITABLE PLEDGES
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amLarry Ellison picked up a fast $1.6 billion profit this week ahead of today's strong earnings report at his Oracle empire - but he still won't fork over $115 million...
MORGANS HOTEL TAPS SCHRAGER LIEUTENANT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amMorgans Hotel Group, founded by high-profile hotelier Ian Schrager, has hired the former Studio 54 king's protégé to head the company's creative development efforts as it tries to revive its...
MARTHA MAG GETS AN EDITOR
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amBlueprint, the new Martha Stewart magazine that lost its launch editor even before the first issue came out, has raided Real Simple to find a replacement. Susan Humphreys, who was...
SALE OF MICHAELS DRAWS $5B BIDS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amTwo groups of private-equity firms submitted formal bids for arts-and-crafts retailer Michaels Stores last night, coming close to $40 a share, or roughly $5 billion, sources said. Sources familiar with...
WPP'S SORRELL MOCKS ADVERTISING 'CREATIVES'
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amCANNES - Sir Martin Sorrell, the head honcho of ad giant WPP Group, isn't above mocking himself or the entire industry, for that matter. Sorrell parodied pretty much everyone in...
STAR PIECE IRKS REESE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amOscar-winner Reese Witherspoon has filed an angry lawsuit against Star magazine for falsely reporting she's expecting another child. Slamming the supermarket weekly, the actress said it cooked up a phony...
JUNK BOND JITTERS ROIL UNIVISION BIDS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amAfter crushing stocks last week, Fed chief Ben Bernanke is now squeezing junk bonds, causing a bump in the mergers market. Fears the Federal Reserve will continue raising rates have...
GIMME SHELTER - BRADEN KEIL'S WEEKLY GOSSIP
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amCPW FEELS STING 5-BR penthouse - $30M LIFE certainly seems to be a field of gold for Sting, who's buying a $30 million Central Park West apartment. Sources say that...
NYSE PRO BREAKS RANKS TO TESTIFY
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe New York Stock Exchange's fortress of silence was officially breached yesterday when a Big Board clerk described long-running illegal trading by the most respected names at the corner of...
SINGER DOC'S SOUR NOTE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amLEONARD COHEN: I'M YOUR MAN [**] (Two stars) IF you're going to make a documentary about Leonard Cohen, the singer-songwriter, you should have him perform some of his better-known melodies,...
QUITE SHARP - ANY WAY YOU SLICE IT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amPETER Martins, artistic director of New York City Ballet, is probably feeling pretty good about himself. On Friday night, he steered safely into port the seventh, and last, of the...
BACK TO THE 'FUTURAMA' - ANOTHER 'TOON RESURRECTED
June 22, 2006 | 4:00am'FUTURAMA" is officially back from the dead. The quirky animated show from "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening was canceled by Fox about two years ago, but will return with at least...
TV GUIDE GETS BIT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amTV Guide has paid more than $1 million for jumptheshark.com, the famous Web site that spawned the pop-culture term for things - mostly TV shows - that have outlived their...
'SOPRANOS' IN THE SOUP - FINAL-SEASON CRISIS SIMMERS FOR THE MOB OPERA STARS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00am'THE Sopranos" is running out of time - and tomorrow is shaping up as D-Day for HBO and the most-talked-about TV series of the decade. Many of the mob opera's...
STARR REPORT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amCoop flies with Jolie Anderson Cooper's interview with Angelina Jolie scored big numbers on CNN Tuesday night, snaring a winning 1.3 million viewers from 10 p.m. to midnight - and...
PETTY BACKS DOWN
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amTOM PETTY AS much as Tom Petty said he loved New York and that he was thrilled to be playing Madison Square Garden again, at Tuesday's concert the famous Heartbreaker...
HIT THE SANDER - THE RADICAL NEW WAY TO A PERFECT TAN
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amTHERE are some mistakes - like your aqua prom dress with shoulder pads - that you can't erase. But there are things that you thought were permanent - like a...
DON'T CALL IT A COMEBACK
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amJAY-Z didn't fade to black after his retirement from rapping in 2003. The hip-hop star has collaborated on records with Linkin Park and R. Kelly and completed the catastrophic R.Kelly/JayZ...
ONE CAT-TASTROPHE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amPOOR, poor Bambi. Of all 10 cat-estants in the Meow Mix House at 49th and Madison, it is the New York tabby that has yet to be adopted. Every other...
INSECT-IFRIED - A CULINARY TOUR OF N.Y. WILDLIFE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amMOST people try to keep the ants away from the picnic. Today, they're actually on the menu. Yes, folks. That wacky Explorers Club is at it again, giving new meaning...
CLASSROOM EXTRA - PRESIDENTS EDITION
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amGeorge H. W. Bush, 41st president - 1989-1993 The Bushes are the first father-and-son presidents since John Adams and John Quincy Adams nearly 200 years ago. GEORGE Herbert Walker Bush...
U.S. INTEL FINDS 500 IRAQ WMDS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - U.S. forces have found about 500 chemical weapons with poison gas in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein and there could be more, says a just-declassified U.S....
'PERV' POL RE-ELECTED
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe conservative mayor of a wealthy Long Island community - accused of fondling a barmaid and three women yacht club members in separate booze-fueled incidents - has been re-elected to...
'FIRE' CALL FOR 3RD IN SEX ROMP
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe third of three firefighters accused of having sex with a woman in a Bronx firehouse in 2004 is about to get the boot. An administrative law judge has recommended...
SPITZER MILES AHEAD IN POLL
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amALBANY - Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is holding on to a huge lead over his two opponents - Republican John Faso and Democrat Tom Suozzi - in the race for...
FAMILY'S FINAL GOODBYE - RITES FOR L.I. FIREFIGHTER
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amSome 1,500 mourners - including about 750 firefighters - paid their final respects yesterday to a hero Long Island smoke-eater killed in a freak line-of-duty accident. Michael Greene, 43, a...
QAEDA CAMERA PLOT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amAl Qaeda terrorists were developing special new camera bombs to sneak past airport security in a plot foiled by U.S. intelligence, it was revealed yesterday. The chilling summer-2003 plot that...
NOLAN RYAN'S CATTLE BATTLE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThey couldn't steal bases on him, so they're stealing his cows. Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan last played for the Texas Rangers, but now he's a cowboy, and cattle...
COPS CATCH 'FIEND' IN BX. ROOFTOP SLAY
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA Bronx teen whose charred body was found on a housing project rooftop was killed during a fight over a gun, police sources said yesterday. Cops say Markel Nance, 21,...
KILLER CANNIBAL: LET ME LOOSE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amConfessed killer and cannibal Albert Fentress appeared in court yesterday trying to win his release from a mental ward in an upstate psychiatric hospital. Fentress, 64, has been locked up...
MOB CANARY DELIVERS GRISLY POST-MORTEM
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA Bonanno crime family turncoat testified yesterday that he helped dump the body of a bullet-riddled New York Post employee - but first stood by as another gangster finished him...
'TART MART' GAL IN COURT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA 100-pound brunette beauty is now the first alleged call girl to be indicted for prostitution in the Brazilian bombshell brothel case that's been filling the tabloids with bikini pictures...
ELIOT: MEDICAID-FRAUD MEASURE 'FAILS' STATE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amALBANY - Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday blasted the Legislature's newly announced "anti-Medicaid fraud" proposal as a fraud on New York's taxpayers. Democrat Spitzer, the overwhelming favorite to be the...
WORKERS BATTLE FOR 9/11 SUIT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amWorld Trade Center rescue and recovery workers who say they got sick breathing toxic air from Ground Zero want a federal judge to reject the city's claim that dismissing their...
HILL LABELS GOP TACTICS A 'DISGRACE'
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amWASHINGTON - Republicans are a "disgrace" for playing politics with the war in Iraq, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton charged yesterday as she moved to turn the spotlight away from Democratic...
CARIBBEAN NIGHT OF TERROR - GANG ROBBED & BEAT N.Y. COUPLE WITH HELP OF RESORT SECURITY GUARD
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA luxurious Caribbean getaway turned into an ordeal from hell for a beautiful New York real-estate broker, who claimed she was held down, sprayed with chemicals and brutalized by group...
TOUGHER RULES FOR BOUNCERS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amALBANY - In the wake of Imette St. Guillen's murder this year, lawmakers have struck a deal to require background checks and tougher training for bouncers at bars, The Post...
OLIVER STONE 9/11 FILM SUIT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe makers of "World Trade Center," Oliver Stone's new movie about the 9/11 attacks, are suing a New York man they say ripped off their script. Paramount Pictures officials contend...
OPEN GORE POLICY - DISLOYALTY ACT SUGGESTS '08 RUN
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amTHE best proof that Al Gore wants to keep the door open to a 2008 White House bid is how he (again) back-stabbed 2000 running mate Joe Lieberman by refusing...
SO SUE ME, MIKE TELLS PARK FOES
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amMayor Bloomberg has a message for Brooklyn Bridge Park opponents: Sue me, too! A Brooklyn judge yesterday allowed the city to join the state as a co-defendant in a suit...
DWI-SLAY 'CONFESSION'
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amMoments after causing a deadly three-car crash and inferno on the FDR last month, a 23-year-old Harlem man admitted to EMS workers, "I been drinking 'nutcrackers' all night." "Officer, I...
PRINCESS SCAMMER $TILL ROYAL PAIN: DA
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amManhattan's own fake princess, Antoinette Millard - who pulled $1 million in insurance and credit card scams while posing as Saudi royalty - may be up to her old tricks...
POSH HOTELS PROMISE 'PEACE'
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe resort where New Yorker Janis Aurichio says she found so much violence is part of a globe-spanning chain of luxury hotels renowned among celebrities and the super-rich. Named after...
TAXIS 'HAIL' $TORM - '500G' MEDALLIONS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amCabs may crash more often than the stock market, but as investments go, they're impossible to flag down. Taxi medallions, the flimsy tin seals that must be fastened to the...
CLIFF HUBBY STILL IN PSYCH LOCKUP
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe Staten Island man accused of watching his distraught wife commit suicide by driving off a Bear Mountain cliff will be spending more time at a psychiatric facility. Victor Han...
MAKE THAT FAST FOOD 'TO GO': COUNCIL BIG
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amCall it the "McZoning Law." A powerful city council member yesterday proposed overhauling the city's zoning rules to limit the number of fast-food restaurants in neighborhoods where obesity is epidemic...
BUS GIRL 'FELL' UNDER TRUCK
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe tragic 5-year-old Brooklyn girl killed by an SUV as she ran to catch a school bus, likely tripped and fell under the vehicle as it passed, her head crushed...
GOTTI LEGAL 'GALL' - BIG BUCKS FOR 'PAUPER'
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amJohn "Junior" Gotti is crying poor and wants taxpayers to pay his legal bills - even though he's raked in up to $21,000 each month while sitting behind bars and...
I'LL NEVER MARRY AGAIN, SAYS STRAHAN - SACK KING TELLS OF HIS 'LIFESTYLE'
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amGap-toothed Giant Michael Strahan says he'll never marry again. The sack king, in the midst of his second bitter divorce and reeling from a remark his wife made about his...
CORONER HONCHO IN NEW 9/11 $CAM: FEDS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA former top official in the Medical Examiner's Office has been hit with new charges linked to an alleged scheme to rip off millions in federal funds earmarked to help...
GIANT SMACK DOWN - $25M HEROIN BUST
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe feds have smashed a drug ring accused of funneling massive quantities of heroin from Colombia to New York - and seized a record $25 million in drugs bound for...
PIZZA WARS HEAT UP - CHAINS GAIN VS. MOM 'N' POP
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amDomino's and Papa John's are trying to grab a piece of the New York pizza pie. More national chains have been popping up in the Big Apple as they try...
'GROPING' MAYOR IS RE-ELECTED
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe mayor of a wealthy Long Island community - accused of fondling a barmaid and three female yacht-club members in separate booze-fueled incidents - has been re-elected to his post....
PIERS NEED HULL OF AN IDEA
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe Queen Mary 2 may be getting some neighbors in Brooklyn. The city is fishing for ideas about how to develop a 17-acre inlet of New York Harbor off Red...
NUKE-KOOK REBUKE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amPresident Bush yesterday bluntly warned Iran to stop stalling on nuclear weapons - and he got strong support from European leaders at a summit in Vienna. Bush said Iran can't...
SLAIN GI WAS FOUND BEHEADED
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amAt least one of the two kidnapped U.S. soldiers mutilated and killed in Iraq last weekend had been beheaded, it was disclosed yesterday. Their bodies, recovered in an area south...
NYPD DAILY CRIME BLOTTER
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amBROOKLYN * A 21-year-old man was shot dead in front of a Crown Heights bodega yesterday after an argument ended in gunfire. Police last night were questioning three men. The...
TEEN GIRL SLAIN IN CROSSFIRE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA petite Queens teen standing on a crowded street early yesterday was killed in the crossfire when two groups opened fire - one from the street and the other from...
'LIFE WITHOUT LOVE' FOR SAD DWI BRIDE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA heartbroken fiancée of a man mowed down by a drunken driver told a Queens court yesterday she will "live without love" in her life as she raises her son...
JITNEY'S WASTE OF $ECURITY
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amAS SUMMER begins, the dollar is still in the doldrums and the subways still stifle, but . . . Heavens to Betsy, Southampton is safe. Can you believe this? The...
BONANNO CANARY'S POST-MORTEM
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA Bonanno crime family turncoat testified yesterday that he helped dump the body of a bullet-riddled New York Post employee - but first stood by as another gangster finished him...
PIZZA PIE FIGHT HEATS UP N.Y. - MUSHROOMING CHAINS VS. MOM & POPS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amDominos and Papa John's are trying to grab a piece of the New York pizza pie. More national chains have been popping up in the Big Apple as they try...
FLOYD'S RETURN STILL DAY-TO-DAY
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amMET NOTES It's still uncertain whether Cliff Floyd will rejoin the Mets in Toronto this weekend. Floyd is in Port St. Lucie rehabbing a sprained left ankle, and he hasn't...
REST PAYS OFF FOR 'WIN'
June 22, 2006 | 4:00am1ST RACE - It was a virtual match race as Zippy Shannon set the pace with favored Tamberino chasing in second. Tamberino took the lead on the turn, but in...
KING WORKING DE LA HOYA-TRINIDAD II
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amDON KING is hopeful of putting together a rematch between Oscar De La Hoya and Felix "Tito" Trinidad after De La Hoya announced yesterday he won't be fighting again until...
NETS LOOK AT BIG TEN
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amSize and athletes. Those have been themes dominating the Nets' NBA Draft auditions and yesterday was no exception as both elements were on display, particularly from the Big Ten. Illinois'...
BROWN BOBCAT? - NBA EXEC SEES LARRY JOINING JORDAN
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThere is no question Larry Brown won't be coaching the Knicks next season and Isiah Thomas will be. The questions are which day will it become official, and where will...
BIG TEN CUTS FOX TV DEAL
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amThe Big Ten is the latest sports entity to jump into the television sports business as an owner. Yesterday, the conference announced that it will team with Fox Cable Networks...
DAVIDSON AWAITING BLUES' CALL
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amWhile the NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the St. Louis Blues to an ownership group led by Dave Checketts, MSG analyst John Davidson said yesterday he does...
EX-BOSOX HURLER DETAILS 'ROID USE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA former top pitching prospect of the Red Sox describes his use of steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) in this week's edition of ESPN the Magazine. Paxton Crawford, who...
GLAVINE: SMOLTZ TRADE UNLIKELY
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amJohn Smoltz laughed when he picked up the phone, a sign to Tom Glavine that he was expecting this call. This was more than just two chums playing catch-up as...
LIBS OFF SKID ROW
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amLiberty 72 - Mystics 66 Crystal Robinson watched her former team warm up before last night's Garden game, knowing full well its struggles. Yet she didn't think the Liberty had...
IT WON'T LAST - DEEP BENCH MEANS RETURN TO MINORS IN MILLEDGE'S FUTURE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amIt's just a matter of time really before Lastings Milledge is returned to the minors, and that's not so much an indictment of his age or inexperience. It's along the...
DON'T STOP NOW - BIG LEAD IS NO PLAYOFF GUARANTEE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amI THINK the Mets are going to win the NL East easily. But what does that matter? A week ago I believed the Mavericks were a lock to win the...
BILLY BUMMER FLUSHES CYCLE - WAGNER WASTES AMAZIN' RALLY
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amReds 6 - Mets 5 Jose Reyes hit for the cycle in the eighth inning, but the wheels came off in the ninth with Billy Wagner on the hill. Wagner...
BIG LEAD DOES NOT GUARANTEE DIVISION TITLE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amI THINK the Mets will win the NL East easily. But what does that matter? A week ago, I believed the Mavericks were a lock to win the NBA Finals....
QB ROULETTE - RACE 'WIDE OPEN' FOR JETS' STARTING JOB
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amA sit-down yesterday with the Jets' new offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer's first meeting with reporters since he was hired in the offseason, made a couple of things very clear with...
CRYSTAL FEELS LIBERTY'S PAIN
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amCrystal Robinson didn't know if last year would be her final one in the WNBA, after averaging a career-low 7.3 points per game for the Liberty. "I really didn't think...
REYES COMPLETES FEAT
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amIt's not like the Mets were waiting on Jose Reyes to finally hit for the cycle the way the franchise continues to wait for one of their pitchers to become...
OZZIE USES A GAY SLUR
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amIn a meeting with reporters before Tuesday's game with the Cardinals, Guillen said to reporters of columnist Jay Mariotti, "What a piece of [expletive] he is, [expletive] fag." Ozzie Guillen's...
JARET MAKES WRIGHT TURN - FIVE BOMBER HURLERS BLANK PHILS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEES 5 - PHILLIES 0 PHILADELPHIA - Longer would be nicer when it comes to Jaret Wright's workload. Yet, when a pitcher hangs five zeroes, you can't gripe about him...
YANKS' MOUND OF TROUBLE - MEDIOCRE MUSSINA SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - Elbow, good. Confidence, OK. Results? Poor. That's Mike Mussina's snapshot these days. A little over two weeks ago the buzz around the veteran right-hander centered on his chances...
TENDINITIS PLAGUING OCTAVIO
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES PHILADELPHIA - While the Yankees downplayed Octavio Dotel's trip to see Dr. James Andrews today in Birmingham, it's certainly not a step in the right direction for the...
TORRE NEEDS JARET TO DIAL LONG DISTANCE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - Hotels don't have 13th floors, so Joe Torre has a vision of baseball games without sixth innings. "There really is no (pitching) plan for the sixth," Torre said....
SHORT BUT SWEET
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - As long as hotels don't have 13th floors, Joe Torre has a vision of baseball games without sixth innings. "Right now Jaret Wright and [Shawn] Chacon are only...
DOTEL HAS APPOINTMENT WITH DOCTOR
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES PHILADELPHIA - While the Yankees downplayed Octavio Dotel's trip to see Dr. James Andrews today in Birmingham, it's certainly not a step in the right direction for the...
SHORT, BUT EFFECTIVE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amPHILADELPHIA - As long as hotels don't have 13th floors, Joe Torre has a vision of baseball games without sixth innings. "Right now Jaret Wright and (Shawn) Chacon are only...
TENDINITIS PLAGUES DOTEL
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amYANKEE NOTES PHILADELPHIA - While the Yankees downplayed Octavio Dotel's trip to see Dr. James Andrews today in Birmingham, it's certainly not a step in the right direction for the...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
June 22, 2006 | 4:00amManicurist Michelle Wetzel of Eldridge, Iowa, recalls telling beauty-salon co-workers 10 years ago that she hoped one day to find her biological mother, who put her up for adoption as...