December 25, 2003
SKIMMED $$ AT PARMALAT COULD MILK U.S. BANKS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amSome of the largest U.S. banks may be soon be dunked into the growing scandal at Italian dairy giant Parmalat. As Parmalat sinks into financial turmoil, firms like Merrill Lynch...
BILLION$ AT STEAK - MAD-COW SCARE CHOMPING INTO FOOD STOCKS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amBillions of dollars are being wiped out in the Christmas Day economic tragedy hitting the beef industry. A single case of mad cow disease has hammered stocks of restaurants and...
BARBIE SALES SAG AS BRATZ PERK UP
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amIt's turning out to be a blue Christmas for Barbie. After dominating the girls' doll market for decades, Barbie is taking a beating from Bratz, a rival doll line by...
BETTING THE 'WORLD' ON KELLY
December 25, 2003 | 5:00am'AMERICAN Idol" winner Kelly Clarkson is also the odds-on favorite to win "World Idol," airing tonight (8 p.m.) on Fox. Several Internet betting sites, including Betwwts.com and Mybetting.co.uk, have Clarkson...
VENTURA'S TALK SHOW GOES DOWN FOR THE COUNT
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amMSNBC has cancelled Jesse Ventura's short- lived talk show, "Jesse Ventura's America." Ventura, the ex-pro-wrestler who served a term as Minnesota governor, will continue to work for MSNBC as a...
OPEN-MINDED - MORE THAN YOU THINK TO DO TODAY
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amONCE the gifts are open, dinner is over and your relatives are starting to get on your nerves, it's time for a little fresh air. But what is there to...
BOMB SCARE HALTS S.I. FERRY
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amHundreds of commuters hurrying home for Christmas were delayed last night when the Staten Island Ferry was shut down by a bomb scare. Officials stopped the boats when a mysterious...
EARLY-BIRD FAITHFUL FLOCK TO ST. PAT'S AT MIDNIGHT
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amThousands of New Yorkers celebrated Christmas early by ringing in the holiday at midnight ceremonies at two of New York's spiritual centers: St. Patrick's Cathedral and Ground Zero. The line...
CAR BABY LEFT ALONE - BRITISH PARENTS BUSTED AT L.I. MALL
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA couple from England was arrested on Long Island after they left their 4-month-old daughter alone inside a locked car at a mall, police said. Holiday shoppers flagged down two...
BUSH SETS JUST THE RIGHT CHRISTMAS DIAL TONE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amBoosting the morale of the troops, Congress and President Bush have made it cheaper for military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan to call home. Bush last month signed into...
FAR FROM THE FEAST - A SOLDIER'S CHRISTMAS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amDEAR Pfc. Smith, Most of your fellow Americans won't think of you today. Some may see a news clip of your Christmas dinner in Iraq, filmed against a backdrop of...
CELEBS GIVING LARGE - SHELLING OUT BIG $$ ON PRESENTS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amWhile many New Yorkers were dodging the rain yesterday, checking out sales and hunting for last-minute bargains this holiday season, the stars spared no expense when it came to buying...
A $MASHING SUCCESS - CAR INSURERS' SAVINGS SHOULD DRIVE DOWN RATES
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - New York's auto-insurance companies, for the first time in years, are paying out less in medical claims - a change that industry officials say should help stabilize rising...
MAN DIES IN FIRE AT FAMED VILLAGE FLAT
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA fire gutted a historic basement apartment in the West Village yesterday - killing a man just profiled in the New York Times, fire officials said. According to the fire...
WEIRD BUT TRUE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00am"I hope you have a Merry Christmas - now give me all the money." That's the charming line a robber has been using on tellers this month to knock over...
HEARTBREAK HOLIDAY SALUTE - SLAIN GI'S KIN THANK COMRADES
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amProudly displayed alongside the holly boughs and evergreen wreaths in the home of Joan and Michael Curtin is a gold-star flag - a sign that a soldier who died in...
ANNE'S DOG KILLS QUEEN'S CORGI
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amQueen Elizabeth had a dog day afternoon this week as one of her beloved corgis was mauled to death by a bull terrier belonging to her daughter Princess Anne. Witnesses...
LETTERMAN GIVES 'HOPE' TO WAR-WEARY GIS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amDavid Letterman bowled 'em over in Baghdad yesterday as he flew into Iraq to entertain the homesick troops. And the gap-toothed funnyman quickly had the GIs in stitches by revealing...
THIS SANTA BACK FOR A GOOD CLAUS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amHERE'S a true-life tale about a Santa Claus who lost his Christmas spirit because of one tragedy - and regained it after another. Starting in 1989, city paramedic Gary Smiley...
MEGA PLAYERS DREAMING OF A GREEN XMAS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amMega Millions ticket buyers are praying Christmas comes a day late this year - with the $125 million jackpot in tomorrow's drawing. The 11-state game's top prize skyrocketed after Tuesday's...
'LOAN' WOLF THIEF - SCHOOL AIDE ROBS ID TO SNAG 85G EQUITY: COPS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA city high-school aide was arrested for allegedly stealing the identity of another man and obtaining an $85,000 home-equity loan in his name. Damon Anthony, 28, of Port Jefferson, L.I.,...
NYPD DAILY BLOTTER
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amBROOKLYN * A pair of gunmen robbed two men of $100 and a neck chain in a Cypress Hills apartment, police said yesterday. The assailants forced open the front door...
YANKEES ARE OFF BASE: LOBBY WATCHDOG
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amALBANY - The head of the state Lobbying Commission yesterday accused the Yankees of no longer cooperating with a probe into a team practice of giving free tickets to public...
BRUCE TOPS CONCERT CASH
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amThe Boss is now the Concert King Some 1.6 million Bruce Springsteen fans made the working-class rock-and-roll hero North America's top concert draw for 2003, according to the ticket tracking...
ACCUSED POL FACES STIFF NEW CHARGE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amCouncilman Allan Jennings, under investigation by the Council's Ethics Committee for improper conduct with two staffers, allegedly gave one of them a giant sculpture of a phallus, sources told The...
FOUL-AIR JORDAN - METLIFE BLDG. SUED OVER MIKE'S STEAK-JOINT ODORS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00am'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the MetLife Building, creatures were stirring, especially the mice. Employees in the Park Avenue building filed suit against Metropolitan Life Insurance yesterday,...
PEACE TALKS POSTPONED AFTER GAZA RAID
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amJERUSALEM - Palestinians yesterday protested an Israeli raid in the Gaza Strip by postponing talks to set up a Mideast peace summit. Senior aides to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia...
HIT-RUN DRIVER KILLS TA RETIREE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA retired subway motorman was killed by a heartless hit-and-run driver in Brooklyn yesterday morning - hours before he was due to fly to South Carolina to spend Christmas with...
NOSHING NYERS BEEF UP DESPITE MAD COW
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amNew Yorkers shrugged off mad-cow disease yesterday - and chowed down on steaks and burgers even after hearing about the first infected cow in the United States. "It was front...
VALIANT VOYAGERS STILL TAKING WING
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amPassengers waiting to fly Air France from Kennedy Airport yesterday took the latest terror threat in stride - a nervous stride. "Yes, I had reservations" about flying, said Bruno Bustamante,...
INSIDE SAUCES REVEAL THEY'LL MAKE A KILLING
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amMamma Mia! Monday's murder at Rao's has only created more buzz for the famed East Harlem eatery and should help boost sales of its homemade pasta sauces, experts said yesterday....
TEEN SUV HORROR - 'DRAG RACE' FLIP KILLS GIRL AFTER PAL FUNERAL
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA Long Island teenager died when an SUV full of young friends flipped over and slammed into a tree - just hours after the dead girl attended the funeral of...
MAYOR'S DISS LIST OF DANGER SCHOOLS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amThe city will release a list of the city's most dangerous schools early next month, Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday. "We're going to focus on that and try to send a...
CHICKEN COUNTRIES STEER CLEAR OF U.S. BULL
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amMore countries banned imports of American beef yesterday in response to the first case of a cow infected with mad cow disease in the United States. More than 10,000 pounds...
COPS BUST MAN AFTER SHOOTOUT
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amAn alleged gunman was shot and wounded in a gun battle with two Transit Task Force cops on a Bronx street early yesterday, police said. The suspect, Dashawn Saunders, 19,...
JETS GROUNDED BY HIGH ANXIETY - FRANCE CANCELS 6 FLIGHTS AMID 'CREDIBLE' THREAT
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amWASHINGTON - Six Air France flights between Paris and Los Angeles were abruptly grounded yesterday due to "credible" information that several terrorist passengers were planning to turn the planes into...
BLOOD 'ORANGE' - TERROR ALERT MADE ME PACK HEAT: HOOD
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amLow-level hood Louis Barone, busted for murdering a fellow patron at Rao's Italian Restaurant, told cops he began packing a Smith & Wesson only a day before the shooting -...
WILD WEST SHOOTOUT IN BRONX
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA gunman was wounded by two cops during a wild shootout on a Bronx street early yesterday, but managed to escape when he hijacked a car, police said. Dashawn Saunders,...
MAN HIT BY DEBRIS FROM MIKE'S BLDG.
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amFalling debris from the future Bloomberg Tower on Lexington Avenue hit a pedestrian in the head during a Christmas Eve rainstorm, officials and eyewitnesses said. Police shut down several streets...
BROOKLYN AHEAD OF THE GAME IN BID FOR NETS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA real-estate developer who wants to move the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn has reportedly become the favorite to win the struggling franchise. Developer Bruce Ratner has upped his leading...
CHICKEN COUNTRIES SHUNNING U.S. BEEF
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amMore nations banned imports of American beef yesterday - and five tons of meat were recalled - in response to the first case of mad-cow disease in the United States....
STARS GIVIN' LARGE - SHELLING OUT BIG $$ ON PRESENTS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amWhile many New Yorkers were checking out sales and hunting for last-minute bargains this holiday season, deep-pocketed celebrities spared no expense when it came to buying Christmas gifts for their...
ROULETTE 'MURDER' IN B'KLYN
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amA Brooklyn man is on the lam today after shooting a 23-year-old woman who refused to play Russian roulette with him, police said. Police identified the killer as Allan Murphy...
PARIS' CHRISTMAS A FAMILY AFFAIR
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amParis Hilton has ditched the porn and the parties and put on some clothes - at least for the moment - to pose for the annual Hilton family Christmas card....
SHIVER ME LIMBER! GOTTA STAY LOOSE ON SLOPES
December 25, 2003 | 5:00am"Anything cardiovascular that you can do to get your heart rate up is going to pay off." -LONNY WHITCOMB FEW sensations can match the joys of alpine skiing. Soaring down...
GRUESOME NEWS FOR ISLES - YASHIN OUT 10-12 WEEKS WITH SEVERED WRIST TENDON
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amAs a result of a freakish arm laceration suffered Tuesday night, Alexei Yashin, the Islanders' most expensive and offensively gifted player is out for up to three months, placing his...
MARVIN & MO AT END OF LINE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amMarvin Jones knows it's coming, but his pride won't allow him to acknowledge it. The end of an impressive era is upon the Jets as Jones and fellow linebacker Mo...
EDWARDS BACKS UP HACKETT
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amJET NOTES Herman Edwards yesterday would not buy into the recent speculation that his offensive coordinator, Paul Hackett, is on the hot seat despite the Jets' recent power outage (28...
FOX SAYS OLD BOSS FASSEL 'WILL BE FINE'
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amGIANT NOTES"[Jim] still has the passion to do it and I'm sure he will resurface somewhere." -JOHN FOX John Fox makes a triumphant return Sunday to the Meadowlands, where he...
TOM: TALKS 'POSITIVE' - GIANTS, COUGHLIN KICK OFF SEARCH
December 25, 2003 | 5:00am"You don't change who you are." -TOM COUGHLIN Tom Coughlin yesterday characterized his interview last Monday with the Giants as "a very positive exchange of ideas and principles" and said...
ISIAH WILL GIVE SWEETNEY SHOT
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amIsiah Thomas, in his third day as Knicks boss, made his first two personnel moves. The Knicks president of basketball operations released one of Scott Layden's 2003 draft picks and...
NETS FACE ROCKY ROAD - PISTONS & PACERS ARE DOUBLE TROUBLE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amThe Nets have propped themselves up by beating a slew of NBA tomato cans that Don King could've arranged. Now comes a two-game, two-night road battle against Eastern Conference contenders...
ISIAH FUMING OVER SLIGHT BEFORE XMAS - ANGRY THOMAS PROMISES CURSING SPREE WON'T BE TOLERATED IN 'OUR HOUSE' AGAIN
December 25, 2003 | 5:00am"I look at what went on in our house, it was something that won't ever happen again." -ISIAH THOMAS Calling the Knicks a "sick patient," new boss Isiah Thomas promised...
SORENESS KOS 'DYESS
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amAntonio McDyess' comeback has hit the panic stage as he sat out yesterday's practice with a sore left knee. He could miss his first game since returning Dec. 1 tomorrow...
JAY-Z EAGER TO RAP UP PURCHASE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amWhat kind of owner would Jay-Z be? "The coolest," the Brooklyn-born rap superstar said jokingly at the Nets game Tuesday night. Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, is part...
MUTOMBO: SPREE'S RAMPAGE BIZARRE - CALLS YULE TIRADE A BLACK EYE FOR LEAGUE
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amKNICK NOTES Dikembe Mutombo said Latrell Sprewell's $25,000 X-rated performance directed at Knicks owner James Dolan and assistant Lon Kruger Tuesday is another black eye for a league trying to...
WIMPY DON DESERVES THE HEAVE-HO-HO-HO
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amChaney's remarks in the wake of the way his caravan of cowards laid down before Latrell Sprewell tell you everything you need to know about Chaney's leadership quotient. THIS is...
HAWAII BOWL
December 25, 2003 | 5:00amHouston Spread Record: 6-6 Vs. Hawaii Spread Record: 4-7 Opening Line: Hawaii -11 Tonight's game pits a Houston team that has been very public about its desire to prove something...