Nation briefs 01/27/03

Stewart claims she lost $400 million from probe

NEW YORK -- Martha Stewart estimates the federal investigation into her ImClone stock trade has cost her about $400 million, according to an interview with The New Yorker magazine, which reaches newsstands today.

Stewart told New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin that the losses have been mostly in the decline in value of her more than 30 million shares in her multimedia company, but also in legal fees and lost business opportunities.

It was her first lengthy media interview on the subject since news broke last June that federal prosecutors were investigating Stewart's sale of ImClone System Inc. shares.

Stewart noted that her image has suffered and said she's "puzzled by the public's delight" in her troubles.

"My business is about homemaking," she said. "And that I have been turned into or vilified openly as something other than what I really am has been really confusing."

The Jan. 19 interview took place at Stewart's Westport, Conn., home for several hours with several of her advisers, the magazine said.

Stewart, chairman and chief executive of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, discussed her sentiments about the probe and the public reaction. She would not speak on the record about the facts of the case and a magazine spokeswoman declined to say whether Stewart's lawyer was present.

Gas prices rise more than a penny nationwide

CAMARILLO, Calif. -- Gas prices rose nearly one and a half cents per gallon over the past two weeks, an industry analyst said Sunday.

The average weighted price for gas nationwide, including all grades and taxes, was about $1.52 per gallon Friday, according to the Lundberg Survey of 8,000 stations nationwide. Gas cost just over $1.50 a gallon on Jan. 3, the date of the last Lundberg Survey.

Contributing to the price rise was the continuing oil production strike in Venezuela, a fear of war against Iraq, the intense cold weather on America's East Coast, which is prompting some refiners to produce more heating oil, and the addition of a costlier gasoline additive in California, Trilby Lundberg said.

The national weighted average price of gasoline, including taxes, at self-serve pumps Friday was about $1.49 per gallon for regular, $1.58 for mid-grade and $1.67 for premium.

Billy Joel released from hospital day after accident

SAG HARBOR, N.Y. -- "Piano Man" Billy Joel was hospitalized for several hours early Sunday after smashing his car into a tree along a highway on far eastern Long Island.

A hospital spokesman confirmed that the singer was released Sunday morning but would not comment on Joel's injuries.

The 53-year-old Rock and Roll Hall of Famer had swerved into the tree as he was driving his Mercedes Benz in Sag Harbor late Saturday, said Sag Harbor Village Police Chief Thomas Fabiano.

No summonses were issued and Joel was not given a Breathalyzer test, police Officer Hugh Caulfield said Sunday.

Joel was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where a hospital spokesman said he arrived around midnight and was released at about 7:30 a.m.

Experiments keep astronauts busy Sunday

SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Space shuttle Columbia's astronauts kept busy Sunday as they continued their 16-day mission of conducting scientific experiments.

Astronaut Laurel Clark worked on a study of how bacteria and yeast develop in space and how reduced gravity affects their response to antibiotics.

The experiment is one of several from the European Space Agency.

"The clumps haven't changed a lot. But instead of being in one area of the chamber they've spread out to more of a serpentine pattern. Within (the) large clumps, there are visible islands of very white tissue," Clark said, describing how the yeast cells she tested changed.

Columbia is due back on earth Saturday.

-- From wire reports