People

AN STYLE='font-size: 100%; color: #990000; font-weight: bold; '>Stern Gestures
In one of the biggest now-you-tell-us moments of the year, Clear Channel Communications, the largest U.S. radio chain, last week deemed disc jockey HOWARD STERN "vulgar, offensive and insulting" and dropped his syndicated show from the six stations that aired it. (It can still be heard on dozens of stations on the Infinity network.) Coincidentally, Clear Channel CEO John Hogan testified the next day before a congressional committee on media indecency. As for Stern, his show will be suspended until Clear Channel is assured that he will meet decency standards. (Should be real soon.) Even conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh took Stern's side. Stern and Limbaugh in agreement? O.K., now we're offended.

Going Platinum
Think Angelina Jolie's upcoming Taking Lives sounds a lot like Ashley Judd's Twisted? Well, you're wrong. There are several big differences:

ANGELINA JOLIE's character is an unusually observant, successful FBI agent who wakes up in bed with a bloody live body, is always staring at photos of dead people she doesn't know, has an older male mentor who's Quebecois and has a psychopath tell her she's just like him over the phone.

ASHLEY JUDD'S character is an unusually observant, successful homicide detective who wakes up in bed with a bloody dead body, is always staring at photos of dead people she knows, has an older male mentor who's American and has a psychopath tell her she's just like him face to face.

Opie's Kid
It takes a village to raise a star. In this case, the star is newcomer BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD, 22, whose dad is director and former child star Ron. And the village is The Village, M. Night Shyamalan's spooky new movie about a small town surrounded by creatures of the woods. Howard, who's getting buzz five months before the film's release, stars alongside Adrien Brody, Joaquin Phoenix and Sigourney Weaver. "All hell breaks loose," says Shyamalan, who cast Howard in the lead after seeing her in an off-Broadway performance of As You Like It, thus giving hope to all struggling young actors who also happen to be Hollywood royalty.

Pay Up, or We're Sending Barney Over
This week in a court in Ravenna, Italy, Western Kentucky University will square off with Mediaset, a TV company controlled by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. WKU, whose mascot has been the fuzzy-slipper-like BIG RED since 1979, claims that GABIBBO, the mascot for Mediaset's nightly show Striscia la Notizia (Stripping the News), is a clear rip-off, and is suing for $250 million. In support of the claim, Big Red and the kid who plays him are traveling to Italy to do interviews. But are they a match for the Italian blob's charm? Gabibbo had a best-selling album, and like so many Italians, he's better dressed.