FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, April 9, 2001

CHECKING OUT: Rosie O'Donnell has left the New York hospital where she's been treated for a staph infection in her surgically repaired hand for the past five days. Her rep says the talk-show host will take the rest of the week off to recuperate.

STILL KIDDING AROUND: For the second week in a row the pint-size secret agent adventure Spy Kids continued to topped the box office, earning a $17.1 million, according to final studio figures Monday.

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD: The Writers Guild of America announcing it will resume contract negotiations with producers on April 17. The talks were broken off last month.

HE NEEDS TO SHOW (IN COURT): Marc Anthony is being sued by Daniel Agren, a songwriter who claims Anthony stole music and lyrics for his hit "I Need to Know." Agren claims to have obtained a copyright for a song of the same name in June of 1989.

HE'S LEAVING HOME: Ex-Beatle George Harrison reportedly to sell his 120-room mansion in the British countryside, where he was almost killed by a knife-wielding intruder. Harrison will put the house up for almost $22 million, according to Britain's Mail on Sunday.

MAKING NICE: Steven Bochco and 20th Century Fox have settled his $61 million lawsuit claiming the studio undersold rerun rights to his NYPD Blue. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

THE TRIBE HAS HELPED OUT: Survivor 2 contestants Keith Famie, Michael Skupin and Maralyn "Mad Dog" Hershey participated in a Michigan charity event that helped raise thousands of dollars for sick children. The event featured a meal cooked by Famie and served by Skupin. Hershey donated an autographed bra.

AN OFFER HE COULDN'T REFUSE: Sopranos star James Gandolfini has shot a TV commercial for his alma mater, Rutgers University. The actor appears in an ad touting the school's football team.

HER STORY: Ex-Nanny star Fran Drescher, 44, has sold a memoir of her successful battle with uterine cancer to Warner Books for $1 million.

NEW JOB: The Practice costar Camryn Manheim has clinched a deal to produce and star in The Extra, a feature film she is developing based on her own experiences on movie sets.

SINGING FOR KIDDIES: Backstreet Boys, Destiny's Child, Aaron Carter and Lil' Bow Wow scheduled to perform at Nickelodeon's 14th annual Kids' Choice Awards, which will air April 21 on the cable TV network.

EXORCISED: The head of the Australian state of Victoria has overturned a ban on the screening of the restored version of The Exorcist on Good Friday.

SOUNDS LIKE AN APOLOGY: The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has sent a written apology to the group's sound branch for comments by actor Mike Myers during last month's Oscars ceremony, the Los Angeles Times reports. During the March 25 show, Myers presented the winners for Best Sound and Sound Editing while cracking jokes about sound guys.

BUH-BYE: NBC is shutting down its loss-ridden Internet subsidiary, NBCi.com, saying that any hopes of it becoming profitable had vaporized along with the online advertising market. About 300 jobs there will be eliminated.

BENEFIT: A tribute to Dudley Moore is set for April 16 at Carnegie Hall. Organized as a special birthday party for Moore, who is battling a rare, incurable brain disorder called progressive supranuclear palsy, the evening will benefit Music for All Seasons and the Dudley Moore Research Fund for PSP.