FIRST LOOK: The News in Brief, September 10, 2002

OUT OF THE FRYING PAN? Congress recommending Tuesday that the Justice Department conduct a criminal investigation into the financial dealings of Martha Stewart for possible insider trading. The domestic diva has denied any wrongdoing in her stock sales of ImClone.

NOT A G'DAY, MATE: Reps for 400 Australian crew members hired to work on Darren Aronofsky's thriller The Fountain posting a letter on Ain't It Cool News blasting Brad Pitt for leaving the film because he was unhappy with the script. The decision caused the project to be shelved.

TRAGIC MEETING: A drunk driver on Monday plowing into a crowd of Justin Timberlake fans outside a radio station in Burbank, California, where the 'N Syncer was appearing, killing a 21-year-old girl. Says Timberlake, "I am horrified to learn of the senseless death...[M]y family and I wish to express our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the victim."

HOT WATER: Police in New Jersey issuing a summons for Whitney Houston after finding sprinklers at her estate running at night--a violation of the drought-ridden state's water-use restrictions.

STORK TIME! Former Clinton advisor and current ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos and wife, Alexandra Wentworth, welcoming their first baby, a son named Elliot Wentworth Stephanopoulos, Monday in Washington D.C.

NICE SPIKE: Ratings for Monday Night Football, now with John Madden at the mike, scoring a 16.1/23 share, up 29 percent from a year ago and handily beating reruns of CBS hits Everybody Loves Raymond, Becker and CSI.

PAYING TRIBUTE: Enrique Iglesias, Alan Jackson, Placido Domingo and India.arie among the artists performing for last night's second Concert for America, attended by President Bush in Washington D.C. The show will air Wednesday evening on NBC.

ALL THINGS MUST PASS: Brainwashed, the first release of new solo material from the late George Harrison, hitting stores on November 19. Harrison recorded the tracks just months before dying of cancer in November 2001.

TICKED OFF! Dateline NBC anchor Jane Pauleyon Monday telling a conference of TV news anchors at Fordham University that the never-ending ticker of news headlines on cable news networks gets on her nerves and gives the news a heightened sense of urgency when at times it's not needed.

HEADING HOME: Comedian Jerry Lewis planning to fly back to the United States after a dizzy spell forced him to cancel a benefit appearance on Sunday night in London. Lewis has been battling pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease.

MUGGLE ALERT! Warner Bros. offering up some of its biggest movies, including Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, for download over the Internet via CinemaNow, a video-on-demand service that offers films for viewing on computers.

DOLLAR SIGNS: TNT and TBS outbidding ABC Family for the shared cable TV rights to M. Night Shyamalan's latest box-office hit, Signs, in a licensing deal estimated to be around $30 million.

A FUTURE FOR FUTURAMA: Cartoon Network securing rerun rights to all 72 episodes of Futuruma. The Matt Groening 'toon will debut on Cartoon Network in January.

CUTTING LOSE: Swimfan's Jason Ritter replacing actor Brad Renfro in New Line Cinema's horror franchise battle of the titans, Freddy vs. Jason.

HIS KIND OF TOWN: Taye Diggs returning to Broadway to star in the musical Chicago for a five-month run at the Shubert Theater beginning September 19.

REMEMBERED: Michael Elphick, the gravel-voiced actor who starred in the BBC opera East Enders, as well as the 1980s TV dramedy Boon, has died at the age of 55.