NEWS LITE : 2ND WOMAN ARRESTED, ORDERED NOT TO TRESPASS AT LETTERMAN'S.

A woman was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass after police said they found her in David Letterman's driveway.

Nellie Ruth Shirley, 39, of Honea Path, S.C., is free without bail and was ordered to stay away from the talk-show host's Connecticut property.

Shirley was charged Sept. 28, after police investigated a report of a suspicious vehicle in the driveway of Letterman's New Canaan home, said New Canaan police Sgt. Christian Gray.

Assistant Public Defender Christine Schwartzstein asked Superior Court Judge Harold Dean on Tuesday to grant Shirley a special form of probation, in which her record would be wiped clean if she completes the terms of probation and is not arrested again.

A hearing was scheduled for Dec. 1.

Her arrest came a week before the suicide in Colorado of Margaret Ray, 46, a woman who repeatedly had been arrested for trespassing at Letterman's home.

Station shocked, replaces Stern

Say goodbye to Portland, Howard Stern.

KWBP, a WB affiliate in Oregon, has become the latest TV station to drop the ``Howard Stern Radio Show'' as offensive.

``Managers of television stations have an obligation to determine what's appropriate and what isn't,'' said Steve Dant, KWBP general manager.

Stations in Birmingham, Ala., San Diego, St. Louis and Phoenix have dumped Stern since the shock jock's latest TV venture debuted Aug. 22.

Starr's wife gives prosecutor's defense

It must be hard for Kenneth Starr, not being able to answer his critics as he would like, having to grind his teeth every time some pundit or average American maligns him as a Clinton-bashing, sex-obsessed, Joseph McCarthy-wannabe who will bring down the American empire.

Seems someone hit upon an idea: Hey, why not let his wife speak!

Sure enough, Alice Starr tells Mirabella magazine: ``The most frustrating thing is that he can't defend himself. He's not allowed to speak. I probably read more than Ken does and have recently looked at some of the cable programs . . . and it hurts me to see him maligned. But the fact is he's a very loving husband; he's a very loving father, and our marriage will be unaffected by all this.''

The Starrs have three children. Starr's selection as special prosecutor in 1994 changed the couple's life to a pressure-cooker existence, according to the article. He receives death threats and hasn't had a weekend off in four years. Despite that, the Starrs have maintained a semblance of a home life in which he coached a softball team, and she shops, cooks, cleans and chauffeurs neighborhood children, the article said.

Seinfeld angered by affair quizzing

Jerry Seinfeld had no funny observations to offer on the subject of Jessica Sklar.

The comedian was cornered Tuesday at his gym by a New York Post reporter asking about his married gal pal.

``You know, I'm barely interested in my own life. I don't know how you could be interested in it,'' Seinfeld said.

Pressed on whether he was in love with Sklar, the 26-year-old estranged wife of Broadway theater scion Eric Nederlander, the comedian snapped, ``You're a poor human!''

Both the Post and the Daily News reported that Seinfeld took up with Sklar soon after she married Nederlander four months ago. Nederlander, whose father owns six theaters and a piece of the New York Yankees, is filing for divorce, the newspapers said.

Author Wolfe gets disinvited to speak

An Atlanta business organization has withdrawn a speaking invitation to Tom Wolfe over reports that his new novel includes an unflattering description of the city's real estate community.

Sam Massell, a former Atlanta mayor and president of the Buckhead Coalition, said Wolfe's ``A Man in Full'' amounts to ``Buckhead-bashing.''

Buckhead is a wealthy area of north Atlanta.

``I'm not passing judgment on his book,'' Massell said, ``but I don't want to spend the coalition's money for a program that has as its principal speaker someone who has authored a book that attacked the community.''

Massell cited a section of the book where a real estate developer orchestrates a Ku Klux Klan rally to drive down the price of a prized piece of real estate he hopes to buy.

The dispute apparently isn't a major concern for Wolfe, whose book will be released Nov. 10. Publicist Jeff Seroy said Wolfe's schedule wouldn't have allowed him to accept the speaking engagement anyway.

Leno, wife take on Taliban oppression

The Taliban militia's newest enemies are Jay and Mavis Leno.

The ``Tonight Show'' host and his wife donated $100,000 on Wednesday to a campaign to call attention to the Taliban's restrictions on women.

``Two years ago, women in Afghanistan could work, be educated and move freely,'' Mavis Leno said.

Since the Taliban took control in 1996, women have been banned from working and are forbidden to leave their homes unless accompanied by a male relative. Taxi drivers are beaten if their fare is a woman alone. The Taliban defend their edicts in the name of Islam.

The Lenos' donation went to the Feminist Majority Foundation for its Campaign to Stop Gender Apartheid.

News Lite is compiled by Karen Duffy from Daily News staff and wire reports.

CAPTION(S):

4 Photos

PHOTO (1) David Letterman: Targeted again?

(2) Seinfeld

(3) Leno

(4) Kenneth Starr sits with his daughter Carolyn and his wife, Alice, during the convocation at Stanford University in September.

Associated Press