NEWS LITE : CHARGES DROPPED ON PUGNACIOUS PAIR.

Prosecutors in Miami Beach, Fla., on Monday dropped battery charges against Dennis Rodman and actress Carmen Electra stemming from a night of partying in South Beach clubs that ended in a fight at a hotel, the couple's attorney said.

Attorney Roy Black said the fight was a disagreement ``typical of what happens between a married couple.''

``This simply wasn't a crime . . . but because of their celebrity, everyone took notice,'' he added.

Rodman and Electra were charged with simple battery, a misdemeanor, after the fight Nov. 5 in which both suffered minor injuries.

Officers were called to the Miami Beach hotel where they were staying after receiving reports of screaming and fighting. Rodman's shirt was torn and the room was in disarray when officers arrived.

Electra suffered bruising on her arm, an injury to her left temple and a swollen lip when Rodman allegedly threw her purse at her face. She also cut a toe on her left foot after being thrown outside the hotel room the two were sharing, according to the police report.

Rodman and Electra were arrested and later released on $2,500 bail each after several hours in custody.

In addition to prosecutors' dismissing the charges, the judge vacated an order for Rodman and Electra to stay away from each other, Black said.

While in custody, Rodman, a seven-time NBA rebounding champion who has played for the Lakers, Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and Detroit Pistons, had asked authorities to tell Electra that he was sorry he had overreacted and that he loved her, the police report said.

The couple has had an on-again-off-again relationship since their marriage last November in Las Vegas.

Eight's not enough for daddy Jackson

Michael Jackson wants to be a daddy over and over again.

The pop star said in the latest TV Guide that he wants 10 children, just like his father, Joe Jackson.

``I thought I was prepared because I read everything about child rearing, but it's so much more exciting than I ever imagined it would be,'' Jackson said. ``The only regret I have is that I wish I had done it earlier.''

Jackson, 41, denied rumors that he and ex-wife Debbie Rowe are not the biological parents of Prince Michael, 2, and Paris Katherine, 1.

``That's total garbage,'' he said. ``It's trash, and it's not true.''

Jackson is raising the children at his Neverland Ranch in Santa Barbara County.

Lewinsky a fan of secret ballot

Will Monica Lewinsky, New Yorker, be voting for Hillary Clinton for Senate next year?

She's not saying.

``I think that, uh, voting preferences should be kept private,'' Lewinsky said in an interview with ABC's Barbara Walters to be broadcast tonight.

Lewinsky, whose affair with President Clinton led to his impeachment, will likely be forced to choose between her former paramour's wife and New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani if she votes for a U.S. Senate candidate next year.

Lewinsky also said she's been dating but is not in love. Her qualifications for a romantic partner: someone who's ``single, straight, emotionally available.''

She said people feel very comfortable with her in public.

``Somehow everybody seems to feel that they know me,'' she said. ``It's a little like being at `Cheers.' Everybody knows my name.''

Household staff takes on Rocky

Five former cooks and cleaners for Sylvester Stallone sued him Monday in Miami, claiming they were fired for breaking household rules that included not making eye contact with him or speaking to his mother.

The five, all temporary workers hired for 15 days in 1995, are seeking more than $1.5 million in damages. They said they were fired six days into their contracts.

They said they were told by Stallone's wife, Jennifer Flavin, they could be fired if they looked directly into the actor's eyes and were to ``back out and vanish immediately'' when Stallone entered a room at his former Miami estate.

They were also not to eat or drink anything from the house and were required to undergo daily searches, the lawsuit said. Maids were to check guests' suitcases ``to see if they took towels or silverware'' when leaving.

Also prohibited: speaking to Stallone's mother, Jackie Stallone, who lived there - ``Nor will you let her talk to you,'' the lawsuit said.

For Christmas, Jackie Stallone allegedly gave each of the employees a pen and an autographed photo of herself. The lawsuit said Flavin accused the employees of stealing the items from Stallone's mother and fired them for speaking to her.

``Sylvester Stallone is no Rocky or Rambo in real life,'' said Ellis Rubin, the workers' attorney. ``Here is a man of earnings, probably $1,000 a minute, when he works, and millions when he doesn't work. And he beat some housekeepers and cooks out of a small amount of money.''

Martin Singer, the Stallones' attorney, called the suit ``purely fictional.''

``They were fired for absolute cause; they didn't perform the work as requested,'' said Singer. ``We're confident that we will dispose of the lawsuit quickly.''

Museum gets Bab's Stickley

A museum devoted to the American designer Gustav Stickley, the leading proponent of the Arts and Crafts style, paid $125,000 at auction Monday for a pair of Stickley cabinets belonging to Barbra Streisand.

The oak corner cabinets were of particular interest to the nonprofit Craftsman Farms Foundation, which runs the Morris Plains, N.J., museum that once was Stickley's home, because they were made specifically for his dining room.

``We are tickled to have the cabinets back,'' said Tommy McPherson, executive director of the foundation, which has been trying to return the cabinets to the house for 10 years.

The foundation had made repeated appeals to Streisand, asking her either to donate the cabinets or arrange a private sale. Even its request for measurements, which the foundation hoped to use to reproduce the cabinets in lieu of the original ones, were ignored, McPherson said.

Streisand's publicist, Dick Guttman, repeatedly denied that the 57-year-old entertainer or her representatives had ever been contacted about the cabinets.

He said Streisand first heard of the museum's interest in the cabinets after they were already committed to be auctioned, at which time ``the protocol is such, that no preference can be shown to any potential bidder.''

McPherson declined to discuss the controversy Monday and would only say that he respected the actress for her charity work and that it was her right to sell the cabinets any way she wanted.

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

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Photo: Lewinsky

(2) Streisand

(3) Sylvester Stallone and wife Jennifer Flavin in 1997