NEWS LITE : PICTURES WORTH JAIL TIME FOR TWO.

Two celebrity photographers were sentenced Monday in Santa Monica to county jail for chasing Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife Maria Shriver as they drove their son to school last year.

Giles Harrison, 29, received a 90-day term and Andrew O'Brien, 31, got 60 days for the May incident in which they followed the couple's Mercedes-Benz and swarmed the car when it stopped.

``I'm not an insensitive person. I didn't carry out my job that day in an insensitive manner,'' O'Brien said outside court. ``In hindsight, maybe I should have pulled out, but I don't know.''

Superior Court Judge Robert Altman allowed the photographers to remain free on $1,000 bail each pending appeal of their convictions for misdemeanor false imprisonment. Harrison also was convicted of reckless driving.

They were ordered to pay $500 fines and placed on probation for two years.

In issuing the sentences, Altman said the photographers had created a dangerous situation, but he was not trying to make a statement about celebrities and the media.

``There may be a problem when celebrities feel they cannot go outside their houses, but I don't think this is the place to debate this issue,'' Altman said. ``Any type of car chase is simply life-threatening to those involved.''

O'Brien's attorney, Charles Lindner, called the sentences ``outrageous'' and said dealing with photographers goes with the territory of being a celebrity.

The confrontation occurred as Schwarzenegger was recuperating from heart valve surgery. The photographers, working for Splash news and photo agency, were hoping to get the first post-surgery pictures and videotape.

Ellen senses show about to get boot

Stand-up comedian Ellen DeGeneres said she believes her sitcom ``Ellen'' is being canceled by ABC.

``I'm gay, the character's gay,'' DeGeneres said Monday. ``It's just too controversial, nobody wants to deal with it.

``It's pretty safe to say this is it for the `Ellen' show,'' the actress told ``Entertainment Tonight'' in an interview.

``I'm getting every indication that they're not picking the show up,'' she told the syndicated TV show, adding, ``It's sad. I'm very sad.''

ABC denied Monday that the show has been canceled.

``We haven't made any decision yet. An announcement about the (1998-99) schedule will be made in May,'' said network spokeswoman Eileen Kurtz.

``Ellen'' is temporarily off the air while the network tries out new series, but it will return in April to finish out the season, Kurtz said.

Supermodels confer with Castro

Catwalking Brits Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell huddled privately Sunday with Cuban President Fidel Castro, who admitted he was rather familiar with their work.

The leggy twosome, in Cuba since Feb. 17 for a Harper's Bazaar magazine shoot with French photographer Patrick Demarchelier, were continuing to collect world leaders with gusto: Last week, they chatted up South African President Nelson Mandela.

Castro found time Sunday to privately entertain the duo behind closed doors for no fewer than 90 minutes at the Palace of the Revolution.

At a news conference at the Hotel Nacional in Havana, Campbell, fresh from her close encounter with Fidel, gushed to reporters that the 71-year-old communist leader was ``a source of inspiration to the world.''

``I feel so nervous after the meeting with him,'' said Campbell, who has said she wanted to meet the most important people of the 20th century. ``I was able to learn something from him tonight. He taught me and told me not to feel any fear, not to fear anything.''

Fever threat to Streisand's Grammy gig

Will Barbra Streisand perform at Wednesday's Grammy Awards after all? She is running a fever but hopes to recover in time to perform at the show, said her spokesman.

A fever forced Streisand to cancel a rehearsal Sunday with Celine Dion for their ``Tell Him'' duet. She is nominated for two awards, including one with Dion.

Her doctor is ``not yet able to determine if the illness will prevent her performance at the awards,'' spokesman Dick Guttman said Monday.

Cruise in control of travel means

Tom Cruise has sprung for a new airplane complete with a Jacuzzi that's put him back more than $30 million. The top-of-the-line Gulfstream IV will allow the movie star and family to travel between their American, European and Down Under homes in style.

Among its other features: a movie-viewing area with Dolby sound; a kitchen with microwave, refrigerator, and stove with a barbecuing grill; bedrooms and bathroom for the kids, Isabella, 4, and Connor, 3, plus a play area decorated in a ``Toy Story'' theme.

Wife and mom Nicole Kidman had designers rip out the plane's interior and put together a luxurious personal living area. The main cabin seats 10.

Stripping to truth on parent's passing

In the March 4 installment of the comic strip, ``For Better or For Worse'' creator Lynn Johnston will have Elly Patterson's mother die in her sleep. ``Death is normal,'' said Johnston, whose parents died about eight years ago. ``This is what happens to people Elly's age - my age. They lose their parents. Death is a part of life and showing it in a comic strip seems to make people feel better. It made me feel better to write it.''

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

CAPTION(S):

5 Photos

PHOTO (1) Model mom

Jerry Hall with her baby boy, Gabriel Luke Beauregard Jagger, attends Bella Freud's fashion show Monday as part of London Fashion Week.

(2) Photographers Andrew O'Brien, left, and Giles Harrison look glum.

(3) Fidel Castro: An inspiration

(4) Streisand

(5) Cruise