NEWS LITE : STONE TELLS BEAU, GUESS? AGAIN.

Another one bites the dust. Sharon Stone has dumped her latest lover, Michel Benasra, the short, paunchy CEO of Guess? Pour Le Bebe.

They were widely photographed on a recent European vacation by the tabloids. Poor guy even went on a diet and started working out - the better to look like a movie star's beau - and he hung two huge picture of Stone in his L.A. office.

Stone, 38, reportedly returned the 10-carat diamond ``friendship ring'' that Benasra, 46, gave her.

He lamented on ``Extra:'' ``It was a great summer love, but now it's over. Sharon Stone is a great woman. . . . Sharon, I am sure, has some movie to do. Me, I have to do some baby garments.''

`Baywatch' beauty touting talents

New cast member Traci Bingham is set to make waves on ``Baywatch.'' The 28-year-old, of Cambridge, Mass., is proud of the show's, um, philosophy. ``In every single episode you see a life saved. I think that's so important.'' And if you're wondering what's the special something she'll bring to the show: ``I don't have implants,'' she tells People magazine. ``It's the Frederick's of Hollywood bra. I'm not as big as Pamela, but mine are real.''

Bearing claws to protect young

What shocks Madonna? Tabloid TV.

Video footage of the pop diva at her Los Angeles home with newborn daughter, Lourdes Maria, and the baby's father, Carlos Leon, has been aired two nights on the syndicated ``Hard Copy'' show. It prompted a scathing statement published Friday in USA Today:

``I'm fully cognizant that when one is a public figure, having one's picture taken goes with the territory of fame,'' Madonna wrote.

``But when I'm in the confines of my own home, my sanctuary, I can't help but feel violated by the invasion of my privacy. . . . My daughter is not a public figure. She is a week-old child who does not deserve to be exploited this way.''

The video, apparently shot from a neighboring house, includes shots of Leon getting the paper and flowers getting delivered.

Gary Rosen, a ``Hard Copy'' spokesman, said: ``Quite frankly, we are surprised that Madonna is stunned by anything.''

Good deed does grandmother in

A 62-year-old woman was handcuffed and jailed for sticking coins in other people's expired parking meters as a police officer was about to ticket the cars.

``That's not a pretty picture down there at that jail,'' said Sylvia Stayton, a grandmother of 10.

Putting money in a meter once it has expired is against the law in Cincinnati, even if it's your own car. Stayton said she just wanted to do a good deed.

Stayton said she was walking near her home Thursday when she saw Officer Edward Johnson ticketing cars. She said she asked Johnson whether he had recorded a car's license plate yet.

``He said, `Is this your car?' and I said, `No,' '' Stayton said. ``So I put a nickel in the meter and a dime in the next one. Then he said, `That's against the law! You're under arrest!' ''

Stayton said she walked away, thinking Johnson was joking. ``He walked up behind me and slapped the handcuffs on - he jerked my arm up behind me

'' she said.

She was charged with obstructing official business and disorderly conduct and spent three hours in jail before her daughter posted her $1,900 bail. Stayton pleaded innocent.

The charges carry a total of up to four months in jail and $1,000 in fines.

Johnson wrote in his arrest report that Stayton was ``screaming and yelling'' and ``engaging in turbulent behavior, which served no lawful and reasonable purpose.''

Dilbert, Ratbert, Dogbert hit it big

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has signed a book contract for $15 million, believed to be the biggest deal ever for a comic-strip character. The 19-book deal calls for five hardcovers in the next five years, plus strip reprints and calendars over seven years.

Adams' ``The Dilbert Principle'' - 1.3 million sold since March - and ``Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook,'' will be Nos. 1 and 2 on Nov. 3's New York Times nonfiction-hardcover best-seller list.

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2 Photos

Photo: (1) Madonna: Miffed by video on tabloid TV

(2) Sy lvia Stayton, 62, was arrested after placing coins in expired parking meters.

Associated Press