New Man

Paul Kelly has prosecuted the shameless (embezzler Alan Eagleson, former head of the NHL players' union) and defended the indefensible (Marty McSorley's club to the head of Donald Brashear in 2000), so it's not as if the man shies away from confrontation. It's by design that Kelly, who left a lucrative Boston law practice to become executive director of the NHL Players' Assn.

In its first major move since closing the $26-billion deal to buy Beverly Hills-based Hilton Hotels Corp., Blackstone Group on Monday named the head of an industry rival as Hilton's new top executive. Christopher Nassetta, 45, had been president and chief executive of Host Hotels & Resorts, the largest publicly traded hotel owner of luxury, branded properties such as Marriott, W, Four Seasons and Fairmont. He replaces Hilton's retiring CEO, Stephen Bollenbach.

Nai Yin Xue arrived at Los Angeles International Airport two weeks ago from Melbourne, Australia, as just another face in the crowd. Hours before catching his flight, however, the 54-year-old martial arts master and publisher of New Zealand's largest Chinese-language weekly allegedly left his 3-year-old daughter alone at a Melbourne train station on Sept. 15.

Based on DNA evidence, a 36-year-old man in New Jersey has been arrested in connection with the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl in Ocean Beach, police said Wednesday. A DNA sample taken after James De Santo was arrested on suspicion of violating his parole on a drug conviction matched evidence from the assault. The victim was blindfolded and raped after an intruder broke into her home, Lt. Carolyn Kendrick said.

AS RECENTLY AS LAST WEEK, the smart money in Washington and on Wall Street was betting against Henry M. Paulson Jr., Goldman Sachs' chairman and chief executive, to replace John W. Snow as secretary of the Treasury. It wasn't that the 60-year-old Paulson, a hyper-successful executive who once worked in the Nixon White House, wasn't thought to be good enough for the job. Rather, it was that the job wasn't thought to be good enough for Paulson.

We know about all the changes for the Masters at Augusta National ... longer, tighter, tougher. After what happened in Friday's second round, please add another: stranger. Chad Campbell leads by three shots at six-under-par 138, which is fine as long as everyone realizes it's Chad and not Michael Campbell, the U.S. Open champion. There is first-day leader Vijay Singh, tied for second with Fred Couples and Rocco Mediate despite a two-over 74 that included three double bogeys.

The question came perhaps as Rafael Furcal knew it would, stuck between his past life with the Atlanta Braves and his new life with the Dodgers, raised after he had lifted the No. 15 white jersey to his chest. What about the DUIs? The new Dodger shortstop had two driving-under-the-influence incidents, both in Atlanta, the second of which ended in jail time about a year ago.

The doctor kept mostly to himself, neighbors remembered Monday. He lived in a gated South Florida community west of the exclusive town of Boca Raton with a woman and two children. The couple drove a black SUV and a white two-door sedan, and fixed up the garage of their rented villa to serve as the youngsters' rumpus room. Dan Kozan, an advertising consultant, had one encounter with his neighbor across the street when he moved into Villa San Remo three years ago, but it was enough.

Peter Van Der Linde smiled at the old snapshots of his only child, Kirsten, now grown and sitting a few feet away. Reaching for flowers in one, playing with the dog in another. Building with blocks. These are moments he might have recreated with Kirsten's own baby, Melissa. Instead, Van Der Linde was on the witness stand and Kirsten was on trial for violently killing her baby, just before she was to meet her grandfather for the first time.

Ben Affleck, who plays a successful Hollywood talent agent opposite Rebecca Romijn in the upcoming movie "Man About Town," has purchased a Brentwood home for slightly more than $4.6 million. The country traditional-style home, on an acre of rolling lawns and gardens, has five bedrooms and 5 1/2 bathrooms in about 4,500 square feet. The gated, two-story house also has a master-bedroom suite with a spa tub, a steam shower and marble floors. There is an ocean view from the master quarters.