3RD IN TOUCH MAG SETS LAUNCH
By KEITH J. KELLY NY POST
October 1, 2002 -- When German media giant Bauer launches its latest U.S. effort - a women's entertainment magazine called In Touch Weekly in the last week of October - the new magazine will will have plenty of company.
Aside from natural rivals such as Us Weekly, People and The Star, at least three other national magazines already use some version of "In Touch" in their titles.
Those range from the In Touch Ministry magazine published by televangelist Rev. Charles Stanley in Atlanta, Ga., to a gay men's porn magazine out of North Hollywood, Calif., and a Melville, L. I.-based Cancer prevention magazine, In Touch.
"We were the first to copyright back in 1973," claims Glen Bassett, publisher of In Touch for Men, the gay men's magazine.
Steve LeGrice, the executive editor of the Bauer launch, In Touch Weekly, said he isn't worried about confused readers.
"It is probably safe to say their magazine is not going to be on sale in Wal-Mart next to us," he said.
For its part, the new In Touch from Bauer - the American arm of German media giant Bauer, which already publishes First for Women and Woman's World - does not think the plethora of In Touch magazines is a problem - either legally or marketwise.
The magazine's $10 million launch will put the first issue on the stands Oct. 28 with a Nov. 4 cover date.
Sources said the company will use aggressive price cuts to gain a toehold in a newssstand-only market.
The first issue is expected to send out 1.5 million copies that sell for 99 cents apiece. The second week, the price will rise to what is expected to be its normal $1.99 price - with distribution of 1 million.
But it is only promising advertisers that it will deliver 250,000 circulation.
"It is going to be entertainment driven, but it will also have elements such as health, beauty, stress reduction and diet in there," said LeGrice, who said his In Touch is aiming women in their 30s.
Bauer's biggest headache will come from entrenched competitors.
David Pecker, at American Media which publishes The National Enquirer, The Star and The Globe, said he just pumped in $2 million to $3 million more into his editorial operations - opening new bureaus and hiring Joan and Melissa Rivers to do fashion coverage for The Star.

Woman sentenced for ripping out boyfriend's genital
By CHRISTIAN BOTTORFF, The Tennessean
A Nashville woman will spend almost three months in a Metro jail after pleading guilty to using her fingernails to rip off one of her boyfriend's testicles in an attack last year.
Aretha Oneal, 38, was sentenced to 81 days and will be eligible for early release if she completes a 45-day counseling program that deals with issues such as anger management. She pleaded guilty to assault.
The victim, Dennis Ross, of the 1000 block of Jackson Street, said he continued to live with Oneal after the June 2001 incident.
Ross said in an interview that he plans to marry Oneal after she is released from custody. She pleaded guilty to assault.
''I love that girl,'' Ross said. ''That's my heart, my soul, and that's my better half. I told the (District Attorney) the other day I'm not prosecuting her.''
The Davidson County district attorney's office prosecuted the case because Tennessee law requires charges to be levied when there is evidence of domestic violence, said Susan Tucker, a victim witness coordinator.
The 2001 incident was revealed after officers responded to the residence on Sept. 23, when Oneal called to report an argument, police said.
That's when police noticed Oneal had an outstanding warrant for her arrest, filed after Ross, 44, a backhoe driver, reported his assault last year.
According to police records and to Ross, Oneal attacked Ross on June 16, 2001, as he slept in his bed. The couple had argued after Ross returned to his residence after a sexual encounter with another woman, Ross said.
Ross said he went to Metro General Hospital, where the testicle was reattached. He said he is completely healed.