High-Class Strike: Fifth Avenue in New York...

High-Class Strike: Fifth Avenue in New York is the scene of a high-profile rent strike. Alistair Cooke, host of PBS’s “Masterpiece Theater,” former New Yorker Editor William Shawn and Philippe de Montebello, head of the Metropolitan Museum, are among those withholding rent in an apartment building, charging the landlord with poor upkeep. The building’s owners, seeking to convert it to a co-op, say the renters are merely resisting changes.

Regrets: British author Salman Rushdie said in London he was sorry if his novel “The Satanic Verses” offended Muslims and that their rejection of him was a harsher punishment than his 18 months in hiding. “The book did not set out (to inflict) insult and abuse,” said Rushdie, who went into hiding after the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Iran’s spiritual leader, ordered Muslims to kill the author for alleged blasphemy in “The Satanic Verses.”

Early Out: A car dealer has offered Nashville, Tenn., Mayor Bill Boner $75,000 to resign. But Boner was busy in Hawaii, where he reportedly was getting married Monday. “Bill Boner is distracted from his job,” businessman Lee Beaman said. Nashville residents gasped when Boner, 45, announced his engagement to Traci Peel, 34, while he was still married to his third wife. The Nashville Banner quoted Peel as saying the mayor’s passion could last seven hours. A Boner spokesman said he knew nothing of Beaman’s offer.

In Your Face: Motorists along I-196 just west of Grand Rapids, Mich., are confronted with a huge billboard depicting Iraq President Saddam Hussein. On either side of Saddam’s face are the words “Crude Dude.” And just to make sure the pun is clear, thick, black liquid that looks like oil seems to drip from the word Crude . The billboard is the latest work of Mark Heckman, 27, a local artist.