LOOPY LINDSAY CAME 'IN PEACE'  —  KIN: DWI BIMBO WAS JUST TRYING TO 'HELP' EX-AIDE  —  By MARIANNE GARVEY in Santa Monica, Calif., and KIERAN CROWLEY in New York  —  New details have emerged about what sparked a wild drunken car chase and near-brawl involving Lindsay Lohan and her former aide's mother …

Paris Hilton Buys (Another) New Pooch  —  Paris Hilton already has a huge family of pets - but she added one more to the brood with a new Chihuahua on Wednesday.  —  The heiress adopted the young, male pooch from Pets of Bel Air in Los Angeles just after 1 p.m.

Turncoat Michael returning to 'Lost'  —  BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Turncoat Michael is making a "Lost" `comeback.  Harold Perrineau, who plays the character last seen betraying his fellow crash survivors to save himself and his son, will return to the show next season.

Nicole Richie to Break Her Silence  —  Pregnant and soon-to-be on trial Nicole Richie has spent her summer so far on media blackout.  —  Next week, however, the Simple Life star will finally come out of hiding for an interview with Diane Sawyer.  In three segments set to air August 2nd …

'VIEW' PROSPECTS  —  EXPECT an announcement any day on the new lineup for "The View," Barbara Walters' estrogen-heavy chat-fest with Joy Behar and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.  We'd heard that Whoopi Goldberg, Kathy Griffin and Sherry Shepherd would all be hired and fill the empty seats left behind …

Brad, Angelina & Kids Go Bowling in France  —  Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie pinned down some family time at a French bowling alley Monday as their vacation rolled to an end, PEOPLE has learned.  —  Before jetting off from their 10-day vacation in the western Charente/Dordogne region …

Backstreet Boys Plot Comeback With October CD  —  After an extended break and the loss of original member Kevin Richardson, the Backstreet Boys will return Oct. 30 with their next, as-yet-untitled studio album for Jive Records.  The first single, the piano-heavy rock ballad "Inconsolable," will hit U.S. radio outlets Aug. 27.

Nicole and Joel Madden's Public Blowout  —  Nicole Richie and Joel Madden may be on the rocks.  —  According to Star magazine, the couple recently had a huge blowout where Joel unleashed his fury, screaming at Nicole in front of people and causing a scene.  —  From Star: … I've never liked Joel.

Ian Ziering 'Disappointed' at Price Is Right Rebuff  —  Ian Ziering lit up the floor on Dancing with the Stars earlier this year - but he won't finish 2007 hosting The Price is Right, as he'd wished.  —  "I guess I was a little disappointed," Ziering, 43, told PEOPLE at Tuesday's …

Damon gets Hollywood Walk of Fame star  —  LOS ANGELES - When Matt Damon and pal Ben Affleck were struggling actors, they lived in a modest apartment near Hollywood Boulevard.  Damon said he used to look at the stars on the boulevard sidewalk and dreamed of seeing his name on one of them someday.

Memo Pad: Old News... Short Stint... To the Rescue...  OLD NEWS: In just a few short weeks, Lindsay Lohan will be on the September covers of Maxim and Elle — and while the timing couldn't be better for Maxim, some argue Elle might not share the same fate.  Maxim readers probably won't care …

Hasselhoff: 'Drunken video gave me closure'  —  David Hasselhoff credits the drunken video of him eating a burger off the floor with bringing "closure" to a troublesome period in his life.  —  The former Baywatch star has battled alcohol problems in the past and during a relapse this year …

CHOCO-LICIOUS  —  KELLY Rowland once wanted to look white.  "It's said that brown-skinned girls don't sell magazines and that's so sad," the sexy songbird tells next month's Essence.  "I remember wishing I was more fair-skinned, but Tina Knowles, Beyoncé's mom, would say, 'Don't you know how beautiful you are?'

JOKER CONGRATULATES DAMON IN PRINT WITH $8,000 AD  —  A long-running TV gag at the expense of actor MATT DAMON has cost comedian-turned-chat show host JIMMY KIMMEL over $8,000 (GBP4,000).  Kimmel often ends his U.S. late-night show, Jimmy Kimmel Live, by apologising to fictional guest Damon …

UNQUIET ENVY  —  MARC Jacobs is so jealous of couture king John Galliano, he loudly trash-mouths his rival during workouts at the David Barton Gym on West 23rd Street.  Our spy snips, "Marc and his trainer always talk very loudly - it's annoying.  All he does is complain about Galliano …