Thursday, December 28, 2006

It's been a big week for John Edwards.

Sale of the former senator's Georgetown home was scheduled for yesterday after the property languished on the market for more than a year and a half. Oh, and he plans to announce his 2008 presidential bid today in New Orleans.

The final price of the Georgetown mansion is under wraps, but the four-story, six-bedroom, seven-bathroom house (with three fireplaces) was listed at $5.65 million.

The onetime Democratic veep candidate and his family own a 102-acre property in Chapel Hill, N.C. According to land records, that $2.38 million estate includes a home with five bedrooms, 6 1/2 bathrooms and a three-car garage.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who fractured his right femur while skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho, has undergone surgery and is expected to have a "full and speedy" recovery, the governor's Web site says. Orthopedic surgeon Kevin Ehrhart, who performed the operation Tuesday at St. John's Hospital Center in Santa Monica, said the governor is to stay in the hospital until the end of the week. Schwarzenegger is not in a cast and will use crutches to walk while his leg heals.

Looks like double diaper duty is in the future for MSNBC chief Washington correspondent Norah O'Donnell and her restaurateur husband, Geoff Tracey.

O'Donnell confirmed to us yesterday that the couple are expecting twins in late spring. "Geoff and I are so thrilled," she said. Apparently Tracey, owner of Chef Geoff's, is flexing his culinary skills for his pregnant wife: O'Donnell says he makes her blueberry pancakes on Saturday mornings and brings her takeout from the restaurant almost every night.

· Patrons at Rockville's Tower Oaks Lodge had a quite a surprise Tuesday night when Val Kilmer walked into the turn-of-the-century-themed restaurant. The "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" actor dined with 15 others in a group that looked like family. Leftover fun from a Kilmer Christmas? Alas, ladies, our source tells us that the former "Top Gun" hunk is "still chubby."

· A suit-clad John Negroponte, his wife and three of his five children visited the International Spy Museum on Friday afternoon. (Wonder if he took notes?) The director of national intelligence and crew received a guided tour by Thomas Boghardt, the museum's executive director and historian. Negroponte left with a copy of Boghardt's early German espionage analysis "Spies of the Kaiser" and several goodies for his kids.

· K eith Urban is taking a breather from his self-imposed treatment for alcohol abuse, his publicist told the Associated Press yesterday. Urban is spending time in Australia with wife Nicole Kidman and family during the holidays and will continue rehab when he returns to the United States.

A new year is looming, which made us wonder . . . what was this year's juiciest gossip? Visit our poll atwww.washingtonpost.com/reliable sourceand tell us what you think!

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- Korin Miller

The Reliable Source column will return on Jan. 3.