Russert's Name to Live On in His Native City

The tributes for Tim Russert keep coming -- especially in his beloved home town of Buffalo. A portion of highway has been named after the late "Meet the Press" host; the block he grew up on will be dedicated this week; and there's even a petition drive to change the name of the local airport.

"There just seems to be a universal appreciation of what he meant to Buffalo and the pride he always showed in the city," Mayor Byron Brown told us. "He used almost every opportunity to promote his home town and to talk about the values he learned here."

Upon learning of Russert's sudden death on June 13, Brown ordered all flags on city property to fly at half-staff; two days later, he issued a proclamation naming Father's Day for the favorite son: "Tim Russert will always be among the City of Buffalo's greatest citizens and his memory will be honored in perpetuity."

There are already two city parks that bear Russert's name, plus a statue of him in front of his alma mater, Canisius High School, and 4,000 bobblehead dolls were distributed three years ago at a minor league baseball game. Last Wednesday, President Bush signed bill S. 3145 (passed in record speed), which renames a stretch of U.S. Route 20A in front of the Buffalo Bills stadium as Timothy J. Russert Highway. This week, the mayor and Russert's sister, Kathy, will mark Woodside Avenue in South Buffalo -- the street of the newsman's childhood home -- with signs designating it Tim Russert Way.

There's a grass-roots movement to rename Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, but that's under New York state authority and could take a while. And yes, there's some quiet grumbling that Buffalo's greatest ambassador is buried in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery instead of his native soil -- but most folks defer to the wishes of Russert's wife and son. "The majority of people in this community understood how close he was to his family," Brown said.

The mayor has one more tribute planned: consolidating education programs for inner-city fathers and children under an entity to be called the Tim Russert Family Institute. Said Brown: "That was such a big part of who he was."

LOVE, ETC.

· Married: Gavin Newsom and actress Jennifer Siebel on Saturday in Montana. Why not California, where the San Francisco mayor, 40, is eyeing the governor's job in 2011? Because his bride, 34, had always dreamed of getting married on her family's ranch in Big Sky Country. Among the wedding guests: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former San Fran mayor Willie Brown and Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, reports People. It's Newsom's second marriage, her first. The couple will honeymoon in Africa.

· Settled: Britney Spears will pay ex Kevin Federline$20,000 a month in child support, according to terms of their final custody deal, filed Friday in L.A. Federline, who also received a $250,000 payment for legal fees, retains full custody of their two sons; Spears gets visitation two nights a week.

HEY, ISN'T THAT . . . ?

· The Cheneys-- Dick, Lynne, Mary-- with Don and Joyce Rumsfeld at Nathan's last night. The families, fresh from the Eastern Shore, arrived at the Georgetown restaurant and walked around with photographer David Kennerly to look at his portraits on the walls.

· Emeril Lagasse and about 20 friends/co-workers dining out at Captain Pell's Crab House in Fairfax Thursday night, all eyes glued to the wide-screen TV tuned to . . . the multimedia chef's new show, "Emeril Green." Much cheering. Lagasse spent a lot of the spring and summer holed up at the Fair Oaks Whole Foods shooting the series for the new Planet Green cable channel; spies report hearing his crew call him not "sir" or "Mr. Lagasse" but "Chef."

THIS JUST IN . . .

· Shia LaBeouf was arrested on a charge of drunk driving after an accident early Sunday. The 22- year-old co-star of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" was driving in Los Angeles when his pickup truck and a car collided about 3 a.m. and the pickup rolled over. The actor was arrested at the scene, charged with misdemeanor DUI and released, then was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he had surgery on his hand, according to police. A passenger in the truck and the other driver, both women, were treated at the hospital for minor injuries.

SURREAL ESTATE

Owners: Jim Webb and Hong Le Webb

Cost: Unknown

Details: The first-term Virginia senator and his wife bought a four-bedroom townhouse in North Arlington for $1.15 million just before the birth of daughter Georgia in December 2006. But they never sold their previous home in Falls Church -- and now, thanks to some major renovations, they're moving back. (The Webbs added a second story to the 1955 six-bedroom house, purchased in 2004 for $944K.) Their Lake Barcroft neighbors are thrilled to have them back; no word on whether the Webbs will sell their interim home.