Linda Ronstadt medals at the White House

 LINDA RONSTADT  didn't make it to New York in April when she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, but Parkinson's disease didn't stop her from going to the White House.

Yesterday, President Obama hung a National Medal of Arts around her neck and revealed, "I had a little crush on her back in the day."

A military aide brought Ronstadt, 68, into the East Room by wheelchair, but she walked to the stage to receive her award as a citation was read honoring her "one-of-a-kind voice" that paved the way for generations of female artists.

Eleven other recipients were awarded the 2013 National Medal of Arts, the nation's highest award given to artists and their patrons, including DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg and Dominican-American writer Julia Alvarez, author of In the Time of the Butterflies. Ten were awarded the National Humanities Medal, which honors those in fields including history, literature, languages and philosophy.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday that he believes the people wearing character costumes in Times Square should be licensed and regulated.

Dozens of people - dressed as kids' favorites like Elmo, Cookie Monster and Batman - stand near 42nd Street and pose for photos with tourists in exchange for money.

Or groping.

De Blasio said the practice has "gone too far."

A man dressed as Spider-Man was arrested Saturday after allegedly punching a police officer who told him to stop harassing tourists.

The mayor said that even those dressed as superheroes have to "play by the rules or you won't be working here any longer."

The City Council is working on legislation that would require the characters to get a city-approved license.

We always figured that hookers would be licensed in Times Square before Cookie Monster.

* Former "Jersey Shore" star Michael "The Situation" Sorrentino has agreed to take anger-management classes as part of a deal to resolve simple-assault charges stemming from a July 15 fight with his brother at their family's tanning salon in Middletown Township.

A New Jersey municipal judge accepted the deal yesterday and adjourned the matter for three months. If Sorrentino successfully completes the counseling program, the charge against him could be downgraded.

Sorrentino's family - including his brother - attended the court hearing. The family-owned Boca Tanning Club is the setting for their new reality show, so this could all have been a big publicity stunt.

* Sarah Palin has started her own subscription-based online network.

The Sarah Palin Channel, which went live on Sunday, bills itself as a "direct connection" for the former Alaska half-term governor and GOP vice-presidential candidate with her supporters, with "no need to please the powers-that-be," Palin says in a video mission statement on the home page.

"Are you tired of the media filters?" she asks. "Well, I am. I always have been. So we're gonna do something about it.

"We'll talk about the issues that the mainstream media won't talk about," she adds.

Sorry, Fox News, guess you're not part of the mainstream media.

Palin says that she oversees all content posted to the channel, which will include her own political commentary. Other features for subscribers include the ability to submit questions to Palin and participate with her in online video chats.

Membership is set at $9.95 per month or $99.95 for a year.

Hmmm . . . $9.95 per month. Sarah Palin or HBO? Sarah Palin or HBO?

By the way, if any of our readers want a "direct connection" with Tattle, we generally answer our email for free (if there's not too much and it's not too crazy). But if you want to send us $9.95 per month, you'll get super-special high-status priority.

* Tattle knows there's nothing Kim Kardashian loves more than Kim Kardashian, but even we were amazed that she admits on her E! "reality" show to taking 1,200 selfies during one trip to Thailand.

Twelve hundred?

If she were any more full of herself, she would be Kanye West.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

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