Did you try deleting the web  part and importing it again ?

Try also importing it to ta different dashboard

Check file security on the web part  itself as well.

Yes tried importing again from a different server to no avail.....what do
you mean by file security on web  part?

I am planning on running a repair of SP1, but, it is an offsite server....

Also Check the <workspace>/Portal Content/New folder, this is where data for
the web  parts is stored. If this is empty this will explain why the web part
is not showing  anything

As far as security, browse to the <workspace>/Portal folder, right click
Start Page News.vbs, click on Security and make sure access is not denied to
the users or groups

Do not know why it originally got messed up, but when I
did an import I imported the part  as news.vbs as opposed to start page news.

When I imported with the correct name it fixed it!