November 2, 1980

WASHINGTON THE issues of this campaign have sometimes been ob scured by the candidates' rhetoric and their constant fine-tuning to attract the undecided. But there are differences on issues that will be of paramount importance in the next four years. Here are some of them:

Let us now praise an infamous man --or woman: the would-be killer of J.R. Ewing. Back in March, this vengeful soul pumped two bullets into the villainous star of Ameri ca's most popular television drama, "Dallas," and set off something akin to an international mystery.

VALHALLA THE population at the Westches ter County Jail reached 418 last Monday, the highest ever for the 50-year-old institution, prison officials reported.

DES PLAINES, Ill. DESPITE last week's debate and the fundamental accuracy of President Carter's constant argument that he and Ronald Reagan have "profound differences," the 1980 election still seems disconnected from the voter.

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1--Secretary of State Edmund S. Muskie said today that Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's previously stated conditions could provide "the basis for working out an agreement" for releasing the American hostages, but that no arrangement with Iran had yet been concluded.

TRENTON NEW JERSEYANS will face a complex ballot when they enter their voting booths on Tuesday. In addition to voting for President, they will be asked to decide the makeup of the state's 15-member Congressional delegation, the fate of ...

BY any measure, the General Telephone and Electronics Corporation is the lumbering giant of the independent telephone industry. It is a company with a safe and solid business and a history of lackluster management. Despite all that, G.T.E. also happens to be exceptionally well positioned to become one of the bright lights of the new world of telecommunications.

Card rooms, lounges and shuffleboard courts are out; jogging trails, exercise rooms, and saunas are in; children are out, but then, they always were.

One of the hottest fights in town these days is between Consolidated Edison and the Federal energy bureaucracy over the Government's attempt to encourage cogeneration.

WESTCHESTER COUNTY wants more of its own commuters to take the train. In an effort to lure these drivers out of their cars and onto the rails, Conrail has introduced, effective ...