June 16, 1984

Just about no one visited Saipan's velvety beaches this morning to recall D-day in the Pacific part of World War II. The 40th anniversary came and went, bold only in its contrasts with the emotions and speeches that flowed in Normandy on Europe's D-day, June 6. A few American veterans returned to this Mariana Island, certain that a commemoration would take place. Robert T. Kline of Paoli, Pa., came. So did Frank Moeller of Salt Lake City. Memories moved them. The lack of public acknowledgement disappointed them.

Mexico announced today that it had accepted an invitation from the United States and Nicaragua to play a role in talks between the two countries, but there was no confirmation from American officials. The move appeared to underscore the increasing role of Mexico, and to signal another shift in attitude by the United States, in the efforts to find a negotiated rather than a military solution to the Central American conflict. United States officials here and in Washington said they could not immediately confirm the announcement, which was made by the Mexican Foreign Ministry.

A police officer was shot to death with his own gun in a South Bronx store yesterday after he stopped a man accused of stealing a pair of eyeglass frames from a display case, the police said. The suspect was then shot twice by another police officer, who rushed into the store when she heard shots and saw the man standing, gun in hand, over the fallen officer, Juan Andino, the authorities said. Officer Andino, 39 years old, was pronounced dead on arrival at Lincoln Hospital. He had been shot twice, once behind the right ear and once in the left side of the head.

In what is seen as compelling evidence of an economic slowdown, the Government reported today that industrial production rose only four-tenths of 1 percent in May, the slimmest advance since November. It was the second smallest increase since the current expansion began at the end of 1982. Only the mining industry, aided by stepped-up production of oil, gas and coal, showed a major gain, according to the Federal Reserve Board's monthly tabulation of output from the nation's factories, mines and utilities.

Some of the city's best-known hospitals are facing periodic overcrowding in their obstetric units, ranging from a shortage of labor rooms to a lack of beds for women who have already delivered. This is happening, hospital officials say, in part because more women who live and work in the city are having babies and in part because many of these women are choosing to have their children at a select number of hospitals. It is also happening, they say, because of the unpredictability of the onset of labor itself and the economic pressure on hospitals to keep as many beds filled as possible. On some days, the obstetric units at such hospitals as New York Hospital, New York University Hospital, Presbyterian Hospital and Mount Sinai Medical Center have become so crowded that women have been asked to go through labor in the recovery room - spaces usually reserved for women who have already given birth.