LEAD: The Reagan Administration is considering helping steel companies shoulder the heavy cost of closing unneeded plants.

U.S. Mulls Aid in Steel Shutdowns

LEAD: Buoyed by strong acceptance of its new products, Apple Computer Inc. today reported sharply increased sales and earnings for its third quarter ended June 26. The gains exceeded both the estimates of the company and analysts.

Apple Net Up by 66% In Quarter

LEAD: The shooting spree that left two men dead and eight other people injured in Springfield Gardens and St. Albans, Queens, late Sunday may have been caused by rivalry among narcotics dealers in the area, the police said yesterday.

Queens Shootings May Be Tied to Drugs

LEAD: President Reagan insisted today that he had never been told about any plans to use profits from the Iran arms sales to finance covert operations.

PRESIDENT REPEATS DIVERSION DENIAL

Few Traces of the Civil War Linger in Biafra

LEAD: In a move that likely surprised the entertainment industry, the Cahners Publishing Company said yesterday that it had agreed to buy Variety, the trade publication known as the bible of the industry.

Publisher To Acquire Variety

LEAD: It is another beautiful summer day here, the roads are clear and, as usual, traffic is limping along. The speed limit in this tiny seaside hamlet is 15 miles an hour, the lowest in New York.

In Bike and Barefoot Town, Speeders Zoom at 18 M.P.H.

BUSINESS DIGEST: TUESDAY, JULY 14, 1987

LEAD: One morning a month ago, Tony Mariani and Freddie Vassallo, the building inspectors here, were driving south on Bay Avenue, heading to work in their yellow Chevy station wagon. As they crossed Sixth Street, Mr. Mariani glanced left. ''I do a double-take,'' he said. ''I see a monstrosity.'' There in the side yard of a newly opened art gallery, facing the main street, was a 12 by 11 cartoon-style painting of a porpoise show.

Where Some Art Is a 'Monstrosity' Of Zoning Rules

LEAD: SCIENTISTS building on work by generations of researchers are finally seeing signs of progress on one of medicine's most poignant challenges: the restoration of nerve function after spinal injury.

Spinal Injury Research Yields a Glimmer of Hope

LEAD: The Chase Manhattan Corporation and the First Chicago Corporation yesterday reported big second-quarter losses, which were linked to the unusually large provisions for loan losses taken to account for troubled third world loans.

Chase, First Chicago Report Large Deficits

LEAD: When shares of the Transamerica Corporation shot up last month, rumors ricocheted around Wall Street that the Primerica Corporation or the Ford Motor Company might be preparing a takeover bid.

For Saudi Investor, Many U.S. Stakes

LEAD: The Congressional committees investigating the Iran-contra affair reached out today, in full view of a national television audience, and tried to take back control of their hearings from the man who so dramatically dominated them last week.

LEGISLATORS MOVE TO TAKE SPOTLIGHT AT IRAN HEARINGS

LEAD: The Internal Revenue Service and New York City agreed yesterday for the first time to share information in order to identify people and businesses that fail to pay taxes.

NEW YORK CITY TO CROSS-CHECK INCOME TAX RETURNS WITH U.S.

LEAD: Canadian Navy and Coast Guard vessels today chased and seized a Costa Rican-registered freighter that is believed to have illegally landed 174 Sikhs in a rocky cove on the southern coast of Nova Scotia on Sunday.

Canada Seizes Freighter Believed To Have Put 174 Sikhs on Shore

LEAD: CBS Inc., which has undergone a significant restructuring in the last year, said yesterday that it had agreed to sell CBS Magazines for $650 million to a group led by the unit's senior executives.

CBS INC. TO SELL MAGAZINE UNIT TO ITS EXECUTIVES

LEAD: AS evidence continues to mount that high levels of cholesterol in the blood can increase the risk of heart attacks, a new debate is emerging over whether the average American should try to reduce cholesterol levels that have traditionally been considered ''normal.''

Cholesterol: Debate Flares Over Wisdom In Widespread Reductions

LEAD: Once a year, with a quick vote and little or no debate, the New York State Legislature writes itself a check.

ALBANY'S DISCREET BUDGET: A TOOL FOR POLITICAL ENDS

LEAD: IN some ways, mathematicians are finally beginning to penetrate the mind of Srinivasa Ramanujan.

AN ISOLATED GENIUS IS GIVEN HIS DUE

LEAD: Murder charges against a man said to be a major organized-crime figure were dismissed yesterday by a State Supreme Court justice who ruled that evidence suggesting that the defendant had prior knowledge of the crime and had been at the scene was insufficient to try him.

Murder Count is Thrown Out in Betting Case

LEAD: LIKE latter-day Ben Franklins sending aloft rockets instead of kites, a team of 30 scientists are preparing to take aim at thunderclouds this week to extract powerful bolts of electricity as part of a far-reaching study of the causes and effects of lightning.

NASA Readies New Assault On Still-Mysterious Lightning

LEAD: New York Stock Exchange officials said yesterday that Morgan Stanley & Company did not appear to have the right to cancel a huge stock trade by the Florida investor Paul A. Bilzerian that would have given him control of Pay 'N Pak Stores Inc.

Tangled Trades in Pay 'N Pak

LEAD: The first official Soviet delegation to visit Israel in 20 years slipped quietly into Tel Aviv Sunday night on a flight from Cyprus, Israeli officials confirmed today.

SOVIET DIPLOMATS BEGIN ISRAEL VISIT, FIRST IN 20 YEARS

LEAD:  U.S. Help in Closing Mills   The Government is thinking of helping steelmakers close some plants, finding that cheaper than bearing the pension costs if whole companies file for bankruptcy. Page D1.  Attack on Tax Cheats   The Internal Revenue Service and New York City agreed for the first time to share information to identify tax cheats.

INSIDE

LEAD: J. Roger Mentz, the Treasury's top tax officer and the point man on the Netherlands Antilles controversy, will join the Washington office of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft, the New York law firm, in September. His deputy, O. Donaldson Chapoton, will probably succeed him.

A Top Treasury Officer Is Going to Law Firm

Adam Johnson is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger. A product of the Middlesbrough youth academy, he came to prominence after making his debut aged 17 in a UEFA Cup match. He made 120 appearances for Middlesbrough, also spending time on loan at Leeds United and Watford.

Adam Johnson, English footballer

Adam_Johnson_(footballer)

Daniel Coulter Reynolds is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He is the lead vocalist and a founding member of the pop rock band Imagine Dragons, which formed in 2008. He is a recipient of the Songwriters Hall of Fame Hal David Starlight Award.

July 14, 1987

Headlines from July 14, 1987

U.S. Mulls Aid in Steel Shutdowns

Apple Net Up by 66% In Quarter

Queens Shootings May Be Tied to Drugs

PRESIDENT REPEATS DIVERSION DENIAL

Few Traces of the Civil War Linger in Biafra

Billboard 200

Whitney

The Joshua Tree

Girls; Girls; Girls

Bad Animals

Whitesnake

Notable Births

Historical Context for July 14, 1987