April 6, 1989

LEAD: The Anchorage Times reported today that Capt. Joseph J. Hazelwood incorrectly set the Exxon Valdez on a course toward a submerged reef and then apparently placed the ship on automatic pilot without informing the crew.

LEAD: Lugging a large suitcase that holds his collection of more than 100 multicolored felt-tip pens, a homeless painter named Arthur James arrives each morning at the renovated basement of a former French restaurant, one block from the New York Stock Exchange.

LEAD: Mayor Edward I. Koch, finally facing members of a state commission that has been investigating charges of patronage in New York City's government for more than a year, defended his administration's hiring practices yesterday but said he was not aware of many of the irregularities that panel witnesses have recounted.

LEAD: Companies

LEAD: IN horticulture, interest in a hitherto unnoticed group of plants swells quietly, like a tide, until the object becomes the subject of every over-the-fence exchange. This year gardeners are abuzz with enthusiasm for ornamental grasses, many of which are especially useful in this age of water conservation.