May 14, 1989

LEAD: A proposal by the Society for Savings to develop a city block in Hartford across the street from the old Connecticut State House has triggered a series of legal squabbles involving city, state and Federal agencies. The Society for Savings, a major bank, wants to erect a 45-story office tower, which would be the tallest in the city, at 855 Main Street.

LEAD: Fan violence during and after an English soccer game yesterday resulted in 25 arrests and the hospitalization of 16 people for minor injuries, shattering a month of calm after the Sheffield stadium tragedy.

LEAD: Several days a week, a familiar form goes through the motions of training at the Metropolitan Toronto Track and Field Centre, a large, modern brick building on the campus of York University. It was here, for so many days leading to the Seoul Olympics, that Ben Johnson honed the skills that took him through the 100-meter final in 9.79 seconds, the fastest time ever run over that distance.

LEAD: It has happened again. Two months ago, several representatives from Christie's in New York appeared at the Frick Museum to remove from its walls a painting that had been on view there for nearly 20 years. Jacopo Pontormo's extraordinary rendition of a young man is to be auctioned on May 31, and Christie's expects the bidding to surpass $20 million.

LEAD: Last week the dollar rallied against the world's other major trading currencies, reaching a 30-month high against the West German mark, an 18-month high against the British pound and an eight-month high against the Japanese yen. Although the central banks of the major industrial powers - the G-7 - have intervened in the currency markets to push down the dollar, the effect has been negligible.