June 11, 1991

Disenchanted with the leadership of the Board of Education, at least three, and perhaps four, of the Board's seven members are moving to depose Dr. Gwendolyn C. Baker as president when a re-election vote comes up in three weeks. The removal of Dr. Baker would be a political embarrassment for Mayor David N. Dinkins, who appointed her, because it would indicate that he was not able to shape the board's choice. In recent years, mayors, who appoint two of the seven members and can use their budgetary powers for leverage, have been able to make sure board presidents are at least obeisant, if not personal allies. Boards have generally complied by trying to elect presidents with influence at City Hall.

Three months after the last angry rocket of the Persian Gulf war, New York City lionized the victorious troops yesterday with a magnificent blizzard of ticker tape, patriotism and affection in a homecoming parade up lower Broadway's Canyon of Heroes. With painted yellow bows underfoot and a glimmer of blue between the skyscrapers overhead, brass bands exploded, flags and confetti whirled in the wind and what might have been another Monday in Manhattan's gray financial district suddenly boomed into a dazzling holiday of music, marching, balloons and deliriously roaring crowds.

An agency set up by the state named three possible sites yesterday for a 160-acre burial ground for low-level radioactive waste generated in Connecticut. Two are in Ellington and the third is along the East Windsor-South Windsor border. The board, the Connecticut Hazardous Waste Management Service, expects to make a final decision on a site a year from now, after more studies are conducted. The final site will hold a variety of waste from industry and hospitals, with the vast majority coming from Northeast Utilities' four nuclear power plants. The waste includes radioactive machinery, parts, equipment, clothing and tools.

In a move that will create the nation's largest machine tool producer, Giddings & Lewis Inc. said yesterday that it had agreed to buy the Cross & Trecker Corporation. Giddings is known principally for its development of flexible manufacturing systems, while the larger Cross & Trecker is now the nation's third-largest maker of machine tools. The combination will create a formidable machine tool producer that executives say can capitalize on what many in the industry consider to be brighter prospects in European markets and in future years in the automotive industry. The transaction, valued at $225 million, would push the combined company ahead of Litton Industries and Cincinnati Milacron Inc., now ranked first and second. Better Position Abroad The acquisition, agreed to on Friday, will stretch the reach of Giddings & Lewis, which is based in Fond du Lac, Wis., into Europe and give it a stronger foothold in the American automobile market.

Miami and Denver have won the National League expansion race. A league committee recommended the two cities over the weekend, and as soon as they are approved by major league baseball's team owners, as expected, the cities will begin to prepare for their 1993 debuts. "I support the recommendations," Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent said by telephone yesterday from a hotel in Santa Monica, Calif., where the owners will be conducting their quarterly meeting tomorrow and Thursday. "I don't think they'll have any problem. I think they will go through." The two new franchises, which will pay $95 million apiece to join the major leagues, must be approved by three-fourths of the 12 National League owners and a majority of the 14 American League owners.