December 9, 1991

Oiling the Machinery The challenge for the President's new chief of staff will be to revitalize a domestic policy apparatus that rusted while John Sununu and Richard Darman held sway. Page A12. Another View in Japan Japan's Socialists said the nation had "turned its back on the historical truth" by refusing to "sincerely apologize" for wartime conduct. Page A7. Who Knows Who Nanny Is? Parents often know little about the people caring for their children, a fact highlighted by an au pair's arrest in a girl's arson death. Page B1. Dallas Times Herald Shuts The city's oldest daily newspaper ceases publication today, after selling its presses and subscription lists to its rival, The Morning News. Page D1. Focus Of AIDS Debate Dies Kimberly Bergalis, who stirred a national debate over AIDS testing of doctors and other health workers, died of AIDS at the age of 23. Page D9.

Media Business At the time of his death, Robert Maxwell almost surely knew he was about to be caught, with auditors about to notice that he had drained hundreds of millions of dollars from his public companies and employee pension funds to keep his family empire afloat. The audit team also found evidence that some of the diverted money went to The Daily News in New York to cover its losses. That raises more doubts about the future of the newspaper, which Mr. Maxwell acquired in March 1991. [ Page A1. ]

At the time of his mysterious death on Nov. 5, Robert Maxwell almost certainly knew he was about to be caught. He had drained hundreds of millions of dollars from his two flagship public companies and from employee pension funds in a frantic attempt to keep his heavily indebted publishing empire afloat.

After a troubled start as a television production company, the Walt Disney Studios has abruptly turned into a big force in network television with several hit comedies, contracts with some of the most powerful writers and a potentially innovative way of financing high-priced programs. Television production had been a virtual stepchild of the Walt Disney Company, which has focused on motion pictures and theme parks in recent years. But in 1988, the company decided to spend at least $100 million over five years on television, hire big-name writers and producers and then, essentially, leave them alone.

Diane Alexis used to look out her window here and see black smoke belching from the nearby chemical plant. The bittersweet smell of pollutants seemed to cover her neighborhood like a wet blanket. She says she had trouble breathing; trees turned brown and died. So six months ago she and her husband, Gary, sold their home and moved crosstown with their minature poodle, Bo, into a ranchhouse in a neighborhood -- infamous as an internationally feared symbol of the toxic timebombs buried across the industrial landscape -- Love Canal.