December 23, 1992

CONNIE CHUNG, the CBS News correspondent, and her husband, Maury Povich, the syndicated talk-show host, are having a spirited argument right in the middle of the stone-washed jeans and turtleneck sweaters at the Gap at 76th Street and Columbus Avenue. Bystanders are trying to seem nonchalant, even as they crane their necks to hear what provoked this popular power couple into a public spat. Well, for inquiring minds, it's the fit.

New York State's highest court ruled yesterday that law firms cannot dismiss lawyers for doing what their professional disciplinary rules require -- blowing the whistle on a dishonest colleague. The court, the State Court of Appeals, has almost uniformly protected the rights of employers to dismiss almost any worker for almost any reason, at least when anti-discrimination laws do not apply. But given the role of lawyers as self-regulated officers of the court, the court held, in a 5-to-0 decision, that the rights of law firms must be read more narrowly.

A Federal appeals court in Manhattan yesterday removed what is expected to be the last legal hurdle blocking Mortimer B. Zuckerman from buying The Daily News. In a decision released late yesterday afternoon, the court said that Mr. Zuckerman can dissolve lifetime job guarantees won by the paper's typographers 18 years ago. But the court ruled that to do so, he must abide by the last offer he made to the typographers when negotiations broke down on Dec. 17. Under that package, some of the union's 167 members would not have jobs.

The bond market continued its holiday rally yesterday, with the price of the 30-year bond jumping more than half a point and the yield dropping to 7.34 percent, its lowest since Oct. 5. In the last two days, the price of the long bond has risen a point, and the yield has fallen almost a tenth of a point. The rest of the market followed, with Treasury notes up a quarter-point to a half-point.

After 23 years away, it is the parting image of prison, not the first glimpse of freedom, that lingers now with Eddie Ellis, a pioneer Black Panther and convicted murderer, as he labors back home in Harlem on his hard-won new appreciation of a criminal and his community. The sight that haunts him came on a day last summer when Mr. Ellis was finally being processed back to freedom and walked past a huge hall filled with hundreds of incoming prisoners, all neatly leg-shackled, manacled and seated in two long files of benches, as orderly and sad-eyed, he recalls, as fresh oarsmen on a galley ship.

Larry Hogue, a mentally ill man whose aggressive behavior has terrified many Upper West Side residents, was ordered held in a state hospital against his will yesterday by a judge who ruled that Mr. Hogue was likely to abuse crack, refuse treatment and become psychotic and dangerous if he was released to the streets yet again. The judge ruled after a state psychiatrist testified that Mr. Hogue, who is being held in Creedmore Psychiatric Center in Queens, is "a disaster waiting to happen."

State regulators today approved a $1.5 billion plan by New Jersey Bell to replace its entire network with fiber optics by the year 2010. The decision opens the way for New Jersey to become the first state with border-to-border fiber-optic telecommunications. Such a network would give telephone customers access to vast amounts of information, establish two-way links between physicians and patients or teachers and distant classrooms and allow the reception of hundreds of television channels.

N.F.L. Labor Agreement National Football League owners and players reached tentative agreement on a labor contract that would include broad-based free agency. Page B9.

More and more people in the metropolitan region are commuting from homes in the suburbs to jobs in other suburbs, a new Federal study shows, continuing a trend that experts say has been reshaping the region's economy for 30 years. The study of commuting patterns, released yesterday by the Census Bureau, also found that while New York City remains the region's job center, reverse commuting has risen as more businesses have moved all or part of their operations to the suburbs, where many employers have fared better in the recession than their counterparts in the city. Impact on Transportation Policy "What this all tells us is that the region has changed permanently," said Regina Armstrong, an economist and senior fellow with the Regional Plan Association, which analyzes social and economic patterns in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Under heavy pressure to add more women and members of minorities to his Cabinet, President-elect Bill Clinton appears to have replaced the leading candidate for Interior Secretary, former Gov. Bruce Babbitt of Arizona, with Representative Bill Richardson of New Mexico, who is of Hispanic descent. The shift seems to have been dictated by Mr. Clinton's desire to name a second Hispanic-American to his Cabinet, say officials of the transition team. If selected, Mr. Richardson would join former Mayor Henry G. Cisneros of San Antonio, whose selection as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development was announced last week.

In this dissonant world of uncertainty, disorder and fear, Warren M. Christopher sells confidence and trust. The quiet, discreet, almost shy Los Angeles lawyer was the man I.B.M. turned to when it needed help in fighting a major antitrust suit, the man President Carter called to negotiate the American diplomatic hostages out of Iran, the man Mayor Tom Bradley asked to resolve the police crisis in Los Angeles. President-elect Bill Clinton tapped him to supervise selection of his running mate, to lead his transition and now to guide the foreign policy of the new Administration as the next Secretary of State.

A GOOD cocktail party is fast, electric and perfect for meeting, renewing and disconnecting at will -- an arena for encounters without commitment. But how does the cocktail party, with its signature high-calorie fare of triple-cream cheeses and thick pates, fit in with this age of counting grams of fat with every bite? The answer is the "not too" party, which offers food that's not too fatty (but not too much like health food) and beverages that take into account the desire to limit alcohol without eliminating it. And very important, the party is not too much work and not too expensive.