March 9, 1993

The cop killer was deep in an eerie narrative, not bragging, not regretting, just lost in the vivid detail as he recalled casually ambushing a highway patrolman too busy with a clipboard and driver's license to see the end approaching. "Not watching me at the time, I stuck my wallet back into my pocket and pulled out my pistol and shot him," the killer recollected into the video camera.

The Clinton Administration is increasingly concerned that it could face a political bottleneck in late summer, when the implementing legislation for the North American Free Trade Agreement reaches the same Congressional committees dealing with the President's budget proposals, Administration officials said today. The free trade pact and the tax portions of the budget proposal must both go through the House Ways and Means Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, both of which could be further swamped if the President also submits a health-care plan this year.

Questions for Nominee Critics question the performance of President Clinton's choice for Attorney General, Janet Reno, in punishing criminals in Miami. Page A14. Awaiting Rodney King Rodney G. King, who has said little publicly since he was beaten by Los Angeles police officers, may testify in their Federal trial today. Page A12. Violence Against Serbs, Too Some of the Serbs who remained in a Bosnian town after Serbian "ethnic cleansing" began have been killed as suspected snipers. Page A6.

Last summer, the South Bay Care Center, a 192-bed nursing home in Long Beach, Calif., was in desperate shape. The nonprofit group that owned it was behind on its bills and its mortgage payments, and was frantically trying to sell the business. At last, in September, a buyer was found -- Steven Hoffenberg, who later stepped into the spotlight as an 11th-hour bidder for The New York Post. But curiously, when the paperwork was being prepared for the nursing home purchase, Mr. Hoffenberg's name was nowhere to be found.

Stocks surged to new highs yesterday as investors large and small braved the market's risks in search of returns no longer available from bank accounts and bonds. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 64.84 points, or 1.9 percent, to a new high of 3,469.42, more than 28 points above its previous record close.