July 18, 1993

When Rickey Henderson reached across the plate to poke Jim Abbott's fourth pitch of the game into the cheap seats in left field, there was some grumbling throughout Yankee Stadium. Fans were just getting comfortable, the hot dogs were still hot and the drinks were still cold, but the Yankees were already in trouble. The groaning dissipated quickly. Pow! The Yankees slapped Bobby Witt for four runs and five hits in the first inning. Zap! They punched across one more run in the second. Bam! They ripped Witt for two more runs in a humorous fourth and sent him searching for shampoo and Batman repeats on the clubhouse television. Take that! the Yankee bats shouted.

CAN whole communities behave like people suffering from serious illnesses and go through phases of denial, anger and acceptance? The experience of Stratford -- a shoreline town struggling to cope with what state officials consider the state's worst case of hazardous-waste contamination -- suggests they can. For nearly two decades, Stratford has gone about its business without much thought about the chemicals that pollute at least 15 pieces of public land. The sites include ballfields and vacant lots where children and adults played on dirt tainted with asbestos, lead and polychlorinated biphenyls.

An Egyptian immigrant who lives in New Jersey was charged in a Federal complaint yesterday with conspiring to kill President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt in a "suicide mission" during his visit to the United States in early April and, when that plot unraveled, with planning to try again in September. The complaint detailed an elaborate plan by the suspect, Abdo Mohammed Haggag, and at least 10 others to carry out the attack at a hotel in Manhattan, dressing in hotel uniforms so that they could blend in and move close to Mr. Mubarak. The complaint said the conspirators believed they had been betrayed by a "leak" that caused Mr. Mubarak to change his plans, though it remained unclear last night whether Mr. Mubarak had planned to visit New York.

Much remains of the Federal-style town house at 149 Mulberry Street that was built for Stephen Van Rensselaer in 1816. Its gambrel roof is still there. So are the pediment-topped dormer windows. So, too, was the chimney -- until 10 days ago when it collapsed in a cloud of dust onto the roof of an adjoining building. No one was injured and Paolucci's restaurant, on the first floor, was unaffected.

Five more Islamic militants were hanged by the Egyptian Government as part of a drive against groups that are seeking its overthrow, the authorities and militant leaders said. Article, page 16.