March 8, 1994

Companies Martin Marietta agreed to acquire Grumman, the Long Island-based military contractor, for $55 a share, or $1.9 billion. [ Page A1. ] Grumman has been synonymous with jobs and economic security on Long Island for more than five decades, so the announcement of its acquisition shocked many residents. [ D6. ] The proposed merger fits snugly in the Defense Department's post-cold-war strategy to maintain a smaller but robust base of military contractors. [ D7. ]

A rabbi pleaded guilty yesterday in the Brooklyn kidnapping of a 15-year-old boy who has been at the center of a bitter dispute between his family and the rabbi, who sought to convert him to his ultra-Orthodox brand of Judaism. But with a complex custody battle swirling around him, the fate of the boy, Shai Fhima, remained as uncertain yesterday as it was two years ago when he first disappeared. And even the facts surrounding his disappearance remained murky, as Shai and the rabbi, Shlomo Helbrans, continued to insist that Rabbi Helbrans had done nothing wrong, despite the guilty plea. Deal With District Attorney Rabbi Helbrans offered the plea of guilty to a charge of conspiracy to kidnap in the fourth degree in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn. The plea was part of an intricate arrangement with the Brooklyn District Attorney that will give the rabbi a sentence of five years' probation and 250 hours of community service. But under the terms of the agreement, the rabbi and another man, Mordechai Weisz, who will also receive five years' probation for the kidnapping conspiracy, did not admit that they had committed any of the specific acts with which they were charged.

British Airways said yesterday that it would hold off investing any more money in its United States partner, USAir, until it lowers operating costs, a move that prompted the American carrier to seek more concessions from its unions. USAir has lost $1.8 billion since 1988 and has not reported a profit since the second quarter of 1989. Nevertheless, industry analysts said that USAir's cash and credit line of more than $800 million should carry it through two years of operations with no changes while it campaigns for help from its unions.

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced yesterday that the police would place new emphasis on reducing the number of illegal guns in New York City streets by investigating gunrunners with more detectives and better computers. At the core of Mr. Giuliani's strategy, detectives have been ordered to apply the same kind of effort to investigating illegal guns as they do to organized crime and narcotics. For the first time, the police will question every person arrested with a gun to find out where the gun was obtained and from whom. That information will be transferred to Federal authorities to arrest traffickers who run guns from the plains of Georgia and Texas to the youth gangs of the South Bronx.

For 90 years, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd. has been all about doing things the old-fashioned way, costs and vulgar fads be damned. But now revolution -- or what passes for it, in this most tradition-bound company -- has come to Rolls-Royce.