October 31, 1994

While gasoline sales have been rising in most of the country, they have declined in the New York metropolitan area. Improvements in gas mileage have slowed the market's growth, industry experts say, but in the New York area a steady population and abundant mass transit have also kept gasoline consumption down. Retail prices have fallen slightly in the past few years. Disparities in gas prices in different areas are largely due to tax differences and the costs of doing business. State gas taxes in the region vary; New York State also imposes a 4 percent sales tax on gasoline. The Federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon.

It has gotten to the point where the Giants almost expect things to go bad. After their 28-25 demoralizing overtime loss to the Detroit Lions today, it was as if each and every player had been clubbed over the head. They were seeing dots of confusion and expressing anger and frustration. The Giants tried to remain upbeat, but their faces and body language betrayed them. As they were saying things like it's not over and never let up, they hung their heads low and tried not to make eye contact.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide may once again be President of Haiti, but in this poor but verdant valley, Jean Lacoste Edouard is still the boss, and he enforces his will with fists, clubs, machetes and guns. As one of Haiti's 565 "chefs de section," or rural magistrates, Mr. Edouard is the sole representative of the central Government in a lush, rice-growing section of the Artibonite region a three-hour drive north of Port-au-Prince. Mr. Edouard, gruff and muscular with piercing eyes and a commanding demeanor, has wielded power since 1986, outlasting more than half a dozen military and civilian Governments and inspiring fear and dread among the 10,000 or so people whose lives he controls.

New York Lottery officials broke a zillion hearts with their little air-blown numbered balls late Saturday night, but announced yesterday that four new millionaires had beaten the dizzy odds and would share a $72.5 million Lotto jackpot, the richest regular strike since the state lottery began 27 years ago. By last night, the officials said, only one winner had come forward -- a man who bought his ticket at a grocery in Galway, a tiny Saratoga County village. But his name was not released and all four winners were still anonymous -- safe, for the time being, from the frenzied attentions of the news media and investment advisers, the dream merchants and long-lost relatives.

Call it a howling success. Or a frightfully successful season. Retailers and manufacturers say Halloween is bigger commercially than ever before. Sales of Halloween candy -- including roughly 10,000 tons of candy corn -- have grown rapidly in the last year, and costumes, greeting cards and especially home decorations are also much in demand.