February 20, 1995

TRIBE'S LAND IS RICH BUT UNEASY Eight years ago, Joey Carter was chopping wood for a living, earning $5 an hour and living in a two-bedroom apartment he shared with seven other people. He recalled his grandfather, Clifford Sebastian, a half-blood Mashantucket Pequot Indian who lived on a pig farm with no electricity or running water. The grandfather would spit on the ground in bitterness every time he talked about the fate of the once proud Pequots. But new Pequot stories are about sudden and astounding success. The lives of Mr. Carter and all other Pequots have been transformed by the booming, cash-raking phenomenon of Foxwoods Casino, the tribe's huge gambling development in the Ledyard woods of southeastern Connecticut. A1. HOSPITALS ARE SPURNING ABORTIONS Slowly, quietly, over the last 10 years, almost all of New York City's full-service hospitals have backed out of the abortion business, driven away in part by economics and in part by fear. Even as they are rapidly expanding their repertory of treatments in an era of managed care, they are no longer doing many elective terminations or training residents in the procedure and refer patients elsewhere. A1. NEW YORK CITY 4 IN S.I. FAMILY SHOT TO DEATH Four members of a Staten Island family died of gunshot wounds in a bloody quarrel that the police said followed years of disputes and numerous police visits to their quiet, working-class neighborhood of Arden Heights. A 55-year-old Staten Island man surrendered to the police a few hours after the discovery of the bodies of his wife, his stepson and a man and woman believed to be his in-laws. B3. CHILD KILLED AND 2 HURT IN FIRE On Saturday night, Catalina Figueroa sat with her granddaughters, 11-month-old Ashley and 6-year-old Shaina, and watched the video "Cinderella" before putting them to bed in their apartment in a Mott Haven housing project. Hours later, Ashley Figueroa was dead and Shaina Perez and a friend of Mrs. Figueroa's were in critical condition, victims of a fire that gutted the apartment. B3. MORE COMPLAIN OF ILLNESS FROM FUMES Six people were taken to hospitals after complaining of nausea and dizziness that they said was caused by fumes in a Brooklyn apartment building, where two dozen residents were overcome on Thursday by poisonous carbon monoxide. But investigators armed with carbon-monoxide detectors said they could find no trace of the lethal fumes. B3. COLLEGE-HELP PROGRAM FACES AX Twenty-six years ago, New York created a program to help needy, motivated students attend private colleges. The Higher Education Opportunity Program, or H.E.O.P., is small, relatively inexpensive ($22 million out of a $32.4 billion state budget), and is one of the few such efforts that even critics of government largesse acknowledge is a success. But $22 million is $22 million. The program is headed for extinction in Governor Pataki's budget. B3. KEEPING FAMILIES INTACT IS HIS GOAL He cannot console the girl whose mother is dying of AIDS, or promise the frightened young woman that her boyfriend will not hit her again. He cannot replace the father who was murdered, or comfort a child late at night, when the gunfire starts. But on a good day, Carlos Scott can offer a family hope. Mr. Scott is a social worker at the Children's Aid Society, one of the largest social welfare agencies in New York and one of seven organizations supported by The New York Times Neediest Cases Fund. Although his field is preventive services, he fights problems that have plagued poor families for centuries: domestic violence, drug abuse, illness and emotional distress. B2. REGION PATAKI FACES A TOUGH CHOICE In his search for a state environmental commissioner, Governor Pataki has found himself torn between two clashing interests that have long considered him an ally: business leaders and environmentalists. Mr. Pataki has said his ideal environmental commissioner would blend an understanding and respect for business with a strong sensitivity to conservation issues. His ideal candidate, he said, would have worked in both areas. B5. Holiday schedule B3 Chronicle B6

Introducing the two-time defending World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays: Catchers Julio Osuna and Victor Rojas, first baseman Wes Clements, infielders Robert Montalvo and Julian Yan, outfielders Rick Hirtensteiner and Darryl Brinkley, pitcher Pete Blohm and Manager Bob Didier.

A year ago, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman upset teachers when she said she wanted to experiment with private-school vouchers for students. On Saturday, the state's largest teachers union said it still hates the idea. Hundreds of teachers taking part in the New Jersey Education Association's legislative strategy session cheered speakers who opposed vouchers.

After being held up for the second time in two weeks, a Bronx bodega clerk grabbed his unlicensed handgun Saturday night, tore after the robbers and shot at two people on the street. But the police and witnesses said he opened fire on the wrong people, killing a 15-year-old boy. Several witnesses told of seeing Sigfrido Pena, a 33-year-old Dominican immigrant, firing wildly after the fleeing robbers and then walking back into the store, ignoring Nelson Cordero, who lay bleeding in the arms of a friend who begged him, "Don't die on me."

In this make-or-break state for Presidential contenders, the battle for the 1996 Republican nomination broke out in earnest tonight as each of nine contenders made a case for who would be the best President. The parade of candidates at a fund-raising dinner sponsored by the New Hampshire Republican Party afforded 1,400 party members here the first chance to assess the field of those who seek to replace Bill Clinton in the White House.