April 14, 1995

A juror dismissed from the O. J. Simpson murder trial told the judge that jurors were so racially divided that they socialized in groups determined by race, according to a transcript of her meeting with the judge. The transcript, released yesterday, raises questions about whether 12 people who cannot agree on what videos to watch can reach a verdict in this case.

The National Transportation Safety Board staff released reports today showing that the pilot of an American Eagle turboprop that crashed near Raleigh-Durham International Airport last December, killing 15 people, joined American Eagle four days after being forced to quit by another airline for incompetence. A cockpit transcript shows that in the last moments of the flight, the pilot apparently became confused about whether one of his two engines had stopped, and if so, which one.

Confounding expectations, J. P. Morgan announced profits for the first quarter yesterday that were sharply higher than what analysts had expected, largely because of a big improvement in its trading business this year. Morgan earned $255 million, or $1.27 a share, down 26 percent from $345 million, or $1.69 a share, in the corresponding quarter last year. But earnings were up 32 percent from the fourth quarter and included a charge of $55 million related to cutbacks that have reduced employment by 4 percent. Morgan's operating earnings, before the special charge, were $1.44 a share, compared with Wall Street expectations of $1.16 a share, according to a survey of analysts by Zacks Investment Research.

The developers of a Jewish nursing home that was rejected by the planning board this week are suing this Bergen County borough for religious and age discrimination. The Jewish Home and Rehabilitation Center wants to convert a vacant building in an industrial park into a 180-bed nursing home. But the planning board in Rockleigh, population 270, voted against the project, arguing that it would overburden its fire and ambulance corps.

A white high school math teacher has been suspended without pay after telling her class that black people are good only for playing basketball and that blacks run fast because their ancestors had to run from their slave masters. If school officials can, they will ultimately dismiss Diane Montgomery, a 12-year veteran of the school system, who made her remarks after a student said whites are good only at tennis.