April 22, 1995

M.T.A. Chief Resigns Peter E. Stangl, who led the Metropolitan Transportation Authority through four years of modernization and rising ridership, announced his resignation. Page 25. Court Monitor for Con Ed A Federal judge has ordered that Consolidated Edison be supervised by a court-appointed monitor to insure that it complies with environmental regulations. Page 25. U.S. Chides Saudi Arabia Secretary of State Christopher charged that Saudi Arabia failed to cooperate with an American effort to seize a terrorist. Page 5. A Bid to North Korea In an effort to rescue its nuclear agreement with North Korea, the United States offered to raise negotiations to a senior level. Page 5. Lesbian Denied Custody A mother failed to win back her 3-year-old when Virginia's highest court ruled that her lesbianism could "stigmatize" the child. Page A6.

In one of the strangest turns yet in the murder trial of O. J. Simpson, a clear majority of jurors staged a virtual insurrection today, sparked by Judge Lance A. Ito's decision on Thursday to replace three of the sheriff's deputies assigned to protect them. Testimony came to a halt as Judge Ito moved quickly to keep the jury -- and the trial itself -- together. For the first half of the day he met individually with some jurors and alternates, at least 13 of whom wore black, some from top to bottom, as if in mourning. Conversely, three other jurors, including one who demanded on Thursday to be released, dressed conspicuously in color.

Groping through the dark, in spaces dripping with water and filled with the odor of decay, rescue teams gained ground only inch by inch today as they explored the wreckage of the bombed Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building here in a meticulous search for survivors. Progress came one bucket at a time as rescue workers piled fragments of debris into galvanized washtubs and then passed them back to other volunteers in a somber relay race down narrow passageways.

An old chemical plant in the heart of downtown Lodi exploded and burned this morning, killing four workers, injuring eight others, forcing the evacuation of nearby homes and sending a dense plume of toxic black smoke over much of western Bergen County. The blast at Napp Technologies, which had a history of environmental violations and workplace accidents, was described as an industrial accident, apparently tied to a malfunctioning mixing vat for chemicals. Residents were urged today to keep their windows closed, and their children and pets off the street in case smoke from the plant was dangerous.

In the enormous mountain of clues and evidence being sifted by the authorities in the Oklahoma City bombing, a strange item -- the date April 19, 1993 -- has begun to stand out, and some Federal investigators said yesterday that it might contain the key to understanding the tragedy. It was on April 19, 1993, that a siege by Federal agents at the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex., came to a fiery end as the cult's leader, David Koresh, and some 80 followers perished in a blazing apocalypse -- an event enshrined by right-wing groups across the country as a symbol of Federal tyranny against American citizens.