August 10, 1995

5 Million in Criminal System The Government said the number of Americans under the control of the criminal justice system reached 5 million last year. Page A14. Timber Bill, Timber Ties Members of a House panel considering a measure to require logging in an Alaska forest have a number of ties to timber businesses. Page B6. Airports Tighten Security Airports increased security as the Government took steps to counter what it called an increased threat of terrorist attacks. Page A14. Time Warner Weighs Sale Time Warner is in talks to sell its stake in Interscope Records, which has drawn fire for offensive lyrics in its gangsta rap music. Page D1. Troubled Park Buildings Preservation specialists fear that thousands of historic structures in national parks are deterioriating beyond repair. Page C1.

Saint Barnabas Medical Center unveiled a new program yesterday to detect genetic abnormalities in embryos fertilized outside the womb. The hospital's Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science said its program would enable doctors anywhere in the United States to have in-vitro fertilized embryos tested for disorders like Down's syndrome before they are implanted in a woman's uterus. Until now, hospital officials said, such defects could not be detected until the second trimester of pregnancy.

EUDORA WELTY has spent her life telling stories, and although her typewriter has now stopped, the stories keep flowing. On a recent 100-degree Mississippi morning, she leaned forward from a large blue chair in her parlor and began her latest. "I know a good true story about Faulkner," she said, smiling a warm smile of mild conspiracy. "There was a lady -- we always say 'a lady' in the South -- I don't know who she was. She wrote to him and sent him a scene that she'd written. A love scene. 'Dear Mr. Faulkner,' she wrote. 'I thought you might like to read this. I wonder what you think of it.' He wrote back and said: 'I got the scene you sent me. It's not the way I would have done it, but honey, you go right ahead -- W. Faulkner.' "

A former Colombian police officer pleaded guilty yesterday to importing drugs into the United States by swallowing 68 pellets of heroin. Rodrigo Alberto Villa-Zuleta, a member of Colombia's national police force from 1989 until 1994, was taken into custody when he arrived at Newark International Airport on May 14. Mr. Villa-Zuleta said yesterday in Federal District Court that he had been offered $10,800 to bring the heroin into the United States and deliver it.

The spectacular fire that gutted a warehouse at the Brooklyn Navy Yard last week began when latex gloves were ignited by spontaneous combustion, fire officials said. Article, page B4.