October 6, 1995

With rare unanimity, New York City's Board of Education agreed yesterday to briefly reopen its tortured search for a new schools chancellor, after Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani backed off his demand for an interim appointment, saying that he believed the State Legislature was on the verge of restructuring the city's school system to give him more control. With the Mayor's unexpected support, the board's seven members agreed to reconsider a handful of candidates already among its pool of prospects, although they declined to say exactly who or how many. The board also agreed to try to make a selection before Chancellor Ramon C. Cortines steps down a week from today.

Bosnia's warring parties agreed today to a cease-fire in their nearly four-year-old conflict, to be followed by negotiations in the United States later this month aimed at a full-scale international peace conference. The cease-fire, set for Tuesday, was announced by President Clinton at the White House just hours after Assistant Secretary of State Richard C. Holbrooke finished working out the accord in Sarajevo and obtained the last signature -- that of the Bosnian President, Alija Izetbegovic.

IT has finally happened: "Company," Stephen Sondheim's innovative musical-comedy classic, has returned to Broadway for the first time since its Tony Award-winning premiere engagement in 1970. There have been concert versions and at least one Off Off Broadway production, but no Broadway revival until last night, when Scott Ellis's enthusiastic, glittery production opened at the Roundabout Theater. The occasion is long overdue, as well as something of a shock. For anyone who, like me, knows "Company" only by way of a well-worn original cast album, the new production is like meeting a pen pal after a very long correspondence.

The O. J. Simpson trial is prompting a host of changes both in particular cases and in the nation's legal system, from the early maneuvering in the Oklahoma City bombing trial to the tougher laws on domestic violence that are being adopted. Defense lawyers are bracing for a backlash from judges and legislatures seeking to make it easier to get convictions. Lawyers and judges foresee new restrictions on cameras in courtrooms, fewer requests to sequester juries and changes in the way those juries are selected. Police departments are reviewing their procedures for handling evidence, particularly blood and fiber, at crime scenes. Judges say they are taking the Simpson case's glacial pace as a textbook case of how not to conduct a trial. And prosecutors and defense lawyers alike are reconsidering basic precepts of trial tactics, including the supposed invincibility of DNA evidence.

Some nights, on the long train ride from midtown Manhattan back to Flushing, Jay Bonin dwells on the disappointments, like the rook he let hang, or the gift-wrapped opening he handed to an inferior opponent. Other nights, he savors the triumphs, counting his tournament winnings of $45 or $50 -- half that, if he stops for a few celebratory bottles of Killian's Red Ale.