October 19, 1995

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows The nation's trade deficit shrank in August to the smallest monthly gap so far this year, thanks to a surge in exports. Imports were flat. Page D1. California Bank Deal Sought Wells Fargo of San Francisco made an unsolicited offer to buy First Interstate of Los Angeles for more than $10 billion in stock. Page D1. A White Response to March Many white people in Channelview, Tex., near Houston, said they did not see a point in the Million Man March in Washington. Page A16.

SPECIAL-EDUCATION LOBBY RESISTS CHANGE For years New York City chancellors and their blue-ribbon commissions have urged that fewer students be segregated in expensive special-education classes. Indeed, the latest commission report, due out in two weeks, says that tens of thousands of these students could be put into regular classrooms at a sizable savings to New York City. But groups against such plans are once again voicing opposition. [ Page A1. ] FARE RISE CALLED PART OF FINANCING SHIFT The 25-cent transit fare increase that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board members say they will approve is only the most visible part of a much larger plan that would fundamentally change how the continual rebuilding of the subway, bus and commuter rail network is paid for. The M.T.A. says the changes are needed to make up for declining financial support from City Hall, Albany and Washington. But the strategy has drawn fire from a wide range of critics. [ A1. ] NEW YORK CITY POLICE UNCOVER A PHONE FACTORY When the police raided a Harlem apartment, they said they uncovered a sophisticated and large-scale "cloning" factory where stolen cellular telephone numbers were sold and transferred to other phones. [ B3. ] EX-CHANCELLOR CANDIDATE FACES INQUIRY Leon M. Goldstein, once a candidate to become the New York City schools chancellor, is the target of a criminal investigation by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, officials familiar with the inquiry said. [ B3. ] OFFICIALS TO STUDY NEW SITE FOR YANKEES City and state officials, in what appeared to be a cordial meeting with George M. Steinbrenner, agreed to study three possible sites for a new stadium for the team, two in the Bronx and one in Manhattan. [ B3. ] The Bronx District Attorney's office said that it would seek a new indictment in the case of a Bronx police officer accused of killing a man in a confrontation over a football game. [ B2. ] A serial attacker who has preyed on prostitutes -- killing two of them -- was linked to a fourth attempted strangling, in which the victim managed to survive, the police said. [ B6. ] REGION HIGH PRICE SEEN FOR A TAKEOVER The first state takeover of a local school district in New York history could carry a price tag of more than $10 million just to restore the deteriorated classrooms and battered buildings of schools in Roosevelt, L.I., officials said. [ B7. ] SMALL PLANE CRASHES OFF KENNEDY A small plane flying from Atlantic City to Long Island had engine trouble and plunged into the Atlantic Ocean south of Kennedy International Airport, the authorities said. Rescuers pulled the six passengers from the water, but one who suffered a heart attack later died. [ B7. ] COUNTERFEIT $20 BILLS, ON SALE FOR $5 With the help of two books borrowed from the East Hampton Library, four Long Island residents began producing stacks of counterfeit $20 bills, the authorities said. [ B7. ] FINE IMPOSED FOR CHEMICAL PLANT BLAST Saying they were restricted by a loophole in safety rules, Federal officials imposed a fine of $127,000 for an explosion at a chemical plant in April that killed five workers in Lodi, N.J. [ B7. ]

U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows

Karen and Jeffrey Wilson expected the worst when the doctor called them aside in the hospital waiting room one morning last December. Their son, Brock, who was not yet 7 months old, had spent much of the night undergoing emergency surgery to remove a blood clot swelling against his brain and to repair a torn artery from which he was hemorrhaging.

Min Hogg cajoled, sweet-talked and finally begged her 94-year-old mother to fulfill a promise: to paint a watercolor of the vacation house that Miss Hogg owns on a Spanish island. Months passed before the picture was finally delivered. Unfortunately, the watercolor bears only a passing resemblance to its subject. A cheery image of pastel stucco, it now hangs in Miss Hogg's sitting room here, in the company of raspberry-damask chairs and lamp shades made of fabric scraps pasted into place.