November 22, 1995

PROPOSAL TO SHIFT SCHOOL BUDGETING New Jersey officials, under court order to equalize spending between rich and poor school districts, proposed that the State Legislature, rather than local voters, set the basic school budget for all districts. [Page A1.]

Even as he triumphantly announced the Balkan accord, President Clinton today began the difficult task of convincing a skeptical public and a hostile Congress to support sending 20,000 American troops to enforce the peace in Bosnia. "We are at a decisive moment," the President said in a mid-morning appearance in the White House Rose Garden. "The parties have chosen peace. America must choose peace as well."

New Cabinet for Israel

Working largely behind closed doors, a public board appointed by Gov. George E. Pataki has begun weighing more than 30 proposals to revamp the Long Island Lighting Company, including offers from the State Power Authority, several independent power producers and two New York utilities -- Brooklyn Union and Consolidated Edison. The board, the Long Island Power Authority, is trying to meet the Governor's deadline to deliver a plan by mid-December that could cut electricity rates on Long Island by at least 10 percent.

It was a ruptured 80-year-old sewer main that caused a sinkhole to open up on Main Street on Monday. Public Works Superintendent Jesse D'Amore said yesterday that the break was an "isolated incident," probably the result of vibrations from traffic. A larger sinkhole about 10 blocks away was caused by a ruptured water main last year.