March 19, 1996

A Superior Court judge will hear arguments today by the Essex County Prosecutor and 11 public employee unions seeking to block enforcement of a dormant 1978 law that requires employees of Essex County to live within its borders. James W. Treffinger, the County Executive, has given more than 600 employees until June to move into the county or lose their jobs. Clifford J. Minor, the Essex County Prosecutor, has said that 40 percent of his work force would lose their jobs if the residency requirement were enforced.

Government and private economists said today that the 13-day-old strike at two General Motors brake factories here has delivered the worst blow to the Midwest economy since the floods of 1993. The strike has already reduced the nation's production of goods and services by $5 billion to $7 billion, wiping out a third of the already-weak economic growth in the first quarter, several economic research firms said today.

Gladys Gomez's shoes are torn, her fingernails ragged and her blouse threadbare. But the picture she keeps in her pocket, of the daughter who disappeared almost three years ago, is still pristine, wrapped in plastic like a personal shrine. Miss Gomez, 23, said she left her daughter, Cintia Carolina, then 14 months old, in the care of a cousin while she went to visit her godmother nearby on the night of Aug. 28, 1993. When Miss Gomez returned a few hours later, her only child had disappeared. Relatives later told her that the cousin, who is being detained on charges of stealing the child, had sold Cintia for international adoption.

The Federal drug smuggling and money laundering case against Claude L. Duboc was overwhelming. Two former lieutenants in Mr. Duboc's marijuana and hashish empire agreed to testify against him. And the Government had proof that he had not worked or filed taxes for 10 years, all the while amassing a $100 million fortune.

A four-story apartment building on the East Side of Manhattan partially collapsed yesterday afternoon, apparently the result of the recent demolition of the building next door. While no one was injured, the collapse left 10 people homeless, many of whom came home from work to learn that the building would be demolished, with their life's belongings falling victim to a wrecking crane. Shortly after 10 P.M., workers began demolishing the building at 349 East 54th Street after city officials deemed it unsafe. Residents were told that they would only be able to save what they could retrieve from the rubble.