April 15, 1996

In the surest sign yet that slow-moving talks over the New York State budget are finally turning serious, the Republican leadership of the State Senate plans to unveil an ambitious proposal this week to cut an array of business taxes by $75 million this year and much more in future years. Though the Republicans say the plan would take a relatively small bite out of the $63 billion 1996-97 state budget now under negotiation, it would have a significant effect on future spending plans because it would grow in value to almost $1 billion by fiscal year 2000.

John C. Malone has been perceived by supporters and critics alike as a man with the vision to see from the mountaintop -- and the power, when necessary, to move the mountain. But Mr. Malone, who built Tele-Communications Inc. into the nation's largest cable television operator and in the process helped invent the modern cable industry, has been unable to work his magic with TCI's stock price during a raging bull market.

Across Ohio recently, police chiefs and sheriffs received a letter from Ted A. Almay, superintendent of the state's Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. The Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Tex., went up in flames on April 19, 1993, Mr. Almay reminded them, and the Federal Building in Oklahoma City was blown up on the same date two years later. Anti-Government groups place "a great deal of emphasis" on that date because of what happened at Waco, the letter went on. "It is for this reason that we recommend an internal alert for any possible violence on April 19, 1996," it said. "We urge you to exercise all due caution."

The new-media industry in New York has more than doubled in the last three years to become a $3.8 billion-a-year business and a mainstay of the metropolitan economy, according to a study to be released today. The metropolitan-area industry is a sprawling collection of more than 4,200 companies -- mainly small, entrepreneurial companies that develop and market Internet sites, multimedia software, on-line entertainment and other digital offerings. The fledgling companies in this new field are not household names, but together they now employ more workers in the city than traditional media industries like television, book publishing or newspapers, according to the study.

Kansas Utility Makes Hostile Bid Western Resources, a utility based in Kansas, made a hostile bid of $1.7 billion yesterday to take over Kansas City Power and Light, which already has agreed to merge with another Kansas City utility, Utilicorp. Though hostile takeovers of utilities are rare, companies have been scrambling to find merger partners as they seek to adapt to meet demands for lower rates and deregulation. [Page D2.]