April 23, 1996

The Council of Economic Advisers will report Tuesday that more than two-thirds of the new jobs created in the United States in 1994 and 1995 paid better than the average job, Administration officials said today, and that despite waves of corporate layoffs, the length of time most workers spent unemployed in recent years has actually declined. Nonetheless, the report, written by Joseph E. Stiglitz, the head of the council, found some evidence that the rate at which jobs have been eliminated has risen slightly, despite strong economic growth. Though the evidence is murky -- and subject to differing interpretations within the Administration -- the statistics suggest that managers and other relatively high-paid white-collar workers who have been the focus of the most publicized layoffs are staying unemployed longer.

THE mouth of the cave opens wide and arches high, like a lithic bandshell cut into the hillside. From a rock pedestal where the conductor might stand, the view beyond encompasses miles of tropical forest much as it was when some of the earliest Americans dwelled here 11,000 years ago. To the south, sunlight glints off shallow lakes on the floodplain of the Amazon River six miles away. From these waters and through the dense foliage, the ancient people would arrive and climb a steep trail to the cave, their lofty sanctuary of vaulted sandstone. These people, broadly classifed as Paleoindians, hunted small game, caught fish and turtles and foraged for plants, nuts and fruits. A few times a year, they made camp in the airy main chamber of the cave, cooking meals, sharpening stone weapons and apparently meditating on life. They found time to express themselves in wall paintings that survive and give the place its name -- Caverna da Pedra Pintada, Cave of the Painted Rock.

The New York State commission that investigates judicial misconduct said today that it planned to file administrative charges against Lorin Duckman, the Brooklyn Criminal Court judge accused of mishandling domestic violence cases and being unfair to prosecutors. The charges could lead to the judge's censure or removal from the bench. Judge Duckman, who has been a criminal court judge for five years, came under intense criticism from Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in February after freeing a violent felon, Benito Oliver. He later killed his girlfriend just three weeks after she had sought court protection from Judge Duckman.

A group that has been the biggest force for changing New Jersey's system of paying for education has filed suit to force the Whitman administration to spend $141 million more on schools next year to equalize educational disparities. The suit comes amid criticism by educators, parents and politicians that Governor Whitman's plans to overhaul the education system are in disarray and that school quality is threatened by cuts.

In the weeks surrounding the reincarnation of The Village Voice -- from aging alternative weekly to Manhattan's newest and most ubiquitous free paper -- the metropolis has been awash with mysterious rumors. First, there was the one about the nail-polish-red news boxes that The Voice had planted all over Manhattan -- how homeless people were hauling heaps of papers to the other boroughs, where The Voice still sells for $1.25.