July 15, 1996

Thousands of fans rose to their feet and hollered as John Wetteland secured two strikes on Jeff Zaun with two outs in the ninth inning, transforming Camden Yards into Yankee Stadium South for one more exhilarating moment. Some of the fans wielded brooms, sending a reminder to the shocked Orioles about how the Yankees were sweeping them into oblivion and maybe even out of the American League East race. The memorable scene reached its most excruciating point for the Orioles after Zaun lined out and New York completed a 4-1 victory and an implausible sweep of the four-game series. If the Yankees had any non-baseball plans for October, they should cancel them because their lead over the Orioles ballooned to 10 games and their itinerary is poised to include a journey to the post-season.

The debate on how to pay for public education opens to the public this week. A hearing at Parsippany Hills High School in Parsippany on Wednesday will give residents of North Jersey a chance to comment on Gov. Christine Todd Whitman's latest court-ordered attempt to close the spending gap between rich and poor school districts. Donald T. DiFrancesco, the President of the State Senate, has said that the Senate Education Committee will have hearings around the state through the fall. The Senate is expected to vote on a spending formula by the end of November.

David J. Carol likes to take his son to Dad's Restaurant on Main Street here to sit on the deck and watch the Amtrak drawbridge over the Niantic River open for sailboats and fishing boats and close for trains. Mostly he likes to see the bridge open, and stay open. For Mr. Carol is in charge of Amtrak's plan to run high-speed trains between New York and Boston, and the final permits needed for the $1.7-billion project hinge on Amtrak's assurances that bullet trains will not interfere with boaters along the Connecticut shoreline. And what piping plovers are to beachgoers, Connecticut boaters have proved to be for Amtrak: part of the protected shoreline system.

For a decade after the dollar began its long slide in value against the yen in 1985, American auto makers and other manufacturers enjoyed a special form of protection from Japanese competitors, whose imported products became almost inexorably more expensive in the United States. But now the sheltered years are coming to an end.

Now top this. You're Gary Payton, feeling pretty good about an $85 million deal you've just agreed on to stay in Seattle, until Alonzo Mourning makes it feel like some kid's allowance after it is reported that he may become the first $100 million man in team sports with a seven-year, $105 million pact with the Miami Heat. Unreal.