July 2, 1997

Dodge City of Burlington, auto dealership in Mount Holly, NJ, is charged with defrauding customers by failing to honor its own sticker prices (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

Manhattan grand jury determines that New York City Police Officer Anthony Pellegrini was justified in fatally shooting Kevin Cedeno, 16, in back following early morning disturbance in Washington Heights in April; concludes that officer had mistaken youth's two-foot machete for shotgun and thought Cedeno was turning to fire; photo; chart (M)

Mexico's governing party, Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), is facing its most competitive elections on July 6, and polls indicate that its power will be dramatically reduced; Mexicans in recent years have grown increasingly frustrated with corrupt rule and recurring economic crises under party; opposition political parties have gained popularity and appear poised to score significant advances in national and local contests; even officials of governing party acknowledge that Mexico's political landscape is being reshaped; tensions have pitted Pres Ernesto Zedillo and some PRI leaders who want to modernize party against larger faction defending party machine; photo (M)

Residents of Brownsville, Brooklyn neighborhood where Mike Tyson lived as young boy, say he should be suspended for biting Evander Holyfield's ear during their heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas; they are surprisingly divided on larger issues that have always surrounded Tyson; support for him has been compromised by deep sense of disappointment in latest incident, in neighborhood that has stuck by him through thick and thin, and watched him grow from troubled youth to hero who found something near to redemption in boxing; photos (M)

New Jersey Gov Christine Todd Whitman orders auto insurance rates frozen at their current levels until end of legislative session in January (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)