September 9, 1997

New York City has quietly opened 37 automated kiosk around city to let residents pay parking fines and property taxes with credit cards, check records, print applications and get answers to host of questions; city officials say $2 million experiment is part of wider effort to make as much data as possible available to computer users and cut aggravation of doing business with city; Information Technology and Telecommunications Department aide Daniel K Moy says city plans to allow more transactions through its World Wide Web site; says department evaluates kiosks and expects to expand system to hundreds of terminals; map (M)

Contributions are pouring in to Princess of Wales Memorial Fund, charitable fund set up by Princess Diana's lawyers at request of mourners; some $240 million may have already been contributed, and donations could exceed $1 billion; singer Elton John donates proceeds of new recording of song Candle in the Wind, with new lyrics, he sang at funeral; Mohamed al-Fayed, father of Emad Mohamed al-Fayed, who died with her in crash, pledges at least $15 million to hospitals that were part of her charitable work and to construction of new children's hospital named for her; photo (M)

Arnaud Protin, security guard at Bergen Pines Hospital in Paramus, is charged with setting blaze at hospital that forced evacuation of 150 elderly patients (New Jersey Daily Briefing) (S)

CSX Transportation says jury has ordered it to pay $2.5 billion in punitive damages stemming from railroad-car chemical fire in New Orleans, La, on Sept 9, 1987; CSX says it will appeal; case detailed (L)

ALLEGATIONS OF ABUSE -- A Brooklyn man has made new allegations of police abuse against one of the officers charged with brutalizing a Haitian immigrant in custody. B3.