March 10, 1998

Aluminum Co of America, nation's largest aluminum producer, says it is buying Alumax Inc, No 3 aluminum maker, for $2.8 billion in cash and stock; acquisition would expand capability of Alcoa in aluminum extrusion business as well as providing it with Alumax's low-cost aluminum smelters; merger, if approved, will increase Alcoa's annual revenue to $17 billion from $13 billion, add 100,000 employees and increase estimated annual output of aluminum to nearly four million tons; it will leave Reynolds Metals Co as No 2 domestic producer; merger is not expected to have regulatory problems, because companies are merging different lines of business; graph (M)

Senate majority leader, Trent Lott, urges Pres Clinton to come forward and tell 'whole truth' about his relationship with Monica S Lewinsky, news conference; shifts blame for slow pace of probe of relationship to Clinton, after causing furor by earlier saying independent counsel Kenneth W Starr has had enough time and should 'show his cards;' shift is another sign of Republicans' predicament as they seek to capitalize on Clinton's latest embarrassment without seeming unduly partisan; David Brock, conservative writer whose 1993 article in American Spectator led Paula Corbin Jones to bring sexual misconduct suit against Clinton, apologizes to Clinton for ransacking his personal life, letter in Esquire magazine; says he knew Arkansas state troopers who told him of having to procure women for Clinton were greedy and had slimy motives; Judge Susan Webber Wright rejects Jones's bid to reconsider her earlier decision to exclude evidence of affair with Lewinsky from case (M)

Vast storm system causes deadly flooding in South, heavy rain and high winds in New York region and bitter onslaught of snow, ice and frigid temperatures in Midwest; thunderstorms and floods leave nine dead in South, including five in southern Alabama, where Gov Fob James Jr declares state of emergency; Elba, Ala, is under water after Pea River breaks through levee, forcing evacuation of 2,000 people; rain causes havoc in southeast Georgia and much of Florida; map; photos (M)

Through notes in backpacks, the mom-and-dad grapevine and the children themselves, parents throughout New York City have got the kind of surprise that normally would come with a blizzard in March: school has been canceled today. And many parents and teachers learned about it only a few days ago, or even yesterday.

American Stock Exchange and Chicago Board Options Exchange want to combine their options businesses with Philadelphia Stock Exchange; Philadelphia exchange, plagued by regulatory problems, confirms it is considering two unsolicited proposals; exchange also announces resignation of its chairman and chief executive, Leopold Korins, after just seven months; management continues to be sore spot for Philadelphia, which had trouble regrouping after series of embarrassing incidents, including criticism from SEC that exchange favored its own interests over those of investors; Amex suffers from identity problem despite making great strides to increase its equity offerings and retain growing companies; Chicago Board has 53 percent of total trading volume in options market, Amex accounts for 25 percent and Philadelphia has 9 percent; Pacific Stock Exchange has 13 percent; chart (M)