June 18, 1998

Baseball is getting its first official commissioner in nearly six years, and it is Bud Selig, the sport's acting commissioner and owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. Selig's decision to take the job was confirmed by several people in high-ranking baseball positions. An announcement could be made by the All-Star Game on July 7. SportsThursday, page C1.

Ford's Theater in Washington presents Kudzu, musical comedy based on Doug Marlette's comic strip of same name, which explores the soul of the South; Marlette wrote show with Jack Herrick and Bland Simpson, members of Red City Ramblers, which provides its music; photo (M)

Woodbury Common, 220-store complex in Central Valley, NY, where several prominent designers have opened discount outlet stores in recent years, is a must-do destination for Japanese tourists, who say it has become famous in Japan; six major Japanese tour operators include trip to outlet center; map; photos (M)

New Jersey lawmakers are poised to adopt legislation governing reorganization of Prudential Insurance Co of America that consumer advocates say contains troubling loopholes that could shortchange nearly 11 million policyholders; legislation provides framework for distributing stock to policyholders as Prudential shifts to publicly traded company; at issue is how to determine each policyholder's share of company's worth; traditionally, when insurers have switched to public ownership they have used their accumulated profits as starting point in that calculation, in Prudential's case, that is $20 billion; Prudential says it is unclear what dollar amount will be used as benchmark (M)

Patricia Leigh Brown column on her father, Allan Brown, ace furniture salesman in Milwaukee until his death 20 years ago at age 54; recalls the kind of middle-American furniture his company sold; photos (M)