November 24, 1998

Aides of Atty Gen Janet Reno are reportedly split over need for special prosecutor to investigate political fund-raising by Vice Pres Al Gore; several reportedly tell her in Justice Department meeting that law requires appointment of independent counsel, while others are said to have disputed such interpretation of law; at issue is whether law permits Reno to close inquiry when there are relevant facts in dispute, notably regarding conflicting witness accounts of senior campaign officials who, along with Gore, attended November 1995 White House fund-raising meeting; split among top aides reflects longstanding legal battle within Justice Department about how to interpret key provision of independent counsel statute; some maintain law clearly dictates seeking independent counsel when contradictory evidence cannot be resolved; others that Reno is not obligated to seek counsel since case, partly based on whether money Gore raised was used legally, is so technical that prosecutor would be unlikely to obtain indictment (M)

Federal Express Co's pilot called off their threatened holiday strike because they were worried that company's founder Fred Smith would keep shipments going without them by spending tens of millions of dollars to contract out flights; graph; photo (M)

Comment on art show Black New York Artists of the 20th Century: Selections From the Schomburg Center Collections, at Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, NYC; 16-year-old pianist Karen Gomyo to perform at 92d St Y, youngest artist to be presented in 38-year history of Young Concert Artists series; revisionist director Peter Sellars will be honored with this year's Erasmus Prize by Prince Bernhard of Netherlands; prize is awarded for contributions to European culture; photo; songwriter David Shire appears in The Story Goes On: The Music of Maltby and Shire, three-week revue opening at Kaufman Theater in Clinton (M)

Interview with Alice McDermott, dark-horse winner of National Book Award for her novel Charming Billy; photos (M)

Four New York City police detectives, eleven months after schoolteacher Reginald Bannerman was attacked at Brooklyn bar and later killed by subway train, are indicted on charges that they carried out attack by stomping on man and then trying to cover up their actions by destroying evidence and intimidating witness; Detectives Lloyd Barnaby, Mark Cooper, Edward Howard and Orice Connor, all off-duty at time of attack, are not charged in death of man because there was no evidence that they followed him to subway; his death is delcared a suicide; Brooklyn Dist Atty Charles J Hynes comments; photo (M)