Basketball lockout threatens $10 million balloon payment that New York Knickerbockers owe Charles Oakley, whom they traded to Toronto; he waits helplessly from afar while Knicks star Patrick Ewing leads superstar-driven hard-line faction in dispute; had grumbled in past about Ewing's preferential treatment; photos (M)

Oakley Can't Shake the Hard Knocks, or Ewing

Interview with Jose Saramago of Portugal, new Nobel laureate in literature; photo (M)

A Writer With an Ear for the Melody of Peasant Speech; The New Nobel Prize Winner Jose Saramago Trains an Outsider's Irony on Time, Faith and History

Dashed hopes, unanticipated problems and lack of money continue to plague New York City school planning and building process; experiences of West Side High School, Manhattan, housed in variety of temporary homes over years, and High School of Telecommunication Arts and Technology, Brooklyn, where completion date of renovations has been pushed to 2003 from 1993, cited; photos (M)

Wanted: A Permanent Home; Plight of 2 Schools Shows Why Construction Is Slow

Harvey Araton Sports of The Times column on emergence of New York Yankees manager Joe Torre as paternal face of New York sports; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Torre Fits As the Toast Of the Town

Anna Kisselgoff reviews Ballet Hispanico performance of works by choreographers Ann Reinking and Ramon Oller; photos (M)

A Simpatico Connection for Two Genres

House Republicans tell their leadership that they want to bring impeachment of Pres Clinton to vote in Dec; Judiciary Committee, under criticism for expanding its inquiry, appears to be moving to wrap up investigation; Republicans make their views known as Rep Tom Delay, majority whip, reaches across country in conference call to organization that helps Republicans gauge support for impeachment; White House, in letter to chmn Henry J Hyde, accepts committee's invitation to present Clinton's defense; photo (M)

Republicans Tell Leaders to Aim For Quick Vote on Impeachment

Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani unveils proposal to ship most of city's residential garbage to transfer stations in New Jersey, but administration in embarrassing lapse of political tact does not tell NJ of plan until Dec 2; NJ Gov Christine Todd Whitman issues news release that includes headline 'Whitman to New York's Garbage Plan: Drop Dead'; Whitman says proposal is direct assault on NJ beaches and threat to our quality of life; says she will do everything in her power to block any plan that might harm state's environment; map; photo (M)

GIULIANI STIRS UP BORDER TENSIONS WITH TRASH PLAN

Temperature reaches 64 in Central Park, 2 degrees below record for Dec 2; thermometer is in 60's for fifth consecutive day, when it should have been in upper 40's; record high temperatures that are as much as 20 degrees above normal are achieved in some other cities; meteorologists predict more of same irregular temperatures for rest of week; highest temperature ever recorded in Dec in New York City was 72 on Dec 4, 1982; photos (M)

Record Highs Put a Spring Into Late Fall

New York Mets agree to four-year deal worth $32 million with free-agent third baseman Robin Ventura; hold talks with Rickey Henderson's representatives in quest for effective leadoff hitter; table of 1998 and projected 1999 Met lineups; photos (M)

In the Leadoff Spot: Could Henderson Be Next Met?

 Two French Drug Makers In $10.4 Billion Merger  Two French drug makers, Sanofi and Synthelabo, agreed to merge for $10.4 billion, the second alliance between two European pharmaceutical companies announced this week.  

BUSINESS DIGEST

Many of John D Rockefeller's 140 descendants have shareholdings in Exxon, Mobil and other companies created by 1911 breakup of his Standard Oil, but none has significant stakes or exercises control; Rockefeller personified trust kings of Gilded Age, making him prime target of antitrust crusaders and muckrading journalists; his grandson, banker David Rockefeller, comments (M)

An Oil Giant Would Lack A Rockefeller

Handful of manufacturers have followed K2 Corp lead in commercial application of piezoelectricity for vibration control in sports equipment; some skiers and manufacturers see technology, which converts vibrations into electric energy, as gimmick; technology has also brought mixed reviews from other sports where it has been applied; diagram; photos (M)

Maybe an Electric Ski Would Help

Federal jury acquits former Agriculture Sec Mike Espy of corruption charges, ending independent prosecutor Donald Smaltz's four-year investigation into gifts of sports tickets and other favors from companies he was supposted to regulate; Espy was charged with receiving illegal gratuity, not bribery; prosecutors say he took about $34,000 worth of tickets and other favors like luggage; Espy says his case bolsters criticism of investigations conducted by independent counsels and underscores what critics say are troublesome aspects of independent counsel law; photo (M)

ESPY IS ACQUITTED ON GIFTS RECEIVED WHILE IN CABINET

J Paul Getty Trust, which opened $1 billion Getty Center, Los Angeles, a year ago, is undergoing major transformation led by new president and chief executive, Barry Munitz; Getty, one of wealthiest private arts institutions in nation, is reaching out in new ways to other Los Angeles museums as it turns from unfettered growth to era of limits on what it can do alone; is also seeking corporate sponsorships and donations from individuals; photos (M)

Getty Center Calling On Its Neighbors

John Tierney column on debate spurred by letter from New York City nursery school director Ellen Ziman to parents on how school was handling death of pet hamster; Ziman comments on decision to focus attention on death and make it learning experience (M)

The Big City; Pupils Mourn Fallen Rodent, And Move On

Friends of the late architect Paul Rudolph are concerned about the fate of his modernist apartment, perhaps the most stunning in New York City, which includes 17 levels of Plexiglas walkways, steel staircases without bannisters and see-through bathrooms that afford no privacy; its building in on market for $5.65 million, reduced from $6.25 million; photos (M)

Toil and Trouble In Plexi-Land

Tibor Kalman has produced body of design work over 30 years that stands as a tirade against oppression and rallying cry for intellectual freedom; work is chronicled in the new book Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist; photos (M)

DESIGN NOTEBOOK; The Splendid Rage Of Tibor Kalman

Wide variety of computer chip-enhanced dolls are on market, offering varying levels of interactivity and varying claims about educational value; child-development experts debate educational value of fuzzy toys from Microsoft and others; photos (M)

Cuddly, Sure, but Smart?

New York Rangers defeat New York Islanders, 3-2; photos (M)

Rangers Make the Islanders' Ice All Their Own

 Review of Spy Case  President Clinton is seeking advice from top officials on whether to grant clemency to Jonathan Pollard, who spied for Israel. Page A14.

INSIDE

New York State Senate, 58-1, suddenly approves without debate Assembly-passed bill that would help New York City's politically influential Patrolmen's Benevolent Association win higher raises; Gov George E Pataki, who vetoed measure in 1996, faces choice of antagonizing union or Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani, who scores vote; bill would give union right to ask that state panel rather than city one arbitrate wage disputes; Senate, 32-27, approves bill to give 38 percent raises to most state elected officials and raise base salaries for legislators to $79,500 from $57,500; vote is split largely along geographic, not partisan, lines, with members from New York City and its suburbs backing bill and upstate members opposing it; Senate also approves several other measures linked in negotiations to salary bill; votes to allow creation of charter public schools, end tenure for public school principals and stiffen penalties for school violence; approves bill to bar legislators from getting any salary raise if new state budget is not approved by Apr 1 deadline; approves bill to raise Governor's salary to $179,000 from $130,000; photo (M)

State Senate Approves Bill That Benefits Police Union

Union lawyer Arthur Schwartz says Brian O'Neill, who resigned on Dec 1 as acting president of highway workers local, told prosecutors that he and local's former pres Joseph DeCanio helped fix 1996 contract ratification vote for District Council 37; DeCanio has pleaded guilty to charges of embezzling over $50,000 and trying to fix election within highway local; disclosures figure in broadening investigation by Manhattan District Attorney's office into District Council 37 and its 56 locals (M)

Union Officer Is Said to Admit To Vote Fixing

US and allied forces in Bosnia arrest Bosnian Serb Maj Gen Radislav Krstic, who was recently charged with genocide by Yugoslav war crimes tribunal in secret indictment; Krstic, arrested in American sector, is highest-ranking official to be seized so far, and first active military officer; he is accused of directing attack on Srebrenica in 1995, in which 7,000 Bosnian and Muslim men were marched off, presumably to their deaths, as Dutch contingent of United Nations peacekeeping forces stood by; Krstic photo (M)

Bosnian Serb General Is Arrested By Allied Force in Genocide Case

Outlook for Boeing Co discussed in light of its plans to scale back output and further cut work force; Airbus Industrie, its sole competitor making large passenger jets, seems to be suffering far less than Boeing from global economic woes; Boeing's current troubles date to ill-fated 1996 decision to win market share at all costs; graph of Boeing's work force (M)

THE MARKETS: Market Place; Boeing Problems Help Airbus Narrow Gap

New York Times analysis of Manhattan voting data spurred by Republican challenge to Eliot L Spitzer's slim lead in Attorney General's race over incumbent, Dennis C Vacco, finds no pattern of vote fraud and no cases of votes cast by dead; finds City Elections Board has made considerable effort to clean up rolls and remove names of ineligible voters; graph; photo (M)

The Dead Stayed Home on Election Day, Voter Data Indicate

Pierre Hétu was a conductor and pianist. He studied music from 1955–57 at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Germaine Malépart (piano) and at the University of Montreal with Jean Papineau-Couture (acoustics), Gabriel Cusson and Conrad Letendre and Jean Vallerand.

December 3, 1998

Headlines from December 3, 1998

Oakley Can't Shake the Hard Knocks, or Ewing

A Writer With an Ear for the Melody of Peasant Speech; The New Nobel Prize Winner Jose Saramago Trains an Outsider's Irony on Time, Faith and History

Wanted: A Permanent Home; Plight of 2 Schools Shows Why Construction Is Slow

Sports of The Times; Torre Fits As the Toast Of the Town

A Simpatico Connection for Two Genres

Billboard 200

Double Live

Tical 2000: Judgement Day

Spirit

# 1's

These Are Special Times

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for December 3, 1998