February 27, 1999

Microsoft Corp rests its case in Government's landmark antitrust suit, but not before presiding Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson shouts angrily at company's final witness, Robert Muglia, and orders him to stop talking; incident is yet another blow in several months of missteps and embarrassments as Microsoft has tried to defend itself against Government's charges that company bullied computer industry and used its monopoly in computer operating systems to disadvantage of competitors; court will reconvene in mid-April for several weeks of testimony from rebuttal witnesses (M)

Federal jury, Rochester, NY, awards $660,000 in damages to inmate David McClary after finding he suffered mental distress during the time that he spent in solitary confinement in three NY prisons; jury ruled prison officals kept McClary locked in tiny cell and that his civil rights were violated; McClary is serving 25 years to life for 1988 slaying of rookie policeman Edward Byrne; prison officials say notoriety of McClary's crime made it necessary to segregate him from other inmates; prosecutors plan appeal (M)

Marine jet pilot, Capt Richard J Ashby, testifies at his court-martial that he saw Cavalese, Italy, ski gondola cable too late to change course; gives his first public account of Feb 1998 accident that killed 20 people; photo (M)

The director whose reverent stagings of ''The Iceman Cometh'' and ''Long Day's Journey Into Night'' led to a worldwide revival of interest in the Nobel Prize plays of Eugene O'Neill was 74. As a founder of Circle in the Square, he was also a major contributor to the renaissance in Off Broadway theater that began soon after World War II and continued into the 1960's. He had a special bond with O'Neill, and directed 19 productions of O'Neill plays from 1956 to 1996. He often said he believed that the playwright, upon whom he looked as a symbolic father, single-handedly elevated the American theater. Obituary, page A12.

Commerce Department reports Gross Domestic Product grew at 6.1 percent annual rate in 1998 fourth quarter, up from previous estimate of 5.6 percent; says economy grew 3.9 percent in 1998, after adjusting for inflation; reports inflation dipped to annual rate of 0.7 percent in fourth quarter, lowest in over 40 years; inflation rate for year was 1 percent; graph (M)

Washington may swing the tax-cut ax this year, but Americans first need to file their 1998 returns. This special report includes tax-saving tips for young professionals, families, retirees, the self-employed and active investors, plus a step-by-step guide to Form 1040. Money & Business

David Gonzalez About New York column on struggles of persons who aspire to be writers and their disillusionment with some persons who capture the attention and dollars of publishers for books that are promoted largely by hype; discusses Dahlma Llanos, high school librarian in Bronx, NYC, who also attends Bronx Writers' Center, writing class given by Angie Cruz, graduate student in fiction-writing at New York University; reactions of two women to Monica Lewinsky's book noted (M)

New York Rangers defeat Phoenix Coyotes, 3-0; Wayne Gretzky is sidelined for two weeks with cervical disk injury (M)

Dr Glenn T Seaborg, leader of scientific team that created plutonium and eight other artificial elements, dies at age 86; photo (M)

New Jersey Gov Christine Todd Whitman nominates Attorney General Peter G Verniero, her longtime political ally, to fill the unexpected vacancy on the State Supreme Court following announcement by Justice Stewart G Pollock that he will leave bench in September; Whitman nominates her chief counsel, John Farmer, to replace Verniero; both actions require confirmation by the Legislature; photo of Whitman, Verniero and Farmer (M)

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column on Tiger Woods's loss to Jeff Maggert at Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship and the prospect of semifinals without the top names in golf; photo (M)

New York Stock Exchange says it is seriously pursuing strategy that would allow it to trade stocks of its archrival, the Nasdaq stock market, where some of nation's major technology issues are traded; officials at New York exchange say they might become partner with electronic trading operation that deals in Nasdaq stocks, or create their own electronic system that would operate side by side with floor traders to offer Nasdaq stocks; actions are tacit acknowledgment on part of Big Board officials that they need to make sharper move into growing field of electronic trading, and that they would desperately like to grab larger share of market in high-technology stocks (M)