July 16, 1999

Giuliani administration sues Consolidated Edision, contending that blackouts in Washington Heights and other neighborhoods on July 6 and 7 were caused by utility's failure to properly design and maintain its network of cables that distribute electricity; does not ask for specific amount in damages, but Mayor Rudolph W Giuliani says he hopes to recoup 'multiple millions of dollars' for extra costs during power failures; photo (M)

Thousands of people descend on Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ, for first of 15 sold-out concerts by Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band; Springsteen will surpass Grateful Dead as the leading draw in the arena; Springsteen and his band arrive in East Rutherford after wrapping up 17-city European tour; after they finish New Jersey shows, they will move on to Detroit, Boston, Washington and Philadelphia; photos of Springsteen fans (M)

Corporate sponsors are lining up to link their names to festivals and fairs across country; IEG Inc says corporations will spend estimatd $685 million on festivals, fairs and annual events this year, triple amount spent on fairs and festivals a decade ago, and $107 million more than last year; festival organizers say sponsorship money is necessary to offset increasing cost of entertainment, to hold ticket prices down and to finance expansion into events needed to appeal to wide audience; sponsorship of some specific events discussed; graph; photos (M)

SBC Communications Inc, one of nation's biggest local phone companies, agrees to wide-ranging marketing and distribution partnership with DirecTV Inc, big satellite broadcaster; companies plan to announce deal July 19 at Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association's convention in Las Vegas; deal with DirecTV would fill big hole in SBC's product line and give SBC much-needed weapon--television--as it gets ready to go head to head against AT&T Corp in battle to offer consumers integrated packages of long-distance and local telephone, video and high-speed Internet services (M)

Ifeoma Ezeonu Udogwu, New York City child-abuse investigator accused of forcing Nigerian girl into servitude and repeatedly beating her, was subject of 1988 complaint that she had neglected another Nigerian girl living in her home; Udogwu, and her husband, Prosper, are charged with keeping Beatrice Okezie, who is now 23, in their Bronx home for nine years; Udogwu is currently supervisor with Administration for Children's Services; officials there say they are going through old paperwork in warehouses to see if 1988 neglect complaint against Udogwu was ever forwarded to them and, if so, whether any action was taken on it; 1988 complaint was phoned to state child abuse line by fire marshals investigating fire in Udogwu's home (M)