August 8, 2000

Scientists believe that West Nile virus is now established in New York area and will lead to cases of severe brain inflammation and some deaths in years to come, but that it will not pose a major threat to public health; say that although virus was first identified in Uganda, the source of outbreak in US was probably Israel; say surveillance and spraying can help cut the risk that people will be infected; are only now getting clues to orgin and distiny of virus and why it is decimating some species, like crows, while leaving others, like pigeons, untouched; drawings; photos (M)

Reform Party Leaders Split A Reform Party faction opposed to Patrick J. Buchanan's candidacy stormed out of a meeting and may form a new party. PAGE A19

Retired jockey Julie Krone is first woman inducted into National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame; trainer Neil Drysdale is also inducted, along with horses Needles, A P Indy and Winning Colors; photo (M)

West Nile virus appears to be settling in for the long haul in North America. Since last fall, scientists have been scrambling to understand the virus's origin and destiny as it spreads, decimating some new hosts, like crows, leaving others, like pigeons, untouched, and occasionally spilling over into people. Thousands of hours of sleuthing, testing and analysis are only now offering preliminary clues. Many scientists expect that a scattering of human infections and a few deaths will become the norm. But they say the disease appears unlikely to become a significant threat to public health. Science Times, Page F1.

Verizon Communications is willing to suffer a strike by Communications Workers of America because it appears to believe that unions put it at some disadvantage in today's telecommunications market, and that view is shared by competitors and at least some investors and analysts; preponderance of communications companies that have had the best financial performance over the last decade, like WorldCom, have not had the significant union presence of many of the industry's laggards, like AT&T and Nynex, which is now part of Verizon; graph of unionized workers in companies derived from the old American Telephone & Telegraph Co (M)

Researchers in particle physics are programming their computers to add unknown numbers, called 'offsets,' to their data in order to render blind the outcome of their analyses; offsets are revealed only after an experiments is over, allowing researchers learn whether they are close to a routine confirmation of a theory, a Nobel Prize or a humiliating mistake; practice seeks to negate a natural bias researchers might have to pare data or make comparisons in ways that lead to 'discoveries'; can be a salve for physicists who simply want to get on with analysis without worrying about what their subconscious minds might be doing; photo (M)

Paul Griffiths reviews Graham Vick's productions of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Cosi Fan Tutte at Glyndebourne Festival (M)

The fever has broken. Manhattan's over-the-top real estate market, on a fast roll for more than four years, has lost its frenzied upward momentum and seems to be cooling down.

Sarah Boxer column on strange tapes made by the Canadian artist Janet Cardiff, which she listened to with headphones at museums in Lucerne and London and which led her on a facinating walk around the Whitechapel area of East London; photo (M)

A O Scott Critic's Notebook column deplores absence of credible representations of adolescent life in this summer's crop of movies; photos (M)

New York Yankees acquire Jose Canseco on waivers from Tampa Bay Devil Rays, apparently to keep him off rival team; place Chuck Knoblauch on disabled list; re-acquire Luis Sojo in trade; will drop Ryan Thompson from roster; tables of team turnover and of Canseco's career statistics; photo (M)

Putting the blame for a February nuclear accident squarely on Consolidated Edison, Gov. George E. Pataki signed a bill today requiring the company to repay customers more than $100 million collected to pay expenses from the accident and prohibiting it from collecting tens of millions more. The governor's decision to sign the bill, which could cost the utility about $200 million, stunned nearly everyone involved in the dispute, and came after attempts by the Pataki administration to reach a negotiated settlement with the company had failed.