September 13, 2000

Chase Manhattan Bank's $31 billion acquisition of J P Morgan & Co reflects weaknesses as much as strength, as both institutions seek growth in areas where their previous efforts have not been especially successful (M)

Cameron Crowe's loose, affectionate look back on his earlier career as a teenage rock journalist overflows with wonderful performances and memorable moments. Patrick Fugit brings the perfect balance of intelligence and innocence to the role of William Miller, a San Diego teenager who takes to the road with a scruffy band called Stillwater, on assignment for Rolling Stone. ''Almost Famous'' isn't perfect -- it lacks a necessary dimension of demonic sleaze -- but Mr. Crowe's smart, compassionate writing and performances by Billy Crudup, Kate Hudson, Jason Lee and Frances McDormand (among many others) make it hum. — A. O. Scott

Landlord Louis Hubrecht is charged with murder in Manhattan shooting of tenant Barbara B Kenna, with whom he apparently had been feuding for decades; Hubrecht's sister, Alice Walker, holds Kenna provoked him with relentless complaints (M)

Analysts believe that J P Morgan & Co, which is being acquired by Chase Manhattan Bank, could not retain its independence because it tried too hard to remain what its founder, J Pierpont Morgan, had built: a behind-the-scenes adviser to richest and most powerful, with a driven but insular culture; Morgan became an anachronism in financial world dominated by mass rather than class; chronology of major events at Morgan, 1861-2000; photos (M)

Austrian Sanctions Ended The European Union lifted sanctions against Austria that were imposed seven months ago after the far-right Freedom Party joined the governing coalition. PAGE A6 Antediluvian Artifacts Scientists said they found traces of human habitation under the Black Sea that may predate a great flood thousands of years ago. PAGE A4