September 30, 2000

Article discusses possibility of parole for Mark David Chapman, who killed Beatle John Lennon 20 years ago; Chapman says in interviews that he could not kill again; article notes that only 5.6 percent of murderers making their first parole board appearance are released; Lennon's wife, Yoko Ono, has written to parole board, though content of her letter has not been made public; officially, public opinion should not be consideration, but article maintains it is difficult to ignore, as millions grieved Lennon's death (M)

Stern's department store, anchor store in Manhattan Mall, to close; Argent Ventures, owner of mall, says various ideas are being considered such as more retailers or adding office space, an attractive option because of intense demand; vertical design of mall is not considered optimal by customers, who complain that escalators are badly synchronized and elevators have long waits; annual sales per square foot are more than double national average; photo (M)

New York State officials, health insurance executives and advocates for poor say as many as half of all children enrolled in special health care plan intended to insure children from low-income families do not qualify for plan and will be removed from it over next several months; say thousands of those enrolled should be in Medicaid; say many may have to switch doctors and could even end up with no medical coverage, either temporarily or permanently; blame failure of participating insurance plans to steer Medicaid-eligible families to Medicaid; federal government weighs whether NY owes it money because it reimburses states at higher rate for plan than for Medicaid (M)

Danish rejection of Europe's common currency and increasing likelihood that Slobodan Milosevic will be ousted from power in Yugoslavia discussed as improving outlook for Europe of loosely associated democratic nations instead of federal Europe of united states; Milosevic's ouster would remove last major obstacle to Europe of democracies and market economies; Danish vote shows attachment to national identity is resurgent in some areas; photo (M)

Article discusses Hillary Rodham Clinton's trip to California to raise funds to be used by her Senate campaign directly, as well as soft money for Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; less than one week after agreement with Representative Rick A Lazio to restrict use of soft money, both candidates continue to fulfill prior obligations to raise these funds; amount raised on Clinton's trip is expected to reach $450,000 (M)

Dominick Curra and Kevin McMahon, described as associates of Gambino crime family, and Robert Walsh, who runs an offshore Internet gambling operation, are charged with trying to sell five forged or stolen paintings, including two phony Picassos, for $35 million; they were turned in by unnamed man who had pleaded guilty to securities fraud and was cooperating with federal agents; photo (M)

Jon S Corzine's Senate campaign in New Jersey, on which he spends upwards of $50 million of own money, provides glimpse of what money can and cannot do for rookie politician; Corzine, as prone to missteps as other rich candidates, has avoided disastrous misstakes that have sunk many other affluent candidates; has been lucky in facing unpopular former governor, Jim Florio, in Democratic primary and little-known, underfinanced Republican, Rep Bob Franks, in Nov in state that has been particularly kind to wealthy candidates; table of mixed results of millionaire candidates; photo (M)

Four Palestinians are killed at Jerusalem's Haram al Sharif holy site, known to Jews as Temple Mount, in second day of rioting that began when Ariel Sharon visited Muslim compound to assert Jewish claims to site; Israeli police in riot gear storm Muslim area, where they rarely set foot, after Palestinian youths emerging from prayer services stone police post and Jewish worshipers at Western Wall; more than 200 people are wounded by day's end, including five tourists and Yair Yitzhaki, city's police commander; Israeli-Palestinian tensions are worsened by breakdown in security cooperation elsewhere; Palestinian soldier working in joint Israeli-Palestinian patrol in West Bank shoots and kills Israeli colleague; Palestinian officials say soldier was mentally unbalanced; map; photos (M)

United States defeats Lithuania, 85-83, in Olympic basketball competition, advancing to final against France; photo (M)

Jack Curry Sports of The Times column discusses September decline of New York Yankees, who have lost 13 of their last 16 games heading toward postseason; photo (M)

White House and Congressional negotiators agreed on a plan to set aside $12 billion over six years for a sweeping federal land conservation effort. White House officials and lawmakers who cobbled together the agreement after two years of debate said the money would be fenced off in a special conservation account, similar to the Highway Trust Fund, intended to assure a steady flow of money for protecting sensitive lands.

New York Yankees clinch American League Eastern Division title despite loss to Baltimore Orioles, 13-2; photo (M)