December 2, 2000

New York City Schools Chancellor Harold O Levy bars public schools from sponsoring most activities of Boy Scouts of America, saying Scouts had violated Board of Education policy by discriminating against gays; Scouts will still be able to use school space after hours; there are 7,000 Boy Scout and Cub Scout groups, but it is not known how many are sponsored by schools; chancellor's decision is seen as symbolic blow and is hailed by gay rights groups (M)

Environmental Protection Agency will make its long-awaited decision on whether to dredge Hudson River, stirring emotions of people who live along most PCB-laden stretch of river; for nearly 40 years, until 1977, General Electric was permitted by state of New York to dump PCB's into Hudson from its electric capacitator plants just upriver; company has spent tens of millions of dollars on scientific tests showing that PCB's are safely entombed beneath silt layer; EPA, which designated Hudson national Superfund site in 1984, says river is cleaner than it was, but that unacceptable amounts of PCB's are still escaping and working their way into air and tissues of fish; Gov George E Pataki says active cleanup is necessary, but some people living in Schuylerville, NY, and environs fear that giant multi-year industrial cleanup operation could destroy cleaner river they love; EPA must consider local opinion before issuing order; pros and cons discussed; photos (L)

Article discusses New York Giants tackle Lomas Brown and Washinton Redskins defensive end Bruce Smith, old friends who will play against each other in this week's game; photo (M)

As part of its attempt to chip away at decade-old United Nations sanctions, Iraq has abruptly stopped exporting oil. Iraq cut off exports after failing to win authorization to divert some of its oil profits to accounts not controlled by the United Nations. Oil markets were calm in response to the action by Saddam Hussein. Article, Page A3.

United States Supreme Court grills lawyers for both sides in intense argument session that ends in uncertainty over how--or whether--justices would decide Gov George W Bush's appeal of Florida Supreme Court's extension of state's vote-counting deadline; comments and questions of some justices raise prospect that court could conclude it lacks jurisdiction to decide case; court's more conservative justices seem troubled by nature of state court's decision; tone inside courtroom is sober and businesslike; justices' evident familiarity with case's factual and legal setting is notable; court has announced no timetable for its decision; two principal lawyers, Theodore B Olson for Gov George W Bush and Laurence H Tribe for Vice Pres Al Gore, are familiar figures to justices, with dozens of Supreme Court arguments between them; photos (M)