December 29, 2000

Montgomery Ward & Co, once the greatest American retailer and pioneer of many sales practices that became widely accepted, says that it will go out of business after 128 years; company, owned by General Electric, says it will close its 250 stores and dismiss 28,000 associates who run them in coming months; it files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection for second and final time and eliminates 450 jobs immediately; photos (L)

Strong performance this season by Denver Broncos rookie running back Mike Anderson discussed; table of top rookie records; photos (M)

Joe Lapointe Sports of The Times column on hockey star Mario Lemieux's comeback with Pittsburgh Penguins; cites doubts about future despite his initial success; photo (M)

Record 21 million vehicles are subject of safety-related recalls in 2000; safety experts say this may be positive development, since each recall indicates attempt to fix some sort of safety defect; chart with information on year's 10 largest recalls, involving models from General Motors, DaimlerChrysler and Ford Motor Co; photos (M)

Taiwan central bank, in unexpected move to stave off economic slowdown, cuts benchmark interest rate known as rediscount rate by eighth of percentage point (S)