Clyde Haberman NYC column bemoans mistakes in punctuation in everday usage and popular culture (M)

This Mark* Isn't Going, Going, Gone

Police Comr Bernard Kerik receives anonymous letter alleging improprieties by personnel at New York City Police museum; reassigns Sgt Thomas Gambino, executive director, cuts staff and orders museum to hire civilian executive director; letter accuses Gambino and others of driving luxury cars leased by museum and using prime office space nearby without paying rent (M)

Police Museum Has Its Staff Overhauled

In a new review of the science behind its proposal to purge fine soot from the air, the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that there is a stronger link than ever between the tiniest soot particles and thousands of premature deaths each year.    The analysis, still being revised, considered more than 3,000 new health studies published since the agency proposed rules in 1997 intended to cut levels of soot and other smog ingredients produced mainly by power plants and vehicles. The proposed rules are still under review, and the final analysis could be a crucial factor in the Bush administration's decision about how tough the final rules should be.   

TINY BITS OF SOOT TIED TO ILLNESSES

San Diego Chargers, in move that will go down as one of most stunning in National Football League draft history, trades No. 1 pick, quarterback Michael Vick, to Atlanta Falcons; Vick is expected to replace injury-prone Chris Chandler, who last season had series of personality conflicts with Falcons' coach Dan Reeves; photo (M)

Vick Will Still Be No. 1, but Not by the Chargers

His admirers say they are impressed that President Bush is secure enough to surround himself with capable advisers. His detractors say he is so unprepared that he has no choice but to lean heavily on others.    His admirers say Mr. Bush's unadorned speaking style strikes them as refreshingly honest. His detractors say they are embarrassed by Mr. Bush's sometimes jumbled syntax.  

Bush's Fans and Foes Offer Same Refrain: Told You So

Nokia of Finland reports first-quarter earnings in line with expectations, with profit of $874 million, up 9.4 percent from same period last year, on sales increase of 22 percent, to $7.2 billion; Ericsson of Sweden posts loss, will eliminate 12,000 more jobs and does not see turnaround soon; first-quarter loss is $346.8 million, as sales declined 5 percent from same period, 2000, to $5.5 billion; photo (M)

Nokia's Earnings Meet Expectations, While Ericsson Disappoints

 Court Blocks Publication Of Book About the Civil War  A federal court in Atlanta granted an injunction blocking the publication of ''The Wind Done Gone,'' concluding that its author, Alice Randall, plagiarized from Margaret Mitchell's Civil War epic ''Gone With the Wind.''    The case has captivated lawyers, literary critics and historians because it pits claims about free speech and social justice against arguments about intellectual property rights and artistic merit. At the heart of the conflict are legal issues about the blurry boundary between unlawful plagiarism and legitimate critical reinterpretation. The book's publisher said it would appeal the injunction. [Page A1.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, television show that has been crucial to success of WB network, moves to UPN, its fiercest rival; WB is owned by AOL Time Warner, and 20th Century Fox is part of News Corp; WB has bee paying a reported $1 million an episode for Buffy, and UPN will reportedly pay on order of $2.3 million an episode (M)

'Buffy,' Moving to UPN, Tries to Be WB Slayer

They are mobilizing troops, developing battle plans and moving their supporters to a state of high alert. Interest groups on the left and the right are busily preparing for the possibility of a Supreme Court vacancy, perhaps as early as summer, and what many predict will be a brutal political war.    The National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League sent a mailing to a million households this week, sounding the alarm and seeking money and support: ''You and I need to be prepared to oppose George W. Bush's nominees to the Supreme Court,'' declares the group's president, Kate Michelman.  ''It could happen next week. It could happen next month.'' But when it does, she argues, it could ''strangle reproductive freedom for many years to come.''  

Interest Groups Set for Battle On a Supreme Court Vacancy

William C Rhoden's Sports of The Times column on New York Yankees' player Bernie Williams focuses on Williams's loyalty to Yankees while tending to his ailing father; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Back Home And Keeping The Faith

New York Yankees defeat Boston Red Sox, 6-1; photo (M)

Yanks Need Just 9 Innings to Win

 Fed Up With Floods  After a week of piling sandbags or, in some cases, leaving their homes, many Midwesterners along the Mississippi River say they are ready for the flood to move on, so that they may do the same.   PAGE A8    Sex Report Still in Limbo  It was billed as a far-reaching report on sexual attitudes and education. Written for the surgeon general in the last months of the Clinton administration, it remains unpublished, without any explanation.   PAGE A9

INSIDE

Donald Culbertson's face betrays the untamed skin of a teenager, and his uniform practically swims on his gangly frame. His buzz haircut does nothing to disguise the fact that he is not long out of high school, and his way of blowing off steam after work is to play video games.    There can be lot of steam to blow off because Mr. Culbertson is a corrections officer at the state prison here in Lansing, hired three months ago at the age of 19 to oversee murderers, rapists and other medium- and maximum-security prisoners.   

Desperate for Prison Guards, Some States Even Rob Cradles

President Bush arrived at his first summit meeting today declaring that he would make the expansion of economic and political ties with Latin America his first foreign policy priority.     But before Mr. Bush and other leaders could get down to work, tonight's opening ceremony of the Summit of the Americas was delayed for an hour, to about 7:30, as thousands of mostly young protesters clogged the narrow streets of this walled city seeking to block talks over a Free Trade Area of the Americas.  

BUSH WILL PRESS FREE-TRADE ISSUE AT QUEBEC TALKS

Music for film has traditionally been a poor cousin of the classics. But as yet another classical composer wins an Oscar -- this year, Tan Dun for ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' -- it is becoming clear that for better or worse, the distinctions between soundtracks and symphonies are crumbling. By David Schiff, in Arts & Leisure.

HIGH AND LOW: A MEDLEY

Article profiles Rev Hezekiah Walker of Love Fellowship Tabernacle in East New York section of Brooklyn, who mixes Pentecostal message with hip-hop, attracting congregation that includes rap singers; Walker is often criticized for flamboyance and wealth; photo (M)

Gospel Message, Rap Style; To a Brooklyn Preacher, Good Works Yield a Fortune

Stock market pulls back from huge rally; Nasdaq falls 18.73, or 0.9 percent, 2,163.41; Dow Jones industrial average loses 113.86, or 1.1 percent, to close at 10,579.85; Standard & Poor's 500-stock index is down 10.72, or 0.9 percent, to 1,242.98; bond prices are mixed; 10-year Treasury note rises 2/32 to 97 26/32, its yield falling from 5.30 to 5.29 percent; 30-year Treasury bond drops 1/32 to 94 1/32, its yield unchanged at 5.80 percent; graph; list of key rates (M)

Stocks Droop But End Week Up Sharply

A Federal District Court in Atlanta granted an injunction yesterday blocking the imminent publication of ''The Wind Done Gone,'' concluding that its author, Alice Randall, plagiarized from Margaret Mitchell's Civil War epic, ''Gone With the Wind.''     Ms. Randall set part of her novel on the plantation described in Ms. Mitchell's book and told the story from the perspective of a slave who was the half-sister of Ms. Mitchell's leading character, Scarlett O'Hara, and the daughter of Ms. Mitchell's character Mammy.   

Court Halts Book Based on 'Gone With the Wind'

More complaints about troubled Hale House, children's center, focus on care given to babies whose mothers are in prison; mothers complain that they do not see their children as often as was promised, and, in some cases, children are not returned to mothers quickly after release from prison; Hale House officials respond that their aim is to reunite mothers and babies; additionally, it appears Hale House cares for more children than permitted by their license; photo (M)

Child Care at Hale House Is Criticized by Advocates

New Jersey Devils fails to close out their NHL Eastern Conference quarterfinal series against Carolina Hurricanes, losing Game 5 by 3-2; photos (M)

Hurricanes Refuse to Back Down to the Devils

Minivan traveling at high speed crashes into New York City Transit bus in Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, killing five occupants of minivan; witnesses say van emitted hissing noise, possibly indicating faulty brakes; photo (M)

Five Are Killed as Van Crashes Into Bus

Canada, world's largest exporter of office printing paper, benefits from ballooning of paper sales; exports more than doubled in last 15 years; Canadian paper companies like Domtar Inc and Tembec provide another example of old economy's bouncing back with vengeance, as computer age defies predictions and, instead, causes tremendous boom in pages printed; photos; chart (M)

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS: That Secure Feeling Of a Printed Document; The Paperless Office? Not by a Long Shot

Australian aviation officials will allow Ansett Australia to keep its operating license after airline's executives promise broad improvements to its maintenance, management and work practices (M)

Australia Lets Ansett Airline Keep License, If It Shapes Up

Eugene R McGrath, chairman of Consolidated Edison, predicts prices for power this summer will be same as last summer, although individual bills will rise if people consume more power; photo (M)

Con Edison Says Electricity Prices Won't Rise This Summer

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing of Singapore reports loss of $30.8 million in first quarter of 2001; sales fall 13 percent, to $206.7 million (S)

April 21, 2001

Headlines from April 21, 2001

This Mark* Isn't Going, Going, Gone

Police Museum Has Its Staff Overhauled

TINY BITS OF SOOT TIED TO ILLNESSES

Vick Will Still Be No. 1, but Not by the Chargers

Bush's Fans and Foes Offer Same Refrain: Told You So

Billboard 200

Now 6

Until The End Of Time

The Life

Hotshot

Live In New York City

Historical Context for April 21, 2001