April 29, 2001

Flock of new vehicles combining features of cars and sport utility vehicles is headed for market (M)

Felicia Lee Coping column on Greenwich Village resident Pamela Gordon, who has failed in effort to file suit for pain and suffering against veterinarian after her 19-year-old cat died; notes New York Assemblyman Patrick Manning has proposed bill that would afix liability of up to $5,000 in non-economic damages if person kills or injures pet through unlawful and intentional reckless or negligent act; drawing (M)

New Jersey Devils defeat Toronto Maple Leafs, 6-5, to tie playoff series, 1-1; photo (M)g

Pres Bush, who assumed office vowing to change tone of Washington and policies of his predecessors, has been forced to change in his first 100 days, by moderating his own tone and by accepting compromises on some of his top priorities; is discovering that presidents must pick fights with care; changes in his approach are subtle, and aides insist he is governing nation with same principles and approach used in governing Texas; detractors say he has proven far more conservative in White House than he appeared as candidate, but admit he is far more confident leader than when he took office; photos (M)

Tenants of apartments built under Mitchell-Lama program, the bulk of them in New York City and its immediate suburbs, are fighting to retain program's rent ceilings as developers seek to remove buildings from program, as state law currently allows after 20 years; fear rents two or three times higher than current level; want 20-year term extended or buyout provision rescinded entirely; others would extend rent stabilization to buildings withdrawn from program; developers say there would have been little incentive to building apartments in first place without buyout option; photos (M)

Death of American missionary and her baby in plane mistakenly downed by Peruvian fighter pilot raises questions about United States activities and allies in Latin America that go far beyond drug war; US, largely in name of fighting drugs, is working with nearly every army in Latin American; military officers, spies and their political cohorts are often its primary points of contact; such armies no longer run governments directly, but have mandate to preserve power of elites who still wield immense influence over civilian governments; map; photo (M)

Thousands of Internet message boards for individual companies have emerged in cyberspace in last few years, creating window on what employees feel but would never dare say publicly; some employees are anonymously expressing thoughts on message boards for particular companies on third-party Web sites, freely showing prejudices, denouncing other employees by name, sometimes accusing them of incompetence or misconduct or recounting salacious rumors about their private lives; situation poses enormous challenges in new electronic communities, since while it can be useful for managers to find out what employees really think of them, it can be devastating when hurtful and hateful gossip is laid out for all to see (M)

Bob Knoll reviews extensively redesigned Toyota Rav4, small sports utility vehicle; photo (M)

Fred Dana Marsh's terra cotta murals, installed in McAlpin Hotel in 1912 and removed in 1990's, are mounted permanently in Broadway-Nassau subway station; photos (S)

Article in series A Year at Speed focuses on Nascar racing teams owned by Robert Yates; cites key roles of drivers, pit crews, owners and others; photos (M)

Pediatricians say increasing numbers of babies are not lifting heads, rolling over or crawling at six to eight months, when they normally should, and are going directly from sitting to toddling; developmental experts say entirely benign phenomenon is unexpected and unintended consequence of public health campaign to teach parents to put babies on backs to prevent sudden infant death syndrome; photos (M)

Ann Powers reviews Survivor, latest album from Destiny's Child, girls' group that embodies new feminism, helping women working out differences between good and bad, liberation and entrapment, love and dependency; photos (M)