Thomas E Blanton Jr, now 62, is convicted in Birmingham of murdering four black girls in 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church, and is sentenced to four terms of life in prison; photos; former Ku Klux Klansman is second of four original suspects convicted; both sides seem stunned by speed of verdict, after two hours of deliberation; defense plans appeal; federal prosecutor Doug Jones is jubilant; surviving relatives comment (M)

Ex-Klansman Is Found Guilty In '63 Bombing

Matthew Purdy Our Towns column on spurt in white-collar workers seeking benefits at Elizabeth, NJ, state unemployment insurance office; notes no massive layoffs have rocked Union County, but cumulative effect of downsizings and company failures is evident (M)

Our Towns; Different Class Of Résumés In Jobless Line

New York Roman Catholic Archdiocese to close three financially failing parish elementary schools in Manhattan, Beacon, NY, and Rosendale, NY, as part of Cardinal Edward M Egan's wide effort to cut spending; will keep open three other struggling schools that showed they are on road to fiscal self-sufficiency; Hurley, NY, high school marked for closing will remain open as independent, private Catholic school; photos (M)

3 Financially Troubled Schools Will Be Closed by Archdiocese

FBI Dir Louis J Freeh says he will resign in June after eight-year tenure in which he energetically expanded bureau's reach around world but warred almost continuously with Pres Clinton, who appointed him; Freeh, who agreed to stay on through Pres Bush's transition, leaves two years short of completing ten-year term; Bush expresses surprise at announcement; speculation on possible successors (M)

DIRECTOR OF F.B.I. SAYS HE'LL RESIGN AFTER EIGHT YEARS

Ben Brantley reviews King Hedley II, play by August Wilson directed by Marion McClinton at Virginia Theater; photos (M)

The Agonized Arias Of Everyman In Poverty and Pain

Singapore's APP Finance (VII) Mauritius Ltd, unit of Asia Paper and Pulp Co, misses interest payment on $500 million in convertible notes, prompting Standard & Poor's Corp to cut its rating on notes to D, or default (S)

World Business Briefing  Asia: Singapore: Paper Concern Delinquent

New York Yankees defeat Minnesota Twins, 4-0; photo (M)

Totally in Control, Mussina Shuts Out First-Place Twins

Allied Domecq PLC says first-half profit rose 5.9 percent on sales rise of 12 percent; graph (S)

World Business Briefing  Europe: Britain: Liquor Profit Up

Duke Energy, which is accused of overcharging customers millions of dollars during California's energy crisis, secretly offers Gov Gray Davis deal that would end state investigations, lawsuits and complaints to federal authorities, in return for 'unspecified payment' but no admission of wrongdoing; Davis acknowledges talks and hopes to meet with other companies but insists none will escape substantial payment for excessive charges; photo; North Carolina-based Duke became billion-dollar investor in wholesale electricity market after state opened generating plants to outside operators in 1996; federal regulators have ordered Duke to justify or refund $20 million in disputed charges this year (M)

Power Concern Offers California a Secret Deal

New York Mets defeat Houston Astros, 7-5; photo (M)

Ventura's Slam Comes at Right Time

Anna Kisselgoff reviews American Ballet Theater's annual spring gala at Metropolitan Opera House; program includes Paul Taylor's Black Tuesday and medley of excerpts from troupe's Tchaikovsky ballets; photo (M)

The Old Soft Shoe, When New Shoes Weren't Affordable

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York said that it would close three financially failing parish elementary schools, one in Manhattan and the others in Dutchess and Ulster Counties, as part of a wide effort by Cardinal Edward M. Egan to cut spending. The decision reflects the difficult financial situation the cardinal inherited.    Article, Page B1.

Parish Schools to Close

Congressional Republicans and White House agree on $1.35 trillion in tax cuts over next 11 years, less than Pres Bush proposed but still by far largest tax reduction in last twenty years; negotiators remain deadlocked on spending plan, with senators seeking much more for domestic programs than Bush and House leaders want; Sen John Breaux, speaking for 13 other Democrats and two Republicans who hold balance of power, says he will support compromise if he is satisfied with final spending figure; Bush proclaims victory; plan calls for $1.25 trillion in tax cuts, just what Breaux sought, as well as $100 billion in cuts this year to stimulate economy; Sen Trent Lott says $1.35 trillion is not enough for all of Bush's tax cuts; photo (M)

G.O.P. LAWMAKERS AND WHITE HOUSE AGREE ON TAX CUT

EMI Group and BMG Music abandon talks to create music industry giant because of antitrust concerns; EMI chairman Eric Nicoli stresses company's prospects as stand-alone entity, citing preliminary results for year ended March 31 showing 6 percent rise in pretax profit, to 260 million pounds ($373 million), on 12 percent rise in sales to 2.7 billion pounds ($3.9 billion), beating most forecasts; graph (M)

With Merger Deal Gone Sour, EMI Must Count on Its Stars

NBC president, Bob Wright, sends letter to other executives at NBC and to executives at television studios and production companies asking for their reaction to hit HBO series The Sopranos; letter reflects increasing concern by network broadcasters that they are at disadvantage in competition with cable channels because of tighter limits on sex and violence; Wright says he wants opinions on whether NBC can learn lesson from Sopranos without expressly imitating show's sex and violence (M)

NBC Searching For Lessons In 'Sopranos'

Malaysian Trade Union Congress calls for reduction in use of foreign workers, saying global slowdown in electronics demand will soon cost country 90,000 jobs (S)

World Business Briefing  Asia: Malaysia: Jobs Warning

South Korea finds itself having to buy 10,300 tons of garlic from China to fulfill commitment it made last year to settle previous trade dispute; garlic is South Korea's second-largest cash crop after rice, and much of it is grown in politically pivotal southwest; letting in more Chinese garlic would infuriate farm lobby and damage ruling coalition's chances in elections next year; government is considering sending garlic to North Korea (M)

South Korea's New Problem: Where to Send Chinese Garlic?

Police and prosecutors probe fatal shooting by Irvington, NJ, Police Officer William Mildon of Bilal Dash Colbert, unarmed man who allegedly tried to drive away after officer stopped him as he was taking his girlfriend's two daughters to school; grand jury found no reason to take action against Mildon when he killed another driver who tried to flee after being stopped in 1997; area residents express outrage; Shaquita Boyd, 10, who was in car, and her mother, Tashonda Boyd, comment, interview; photos (M)

Outrage After Officer Kills Man Driving 2 to School

New Jersey Devils defeat Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2, to lead playoffs series, 2-1; photos (M)

Extra Effort Gives Devils the Advantage

Amanda Hesser describes culinary tour of New York City's Chinatowns with Norman Weinstein, one of city's most respected teachers of Chinese cooking; photos; map (M)

A Hungry Explorer in New York's 3 Chinatowns

Federal prosecutors make closing statement in trial of Wadih El-Hage, Mohammed Saddiq Odeh, Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-'Owahli and Khalfan Khamis Mohamed, charged in 1998 terrorist bombings of United States Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; cite their roles in conspiracy created by Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda (M)

Conspiracy By bin Laden Is Described

Dozens of investors have filed lawsuits against companies that had hot initial public offering--from Ariba to PlanetRx.com--and blue-chip securities firms like Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse First Boston and Morgan Stanley that brought them to public; suits follow broad investigation by securities regulators and prosecutors into initial-public-offering machine of late 90's, which had power to turn business idea from virtually nothing into publicly traded company with new millionaires at its helm; central accusation is that underwriters extracted promises from investment firms to buy shares of new stocks at higher prices than offering in exchange for larger allocation of initial public offerings; graphs; photos (M)

Worthy Or Wobbly?; Complaints Challenge Fairness Of Late 1990's Boom in I.P.O.'s

Profile of Lawrence Rindler, recently appointed curator of contemporary art at Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, who is now in process of seeking out the artists who will be represented in Biennial 2002; says it is impossible to know whether he will be given enough latitude at Whitney to make his aethetic imprint; his first major show at Whitney consists of computer-aided art, but he still stands by his brush-and-paint-and-hand-ground-pigment friends; photos (M)

Tastemaker, New in Town, Dives Into A Caldron

Museums

Latest evidence of shift at business schools away from dot-com mania of early 2000 and back to more traditional standbys can be found in ideas proposed by would-be enterpreneurs in business-plan competitions; photos (M)

May 2, 2001

Headlines from May 2, 2001

Ex-Klansman Is Found Guilty In '63 Bombing

Our Towns; Different Class Of Résumés In Jobless Line

3 Financially Troubled Schools Will Be Closed by Archdiocese

DIRECTOR OF F.B.I. SAYS HE'LL RESIGN AFTER EIGHT YEARS

The Agonized Arias Of Everyman In Poverty and Pain

Billboard 200

Now 6

Until The End Of Time

Hotshot

Steers & Stripes

Your Woman

Historical Context for May 2, 2001