November 25, 2001

BERENHOLTZ-Harry. On November 22. Beloved husband of Edna. Devoted father of Gary and Lorraine, and loving uncle. He had a zest for life for over 94 years. He will always be in our hearts. Services today 1 PM at New Montefiore Cemetery, Pinelawn, NY.

Pres Bush will try again to force drugstores to give discounts on medicine sold to elderly people, even though federal court has ruled he lacks authority for a such program; administration will formally propose new plan to endorse and regulate drug discount cards issued to Medicare beneficiaries; Federal District Court Judge Paul L Friedman blocked Bush program on Sept 6; said federal officials apparently violated 1946 law by failing to provide proper notice and opportunity for public comment; Thomas A Scully, administrator for federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, says authority for program is section of Medicare law that requires government to establish 'advisory service' to educate beneficiaries about Medicare, Medicaid and other health insurance programs; adds he is confident Friedman will approve new initiative because administration will seek public comment on it (M)

Sighting of wolf pack in nature preserve along Germany's border with Poland gives new impetus to effort of Society for the Protection of Wolves, founded in Germany in 1991 partly to create conditions to resettle animals, which were eradicated from German soil 140 years earlier; pack may have migrated from northwestern Poland or Carpathian Mountains; society's president Peter Blanche comments (M)

New York City Parks Comr Henry J Stern comments on city's plans to design and rebuild Canal Street Park, created in 1870 by prominent architects and horticulturalists, but which was illegally paved over in 1920's by Robert Moses, who was involved in constructing West Side Highway; photo (S)

Ghullan Muhammad, warlord of collection of villages in Maidan Shahr, Afghanistan, surrenders to, joins or makes deal with North Alliance; just which it is still is not clear after one day of frantic negotiations and marshaling of forces; hard-core Taliban fighters and unknown number of Islamic zealots slip away during negotiations; they could be headed for Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, or they could be disappearing into mountains, perhaps to fight another day as guerrillas; possibility that Taliban fighters will be allowed to fade into hills, with potential to re-emerge and destabilize Afghanistan, is worrying to Western diplomats trying to reconstruct country; photo (M)