August 24, 2002

Travers Stakes draws thousands of fans to Saratoga (NY) inns like Brunswick Bed & Breakfast, where year after year same families come to watch horse races, relive old memories and share in common passion; photos (M)

Some insurance companies are refusing to insure 15-passenger vans commonly used by schools, churches, airport shuttle services and day care centers, and growing number of colleges and churches are prohibiting or severely limiting use of vehicles; National Highway Traffic Safety Administration officials say that vans are not inherently dangerous, and they attribute many of problems to inexperienced drivers piloting fully loaded vehicles; Ford Motor Co, which accounts for about 80 percent of 21,000 such vans sold annually, acknowledges that its E350, Econline and Club Wagon models can be tricky to handle because of their high centers of gravity, but insists they are very safe if not overloaded; photo (M)

Texas Rangers defeat New York Yankees, 6-2; photos (M)

New York Atty Gen Eliot Spitzer escalates investigation into Salomon Smith Barney and Jack Grubman, its former star telecommunications analyst, issuing subpoena to AT&T for documents related to Salomon's selection in April 2000 as underwriter for one of AT&T's largest stock offerings; photos (M)

Russia's elected officials and political appointees are killed with alarming regularity, not because of their politics usually, but rather because they either thwarted organized crime or were in league with it; that crime figures do hesitate to kill politicians and that remarkably few political assassins are ever caught are testaments to frailty of Russia's justice system and depth of official corruption; photo (M)

Chinese scientists have learned how to cause mussels to make larger, rounder and whiter freshwater pearls; jewelry designers offer them in place of higher-cost saltwater oyster pearls; freshwater pearls are seen as more casual, appealing to more youthful clientele; photos (M)

Prosecutors seeking leads in gruesome killing of newborn baby in Storm Lake, Iowa, subpoena names of hundreds of women who had pregnancy tests at local Planned Parethood clinic and who might have been due to given birth shortly before baby's death late May, but organization is fighting subpoenas in court; organization argues that young women must have confidential source of help to turn in difficult situations; other clinics and local hospital provided informations; Planned Parenthood has support of American Civil Liberties Union and American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (M)

New York City's cruise ship business, after being dealt blow last Sept 11, has rebounded; industry officials say number of passengers traveling through port this year is expected to edge above number who sailed in or out of New York in 2000, and they are predicting that next year will be even stronger; some passengers comment; photos (M)

Washington Mystics forward Chamique Holdsclaw uses lessons learned in childhood to lead team through WNBA playoffs; Mystics lead Eastern Conference finals series, 1-0, against New York Liberty; photos (M)

Elizabeth S Grubman, Manhattan publicist, pleads guilty to misdemeanor and felony charges related to crash that injured 16 people outside Southampton nightclub year ago; plea will most likely result in her spending two months in Suffolk County jail and performing 280 hours of community sevice; sentencing is scheduled for Oct 23 (M)/

Ferry Point golf course project, rundown former landfill beneath Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, has been stalled for last nine months, with developer Ferry Point Partners and state officials haggling over whether tons of additional debris can be brought in as landfill to complete course; opponents have said that developer has not adequately studied contaminants in park, and that construction could push flammable methane in landfill out ot edges of site, closer to homes; are fighting plan to bring in 550,000 cubic yards of demolition debris to be used as landfill to complete construction; New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is expected to decide within next few months on additional landfill; map; photo (M)

New York State Democratic gubernatorial candidates Andrew M Cuomo and H Carl McCall says Gov George E Pataki cobbled together this year's budget with one-shot revenues and accounting tricks to avoid making cuts in election year; also accuse Pataki of squandering biggest surplus in state history by raising spending since 1998 instead of paying off debts; Pataki counters that New York, unlike most other states, avoided severe service cuts and tax increases this year because he built up savings over his two terms; aids say that current budget is still on sound footing, even taking into account weaker-than-expected revenues in first third of fiscal year (M)