August 26, 2002

Supershoppers do not buy back-to-school clothes just before school opens, preferring to pay 60 percent to 80 percent less at end of preceding winter; have mastered retailers' merchandise and sales year; National Retail Federation offers general guidelines on when things go on sale; photos (M)

Ford Motor Co asks California Supreme Court to review jury award of $290 million to family of Juan Romo, whose parents and brother were killed in rollover of Ford Bronco in 1993; questions raised by case, in which Ford accuses trial judge and jury of being anything but conscientious in deliberations, are part of debate over whether jurors, rather than judges or regulators, should be entrusted with punishing corporate wrongdoing; few people seriously question role of juries in setting compensation awards, which aim to repay plaintiffs for their losses; role of juries in awarding punitive damages is more controversial; purpose of such damages is similar to that of criminal fines, but are imposed without involvement of prosecutors and procedural protections of criminal law and are windfall to plaintiffs; photos (M)

Dennis Mehiel, Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, acknowledges that he fathered two children by two women while still legally married to his first wife; revelation prompts exchange of accusations between gubernatorial campaigns of H Carl McCall, whose campaign is merged with Mehiel's, and Andrew M Cuomo over who leaked story to news media; photo (M)

Giant, prolific species of carp, originally imported by catfish farmers in Mississippi and Arkansas two decades ago to control detritus and unwanted plant and animal life in man-made ponds, have escaped in floods into Mississippi River, showing as far north as Iowa and Illinois; imported from China, Russia and Vietnam, they are banned from fish farms in several states; are largely uneaten, except by some Asian immigrants for whom they are dietary staple; recent arrival of more aggressive black carp has forced Fish and Wildlife Service to propose designating it injurious species, even though none have yet escaped pond for wild; chart; photos; map (M)

Thomas George On Pro Football column discusses challenge that Tampa Bay Buccaneers new coach Jon Gruden faces coming into season of high expectations; photo (M)

Most of Internet companies making healthy profits appeal to baser interests or use questionable business practices, while even giants like AOL Time Warner struggle to find online content and services that mainstream consumers will be willing to pay for; Internet businesses that thrive most readily are kinds that do well in every medium, including those selling titillation and cheating their customers; photo (M)

Frida, movie about Mexican painter Frida Kahlo directed by Julie Taymor and starring Salma Hayek, will open Venice International Film Festival; second annual New York City Festival of Dance will open with free performances in Bryant Park; lineup for Tanglewood Festival's closing weekend jazz festival includes Cuban trumpeter Arturo Sandoval and Dave Brubeck quartet; annual Evening Stars free outdoor music and dance festival, which used to be held at World Trade Center Plaza, is moving to Battery Park under auspices of Downtown NYC River to River Festival; photos (M)

Felipe Alou, former manager of Montreal Expos, and Buck Showalter, former manager of New York Yankees, recall effect of untimely 1994 strike, which came while two teams led their leagues; photos (M)

Mayor Michael R Bloomberg's plan to put amendment on New York City ballot this November to eliminate partisan municipal elections is strongly opposed by rank-and-file party loyalists; they believe that parties play fundamental role in shaping political debate and that Bloomberg is rushing vote, leaving too little time for study and debate; Bloomberg argues that party influence limits participation in elections and that political ideology has no place in municipal government; several political scientists suggest that change would not necessarily hurt parties or their people (M)

Pentagon officials and former US government experts say Pres Saddam Hussein of Iraq will try to compensate for his armed forces' glaring weaknesses by raising specter of urban warfare if Bush administration moves to launch military strike; say Iraq has already started military preparations in anticipation of military strike; forces have been digging defensive positions for military equipment around Baghdad; have been moving air defense units around country and dispersing army units in field to make them less vulnerable to surprise attack; current and fomer US military officers express confidence US will ultimately triumph, but differ about how difficult military campaign involving urban warfare would be; photos; map (M)

Digital videodiscs and their players, which five years ago were not much more than toys of gadget-lust sufferers, have taken full wing as true pop-culture phenomenon; sales have surpassed for first time those of videocassettes, and indutry projects Americans will spend nearly $3 billion more on DVD's in 2002 than in 2001, increase of 50 percent; American retailers have shown first major signs of making permanent shift to DVD's from videocassettes, much as they did to CD's from vinyl albums decade; explosive growth attributed to entry of Chinese manufacturers into DVD player market in last two years, forcing Japanese to slash prices; DVD players are in only a third of American households, compared with saturation of more than 90 percent for videocassette players; graphs; photo (M)

Jon Pareles reviews Celebrate Brooklyn! summer tour at Prospect Park Band Shell featuring Cake, Flaming Lips, De La Soul, Modest Mouse and Kinky; photos (M)