October 30, 2002

Amanda Hesser comments on world pelmeni-eating contest at Atlantic Oceana nightclub in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; pelmeni are Russian meat dumplings; photos (L)

Analysis: latest corruption charges brought against several local officials add to New Jersey's reputation, deserved or not, as place where graft remains part of life; in last two years, five mayors or former mayors have been prosecuted, as well as dozen municipal officials and local party leaders; Essex County Executive James W Treffinger was just indicted on charges of extortion and obstruction of justice, and former Hudson County Executive Robert C Janiszewski pleaded guilty three weeks ago to extortion and tax evasion; one theory is that New Jersey has too many layers of government, plethora of lucrative contracts, and governmental system without much incentive for anyone to challenge system; another theory is that old political culture, ward-heeler ways of Newark and Jersey City and Camden, is slow to dissipate; both Treffinger and Janiszewski came in as reformers but ended up new players holding old scripts; temptations of office, in many cases legal but unseemly, have cost many other New Jersey politicians their careers, including Sen Robert G Torricelli and Acting Gov Donald T DiFrancesco (M)

300-mile-long, privately financed oil pipeline in Ecuador is 70 percent complete, and even most die-hard opponents acknowledge that stopping construction is next to impossible; announcement that Dusseldorf bank Westdeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale will continue financing project, despite international campaign pressuring it to withdraw $900 million loan, appears to remove last hurdle for builders of $1.3 billion pipeline; questions are being raised by oil analysts and economists over just how much economic impact it will have in Ecuador; government and consortium--made up of giants like Repsol YPF of Spain and Occidental Petroleum, and led by EnCana of Canada--have scaled back original projections of 850,000 barrels of oil per day that would have gross domestic product grow as much as 2.3 percent per year over next 20 years; builders say pipeline will transport only 220,000 barrels per day, half of capacity, and nearly three-quarters of that crude is oil that is already in production and currently flowing through 30-year-old Trans-Ecuadorian tube known as SOTE, which runs nearly parallel to new pipe; map; photo (M)

R W Apple Jr, in last of three articles on food of Scandinavia, focuses on herring, a staple in diets of northern Europeans--not only Scandinavians, but also Dutch, British, Germans and others; describes joys of eating herring in Sweden; notes his encounter with Capt Bo Christianson, skipper of 115-foot herring trawler; photos (L)

Bruce Weber reviews musical Debbie Does Dallas, adapted and directed by Erica Schmidt, composed by Andrew Sherman and conceived by Susan L Schwartz; photos (M)