New York City will seek to merge probation and corrections departments, move which requires approval of State Legislature and City Council; profile of Probation Comr Martin F Horn, who will take over Department of Correction (M)

Commissioner Of Probation Will Run Jails

 Holiday Shopping Season Called Worst Since 1970  After examining sales figures from the last frenzied hours before Christmas, experts declared this year's holiday season the worst in many years. Michael P. Niemira, a retail analyst for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, said the growth in retail sales for November and December, at 1.5 percent, was the lowest it had been since at least 1970.     Worry about the economy and about an impending war with Iraq and new terrorist attacks kept many shoppers from buying, even with deep discounting. [Page A1.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Floyd Norris weighs outlook for accounting industry, observing that 2002 was year of 'capital punishment,' in both senses of term, for accounting industry; questions whether prosecutorial vigor will lead to real reforms in oligopolistic industry; holds what is needed is someone to audit the auditors regularly, to review way they conduct audits and to essentially reaudit some companies; Joel Seligman, dean of law at Washington University in St Louis, asserts that no change in securities law ever had 'a slower or more inept start'; photo (M)

Will Auditing Reform Die Before It Begins?

Iraq said it would give the United Nations a list of hundreds of scientists who have worked on nuclear, chemical, biological and missile programs. Page A12.

Iraq to Identify Scientists

Albany, NY, is blanketed with 21 inches of snow and winter suddenly looks more familiar to residents used to huge drifts and lots of shoveling; photo (M)

With 21 Inches of Snow Piled Up, Winter Looks Like Its Old Self in Albany

Reporters's Notebook description of nuclear installation called Tuwaitha, where Saddam Hussein hoped to build Iraq's, and Arab world's, first nuclear weapon; Iraqis admit their scientists came close to that goal in months before Persian Gulf war in 1991; new teams of United Nations inspectors have returned for first time in four years to inspect Tuwaitha and more than 150 other formerly secret sites, of 900 identified during previous round of weapons inspections from 1991 to 1998; as measure of its importance, Tuwaitha was one of first Iraqi targets bombed by American aircraft in gulf war; at Tuwaitha and score of other sites now being pored over by UN weaopns inspectors lies vast scrapyard of rusting missile casings, fermenters, pressure vessels, pipes, valves, fuel tanks and control panels; billions of dollars of equipment was destroyed in American and British bombing raids, or blasted into futility by previous generation of weapons inspectors; Hussein's ultimate goal was to lead Arab armies to obliterate state of Israel; his vaulting ambition seems to have been frustrated partly by his refusal to accept limits of his power; photos; map (L)

Iraq's Thwarted Ambitions Litter an Old Nuclear Plant

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column suggests future candidates for Baseball Hall of Fame, including sports agents, judges instrumental in deciding important cases and even concessions vendors; photos (M)

Sports of The Times; In the Periphery But Deserving Of Recognition

Miami University quarterback Ken Dorsey, whose mother Maggie moved to mobile home campground near campus during his sophomore year, has led team to 24-0 record since his mother's relocation in Florida; photos (L)

One Long Road Trip

New York Jets prepare to face Green Bay Packers and quarterback Brett Favre, who at 33-years-old says he is playing better than ever; photos (M)

Fearless Favre Still at the Top of His Game

New York Giants prepare to face Philadelphia Eagles; photos (M)

To Philadelphia, Eagles' Cup Is Still Half Empty

Article on Tom and Gloria Vence and other residents of California's Napa Valley who make their own wines at home; photos (M)

House Wines: Taking the Name Literally

Lockheed Martin Corp appears to have won $3.5 billion contract to build 48 advanced fighter planes for Polish Air Force, largest arms deal ever in Eastern Europe; awards will solidify Lockheed Martin's foothold in Eastern Europe as those nations step up efforts to modernize their weapons systems; photos (L)

Poland to Buy Lockheed Jets, Rival Reports

Prices of generic drugs are rising almost twice as rapidly as prices of brand-name drugs, even as many insurers and Bush administration press Americans to switch in name of saving money; trend is expected to continue over next few years as some enormously popular brand-name drugs lose their patent protection and drug makers introduce generic versions at high initial prices; prices of generic drugs are rising faster because makers of generics typically charge higher prices when first generic versions of expensive medicines are offered; also, generic-drug industry is consolidating, leaving fewer companies to compete on prices of older generic drugs; wholesalers, drug plan managers and pharmacies all find they can make higher profits on generic drugs than on brand-name medicines and still offer prices that are typically well below those of brand-name drugs; trend concerns those who saw generic drugs as way to hold down medical costs for Americans without depriving them of necessary treatments; rapid price increases come on heels of Pres Bush's proposal to help generic drugs reach market faster, plan vehemently opposed by makers of brand-name drugs; photo; graph (L)

As Patents on Popular Drugs End, Costs for Generics Show a Surge

 Sex Information Revised  The Web sites of some federal agencies have revised statements on issues like abortion and contraception, leading critics to suggest that the Bush administration changed them for political reasons.   PAGE A17

INSIDE

This year's holiday season is worst in many years for retail stores; retail analyst Michael P Niemira says growth in United States retail sales for months of Nov and Dec, at 1.5 percent, is lowest since at least 1970; spokesman for National Retail Federation, known for its upbeat forecasts, lowers its estimate of percent growth for Dec to 3.5 percent; Wal-Mart Stores, nation's biggest retailer, lowers its estimates of Dec sales growth to 2 percent to 3 percent, rather than 3 percent to 5 percent it was forecasting earlier; last year, Wal-Mart posed Dec sales growth of 8.1 percent; idea that even Wal-Mart is struggling is taken as sign of wider problems; worry about economy and about impending war with Iraq and new terrorist attacks have kept many shoppers from buying, even with deep discounts on many items; percentage of consumers giving gift certificates as presents this holiday season soared from previous years, to 54 percent; photos; graph (M)

GROWTH IN SALES FOR HOLIDAY PERIOD IS LOWEST IN YEARS

Article on large, fancy auto and SUV wheels, whose popularity has exploded; sales of custom rims have climbed to $3 billion a year from $1.2 billion in 1991; photos (M)

In Some Circles, A Man Is Judged By the Cut of His Wheel

Tom Langeland, Sacramento-based entrepreneur, intends to modify electronic freeway billboard advertisements by remote control to reflect drivers' tastes; has erected 10 billboards that can display both video and text and can be programmed with changing messages and images; billboards include fledgling technology that is designed to identify radio frequencies of passers-by, use that information to determine drivers' demographic data and adjust advertising accordingly (M)

New Billboards Sample Radios As Cars Go By, Then Adjust

Only about two miles separate 565 Park Avenue from 1565 Park Avenue, but in reality they are world apart; 565 is elegant cooperative on tony stretch in Manhattan, home to wealthy and successful, while 1565 is public housing where poorest residents pay as little as $137 in rent; photos (M)

A Digit and a World Apart; At 565 Park, Living the Dream; at 1565, Still Dreaming

Adrien Brody, above, stars in Roman Polanski's ''Pianist.'' Based on the memoirs of Wladyslaw Szpilman, an artist who survived the Nazi occupation, the film evokes the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto through the story of one man.    A. O. Scott's review, Page 21.  

Polanski Goes Home

Note to readers about increase in newsstand price of The Times on weekdays and Saturdays to $1 in greater New York region, starting on Dec 30

Editors' Note; To Our Readers

It's rare to find a picture as exuberant, as shallow — and as exuberant about its shallowness — as Rob Marshall's film adaptation of the Broadway musical &quot;Chicago.&quot; The movie, set in Prohibition-era Chicago following the murder trial of the manipulative kewpie doll Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger), is tough, brittle fun — a mouthful. It's the raw expenditure of energy and the canniness of the staging that should pull audiences in and keep them rooted. This of course is undoubtedly the best way to present a movie take on Bob Fosse's digressive musical version of &quot;Chicago.&quot; This new picture maintains the relentless spirit of Fosse's blunt suavity and the breathless, black-silk enthusiasm of Kander and Ebb's songs. Catherine Zeta-Jones, in Louise Brooks wig and ruthless smile, is Roxie's fellow felon and jailbird, Velma. And as the big-ticket defense lawyer and jury barometer Billy Flynn, Richard Gere has never been better, turning spoiled princeling arrogance into a witty revel. — Elvis Mitchell

'Chicago,' Bare Legs And All, Makes It To Film

Daniel arap Moi's decision to step down after 24 years as president of Kenya is seen across Africa as a moment of hope, a sign that a continent too well known for its authoritarian rulers and for the corruption that often flourishes can turn back toward democracy.    The man who expects to become president in elections today, Mwai Kibaki, 71, has made a long journey from a mud hut to a grand home in Nairobi. He emphasizes his decision to break with Mr. Moi a decade ago, and claims credit for helping to build an opposition movement.   

In Kenyan Elections, Break With the Past

Article on visit to Natchitoches, La, for sampling of deep-fried meat pies made by James Lasyone at Lasyone's Meat Pie Kitchen and Restaurant and trip along Cane River Trail; photos (M)

Deep South, Deep Fried

Sen Charles E Schumer, four years into his first term, has already begun running for re-election; is most popular elected Democrat in New York; people close to him say he is moving aggressively to prepare for any potential challenges, particularly from two titans of Republican politics--Rudolph W Giuliani and George E Pataki; he has visited every one of state's 62 counties in last year, as he did in his first three years in office; his advisers say he plans to do same next year; he has stepped up fund-raising pace, hoping to add $8 million to $12 million he has raked in over last four years; his affinity for publicity is well known; he has continued practice he established during his years in House of Representatives, assembling New York's press corps every Sunday, often to talk about small-bore issues, in hope of getting headlines on what is traditionally slow news day; photo (M)

Good Polls and Lots of Cash, But Still No Rest for Schumer

Andrew J Whittaker Jr of Hurricane, W Va, wins $314.9 million Christmas Day Powerball prize, largest undivided lottery jackpot in history; opts for lump-sum payout of $170.5 million instead of 30 yearly payments; after taxes he will clear $113.4 million; he is already millionaire and owner of three local businesses; says he will tithe, giving 10 percent of pre-tax amount to three churches, for total of $17 million; bought his winning ticket at gas station near his office; photo (M)

After Winning $315 Million, Man Vows to Spread Wealth

George Roy Hill was an American actor and film director.

George Roy Hill, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1921)

George_Roy_Hill

The Grozny truck bombing occurred on 27 December 2002, when three Chechen suicide bombers ran vehicles into the heavily guarded republic's government headquarters in the regional capital Grozny.

Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the pro-Moscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia.

December 27, 2002

Headlines from December 27, 2002

Commissioner Of Probation Will Run Jails

BUSINESS DIGEST

Will Auditing Reform Die Before It Begins?

Iraq to Identify Scientists

With 21 Inches of Snow Piled Up, Winter Looks Like Its Old Self in Albany

Billboard 200

Up!

Home

I Care 4 U

Tim McGraw And The Dancehall Doctors

8 Mile

Notable Deaths

Historical Events

Historical Context for December 27, 2002