House passes Medicare reform bill, 216 to 215, that would help elderly buy prescription drugs and Senate, in 76 to 21 vote, passes another version; congressional leaders rejoice over passage, but say it may take weeks, perhaps months, to iron out compromise complicated by extremely close House vote; Pres Bush praises action on one of his top domestic priorities; provisions of two bills compared; photo (M)

House and Senate Face Big Job To Settle Medicare Differences

New York City Council passes $43.7 billion budget by vote of 45 to 3 with three members absent; Mayor Michael R Bloomberg will sign number of bills to put budget into place, increasing income, sales and property taxes but maintaining many services (M)

City Council Passes Budget By Big Margin

Lafayette High School (NYC) principal Alan J Siegel is working to restore school to its former glory as one of Brooklyn's best neighborhood schools and baseball powerhouse that graduated Sandy Koufax and John Franco, but school's recent violence outbreaks, lagging academic performances and graduation rates, and city's inability to fund necessary programs are putting strain on his efforts; photos (M)

No Horror High, but a Struggle; Lafayette in Brooklyn Aspires to Its Former Glory

New Jersey politicians are divided over state poet laureate Amiri Baraka, whose poem on Sept 11 terrorist attacks outraged Jews and brought some blacks to his defense; are looking to either oust Baraka from post or protect his position on grounds of freedom of speech (M)

Politics and Poetry Are Volatile Mix in New Jersey

Analysis of House and Senate passage of biggest expansion and overhaul of Medicare since it was created by Democratic majorities during Johnson Administration; notes Republicans, led by Pres Bush, pushed measures through Congress and see approval as transformational moment when party embraces cause it once resisted; holds victory, which angered many conservatives, is fragile and not without risk (M)

G.O.P. Steals Thunder

Laura Diaz and Kris Lindstrom take first-round lead at ShopRite LPGA Classic; photos (M)

Step Ahead Of Surgery And Tied For Lead

Sales of kosher foods have skyrocketed in recent years because of consumer perception that they are healthier than nonkosher counterparts; national chains such as Albertson's, Pathmark and Shoprite, along with retailers Wal-Mart and Kmart, are aggressively pushing kosher sales in Middle America, where Jewish population is small; sales of kosher foods climbed to $165 billion in 2002, compared to $45 billion in 1996; photo (M)

Forget Rye Bread, You Don't Have to Be Jewish to Eat Kosher

Social unrest is growing in Brazil in face of austere monetary and fiscal measures undertaken by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; increase in public spending anticipated by many has not occurred; Government instead has taken tough anti-inflation stance by raising overnight interest rate to 26.5 percent and committing to creating budget surplus equaling 4.25 percent of GDP; measures thus far appear to be restraining price increases but pressures are building to stimulate growth and job creation; photo (M)

Inflation Eases, But Other Worries Build Up in Brazil

New York City police and fire fighters quarrel when they find William Quinga stuck in Luigi Italian Restaurant chimney, which foiled his attempted robbery of the restaurant; police consider Jackson Heights (NYC) site crime scene, while fire fighters seek to rescue Quinga; photo (M)

Crime Scene Or Rescue? Man in Chimney Causes a Clash

 Medicare Legislation Goes To Conference Committee  Congressional leaders rejoiced over the passage of legislation to help elderly people purchase prescription drugs, but they said they would need weeks and perhaps months to work out differences between the two versions approved by the Senate and the House.     The task of achieving a compromise was complicated by an extremely close vote in the House, where conservatives said they feared that Medicare costs might explode with the addition of new drug benefits. [Page A1.]

BUSINESS DIGEST

Atlantic Coast Conference's expansion plan, and Big East Conference's desperate attempt to hold onto its member colleges, revolve around financial issues, namely possibly declining attendance and losing lucrative television and football revenue (M)

Dollars Are Driving A.C.C. Dispute

 Charges in Terror Inquiry  Officials investigating American ties to a Kashmir terror group charged eight men with planning attacks against India.   PAGE A7

INSIDE

Defense Department, despite formal protest by Syria and over objections of State Department and American military officers in Iraq, reportedly delays release of five Syrian border guards wounded in US attack on June 18 on Iraqi convoy near Syrian border; Bush administration officials attribute delay to civilians at Pentagon who want guards to be questioned more extensively; Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita declines to say how Syrians were wounded or whether American troops crossed into Syrian territory during attack (M)

Pentagon Delays Releasing 5 Syrians Hurt in U.S. Raid

NBC officials have taken series of steps to underscore seriousness of company's bid for Vivendi Universal's entertainment assets; will accept as part of deal Vivendi's film studio, which had previously been thought undesirable to parent General Electric; GE chairman Jeffrey Immelt signals willingess to meet with Vivendi chairman Jean-Rene Fourtou; NBC has thus far offered no cash but is proposing creation of a joint venture with itself as majority partner (M)

NBC Is Said To Be Pressing Vivendi Offer

Michelle Wie, 13-year-old winner of Women's Amateur Public Links Championship and youngest golfer to win adult national title, shoots even-par 71, six strokes off lead, in ShopRite LPGA Classic in New Jersey; Wie, perhaps world's most-talked-about female golfer, says she wants to win Masters, although a woman has never played in that tournament; photos (M)

At 13, She Already Has Tiger in Her Sights

Article on New York City's Caribbean-born labor force; analysis of new data from 2000 census shows that women make up 57 percent of city's Caribbean population; notes that there is much higher rate of female labor force participation among West Indians than in city at large and that West Indian women are more likely to be working full time; data show that while Caribbean New Yorkers have lower median earnings than African immigrants and African-Americans, they are less likely to be living in poverty and are more likely to own single-family houses whose average value is relatively high; story of Beulah Reid, 62, former Trinidad factory worker who owns home in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, detailed; photo (M)

In Brooklyn Woman's Path, A Story of Caribbean Striving

Dan Barry About New York column discusses last day of veteran elementary school teacher Penny Pritchard, who at age 55 is retiring after 35 years in Cobble Hill (NYC) school system (M)

About New York; First Summer Of the Rest Of Her Life

The board investigating the loss of the space shuttle Columbia gave NASA its most difficult recommendation yet: to develop a way to repair the shuttle while it is in space.     NASA wants to resume flights by early next year, and perhaps as soon as December, and it was not immediately clear how this recommendation would fit with that schedule. As with previous recommendations, the panel said what it wanted but not how to do the job.   

Plan Urged to Repair Shuttle During Flight

Jack Curry Baseball Analysis discusses New York Mets second baseman Roberto Alomar, whose struggles this season are magnified in game against New York Yankees and second baseman Alfonso Soriano; photo (M)

Baseball Analysis; Now It Is Alomar Who Should Be Looking Up to Soriano

Bush administration plan to rewrite Federal automative fuel efficiency standards has revived debate over relationship of vehicle weight to highway fatalities; Dr John Graham of Office of Management and Budget is chairing Federal group reviewing corporate average fuel economy regulations; has argued for years that fuel regulations have cost thousands of lives because of underweight cars; has recently indicated that reducing disparity in vehicle weight by downsizing heaviest light trucks would be a positive step (M)

Pitting Fuel Economy Against Safety

New York Yankees defeat New York Mets, 6-4; photos (M)

Different Cast, Same Ending as Yankees Handle Mets

Israeli and Palestinian leaders reportedly reach agreement on withdrawal of Israeli forces from areas of Gaza Strip and return of security control to Palestinian officers; withdrawal, which could begin on June 29, would be first joint step forward under road map peace plan; Palestinian security officials agree to seek capture of what Israel calls 'ticking bombs'--attackers preparing to strike; Israel promises to permit Palestinians to travel more freely, ease military choke points on main north-south road and to draw back forces in northern Gaza (M)

ACCORD REPORTED ON ISRAELI PULLOUT FROM GAZA AREAS

Shareholder advocates fear that increasingly detailed contracts for chief executives are undermining boards of directors' independence and ability to fulfill corporate governance obligations; Cendant Corp chairman Henry Silverman has contract defining his pay formula through 2012, despite fact that compensation committee is required to review chief executive officer's pay annually; early termination of Silverman's contract would lead to payment in excess of $140 million; photo; chart (M)

Lucrative Deals For Executives Tie the Hands That Pay Them

Correction of June 8 article about Internal Revenue Service decision to reinstate tax-exempt status of charitable group that helped pay for lectures by Newt Gingrich; organization was headed by Howard H Callaway, not Jr

Corrections

Federal do-not-call registry web site is overwhelmed by consumers wishing to be protected from phone-based marketing soliciations; Federal Trade Commission reports that 735,000 consumer telephone numbers were registered on-line and via toll-free phone service on first day of availability; is adding capacity to handle heavy demand (M)

National Do-Not-Call Registry Overwhelmed by Eager Public

Joan Lowery Nixon was an American journalist and author, specializing in historical fiction and mysteries for children and young adults.

June 28, 2003

Headlines from June 28, 2003

House and Senate Face Big Job To Settle Medicare Differences

City Council Passes Budget By Big Margin

No Horror High, but a Struggle; Lafayette in Brooklyn Aspires to Its Former Glory

Politics and Poetry Are Volatile Mix in New Jersey

G.O.P. Steals Thunder

Billboard 200

Dance With My Father

St. Anger

Hail To The Thief

Bare

Honkytonkville

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for June 28, 2003