Autopsy on Vernon Ketcher, who drove sport utility vehicle into minivan full of children, killing two teenage boys Jose Hernandez and Fermin Bravo and himself on Hempstead Turnpike (NY), reveals 82-year-old man was driving under influence with .17 percent blood alcohol level; accident also injured six people; photos (M)

L.I. Driver, 82, Was Drunk, The Police Say

George Vecsey Sports of The Times column contends that plan to build Olympic facility on Manhattan's far West Side is wasteful in light of New York City's many other construction needs; suggests Olympic and New York Jets complex be built in Queens instead; photo (M)

Sports of The Times; Queens Is Better Than Manhattan for Jets-Olympics Facility

Internet-connected computers help revive community interest in libraries; visits to libraries increased 17 percent in past six years, partly attributed to computers with Internet access; future libraries may become community centers; photo (L)

Libraries Wired, and Reborn

 Kerry Heightens Attack  Senator John Kerry began what his aides said would be an increasingly combative challenge with a television ad attacking President Bush's record on Iraq.   PAGE A22    Agreement on Adirondacks  More than a quarter million acres of privately owned wilderness scattered across the heart of the Adirondack Mountains will be forever protected from development.   PAGE B1

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Japanese customs authorities, responding to request by Fujitsu, begins blocking imports of plasma display panels made by Samsung Group affiliate in escalating battle over patent rights between world's top two makers of displays for flat-panel televisions; Fujitsu, Japan's top computer maker, claims in suit against Samsung, Korean company, that Samsung violated Fujitsu patents on basic technologies used in product of plasma panel display panels; photo (M)

At Fujitsu's Request, Japan Bars Samsung Screens

Interview with 73-year-old pianist Alfred Brendel, author of new book of poems Cursing Bagels; he comments on his current nationwide tour, his poetry and concerts with his son cellist Adrian Brendel; photo (M)

If Brendel Were a Bagel, He Would Be an Everything

Suicide bomber detonates car loaded with explosives in central Riyadh, killing at least four people, wounding 148 and shattering facade of police building; blast is felt three miles away; Saudi officials and foreign embassies have been bracing for an attack since Apr 12, when shootout in poor Riyadh neighborhood led to chain of bloody skirmishes across central part of kingdom; Saudi officials say bombing and clashes preceding it represent qualitative shift in ongoing war between security services and Islamic militants believed to be either directly connected to Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda or inspired by terrorist group; analysts say success of security services in arresting militants over past year has disrupted their ability to mount organized effort to shake ruling Saud familty, but it has also made situation more volatile as those determined to carry out suicide attacks may pick almost any random target; Deputy Secretary of State Richard L Armitage, who was in Riyadh when bombing occurred, says two governments have been sharing counterterrorism intelligence, which is why American Embassy ordered many staff members and their families to leave country; photos; map (M)

Four Killed and 148 Wounded In a Suicide Bombing in Riyadh

New York City housing renovation program HomeWorks rehabilitates tax-foreclosed houses to go back on market with higher property value, but some preservationists are contending that program destroys some of homes' historical and aesthetic charms during renovation; HomeWorks argues that goal of program is to make decrepit homes livable again and revitalize neighborhoods' economy, not to make architectural and design judgments that could slow process down and cost more money; photos (M)

Where Nostalgia Meets Bottom Line; City's Housing Renovation Program Has Some Preservationists Cringing

Chip maker Infineon Technolgies posts net profit of 39 million euros ($46 million) for second quarter ended March 31; photo (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Germany: Chip Maker Posts Profit

Chris Broussard NBA Analysis discusses first-round playoff series between New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets; Nets lead series, 2-0; contends that Knicks need to accept that team will lose to Nets and look forward to next season; photos (M)

PRO BASKETBALL: N.B.A. Analysis; Playoffs Are Past Before They Begin At Garden

Reuters Group says revenue at its main unit declined 8.4 precent in first quarter, to 556 million pounds ($991 million) (S)

World Business Briefing | Europe: Britain: Revenue Falls At Reuters

Article on Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman musical Assassins, which, after 13 years in mothballs, is about to open on Broadway; rehearsals had been scheduled to begin on September 17, 2001; Weidman comments on how show, directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Roundabout Theater Co, as well as its political and cultural context have changed; photo (M)

Ready, Aim, Sing: 'Assassins' Hits Broadway

Telstra Corp, Australia's biggest phone company, says third-quarter sales rose 1 percent, to 5 billion Australian dollars (S)

World Business Briefing | Australia: Phone Sales Miss Goal

Japan's merchandise trade surplus rises to 1.13 trillion yen ($10.4 billion) in March, gain of 18 percent from year earlier, as exports increase to China and other Asian countries (S)

World Business Briefing | Asia: Japan: Trade Surplus Rises

New York Yankees defeat Chicago White Sox, 3-1; photo (M)

Consistent Vazquez And Posada Carry Yanks

Students from upper-income families are edging out those from middle class at prestigious universities around country, from flagship state colleges to Ivy League; change is fast becoming one of biggest issues in higher education; experts trace change in student population to steep tuition increases and phenomenal efforts many wealthy parents put into preparing their children to apply to best schools; some college officials worry that their universities are reproducing social advantage instead of serving as engine of mobility; some colleges are starting to take action to improve economic diversity; at Univ of Maryland, students whose family income is less than $21,000 will get scholarships to cover full tuition; similar, even more generous policies have been announced by Harvard, Univ of North Carolina and Univ of Virginia; photo; graph (M)

As Wealthy Fill Top Colleges, Concerns Grow Over Fairness

Joyce Purnick Metro Matters column discusses renovated Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum subway station (NYC), where walls are adorned with city artifacts and objects from Brooklyn Museum collection in conjunction with Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts for Transit project; photo (M)

Metro Matters; Museum Stop: Lots of Light And Gargoyles

European Parliament, in bid to protect Europeans' rights to privacy, votes to refer draft agreement between European Commission and United States on use of air passenger data to European Court of Justice in Luxembourg; move casts legal cloud over arrangement to help United States defend itself against terrorist attacks like those on Sept 11, 2001; under agreement, United States Customs and border officials would be allowed to collect 34 different pieces of information about air passengers, like where ticket was purchased and method of payment, before they board plane to United States from Europe; photo (M)

Europe Asks Court to Rule on Air Security Pact

Consortium led by Sony Corp America is in talks to acquire Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Hollywood studio famous for The Wizard of Oz, James Bond and the Pink Panther, for as much as $5 billion; consortium, which include buyout firms Texas Pacific Group and Providence Equity Partners, is discussing complex arrangement in which group would buy MGM from Kirk Kerkorian for about $20 a share, shut down most of movie studio operation, and then have Sony license and distribute MGM's film library; under proposed deal, only studio's best-known film series like James Bond would continue to be produced under MGM brand; analysts say what makes MGM so attractive to consortium is its library of thousands of old movies waiting to be repackaged in DVD form; note that DVD sales and rentals now exceed box-office take in movie industry; photos (M)

Sony Group Said to Be in Talks to Buy MGM

David Pogue State of the Art column compares four value-priced computers by Apple, Dell, EMachines and Gateway; photos; drawing; chart compares features and prices (M)

PC Mission: Big Value, Small Price

Largest cache of F Scott Fitzgerald manuscripts ever offered for sale--2,000 pages of treatments, sketches, drafts and rewrites for motion pictures--is acquired by Univ of South Carolina; so-called Warner Bros Collection of F Scott Fitzgerald Screenplays will become part of Matthew J and Arlyn Broccoli Collection at university's Thomas Cooper Library; archive was bought by Broccoli from dealer, who had obtained it from unidentified former studio employee; Broccoli, who is archivist and collector, says importance of archive is that it corrects distorted view of Fitzgerald's Hollywood years, that he staggered around drunk and did not earn his salary; most of Fitzgerald's movie scripts were rejected; photos (M)

Fitzgerald as Screenwriter: No Hollywood Ending

Article on 77-year-old Brazilian sculptor and painter Francisco Brennand, who is regarded as maverick and lives on family estate in Recife; Brennand has opened Accademia, new museum on his estate that contains more than 300 of his paintings and drawings; comments on his sculptures, which are mostly ceramic and his principal claim to renown and notoriety, artists who were his inspiration and his love of painting; photos (M)

In Brazil, Iconoclast Is Bearded In His Den; A Controversial Sculptor Revels in His Menagerie

Trainer Michael Dickinson will have first Kentucky Derby starter in Tapit, which won Wood Memorial; photo (M)

Offbeat Trainer May Be Hard To Beat in Derby

DVD-based entertainment systems that were originally designed for family vehicles are now being installed in all types of vehicles; video games, satellite television broadcasts and DVD movies are popular ways to spend time while traveling; photos (M)

Entertaining Miss Daisy

Selena Roberts Sports of The Times column discusses bizarre and question-raising past of St Louis Blues player Mike Danton, who was charged for involvement in murder-for-hire plot; Danton's alleged victim was to be former junior hockey coach and agent David Frost, who has long been rumored to brainwash his clients and maintain close tabs on his players; photos (M)

April 22, 2004

Headlines from April 22, 2004

L.I. Driver, 82, Was Drunk, The Police Say

Sports of The Times; Queens Is Better Than Manhattan for Jets-Olympics Facility

Libraries Wired, and Reborn

INSIDE

At Fujitsu's Request, Japan Bars Samsung Screens

Billboard 200

Confessions

Now 15

Damita Jo

In This Skin

Feels Like Home

Historical Context for April 22, 2004