December 23, 2004

JUST in time to complicate spring planting, the federal government is preparing to issue what agriculture officials call the most sweeping restrictions on the shipment of nursery plants ever undertaken in the United States, to try to prevent the spread of a virulent disease that has killed tens of thousands of oaks and other species along the West Coast. The restrictions, expected to be issued in early January, will affect millions of plants grown in California, Oregon and Washington, about one-third of the country's nursery plant supply. They will require inspection, sampling and possibly testing of all plants that could be hosts to the pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum, the cause of sudden oak death syndrome, before shipment across state lines. The disease has been spotted in 22 states.

An arbitrator ruled yesterday that Jermaine O'Neal, one of four Indiana Pacers suspended for their roles in a brawl during a game against the Detroit Pistons at the Palace at Auburn Hills, should have 10 games cut from his 25-game suspension. Roger Kaplan, the arbitrator, upheld the N.B.A.'s suspensions of the other three players -- Ron Artest (for the season), Stephen Jackson (30 games) and Anthony Johnson (5 games). Nevertheless, the N.B.A., which maintains that Kaplan has no jurisdiction to rule on the matter, will challenge his ruling this morning in United States District Court in Manhattan.

Election officials in Washington State announce that Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine O Gregoire got 10 votes more than her Republican opponent Dino Rossi, who had been certified winner of Nov 2 vote by 261 votes; preliminary results from manual recount are announced hours after State Supreme Court agrees with Democrats' contention that more than 700 newly discovered and erroneously disqualified ballots in heavily Democratic King County should now be considered; ruling could allow Gregoire to increase her tiny edge; race is closest in state history and one of closest in nation's history; official results from manual recount will not be announced until after King County reviews up to 735 disputed ballots; Republicans fought hard to keep those ballots out of tally; they are vowing to press election officials to consider several hundred other disqualified ballots cast in other counties; whatever final results, they are almost certain to be contested; photo; chart (M)

United States Postal Service finds increase in volume of standard mail, but first-class mail is being reduced by e-mail and Internet payment of bills; first class mail accounted for less than 50 percent of total mail volume for first time in history in 2003; its revenues traditionally makes up about two-thirds of Post Offices's operating budget; standard mail, used for magazines and catalogs, is increasing, but they generate less revenue than personal mail because of cheaper rates; Service makes 14 cents less a delivery than it did in 2000; carriers carry more weight and larger loads to more addresses nationwide then ever; staff reductions cause additional burden on workers as Service tries to get leaner and more efficient; Service plans increase in cost of all mail in 2006; increases are projected to be in single digits unless Congress fails to provide financial help needed; photos (M)

IN less than two weeks, thousands of college football fans will converge on Miami to attend the much anticipated game between the University of Southern California and Oklahoma in a Bowl Championship Series production to determine the national championship. Or, perhaps, part of it.