March 11, 2005

Article on visit to unspoiled, underdeveloped Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, which is becoming tourist destination; photos; maps (L)

Bart A Ross, out-of-work electrician whose delusional, decade-long legal crusade against doctors, lawyers and government was dismissed by Judge Joan Humphrey Lefkow last year, kills himself, leaving behind letters admitting murdering her husband and mother in Chicago home; photos; Ross's suits charged 'Nazi-style' persecution over malpractice claims stemming from severe disfigurement of his cancerous jaw; photos; police say DNA matches that on cigarette in Lefkow home; Ross, in letter to television station, says he regrets killing judge's husband and mother and did so when they found him hiding in basement, awaiting her return; Ross, 57-year-old Polish immigrant with no criminal record, shoots himself after police stop van in Milwaukee suburb of West Allis; name was on list to be interviewed, although investigation was focused on white supremacist Matthew Hale, convicted of soliciting Lefkow's murder; Ross's ranting odyssey through judicial system recounted (M)

FOR all the questions being raised in the skirmish between a Congressional committee and Major League Baseball over most of the subpoenas issued for Thursday's real opening day -- the scheduled hearing in Washington on steroids in baseball -- perhaps the most important question has been raked under the infield dirt: Why wasn't Barry Bonds subpoenaed?

US dollar and Treasury yields rise after Japanese Prime Min Junichiro Koizumi makes remarks that suggest country's central bank could be shifting some of its huge reserves out of dollars and Treasury securities; Japan's Finance Ministry quickly denies there is any change, statement that limits fall of dollar and bolsters Treasury prices; euro is valued at $1.3424, with dollar down 0.1 percent in late trading, and dollar is up 0.2 percent against yen; yield on 10-year Treasury note, which rose to 4.56 percent, finishes day at 4.50 percent, down from 4.52 percent (M)

Rockefeller Center Deck (NYC) will reopen after 19-year-closure and $75 million renovation that includes illuminated elevator shafts and interactive exhibits; will be second-highest observatory in New York City; photos (M)

EPA announces Clean Air Interstate Rule, ambitious effort to control soot and ground-level ozone pollution in eastern half of US; emissions are from power plants, which account for much of nation's air pollution; goal is to reduce by 2015 emissions of nitrogen oxides, which create ground-level ozone, by more than 60 percent from 2003 levels and to reduce sulfur dioxide, which forms soot, by more than 70 percent; regulations for mercury will also be announced; Bush administration's other effort is Clear Skies Act, stalled in Senate; both would cap emissions and extend deadlines well beyond usual five years under Clean Air Act; new rule uses cap-and-trade emission credits that states may allocate to utilities and is more vulnerable to legal challenge because standards would not be even uniform across country; rules have support from environmental groups that oppose Clear Skies Act (M)

College basketball summarized; photo (S)

Europe and US agree on joint approach to negotiating with Iran about its nuclear program, with Bush administration agreeing to offer modest economic incentives and Europeans agreeing to take issue to UN Security Council if talks fail; US would offer incentives only if Iran agrees to halt enrichment of uranium permanently; will also support Iran's entry into World Trade Organization and sale of critical spare parts for Iran's aging commercial airliners; Bush is closely involved in shift, although US will not join talks directly (M)

Rituals column on trip aboard charter boat Sea Hawk to catch Dungeness crab off Fort Bragg, Calif; photos; map; list (M)

Pentagon reportedly seeks help from State Department and other agencies to cut detainee population at Guantanamo prison by more than half, in part by transferring suspected terrorists to prisons in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Yemen; CIA, which has carried out such transfers, and State and Justice Departments have resisted some previous handovers out of concern for US security or potential mistreatment; Sec Donald Rumsfeld seeks support for plan, starting with Afghanistan; some outright releases are also possible to cut detainee population of about 540; Pentagon has also halted flow of new prisoners into Guantanamo; most there no longer have intelligence value and are not interrogated regularly; adverse court rulings and determination to get other countries to share burden also cited; Rumsfeld photo; chart on transfers (M)

Congressional committees say they will move forward with subpoenas to assure testimonies of baseball players and executives at steroid hearings, while baseball representatives say committees need to narrow focus of investigations; photos (M)

Clyde Haberman NYC column discusses rap music industry's propensity toward bad grammar and spelling, which some find interesting and others find dangerous example for children (M)