August 17, 2005

More and more parents of troubled teenagers are sending their children to special programs without regard to cost, and the number of private schools serving them has soared, attracting investor interest; new 'feel good' programs combine therapy for drugs and other disorders and education, often in outdoor setting, at average cost of $5,000 a month; influx of money from investors in private schools seeking high return on equity is worrying some traditionalists in field, who are concerned that bottom line may take precedence over students' needs; Aspen Education runs 31 programs for children with behavioral or other problems, making it one of largest providers of services for troubled teenagers; map; chart; photos (M)

James Oestreich reviews production of Francesco Cavalli opera Giasone, opening event of Aspen Music Festival and its Baroque mini-festival; photo (M)

George Steinbrenner has not come to Tropicana Field the last two nights, which is just as well for the Yankees. There is enough pressure on them without their impatient principal owner lurking in a box above their dugout. Even after winning their last five games before Tuesday, the Yankees are still trailing for a playoff spot and every game is stressful. Randy Johnson came back and threw seven solid innings on Tuesday, but Mariano Rivera blew the save in the ninth and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays won it in the 11th, 4-3. The Yankees did not have a hit in the final five innings of the game.

Prime Min Ibrahim al-Jaafari says three men will be put to death by hanging in first execution by Iraq's civilian courts since fall of Saddam Hussein; the condemned were convicted of dozens of rapes, kidnappings and killings in southern city of Kut, in one case displaying eyeballs of Iraqi soldier to obtain payment for his murder; 33 other death sentences have been handed down by courts since death penalty was reinstated in Iraq in August 2004, and many of them are expected to clear review by appeals court and three-member government council because government is eager to show that it is taking steps against terrorism and because public support for death penalty is overwhelming; human rights organizations question timing of announcement and say Iraq's legal system is often too flimsy to be fair; photo (M)

The police and health officials are investigating the deaths of six people who they say appear to have overdosed on heroin in Lower Manhattan in the last week, prompting fears that a lethal batch of opiates is being sold in New York City. The victims include two 18-year-old college students found unconscious in an East Houston Street apartment on Friday, as well as homeless men. The police are investigating whether the six people possibly obtained tainted drugs from the same source, and health workers and police officers have been sent into the streets to warn the public.