September 25, 2005

Hurricane Rita, with an eye 20 miles wide and wind gusts of almost 150 miles per hour, slammed into the Gulf Coast before dawn on Saturday, causing far less damage than officials had feared but raising new concerns as its torrential rain and storm surges caused widespread flooding across much of the region. By late Saturday, only one death had been attributed to the storm or its remnants; one person was killed in Mississippi when a tornado hit a mobile home, The Associated Press reported. On Friday, 24 residents of a living center for the elderly died when the bus in which they were being evacuated caught fire.

THE Lehman High School students filed down Westchester Avenue wearing gigantic T-shirts and jostling and shouting in the September sun. It was Monday afternoon, the school day was over, and their path home took them under the elevated 6 train, past two-family brick houses or wooden ones with vinyl siding, and just in front of New Fiesta Bowl, where the neon signs were dark. The old bowling alley, which closed Aug. 16, had served Pelham Bay and other neighborhoods in the northeast Bronx since 1960. In any other year, the teenagers ambling past might have stopped in for a gym class or bowling team practice. Last Monday, the only people there were a couple of boys wearing Catholic school uniforms who wanted to use the bathroom. Billy Stephens, the place's manager, turned them away.

Where there was noise at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club, there was Chris DiMarco and his homemade swing, knocking golf shots on a string and carrying the United States team through an autumn afternoon. DiMarco has not won a tournament in more than three years, but his love of competition spilled out Saturday at the Presidents Cup, helping the United States close a deficit against a dogged International team.

THE OIL INDUSTRY -- The storm damaged oil refineries, but it did not cause the widespread destruction of the energy infrastructure that some had feared. PAGE 34 EXPLOSION INVESTIGATED -- As investigators look into the fire on an evacuation bus that killed 24, details are emerging about the vehicle and the company that operated it. PAGE 34 RETURNING TO NEW ORLEANS -- Business owners can return to parts of New Orleans as soon as Monday, Mayor C. Ray Nagin said, resuming his plan to revive the city. PAGE 34 THE PRESIDENT -- President Bush visited command centers, asking questions and thanking workers, but had few decisions to make. REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK, PAGE 33

The company's marketing materials describe the drink as a way to kick-start the morning for children as young as 4. The company Web site, adorned with a picture of an elementary school wrestler and a gymnast, says its drink can help a child ''develop fully as a high-performance athlete'' and fill nutritional gaps ''in a sport that is physically and mentally demanding.'' The drink, called Spark, contains several stimulants and is sold in two formulations: one for children 4 to 11 years old that includes roughly the amount of caffeine found in a cup and a half of coffee, and one containing twice that amount for teenagers and adults.