November 14, 2005

Georgia-Pacific, paper giant that makes Dixie cups and Brawny paper towels, agrees to be sold for $13.2 billion to Koch Industries, family-controlled conglomerate that will become nation's largest privately held company; Koch will pay shareholders $48 a share in cash and assume about $8 billion of debt; offer represents 38.5 percent premium to Georgia-Pacific's closing share price on Nov 11 (M)

Rushing to evacuate her home as a forest fire lapped at the edges of this high-desert town in May 2000, Kathryn Gursky took with her just one book, a British edition of ''The World of Pooh,'' by A. A. Milne, bought when she and her husband were vacationing in Dorset some 11 years earlier. When she returned to Los Alamos after the fire, Ms. Gursky, a 49-year-old former librarian, found that the rest of her 2,300-volume personal library had burned, along with her house and everything in it.

While the Republicans celebrate their victory in the New York City mayoral race, the state Republican Party is beset by ideological divisions, personal rivalries and individual agendas that are undermining any semblance of party unity as the 2006 elections approach, many party officials say. Leading Republicans across the state are alarmed and say the problems stem largely from the power vacuum resulting from Gov. George E. Pataki's decision not to seek re-election in 2006 after three terms in office.

The Knicks were teetering on the edge of their first victory of the season, but still perilously close to their sixth straight loss, when their coach's passion spilled over a bit. Another call had gone against them, and Coach Larry Brown, sensing the worst could happen again, bellowed at the referee Luis Grillo. ''That's not fair!'' Brown said. ''These kids are working their tails off!''

THAT Saturday, Aug. 27, Rose Parsee, or Mother Rose to her church and her three younger generations, got a call from a daughter, Kathlyn Locke. Ms. Locke, Ms. Parsee and most of the clan lived in two houses and an apartment in Harvey, just south of New Orleans on the city's west bank. A hardy brick of a woman, intense and passionate, Ms. Parsee had never been out of the area in her 65 years. ''What are you going to do?'' she said Ms. Locke asked.