December 27, 2005

Song Bohemian Rhapsody, written by British band Queen's front man Freddie Mercury, is celebrated by fans on its 30th anniversary; special edition of Queen's 1975 album A Night in the Opera, on which song first appeared, is to be released and BBC television special about song will be broadcast; American fans will relive song's grandeur and wackiness when band returns to United States to tour in spring of 2006; photos (M)

Lounge chairs designed to give people different seating option in public parks and other public spaces appear around New York City; some say that change acknowledges safer, more laid-back attitude of city; Thomas Balsley, landscape architect who has designed public spaces around country, discusses change in attitude toward seating and other park amenities; his projects in Long Island City, Riverside Park South and West Midtown Ferry Terminal, which include reclined seating, described; photo (M)

The Day After Christmas, There Was Room to Shop Bridget Dierks, of Babylon, N.Y., right, looked for a checkout line at Macy's in Herald Square in Manhattan as many retailers across the nation said that stores were less crowded than expected, considering that it was a federal holiday. Though final sales results for the holiday season will not be available for several weeks, analysts and retail executives are projecting respectable but not stunning results. Surveys indicated that significantly fewer shoppers would be returning gifts this year. Ten years ago, 38 percent of consumers said they had an unwanted gift to return after Christmas; this year, it is 14 percent. The trend has been driven in part by the increased use of gift cards. BUSINESS DAY, PAGES C1, C2 Preventing Cancer: The Promise of Genetics Scientists once thought that the genetic underpinnings of cancer were too complex to be unraveled. But investigators, to their amazement, are starting to identify how genes turn healthy cells cancerous. SCIENCE TIMES, PAGE F1 Austrians Spurn a Native Graz, Austria, was proud of a native son, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, naming a stadium after him. But after he rejected pleas to stay the execution of a murderer, the governor's name was removed from the arena. PAGE A4 Police Tragedy in New Jersey One Jersey City police officer was killed and another presumed dead in a tragedy of circumstances -- darkness, fog, a boat's passing and damage to a gate that would have kept them off a raised bridge. PAGE B1

Planners' concept of moving Cameron Parish, La, out of harm's way from future hurricanes meets stiff resistance from tightly knit group of Cajuns living in region's unincorporated villages; they have resided for generations on inherited family property in state's southwest corner, living off land; Hurricane Rita last Sept destroyed or rendered structurally unsound about half of 5,400 parish homes and commercial buildings examined by Army Corps of Engineers; they caution that many more structures may also have to be condemned; as few as 20 of 1,000 residences in lower part of parish may be inhabitable; residents, who remain scattered, fear that hurricane detroyed not only property but way of life; photos; map (M)

Christmas Day bridge accident in Jersey City, NJ, in which officers Shawn Carson and Robert Nguyen were killed, described; variety of factors, including weather, signal outage, and poor communication between bridge operators and police conspired to bring about fatal event; Carson and Nguyen had just brought flares to assist officers directing traffic on approach to Lincoln Highway Bridge; on their return across span they were apparently unaware vertical bridge had been lifted for passing tugboat and drove police truck off bridge, which is 45 feet above river; Carson's body was recovered; Nguyen is missing and presumed dead; photos, drawings, map (L)

Ryan Henry, principal deputy under secretary of defense for policy, has warned military contractors that spending binge on weapons programs of last several years cannot be sustained; analysts say one big question is whether Defense Department and Congress have desire, and will, to kill weapons programs where hundreds of billions of dollars--as well as careers of powerful generals and admirals--are invested; photos (M)

Albert Einstein's quantum theory discussed and debated by modern physicists; examples of quantum trickery, spooky action and cat state described; photos; drawings (L)

Rutgers Universÿ

Snowboarders prepare for 2006 Olympics, with most planning to perform complicated three-rotation move called a 1080 to impress judges; photos (M)2

New Jersey Nets defeat New York Knicks, 109-101; photos (M)5

New York Giants prepare to face Oakland Raiders in regular-season finale; photos (M)0

Michigan's Gov Jennifer M Granholm is courting Toyota Motors as General Motors and Ford Motor Co cut thousands of jobs, close plants and eliminate benefits of shrinking number of workers still employed in state that relies on auto industry; Granholm, having landed $150 million Toyota design center earlier in year, has her eyes on potentially bigger prize: engine plant that Toyota may build in Midwest; Michigan plant would take Toyota to center of American automotive heartland; graph; photo (M)