Principal Ronald G Stone of Weequahic High School in Newark, NJ, is credited with turning around troubled school academically and making its football team force to contend with; team becomes first from Newark to win championship in 31 years; Stone's restoration of school pride credited; photos (M)

Newark Principal Leads a Team, and a School, to New Heights

Experts say it is very difficult to convince a jury that police officers, who are empowered to defend the public, went too far.

Fatal Shootings by Police: Hard to Investigate, Even Harder to Prosecute

Students and faculty say the leadership of Principal Ronald G. Stone has brought Newark’s Weequahic High School from worst to first.

For Steven Johnson there is a perfectly logical connection between an outbreak of cholera in 1854 and a Web site that shows the latest Ethiopian restaurant in your ZIP code.

In a Multimedia Realm Where Book Meets Blog

Faced with public demonstrations of discontent by its employees, Wal-Mart has developed a new program intended to show that it appreciates them.

Wal-Mart Says Thank You to Workers

Mothers of preschool-age children are pouring their hearts out following the departure of a member of the Wiggles, an Australian band known for their color-coded jerseys and catchy tunes.

Hush, Mama, Don’t You Cry, a New Yellow Wiggle Will Sing

Tony Romo and Eli Manning loom as Cowboys-Giants rivals for the next decade.

Dallas Blossoming as Romo Absorbs Parcells’s Wisdom

The University of Florida jumped to No. 2 from No. 4 in the Bowl Championship Series standings on Sunday.

Florida Passes Michigan for Spot in Title Game

Dr Kathleen M Cashin, superintendent for some of roughest territory in New York City school system, has produced success story that challenges notions of how to improve education; elementary and middle schools in her Region 5, including Ocean Hill-Brownsville, East New York and Far Rockaway, have consistently posted best total gains on annual reading and math tests since 2003; her methods can be seen as antithesis of Schools Chancellor Joel Klein's mission to slash midlevel bureaucracy and let principals sail on their own; she has challenged notion that changing governance structure is key to turning around schools; she runs her schools same way she ran her schools under old Board of Education and under previous mayors--keeping sharp eye on principals and relying on seasoned educators to help newer ones; photos; chart; map (L)

Bucking School Reform, a Leader Gets Results

Torcetrapib's failure not only denies heart patients one well-publicized treatment, but may also lead to delays for similar drugs. Page A21.  

Double Blow to Heart Patients

David Carr column on debate on use of 'civil war' which began in earnest week ago when Matt Lauer of NBC said network would begin using term to describe conflict in Iraq; says Bush administration has fought to maintain custody of Iraqi conflict by defining insurgents as 'terrorists' and prisoners of war as 'unlawful combatants'; holds there are those who suggest that there is something vaguely seditious in describing situation in Iraq as civil war; says Bill O'Reilly of Fox News has been critical of actual conduct of war, but saves much of his powder for those who would doubt American resolve by defining conflict as one that is occurring between native combatants; New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has said in public statements that he has no interest in having paper handcuffed by 'reductionist shorthand' for war that he called 'colossally complicated'; Times for months has been using modifying phrases like 'on the brink of' and 'on the verge of' before civil war; Keller, in Dec 1 e-mail, said he bristles at way low-grade semantic argument has become substitute for serious discussion about what is happening in Iraq and what to do about it; Ashley Gilbertson, veteran freelance photographer who spent three years in Iraq taking pictures for New York Times, and New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins comment on war (M)

A ‘Civil War’ Puts Words on Trial

Dave Anderson Sports of The Times column discusses Dallas Cowboys 23-20 win against New York Giants; photos (M)

Search engine Ask.com is introducing AskCity, service that integrates maps with information about local businesses, restaurants, concerts and movie listings and reviews; so-called local searches already account for 10 percent of all Internet queries and are expected to grow faster than other searches; they are also seen as way to tap into tens of billions in spending by small businesses, which have yet to switch much of their advertising dollars to Internet; early reviews of service by analysts are positive; Ask.com Jim Lanzone and Barry Diller, who acquired Ask site in March 2005, comment on Ask's future; map; photos (L)

The Retooling of a Search Engine

The success of one New York City superintendent is challenging the notion that changing governance structure is the key to turning around schools.

Electric rates for Connecticut residents are expected to rise, but customers of municipally owned utilities and similar entities will probably see no increase; small utilities charge less for electricity than big companies; small utility customers can pay about 14.7 cents per kilowatt-hour while Connecticut Light and Power charges customers 18.3 cents and is seeking increase; chart (M)

Electric Costs May Go Up in Connecticut, but Not for All

Glenn Beck, host of CNN Headline News, along with Nancy Grace, lawyer whose show appears at 8 pm, is part of nearly two-year-old experiment to reinvent Headline News from series of quick news summaries into brasher, personality-driven talk-TV format along lines of Fox News's evening line-up; experiment is success; Beck has increased ratings in his 7 pm time period 60 percent among all viewers since his arrival in May and 84 percent among viewers aged 25 to 54; Grace has retained triple-digit percentage increases in her time period from year before; question remains as to whether CNN networks can compete with more opinionated prime-time competition--Fox News and MSNBC, in particular--while preserving their reputation as objective news gatherer; Kenneth Jautz, CNN executive who is in charge of Headline News, compares talk shows to role of op-ed page at newspaper; controversy surrounding Grace, who was sued by family of Melinda Duckett who killed herself after appearing on show to discuss disappearance of her child, discussed; Duckett is described by Florida authorities as prime suspect in case; Beck's recent interview with Congressman-elect Keith Ellison, first Muslim elected to House, on Nov 14 noted; chart; photos (L)

With Brash Hosts, Headline News Finds More Viewers in Prime Time

 Rob Bironas kicked a 60-yard field goal with seven seconds left and the Tennessee Titans handed the Indianapolis Colts their second loss of the season, 20-17. A week earlier, Bironas kicked a 49-yarder to cap Tennessee's comeback victory over the Giants. In leading the Titans yesterday, quarterback Vince Young passed for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for 78 yards.    Reggie Bush scored four touchdowns.  Seattle rallied to spoil Jay Cutler's debut.  Chicago clinched the N.F.C. North.  Jaguars ended Dolphins' winning streak.    COMPLETE COVERAGE, PAGES D2-D5  

It's Good From 60 as Titans Win

Martin Gramatica kicked a 46-yard field goal to trump a tying drive led by the rejuvenated Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

Giants Lose 4th in a Row, This One in the Final Second 

A drug, intended to treat heart disease, actually caused an increase in deaths and heart problems.

End of Drug Trial Is a Big Loss for Pfizer

Robert Altman, the legendary film director who died last month, began his career in television, perhaps most memorably bringing his style and dark vision of war to the first season of "Combat!"

Before His ‘MASH,’ Altman’s TV Warfare

A tape provides the first concrete glimpse inside the incarceration of Jose Padilla, whose detention became a test case in the fight against terrorism.

Video Is a Window Into a Terror Suspect’s Isolation

Pre-school-age children who make up core audience for Australian music group Wiggles seem unaffected by departure of lead singer Greg Page, but their mothers seem bereft, pouring their hearts out on message boards on band's Web site; Page, band's lead singer, announced that he is resigning after being diagnosed with serious illness; will be replaced by longtime backup singer and dancer for band, Sam Moran; photos (M)

Online advertising is racing ahead in Britain, growing at about 40 percent annual rate, and is expected to account for as much as 14 percent of overall ad spending this year; figure is highest level in world, and more than double percentage in US; much of advertising in Britain is national, while there are strong local and regional ad markets in America; some believe that online advertising in Britain provides somewhat of roadmap for where online ads in US and elsewhere may be heading; British marketers seem to have bought into oft-touted benefits of Internet advertising: that is is easy to track, enormously effective and relative bargain; graph; photos (L)

The Future of Web Ads Is in Britain

Electric bills are likely to jump again in January but residential customers of small, municipally-owned entities across the state will see no increase. 

The willingness to use the term now to describe the conflict in Iraq is less a brave declaration than a wet, sensitive finger in the wind.

Kanagasabai Ganeshalingam was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician. He was Mayor of Colombo.

K. Ganeshalingam, Sri Lankan accountant and politician, Mayor of Colombo (born 1938)

K._Ganeshalingam

Ross Andrew McGinnis was a United States Army soldier who was posthumously awarded the United States' highest decoration for bravery, the Medal of Honor, for his actions during the Iraq War.

Ross A. McGinnis, American soldier, Medal of Honor recipient (born 1987)

Ross_A._McGinnis

The Jena Six were six black teenagers in Jena, Louisiana, convicted in the 2006 beating of Justin Barker, a white student at the local Jena High School, which they also attended. Barker was injured on December 4, 2006, by the members of the Jena Six, and received treatment at an emergency room. While the case was pending, it was often cited by some media commentators as an example of racial injustice in the United States. Some commentators believed that the defendants had been charged initially with too-serious offenses and had been treated unfairly.

Six black youths assault a white teenager in Jena, Louisiana.

December 4, 2006

Headlines from December 4, 2006

Newark Principal Leads a Team, and a School, to New Heights

Fatal Shootings by Police: Hard to Investigate, Even Harder to Prosecute

Newark Principal Leads a Team, and a School, to New Heights

In a Multimedia Realm Where Book Meets Blog

Wal-Mart Says Thank You to Workers

Billboard 200

Doctor's Advocate

Konvicted

NOW 23

Awake

Hannah Montana

Notable Deaths

Historical Events

Historical Context for December 4, 2006