December 19, 2006

Transportation Dept Sec Mary E Peters announces final approval of $2.6 billion in financing for tunnel connecting Long Island Rail Road with Grand Central Terminal; link will bring LIRR commuters to Manhattan's East Side, saving as much as 40 minutes; Peters also announces $693 million in federal money for Second Avenue subway line; both projects have been in development for decades, although substantial work has been done on each; both projects are scheduled for completion in 2013 and both will require much more money to complete; photos (M)

Article in series Costly Promises, on unpaid bills for state and local public employee pensions around country, focuses on rising health care costs of retirees; economists warn that Medicare and Social Security have both promised benefits well beyond what they can reasonably be expected to pay; many public employee pension funds decided to pay retiree health benefits without setting aside enough money to cover cost; building retiree health plan into pension fund seemed at time an efficient way to use 'excess' and take pressure off local budget; now many employees are being told that money going into pension fund is not nearly enough to cover pension and health payments coming out; even places that tried to set aside ample resources are running into problems now; examples from various municipalities and government agencies cited; photo; graphs (L)

Chris Ratuszny was the first person in the U.S. to undergo an operation involving the use of an excimer laser to treat a giant brain aneurysm.

Edward H Bastian and James M Whitehurst, executives running Delta Air Lines on day-to-day basis, want to be Delta's next chief executive, if airline is not taken over by US Airways; Delta is expected to file plan to operate after bankruptcy on Dec 19; making Delta's argument to remain independent and fend off $8.6 billion bid from US Airways, plan will also make case by extension for Bastian and Whitehurst to keep their jobs; their resentment of US Airways offer is more intense because of sacrifices they and their 50,000 co-workers made to stay at Delta; two gave up well-paying jobs to join Delta when it was already clear that airline was in trouble; graph; photos (L)

Dr David J Langer obtains Food and Drug Administration approval to perform first-ever excimer laser brain surgery in United States; patient Chris Ratuszny has giant brain aneurysm, which would be fatal if left untreated, but leaves him at extreme risk of stroke if operated on using traditional methods; laser procedure allows doctor to stitch by-pass artery in place before cutting damaged artery; technique means that patient never has to have artery clamped and blood flow to brain is continuous; Dr Cornelius Tulleken, Dutch neurogsurgeon who devised procedure, attends surgery; such types of brain aneurysms are very rare, so laser technique will never be widely used; operation and Ratuszny's recovery described; drawings; photos (L)