While recording his new album, Steve Earle was forced to confront the tangled history he shared with his idol, the country songwriter Townes Van Zandt.

Freeing a Mentor From His Mythology

Stephen P. Morgan, who is thought to have killed Johanna Justin-Jinich, a student at the college, was in custody on Thursday.

Lives of Wesleyan Student and Her Stalker Collide

Charles E. Schumer, the Senate’s third-ranking Democrat, believes Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand of New York can win her election if she can avoid a primary challenge.

N.Y.’s Junior Senator Gains a Defender: The Senior Senator

It looks as if one more bank — the onetime finance arm of General Motors — needs a bailout. And, four months ago, this bank was not even a bank.

GMAC, Among the Weakest, Seems in Line for a Bailout

The numbers in the stress test report that are most impressive — perhaps shocking should be the word — are the estimates of possible losses from differing categories of assets.

Findings, but No Final Word

The proposals being debated in Congress would start considering some part of the value of health benefits as income and tax it accordingly.

Taxing Those With Insurance to Pay for Those Without

In a set on Thursday night at Roseland, Franz Ferdinand mixed post-punk and new wave and got a club full of fans dancing to the sense of their own isolation.

Propulsive, Always; Euphoric, Never

The economy lost 539,000 jobs in April, a sign that the relentless pace of job losses was starting to level off.

U.S. Jobless Rate Hits 8.9%, but Pace Eases

Those who knew Brighton Beach's veteran lifeguard, Grimaldo Medrano, are facing their first long summer without him.

On a Beach in Brooklyn, a Chair Sits Empty

In this first novel, a young Finnish woman takes solace from kindred spirits after the events of 9/11 force her to confront her brother’s mental illness.

Hush, Memory

A disconcerting portrait has emerged of Stephen P. Morgan, who was arraigned on charges of killing a Wesleyan University student.

From Prep School to Murder Suspect at Wesleyan

Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley quickly raised more than $15 billion between them, easing concerns about luring private investors to recapitalize the banks.

2 Banks Cited in Stress Tests Find Ready Investors

Somalia’s pirates are the targets not just of those they attack, but also of sheiks and elders who are fed up with their vices.

For Somali Pirates, Worst Enemy May Be on Shore

Celebrating its anniversary, the cultural marketplace hasn’t lived up to its promise, but hope persists.

Lincoln Center: Mixed Reviews

A quirky depression era monument that stood in a Jersey junkyard rises once again.

Homage to a Depression-Fueled Eccentric

Customers haven’t exactly been invading Manson H. Whitlock’s shop over the last few decades. He’s 92 and he fixes typewriters.

‘Dying Field’ Still Keeps Him on the Job

James McDevitt is used to cooking at places where it’s all about the food. For him, at Four Food Studio and Cocktail Salon, it still is.

West Coast Chef, East Coast Assignment

Great Recession prices are drawing even the most loyal outer-borough dwellers, from Hoboken to Astoria to the brownstone blocks off Prospect Park, back to Manhattan.

Manhattan Calling

Since Frankie Foye spends her days styling hair in hectic, noisy photography studios, she made her one-bedroom apartment in the West Village a serene, private sanctuary.

Peace, Quiet and Pajama-Clad Jazz

The Obama administration is trying, carefully, to renew confidence among the public without declaring victory too soon.

Fine Line for Obama on How to Convey Hope on Economy

An article on Thursday about the young age of people who have developed serious swine flu complications misstated the number of vaccine doses that drug makers could produce after receiving a seed vaccine, according to World Health Organization estimates. It is 1 billion to 2 billion doses in a year, not 1.2 billion in six months. The error also appeared in an article on Thursday about the idea of trying to become infected with the virus now to provide some immunity in case swine flu comes back stronger later.

Corrections

An article in some editions on Sunday about a new policy that bans some kinds of dogs from public housing projects in New York City misstated the name of the breed being walked on Saturday by Margarita Rivera around the La Guardia Houses in Manhattan. The dog, Dobie, is a miniature pinscher; there is no such breed as miniature Doberman pinscher. The article also referred incorrectly at one point to the three types of dogs subject to the ban: pit bulls, Rottweilers and Dobermans. As noted elsewhere, they are dog breeds, not species.

A picture caption on Thursday with an article about an agreement between The New York Times Company and workers at The Boston Globe misstated the gender of Cyn Goodenough, shown reading the Boston newspaper. She is a woman.

The Sports of The Times column on Thursday, about the European Champions League soccer match between Barcelona and Chelsea, misidentified, in some editions, the player who tumbled theatrically after being fouled by Barcelona’s Eric Abidal, who received a red card for the infraction. He is Nicolas Anelka  not Didier Drogba, a Chelsea teammate.

An article on Wednesday about the development of Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo misidentified the high school in Louisville, Ky., where he played basketball. It was Eastern High School, not Central High School.

Dominic Paul DiMaggio, nicknamed "the Little Professor", was an American Major League Baseball center fielder. He played his entire 11-year baseball career for the Boston Red Sox (1940–1953). DiMaggio was the youngest of three brothers who each became major league center fielders, the others being Joe and Vince.

May 8, 2009

Headlines from May 8, 2009

Freeing a Mentor From His Mythology

Lives of Wesleyan Student and Her Stalker Collide

N.Y.’s Junior Senator Gains a Defender: The Senior Senator

GMAC, Among the Weakest, Seems in Line for a Bailout

Findings, but No Final Word

Billboard 200

Deeper Than Rap

Hannah Montana: The Movie

Sounds Of The Universe

Unstoppable

Asleep In The Bread Aisle

Notable Deaths

Historical Context for May 8, 2009