Rahall blasts black lung measure

HUNTINGTON - Rep. Nick Rahall says he will fight Republican-backedlegislation that he says threatens compensation for black lungvictims.

The provision, included in a bill which authorizes the LaborDepartment's 1998-99 appropriations, is aimed at blocking a newregulation that would limit the number of medical examinations forminers seeking benefits.

It "constitutes a vicious assault on black lung victims," Rahall,D-W.Va., said in remarks made Friday on the floor of the House ofRepresentatives."There is simply no need for this provision, except as a delayingtactic aimed at killing this …

Lyndhurst St. residents: media gave bad rap

On Monday afternoon, the loudest noise midway down Lyndhurst Street was the chirping of crickets on lawns and under the bushes of the large Victorians that tower over the sidewalks.

It's a street where neighbors greet each other from the front porches and screen doors are left unlocked. But three weeks after the so-called occupation of the street by a local minister, the media-generated catch-phrase "Hell Zone" still elicits bitter responses from the residents.

"I think the Herald and the Globe owe us all an apology," said resident Kathleen Martin. "They were the major players in this."

While residents acknowledge the presence of criminal activity near the street's …

Kosovo govt to cover damage from last week's riots

Kosovo's authorities are promising euro100,000 ($139,000) for ethnic Albanians whose shops were burned by rioting Serbs last week.

The government says in a statement the money will cover damage to private businesses in the ethnically divided town of Mitrovica.

At least six shops were burned last week in two separate incidents, prompting NATO-led …

A peek at orchestra budgets

Budget Orchestra Fiscal in Government Music director ExecutiveDirector

year millions Grants (salary)(salary) Boston 1986 $24.8 $907,000 Seiji Ozawa ($381,000)Thomas Morris (145,000)

Los Angeles 1986 $22.2 $1.1 million Andre Previn ($380,525)Ernest Fleischmann ($346,883) Cleveland 1986 $21.2 $834,947 Christoph von Dohnanyi ($331,778)Kenneth Haas ($170,059) Chicago 1985 $20.4 $420,065 Georg Solti ($355,552) John Edwards($61,127) New York 1986 $20.3 $1.2 million Zubin Mehta ($638,830) AlbertWebster ($163,461) San Francisco 1986 $17.1 $1.1 million Herbert Blomstedt($223,316) Peter …

The Terrible Two's

The first years in engineering are critical in terms of retention.

WE APPEAR TO BE in another period of soul-searching and agonizing about how to deal with engineering enrollments. The percentage of college graduates majoring in engineering has declined steadily over the years. The realization that many engineering tasks are being farmed out to China and India, both of which have dramatically larger numbers of engineering graduates, has served to heighten concern about retention. Dropping out occurs most often in the first two years, and several ideas have been proposed on how to keep students in engineering. Purdue professors Phillip Wankat and Frank Oreovicz have suggested that …

US stocks turn higher as investors set aside some unease over banking sector

Stocks turned higher Friday as investors set aside lingering concerns about the economy and considered whether the market's downtrodden mood in recent weeks has left stocks oversold.

Stocks have fallen in six of the past seven sessions as investors have fretted about whether consumers would succumb to higher energy prices, rising mortgage costs and an anemic dollar. Continuing credit turmoil has also stirred concerns about the soundness of corporate balance sheets and profits.

Financial stocks fell, partly due to a Fortune online story that raised the possibility the mortgage lender could be masking the true magnitude of credit-related hits to its profits. …

Bloch, Augustyn (Hipolit)

Bloch, Augustyn (Hipolit), Polish composer and organist; b. Grudziadz, Aug. 13, 1929. He was a student of Feliks Raczkowski (organ, 1950–55) and Tadeusz Szeligowski (composition, 1952–59) at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw. From 1954 to 1977 he composed music for various plays and radio dramas for the Theatre of the Polish Radio in Warsaw. He was vice president of the Polish Composers' Union from 1977 to 1979, and again from 1983 to 1987. From 1979 to 1987 he was chairman of the repertoire committee of the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music. In 1971 and 1985 he received the Minister of Culture and Art Award, in 1975 the Prime Minster's Award, in 1981 the Polish Composers' Union Award, and in 1989 the Brighton …