1900 Year

Displaying showmanship worthy of his Las Vegas base, casino magnate Kirk Kerkorian on Wednesday simultaneously upstaged Detroit's Big Three, their European and Japanese rivals and New York's Jacob Javits Convention Center--all assembled for the New York Automobile Show. The announcement of Kerkorian's proposed $22.8-billion takeover deal for Chrysler Corp. stunned members of the nation's automotive media who had traveled to New York expecting a mundane event.

The county's unheralded mosquito abatement districts have inspired quips about "swat" teams and bug wars. They rely upon something called "sentinel chicken flocks" to detect disease-carrying mosquitoes, and they employ gluttonous 2 1/2-inch-long minnows to gobble up mosquito larvae in people's fish ponds.

The cornerstone of the giant Irvine Ranch will become a museum under a donation to the local historical society. The ranch's founder, James Irvine I, built the first wooden house in the area on the 3/4-acre lot in 1868. All that remains on the land, donated to the Irvine Historical Society, is an addition built nine years later for the workers who tended the cattle and sheep. Joan Irvine Smith, great-granddaughter of James Irvine, said that through her Joan Irvine Smith and Athalie R.

The trumpets blared and the trombones rolled and I pulled the bed sheets around my shoulders as the New Orleans jazz band marched into my hotel room. I squinted at the clock, which said 5 a.m., then buried my head in pillows. It was a rude awakening. Worse than the church bells of old Strasbourg or the pigeons of St. Mark's Square. Worse than the jingling bikes of Beijing or the whining Vespas of Rome.

Lately, all the news has been about the other chorale. You know, the one whose music director resigned suddenly in October . . . the one that just named a new music director. . . . When mentioned at all, the Pacific Chorale has been linked to the other chorale as a candidate in a possible merger. The big question these days is whether two chorales in the county are one too many.

Less than a week before the deadline, millions of American workers have yet to file a new Form W-4 to adjust their tax withholding to conform with the overhauled federal tax code. Under the law, enacted a year ago, workers must file a new W-4 with their employers before Oct. 1. Those who fail to comply could find their take-home pay sharply reduced.

The nation's four-year public colleges and universities increased tuition and fees by nearly 10% this year, the steepest rise in a decade, according to a survey released Monday. The tuition hikes were accompanied by a 6% increase in the charges for room and board, raising the average cost of attending a four-year public school to $9,663, the nonprofit College Board reported in its annual cost survey. That is up $672 from last year.

Howard Dean's economic policies -- as well as his "latte-drinking, sushi-eating" supporters -- will come under a round of withering fire starting today from a group that supports conservative Republican candidates.

The mark on the bottom of your dish says "1794," but does that really mean the dish is more than 200 years old? Probably not. Early company marks were usually small "pictures." Some used crossed lines, animal heads, initials or coats of arms. The date 1794 was used as part of the Royal Bayreuth porcelain factory mark after 1900. The year was included because the factory was founded in 1794. Many other company marks have confusing numbers. Minton used 1793, the date that it was established.

The massive tax bill that appears headed for certain enactment contains an unpleasant surprise for parents: It requires that all children who are at least 5 years old next year have Social Security cards by 1988 if their parents claim them as dependents on their federal tax returns.