Milestones Oct. 20, 1997

RESIGNING. JANE ALEXANDER, 57, the stalwart chairwoman of the National Endowment for the Arts; now that both houses of Congress have approved its $98 million budget; in Washington.

SETTLEMENT REACHED. Between the TOBACCO INDUSTRY and NORMA BROIN, 42, lead plaintiff in the $5 billion class action filed on behalf of 60,000 flight attendants seeking damages for secondhand-smoke-related health problems; in Miami. Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson Tobacco and Lorillard agreed to pay $300 million to set up a research foundation on cancer.

AWARDED. To the parents of SERGIO JIMENEZ II, the six-year-old boy who died in 1994 after being thrown from a Dodge Caravan with a defective rear latch: $262.5 million in damages; in Charleston, S.C. Chrysler Corp. plans to appeal the judgment, reportedly the largest rendered against a U.S. automaker.

DIED. YEVGENI KHALDEI, 80, World War II photographer who pointedly snapped Russia's famous answer to America's iconic image of the flag raising on Iwo Jima: a lone soldier waving the Soviet standard over a devastated Berlin; in Moscow.

DIED. JOHNNY VANDER MEER, 82, Cincinnati Reds southpaw who pitched the only back-to-back no-hitters in major-league history; in Tampa, Fla. Vander Meer's career was ordinary, except for two extraordinary days in 1938, when he got a handle on his wild fastball, goose-egging both the Boston Braves and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

DIED. BERTRAND GOLDBERG, 84, bold architect who redefined Chicago's skyline in the 1960s with the corncob-shaped towers of Marina City; in Chicago.

DIED. ARTHUR TRACY, 98, radio's sentimental Street Singer, who peddled his wares (remember Marta?) on the airwaves of the 1930s; in New York City. Tracy's identity was kept secret when he made his radio debut at CBS in 1931.