Daily News from New York, New York • 6

mm WW XCf Doctective's Bcsih Hurts DA Drug-Slaying Case By ROBERT CRANE The case against a Filipino doctor, accused of using a hard-to-de-tect drug to murder his wife, has been thrown into doubt by the death cf the prosecution's chief medical detective. IVas Business as Usual, Only Better the Rev witness. Dr. I harles (Joei I'mberger. 70 a former chief the cm Examiner's Of tied Wednesday in Kingston i.rrful Hospital Tiji I'mMrser's tests, reportedly hoiij excess of components from the itruJ siit cinyUholii.e chloride in the woman's tissues that led to the fiiir.s or murder charges against Dr.

Ai-eriio Favor, a resident on the staff of Hospital. Prncvitrs the Manhattan dis-? i at'ornev office had counted on I expertise awl professional r-imrjfnri to help carry the case ua-nsr medical testimony. in 'i7. while oiking on the murder cases Imberuer tie 'est That is one of the rar i.nl mt complex in the history of inim.ii tui'-oiiv4V "0 Faro Safe I'nlil -70: MTA Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Harold Fisher said yesterday that the 50-cent subway and bus fare is safe through Decem-Der Commenting for the first time on predictions by the City Planning Commission that the fare will rise to 65 cents nest year, and to 90 cents by 1982. Fisher said the planning study "does not take into account the of increased federal subsidy money.

Mark Ljebrrmaa Si-Tu Mmffottv ii i ii-ii in niM HRISTMAS IS OVER and busi- i ness is business," wrote Franklin P. Adams long ago. Actually, business was business all during the recent holiday season with retailers raking it in. So now a Happy New Year to everyone and the hope and wish that our good resolutions won't be broken so easily. May capitalism, free enterprise, peace and tolerance flourish in 1978.

DUETS: The attractive brunette songwriter-singer Carol Bayer Sager segued from Marvin "A Chorus Line" Hamlisch to doing the scene with actor Hiram Keller. Carol and Marvin wrote the hit "Nobody Does It Better" together, but maybe she decided Hiram does it better That unlikely duo Sammy Cahn and Paul Williams were so funny on a recent Billboard awards show that NBC is frantically searching for a TV format to star the two of them. (Sammy is the famous imp who wrote many of Frank Sinatra's greatest hits before turning performer himself, and Paul is the cute little guy who copped an Oscar with Barbra Streisand for They'd make a terrific new odd couple The other day, two enormous talents were sitting having a friendly drink in the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Carol Connors (she got an Oscar nomination for the title song for "Rocky" and also wrote the "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" theme music) and brilliant Tom Sullivan, the blind singer, noticed Totie Fields passing by.

"Instead of wasting your time in bars why aren't you writing a song form me?" griped Totie en route to her own lunch table. By the time Totio left the Polo Lounge, she had been presented with a new song called "All My Tomorrows" by Connor and Sullivan. Totie will sing this one, her version of "I Did It My Way," at the Sahara in Vegas on Thursday and she'll also record it for WarnerCurb records Music is big business still and always three major studios and a number of independents have tried to snag rights to the Eagles' hit "Hotel California" to turn it into a movie. But the Eagles decided to make the movie themselves The thing is to get a good strong title onto your song hit, something like "Harper Valley P.T.A.," and then everybody wants to create a movie around it to cash in on the popularity. KICKING SAND In our eyes.

A big Arab consortium is going to make a bid to the Suma Corp. (the Howard Hughes group) to buy the Landmark Hotel in Las Vegas. They also want two parcels of undeveloped land on the Strip to build an international trade center. This is the first big Arab grab in the sands of Vegas Broadway is having a ball with the Donna Abe, at Exit, lids Adieu Says He Fielded World-Beaters By ALFRED MIELE Singing his swan song. Mayor Beame said yesterday his administration hail teen "clean and unmarred by venality and scandaL" Issuing a paee report.

Beame recited the edministration's efforts to "improve the quality of life for New Yorkers while maintaining solvency through the mot difficult fiscal crisis in the city's history. Beame noted that during his tenure New Yorkers "sang together proudly" Operation Sail, were host to a National Democratic Convention, won a World Series and "did not drop dead." The years ahead are years of rebuilding cased on the solid foundations we have carefully laid, Beame said. Despite criticism of his slow response to the fiscal crisis, Beame noter in his report that during his stay at City Hail "effective new mechanisms" were devised deal with the fiscal emergency. The mayor failed to point out in his report, however, that in March 1973, two month? before the Municipal Assistance Corp. was created, Beame himself suggested that something like it be set up Beame said that despite "constraints" set by the various watchdog agencies, administration "kept firm control of the city government and were able to responsive to all of the people without ugly and divisive polarization." Among the other achievements he listed: utting the city's full time work force by more than 61,500, mainly through ion.

A cer.t cut in last year's real estate tax rate. A S440 million tax reduction program to spur economic recovery here. iji-nimt! supera-encies to cut some of the city's overlapping buieauc- racies. Changing polite duty charts to add the equivalent of 900 police officers in hours spent on the job, and initiating one man patrol care. A Changing of the Guard Is Grade Mote lor Ed, Abe By BETH FALLON Sondra Locke: past "The Gauntlet" LOCKE-STEP: When you get a lot of heat and light and promo about new young actresses they often turn out to be dogs, but I agree with the Village Voice assessment that Sondra Locke in "The Gauntlet" gives "the most natural, unaffected performance of the year by a young actress." Watch this girl go her co-star Clint Eastwood's interest in her career and his hype for her haven't hurt any, either.

CINEMATICS: Columbia is so happy about the new Faye Dunaway starrer "Eyes" that they're said to be considering a sequel called "Contact Lens" Plenty of fashion people thought of it, but prize-winner Piero Dimitri will actually call his next show "Clothes Encounters of the Best Kind" Ann-Margret is training almost like a prizefighter for her role in the psycho-thriller "Magic." It will be her most demanding acting job since "Carnal Knowledge" Bidding is frantic for the new John Davis book "The Guggen-heims," all about the rich, rich, rich. Davis is a cousin of Jackie Onassis and Lee Radziwill and wrote a book about their forebears called "The Bouviers." This one has juicy sections on people like Peggy Guggenheim and her artist friends such as Jackson Pollock. Both movie and television execs see it as a feature or series. George Hamilton has decided to title his spoof about the famous vampire from Transylvania "Drac-ula Sucks." It will have the bloodthirsty count going to New York to get hii fangs into a Revlon cover girl. LEGIT? Les Schecter takes exception to Michael Butler's recent statement that nudity no longer sells tickets on Broadway.

Scheter cites "Oh! running since 1969, playing to millions and still "just as strong at the box office as when it first opened" as proving the exception. The cast of "Oh! Calcutta!" does doff its clothes at every performance and Schecter thinks the show's success proves that "there is still a place in our society for some harmless erotic fun!" (Schecter is the press agent for the show.) THE MALE GARBO: Okay, now it's all settled. Al Pacino's next movie definitely will be "Born on the Fourth of July," based on the shattering Ron Kovic book about a Vietnam veteran quadraplegic. Shooting begins in April around New Y'ork and Massapequa with Pacino's longtime mentor Marty Breg-man producing the Oliver Stone screenplay. Emmy winner Dan Petrie will direct Bregman is the man who helped bring movie-making back to the East with "Serpico" and "Dog Day Afternoon." To prove it, listen to his other projects (also shooting in April in Washington and New York) Alan Alda directed by Jerry Schatzberg in "The Senator" Then In the summer, Paci-no with Walter Mathau in "Tubie's Monument," with Carl Reiner at the heim all over New York and Marshall Brickman will direct his own screeplay for Bregman called "Simon," but that will be in the Midwest.

Don't ask me how a man can produce four films ught on top cf each other but Marty Bregman can jf anybody can. For Ed Koch, the move in will be easy. "He's just packing some or run eioines, ana well bring them up to Gracie Mansion on Saturday 1 1 or Sunday. said an aide. much as is.

and for the first couple of weeks at the mansion, he can sleep in a guest bedroom," she said. The new bed will probably be king-size. "He's a tall man. she said. The public rooms, and the down stairs sitting and dining rooms hi the 18-room mansion have their own furni ture.

with some tables and occasional pieces on loan from the Museum of the City of New Y'ork and other sources. "They have very graciously allowed us to keep them for now," said Mrs. Aschkenasy. Redecorating, which comes ivy VL feV s'n-S out of the Parks Department budget. For Beame.

the move out is more complicated. Koch is leaving his furniture in the Greenwich Village apartment he plan to keep. But she has a real move on all the Beame furni-t ire. clothing etc. goes to their new cooperat.ve apartmert on E.

79th St. tomorrow. "The mayor keeps sending up more piques and awartls from City Hall." a Barbara I.au'o. Mrs Beame's aide. "Mrs.

Beame keeps saying 'I don't kno ho 1 ra to tio it all' but she does There'll Be Some Furniture The move.s were at the mansion jesterilay. parking the pictures of the grandchildren and the family furniture om the private qaarters upstairs. Mrs. suffering from a virus, super-v And worried whera to put awards iiora more tnan 40 years in public life in a apartment. Koch will be ordering bedroom furniture for the mansion, said friend a.

tie Dotte As hken-aw. who was r.umfd his assistant for public events. "lies reaving hts apartment pretty will be minimal, she added. "A few things might need recovering, or Koch can get a S500 a week budget fo food and supplies for himself and a house staff of four, for cabinet meeting meals and the like, but "certainly does not have to spend all that," Mrs. Asch Totie Fields: it's her song kenasy said.

"He loves to entertain, and will be do'ng a lot of it," she said. Whether McKechnle Michael Bennett divorce, fighting and settlement rumors. So why are they around together having dinner with iriends? I'm not saying they won't divorce I'm saying the divorce may make things as Iriendly as before they married. hell still cook his own steaks, as he did at the Washington Place apartment, re mains to be seen..