NJN News; Friday March 20, 1998 [Master, Original]

You President Clinton decides to ease up a bit on Cuba. Reaction to the plan from New Jersey's Cuban community. Twenty thousand state workers get one of these today, a layoff notice. This as the Whitman administration and state worker unions prepare to do battle over civil service reform. I'm Jim Hooker and I'll have the story. The new president of the sports authority talks about future goals. A former Clinton White House intern and feminist now at Princeton discusses the Clinton scandal. And fishermen are up and

running, but the chat aren't. And JN News for Friday, March 20th. The first day of spring. Major funding for NJN News is made possible by Grants Truff. The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, which believes that an informed citizen relieves to a healthy democracy. The SEMG committed to serving customers strengthening the business community and investing in New Jersey's future. First union serves the financial needs of individuals and businesses from Connecticut to Florida. HIP Health Plan of New Jersey dedicated to providing quality health care to employees of large and small businesses, as well as individuals for two decades. And by Bell Atlantic, in partnership with public television, serving to form, fight and educate the citizens of New Jersey.

From NJN, the New Jersey Channel, the Emmy Award winning NJN News with Kent Manahan, Dick Forney with Business and Jerry Henry with Sports. Good evening. The Clinton administration has announced its easing Cuban sanctions. The United States today lifted a ban on direct flights to the Communist country. America will also allow cash to be sent by Cuban exiles to the island nation. In Washington, Secretary of State Albright said the president has also moved to permit humanitarian aid. The basis of any dictatorship's power is control. The more dependent people are on the state, the more they are controlled. We can help to lessen the Cuban people's dependence on the Cuban state by addressing humanitarian needs, aiding the development of a civil society and strengthening the role of the church and other non-governmental organizations.

Fidel Castro says he welcomes the climate of improved relations with the United States. But here in New Jersey, reaction to today's announcement is mixed. Hudson County Congressman Robert Menendez and other Cuban Americans remain skeptical. Belinda Morton has more. There are some 90,000 Cubans in New Jersey, most living in the Hudson County area. Today's news was met with mixed reaction. Be back, Clinton, and may God be with him. This thing is overdue. In a way, it's good, but in another way, he's also, I guess, encouraging for Delta to continue his dictatorship over Cuba. But the news for Anna Capriah aroused a different kind of emotion. For her, it's a reminder of the relatives she'll never see again and the thriving pharmacies owned by her parents that were taken over by Fidel Castro. We couldn't get a piece of gum. Somebody would send you gum and you would save it in the fridge for like a week. They had like this card.

You would go to the market with and you're all out like maybe a leader of milk a day. And I remember, you know, my mom would like dilute it with water so we could all drink milk. Congressman Robert Menendez is outraged over the plan, claiming it will reward the Castro regime despite its continued repression of civil and human rights in Cuba. When's the date for free elections? When are people like yourself independent journalists in Cuba going to be able to do their work without being arrested and put into jail because they have a different view than the state media? Representatives from the Archdiocese of Newark who visited Cuba with the Pope say the measures will help the people, not the government. The flights will contain humanitarian aid and also medical supplies and medical supports. And that will go straight to institutions that don't have anything to do with the government. Congressman Menendez says this is not about humanitarian assistance because

the U.S. has already sent some $2 billion in aid to Cuba over the last five years. I think that it will benefit the people that are there. But I don't really think it's going to change anything. Belinda Morton in JNU's Union City. New Jersey's Attorney General says sex offender notices can go home with school children. Peter Vernero issued new guidelines today. He said the notices schools receive regarding the highest risk offenders can be sent home with students. The information must be sealed and parents must sign a form saying that they've received the notices. Nearly a third of the New Jersey government workforce was issued layoff notices today. Two state institutions are set to close. That could set off a round of jockeying for jobs. As State House correspondent Jim Hooker reports, one union criticizes the flood of pink slips as a public relations stunt. This is a scare tactic that's being used to advance a political agenda

that the administration has for civil service reform. There's no way in hell that 20,000 people are going to be affected by this layoff. But 20,000 workers have been affected thanks to a blanket layoff notice that went out to virtually every worker in the State Department of Human Services today. The governor who called for civil service reform in our state of the state message denies any hidden agenda. These are a prime example of what's wrong with the civil service system. We are required by the civil service regulations to notify anyone who might be impacted by a layoff in that in their department. Whitman blames the civil services so-called bumping system where more senior workers targeted for layoff can set off a chain reaction by bumping less senior workers out of jobs. The institutions scheduled to close next month will cost fewer than 1,000 workers their jobs. The layoff notices tell workers that while they may not be targeted for layoff quote, it is still possible that you may be affected by the exercise of other employees bumping rights. It makes low morale and, you know, it's definitely a sobering thing.

Margie Capallo says you can bet the notices are taking their toll on human services workers. You have to sit and wait until July. Now, okay, here you go. Here's your notice. Now sit around and wait. I mean, how many sleepless nights is that? It's not something we want to do. Believe me, this is, it's part of what is required under current civil service regulation. The administration is moving to change that by limiting seniority and narrowing the scope of bumping rights. Unions are promising a battle. The government has historically been plagued by patronage and cronism. We don't need to have a return to that system. The administration hopes to have reforms in place by fall. Jim Hooker and JN News. Should roads besides the turnpike Atlantic City Expressway and Garden State Parkway have a 65 mile an hour speed limit. Three state lawmakers want all of Interstate 287, 78 and nearly all of I-80 to test the higher speed limit too. Governor Whitman is against the idea of adding more roadways to the list.

They agreed to 400. I mean, they knew it. It was part of the negotiation to suddenly now come forward with 700 miles, but it doesn't make any sense. The higher speed limit is due to go into effect in May. New Jersey is one of three states that does not have a 65 mile an hour speed limit. State troopers in Morris and Sussex counties can again use laser guns to nail speeders up to a thousand feet away. A judge in Morris town has lifted a 1996 ban, saying he wasn't convinced the device is measured speed accurately. In the ruling, though, the judge did say he was satisfied with the results, even though they're not perfect. The court also says expert testimony is required when troopers clock vehicles more than a thousand feet away. Call it Divorce 101. Parents may soon have to attend class before getting a New Jersey divorce. The Senate has passed a bill requiring couples to learn how to help their children cope with the breakup. Parents wouldn't have to take the course together. The measure now heads on to the assembly.

If the governor signs the bill, New Jersey would become the 12th state to require such a course. There's a new president at the helm of the sports and exposition authority. Dennis Robinson has been approved by the board of directors. Robinson was second in command at the authority under former chief Bob Mulkehi. He takes over the reins of the metallands operation as well as Mom with Park Race Track and the Atlantic City Convention Center. A couple of quick goals we'd like to do is move forward with the net's negotiation. We'd like to move forward with implementation of the governor's recommendations from the racing commission study. And move forward on East Hall. Look at the renovation of the arena and implement the Wildwood. So we have a lot on our plate. Governor Whitman says Robinson is the right choice for the job. His appointment comes with a salary of $182,000 a year. Meantime Mulkehi takes over next month as the new athletic director at Rutgers. At a taping of this week's on the record program, Michael Aaron asked him to respond to critics who say Rutgers should spend more on academics instead

of trying to become another Penn State. First of all, nobody's trying to be Penn State. What they're trying to do is be competitive in the biggest and win your share of games. But it's been clearly demonstrated around the country that success in the athletic field brings an image and a pride to an institution far out of proportion than the other accomplishments. For example, if you pick up the sports page and you can read Rutgers all over the place, you can find a professor that's made a startling discovery and it's buried in a little two-inch story somewhere inside. And you can see more of Michael Aaron's interview with Robert Mulkehi on the record tonight at 6.30 and Sunday morning repeated at 11 a.m. There's more to come tonight on NJN News. What young feminists are saying about the Clinton sex scandal. A Princeton student and former Clinton White House intern speaks out. And Mother Nature casts some frustration for Jersey Shad Fisherman.

More developments today in the Clinton sex scandal case. The president's attorney has asked a court to dismiss Paula Jones sexual harassment case claiming there's no evidence to support it. It's the latest in the ongoing scandal that's dividing feminists.

Our next generation reporter Mary Ann Bennett has reaction from two young feminists one of former White House intern who's now at Princeton University. Some call it the hottest political scandal of the decade. Others call it a lie. I did not have sexual relations with that woman. Miss Lewinsky. Others aren't saying anything more about it just yet. In the White House scandal really hits home. Sujata Barai, a feminist and a former White House intern in the Clinton administration, says the allegations are extremely troubling. It was an inherently very unequal power relationship. I mean, you have the president and you have an intern in the White House. And I've been an intern in the White House. You're pretty much the lowest on the totem pole. It was just completely inappropriate for it to happen in that setting. The former swirling around the presidency are a serious possibility. She's not alone.

Ocean County resident Christine Dress met Clinton last summer through the program Girls Nation. She thinks he and Lewinsky had an affair, but she doesn't think it's important. She was 20 years old. She knew what she was doing. I mean, I know that. I mean, I think she was a young girl that said, oh, the president of the United States. She knew. She knew he's married. She knew everything. I mean, the responsibility lies on both parties, I think. Burai says her feminism comes before a party affiliation, but she says that's exactly where the problem lies. Feminists still want to support the Democrat that supported so many women's issues. It's been kind of similar to what the larger feminist movement has been going through of really wanting to hang on to someone that has been good for them in the policy arena, but increasingly finding it more difficult to do. Meanwhile, Burai says she isn't withdrawing her support for Clinton, but if the allegations turn out to be true, she feels appropriate measures should be taken, even if that means impeachment. Marianne Bennett, NJN News. The next legislative elections are more than a year and a half away in New Jersey,

but that hasn't stopped some lawmakers from already gearing up for their next campaigns. The more frequent fundraisers are the topic of our two political insiders this week, Republican Roger Bodman and Democrat Jim McQueenie. Well, Jim, today is a change of seasons, but seasons never change when it comes to raising money in trend. They're raising it like all crazy. Well, I think we ought to look at that. It's like a plague that's descended from the federal government and federal races now into the state. It used to be congressmen, used to hoard this money to sort of keep out challenges, get a big war chest to scourge anyone from running against them, but here now it's gone to the state level. Senators and assemblymen and women are hoarding this money so that no one runs against them. It's a little unsavory. You know as well as I do what's driving the cost of these campaigns. You're in the communications business as AMI. I mean, the cost of television commercials, cable television, direct mail, postage, all this kind of stuff is going up and up and up and up and up. And it's very, very difficult, as you well know, to communicate in a state in New Jersey. Well, maybe Republicans should follow Nancy Reagan if I was just saying no. Stop accepting some of that money and basically put some reform in place.

Someone has got to control this money. What's your idea of reform? Public financing, usually Democrats say, let the taxpayers pay for campaigns. We Republicans don't think that's a good idea. Get rid of these side committees where you put all this money in leadership packs and the legislature, where all this money comes in, unattributed or vaguely attributed. It's not. You really want to just say, hey, you obviously don't understand New Jersey election law. Every reporting dollar that comes into those campaigns has got to be reported. The governor this year called for all of that to go on the internet so people know exactly who gave to who and when. Well, I like Donnie DeFrancisco's suggestion of the Senate president. He said, any money that comes from out of state should not be matched here. I think that's a good start for government. That's just for gubernatorial campaigns where we do have this kind of curious public funds. Well, you guys are in leadership positions controlling the legislature. Let's see some reform from you guys. What's it going to be? Well, you know what it's going to be. I think the system we're just flying the way. What's going to be more money in the system, meanwhile back to you. Thank you, gentlemen. You're going to make your business report that exciting? Well, I don't know. Talk about money anyway. The surge of buying blows the top off the Dow industrial average again.

We'll have the market round up. And four North Jersey weekly newspapers are adopted by a publishing powerhouse. The sales are coming up. Stay with us. Thank you. Consolidation, Dick, is the way to keep some of the newspapers going? Yes, indeed. Just about a week ago.

I guess it was our reporter Jim Hookard and his story about the difficulties in many newspapers you're going through and getting bought by a bigger one and sometimes the way to keep going. Northern New Jersey publishing giant macro media incorporated parent company of the Bergen record is extending its reach. The company has purchased four Essex County weekly newspapers for an undisclosed price. The papers owned by the Iraqi publications of Nutley include the Belleville Times, Bloomfield Life, the Nutley Sun and the Glen Ridge Voice. And I project them in a couple of years. They'll be more economically rewarding. They better serve the communities because of the depth of the assets of the Bergen record. Mr. Reckier, by the way, is retiring. The foreign papers have a combined paid circulation of about 11,000. The purchase brings the number of papers owned by the Hackensack headquarters macro media to 20. And according to macro media's president, it's looking for more weeklies to add to its table. Tiny Eastwind Airlines which began its life at Trenton Mercer County Airport a few years ago

today said it will resume flying nonstop from the capital city to Boston. January, Eastwind made a decision to discontinue the service and that was due to several factors of one of which was fair wars in both Newark and Philadelphia area. Since that time, we've received numerous phone calls, letters and petitions warning us to resume the service back into Boston. So therefore we're going to go ahead and resume that service on April 6th. Eastwind will offer two daily round trips from Trenton to Boston in addition to its service to five southern US cities. The airline is also expecting two new Boeing 737 aircraft, something like these next month, expanding its fleet of jets to five. Some fans lost interest in baseball as a result of the 1994-95 major league players strike. And one candid county company says that same strike is driven it to bankruptcy. Cherry Hill based scoreboard incorporated makes, and my market said, is baseball cards and sports memorabilia. Well, his scoreboard says its baseball card sales dropped off during this strike and never fully recovered.

As we thought the company has filed for chapter 11 when it could no longer make its loan payments. Well, if it wasn't nailed down, it was bought up on Wall Street today with some notable exceptions. A strong rally in blue chips boosted the Dow average to above the 8900 level for the first time ever. The Dow soared 103 and a third to close at the 8906 level. The MX composite rose about a point. However, technology stocks were out of favor again today. They'll be back in favor soon. And that pulled down the Nasdaq composite nearly 11 points. The S&P 500 rose nearly nine and a half. Bonds were going to lackluster again. The 30-year issue up a quarter point in price. And that is the day in business, Ken. Thank you, Dick. No record in the weather department, though. Still to come tonight, we'll check the weekend forecast for you and jury what he has its sports. The record is ready for Tennessee and a look at the high school hockey championship. Sports is next. Hockey championship gets underway tonight.

That's right. You might say that you're down to the final four in high school play. At the metallands tonight, the parochial and public school ice hockey titles will be on the line. Parochial power, Seton Hall Prep is the number one team in the state and defending state champs. Seton Hall Prep will put its 23 and 2 record on the line against Del Barton. Seton Hall holds a 3-2 edge over Del Barton in state tournament play. Well, we've been pretty lucky so far in the fact that, you know, we've really shown up for our big games. Winning the Gordon Cup, winning up the Connecticut Classic, winning the league championship and stuff like that. Everything's falling into place, but, you know, we've also dropped the top one at Hill. I thought we played real well down there. We ran to a hockey all-pender and then we played down the ocean ice pothascans bricks, so we split with them. The funny thing is, it's just like the NCAAs. I mean, last year Kansas had a great run in basketball and then they lost. I don't know if it was in the sweet 16 or whatever.

And that great season they had was wiped off the boards because of one game. So what they call the playoffs, the parochial winner will take on the winner of the public school match between Montclair and Brick for the state championship Monday night. Speaking of the NCAAs, Rowan's women's basketball team is in the final four of the division three tournament for the first time ever. They will take on Washington University of Missouri tonight. That game is in Maine. And Rutgers will go back into the national spotlight tomorrow night taking on Tennessee, the number one ranked team in the country. It's called at nights will be tested by the balls who are 35 and old this season. They are finally playing the players that they've heard the great names about and the great coach and the tradition. And right there in Tennessee and all that, but you know something? I can honestly say that when the pairings came out and they announced that we were invited to the NCAAs beyond who we were playing, which was the University of Oregon first. The first thing that this team started screaming when they saw the name was Tennessee. And so they were, yes, forgetting to have to play Tennessee.

So we worked hard to get to Tennessee. So it's not surprising something that we're happy to be able to do. And it gives us an opportunity to go right to the top and go straight to the very best. And we'll find out. Of course, that game is at eight o'clock tomorrow. That should have been an exciting contest. On the coaching range, we do know that Seaton Hall coach Tommy Amaker won't be going to Michigan because that school today announced that they are hiring the interim coach there as their full time head coach. So Seaton Hall's safe for now at least. That's pretty quickly. All right, Jerry. Thank you. Well, another great drizzly day today. Here's a look at the New Jersey Weekend forecast in the northern part of the state tonight periods of rain with the low of 35 overnight. Tomorrow, the showers will continue possibly mixing in with some snow just in time for spring. A high of 45 in South Jersey tonight, expect showers with lows in the upper 30s. And tomorrow, periods of rain with highs in the 40s. Finally, tonight at spring arrived today in many anglers suffering from cabin fever, are getting out there fishing equipment in anticipation of the annual Shad run. But a recent change in the weather has slowed the normally fast run to a trickle.

Our Kent St. John reports. The annual Shad migration up the Delaware River is sent to have begun early this year due to a mild winter. We've had a warm winter. And the ocean water has been 40 up in the 40s most all winter. And we've caught Shad at 42 temperature. Did we say El Nino is the cause of this? Well, everything else was blanked on it. We can blame that on this too. But a recent snap of cold weather has slowed the Shad run. It not only signals the beginning of spring, but the fish is also the center of the annual Shad festival next month. Here at Holcomb Island, they've been monitoring the migration by netting and tagging the fish. They come from fly off the coast of Florida or the southern states. They come up the river and after they spawn in the river here, they'll go on up to Nova Scotia. Because of cleaner Delaware water, the number of Shad has increased. With the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, we're reaping the benefits of that now. So, you know, the Shad are on the increase.

There's more strippers in the river. Wall eyes are increasing in numbers as far as catches, so it's really cleaned up. Jake Holcomb has been fishing the river for more than half a century and not just for Shad. Like Mark says, this river is full of strippers. I mean, it's full of strippers. There's a goal to never have that. Yeah, there's juvenile snipers, there's adults as strippers up here. They've been catching them up here, what Mark, 20 pounds. To catch Shad, all you need is a Shad dart. I'm not going to line one anyway. I mean, a bad day fish has been a good day at work. So it was off to try our luck, but it didn't take long to figure out that. They're not fighting. I can guarantee you they're not fighting. So all fishermen can do is look at the river and dream about what's to come. Ken St. John, NJN News, Lambert Bell, Hunterton County. He's our newsroom junior, right? That's our news for tonight. I'm Ken Matahand for Jerry and all of us here at NJN. Have a good weekend, everyone. You

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