NJN News; Thursday July 2, 1998

Keep your patience idling. Millions take to New Jersey's roadways as the holiday rush gets underway. Many of those people are beach bound. I'm Jim Hooker at the Jersey Shore and I'll have the story. One South Jersey business is fired up for the 4th of July celebrations. Jersey City could soon turn a page in its library operations and a teacher who's made a mark. NJN News for Thursday, July 2. Major funding for NJN News is made possible by Grants Truff. The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, which believes that an informed citizen reads to a healthy democracy. The SE&G, 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 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, Atlantic Forney with Business and Jerry Henry with Sports. Bring along plenty of patience as millions take to the roads for this three-day weekend. Good evening. The July 4th holiday crunch is on. And whether it's by car, bus, train or plane, travel is expected to be hectic. Today will be the most travel day of the holiday weekend. And New Jersey roads will be packed.

It's projected that more than four million vehicles will use the Garden State Parkway over the weekend. State police in marked and unmarked cars are using radar to track speeders along the 173 mile tow road. The heaviest volume of traffic is expected at toll plazas. And the turnpike will be no different, so brace for bumper to bumper backups there too. Officials expect about three million vehicles to travel the tow road. The heaviest volume is predicted for today, about 700,000 cars and trucks. One of the busiest spots will be Southbound traffic at interchange 11, where the turnpike meets the parkway in Woodbridge. 19 people lost their lives on New Jersey roads during last year's 4th of July holiday. To better respond to highway emergencies, the state police and Department of Transportation have announced they're merging their dispatch rooms on nights and weekends. That means the first official to respond to the scene of an accident now only has to make one phone call. That's instead of two.

Let's say a trooper is out on the road patrolling, sees an emergent situation an accident. He may have to make several calls or she may have to make several calls. Now one call will go into one central unit and we could dispatch DOT, we could dispatch state troopers. I think it will cut our efficiency time. Excuse me, we'll cut our response time and in an emergent situation we want to be as efficient as possible. The Attorney General also warned New Jersey drivers that speed limits will be strictly enforced, he says, over this weekend. And of course, thousands of people here in New Jersey on the roads are headed to the shore for this holiday weekend. That's where our gym hooker is standing by and seaside heights with more on the beach getaway. Having fun, Jim? Okay, Ken, a lot of those folks are starting to stream in here as we speak. In fact, we've got a bit of a crowd of tourists around us just now. But it's been a beautiful day down here at the shore and we found a lot of people who are already enjoying themselves. Harold Gay of Mountainside and her clan are among tens of thousands of vacationers flocking to the Jersey shore this weekend for the 4th of July holiday.

It's a three-day weekend, many are looking forward to with some getting an early jump. Well, I'm just going to relax and I think the kids are going to enjoy the board walls and the beach. So far, it's wonderful because I got my daughter with me now, you know, and that's... She's her first time down here and it's wonderful. How you liking it, honey? I like it. There's plenty to do with the shore this weekend from sailing. Now, that's your catch to crabby. Yeah, pizza chicken, the chicken backs. Cooked fried barbecue, what? Raw. Others preferred the boardwalk here at seaside heights, some trying their hand at the games. Which, in this case, found even a former army machine gun expert overmatched. Likewise, for your roving reporter. Yeah, that's close, sir. I'm still up somewhere out there. Pretty good shit. No cigar.

And, of course, there's the beach. Hey, there's found the waters to be just a bit chilly. It's freezing. It made my hands numb. Okay, the waters may be cool, as that little girl said. 50-some degrees this morning, but the Department of Environmental Protection reported to us today that the beaches up and down the shore are all clean and all ready for swimming. Now, here at seaside heights, we saw some motel vacancy signs today. But when we went into the motels to ask about them, they said they'll be down by tomorrow. So, if you don't have room reservations, plan on being a day-tripper. I'm Jim Hooker reporting from seaside heights. Can't back to you in the studio. Each looks beautiful. Thank you, Jim. And if you take to the air or pick up some out-of-town travelers at Newark Airport, be aware it will also be a mob scene. More than a million passengers on nearly 17,000 flights are expected to fly into and out of New York's three major metropolitan airports through Sunday. Just in time for the holiday, the airport has added at Newark 2,000 parking spaces. Meanwhile, there are subtracting expenses from a redecorating budget at the Garden State Parkway headquarters in Woodbridge.

After this week's criticism about what some called lavish spending, there have been some changes made. The $2,500 leather couch is gone, so are the $1,300 leather chairs, and the $2,500 Parkway Authority lobby logo. It's too late, though, to scrap the $12,000 reception desk and the $14,000 custom oak paneling they're already bought. Well, it can cost plenty to put on a fireworks display, and like any good show, it's usually what goes on behind the scenes that can mean success for the audience. Maureen DeFi got a chance to see what goes on on the ground before the fireworks reach the sky. To the spectator, it's a half-hour enjoyment. To the pyrotechnic, it's a year's worth of work. Like in this scene to the North Pole on Christmas Eve, Daron Fireworks and Vineland, two days before Independence Day. I'm pretty calm because I have basically everything under control.

I do have enough trucks, I have enough product. I always have extra, extra operators. Daron's been the conductor of many fireworks shows for 18 years now. She married into the family that started the business 87 years ago. Doing the Taj Mahal, doing Trump Marina, Stone Harbor Ocean City, C.I.L. They are just a few of the places you can catch at your own show. The price tag on one of those bigger shows. The Taj Mahal is a $40,000 budget. For that price, there are about 2,000 pieces of fireworks and lots of ground displays. 50 trucks, 90 shows, three days, sound intense. Well, Daron says her business just keeps increasing. As many townships want their own shows now, in preparation for the year 2000 celebration. For that year 2000, it's just going to be chaotic because everybody's going to win fireworks. In fact, Daron already has bookings for that night. But today, her eye is on this Saturday to make sure what you see was worth waiting for all year.

Born Duffy and JN News, Vineland. And if you're wondering where to go to see some of the most extravagant fireworks displays July 4th, here's some suggestions for you. Atlantic City has several shows along the boardwalk. In Long Branch, there will be a display at the Ocean Fest celebrations. Mercer County Park will have its annual fireworks show. In Patterson, the fireworks will go on at the West Side Park. And the Mansfield Burlington County Show will be at the Tri-County Fairgrounds. And for a really big show, you can head down to areas along Manhattan's East River. As Macy celebrates its Centennial July 4th fireworks on Saturday night. Still to come tonight, on NJN News, a teacher who's truly made the grade. A North Jersey City wants to book its library system in private hands. Accu-puncture. If it works for man, why not for man's best friend? I'm Sarah Lee Kestler, Bad Story, and tonight's Health Watch.

If you have a comment, call NJN News at 1-800-Jersey-1. Or our email address, NJN News at AOL.com. . Investigators expect to unearth more bones

to be found. The school was found yesterday near where the skeletal remains of Barry Dullman were discovered in Northfield Monday. The house was recently sold in a new owner called police after finding a thigh bone in the basement. Police say Ernest Ireland beat Dullman to death and buried him in that basement in 1985. In Ocean County, a woman is charged in her infant's death after the baby was left inside a car. Officials say Malke Pinter, apparently, forgot her four-month-old daughter was in the vehicle. Authorities say the cause of death appears to be exposure to high temperatures over the course of three hours. Governor Whitman has closed the financial pipeline between New Jersey and Switzerland. She ordered state pension officials not to make any new investments in Swiss banks. They're suspected of holding assets of Holocaust victims. The controversy continues in Jersey City over a plan to bring in a private company to manage the public library system there. The mayor says it will improve services.

But as Belinda Morton explained, some employees want to slam the book shut on this idea. Employees at the Jersey City Public Library are fighting a plan by the mayor to bring in a private firm out of Maryland to run it. The same company took over the daily operations of a California library last July. It was the first in the nation to be turned over to private management. The company would manage the main library, the 11 neighborhood branches, and the system's $6 million budget. Employees and other critics are outraged over the possibility that a public library could be managed by a public company. We feel that we don't need an outside firm to come in and do the management of the library. One of our major concerns is the control of information. In a free public library, the citizens have access in a private concern. The private company decides what's purchased. They decide what information is available to the public. They maybe want to close branches and cut services out and blame us, which they've been trying to do for five or six years now. We're not privatizing the library. The privatized something means that we're going to sell the library. That's not happening.

It is still going to be free to be more books than ever. You'll have more hours than ever, and you'll have, let's say, better services than ever. Some residents aren't buying the mayor's explanation for the proposal. Well, if it is private, then there has to be a cost there. And right now, for people like me and like students and other people who are hard pressed, it would be prohibited. The library board of trustees are expected to vote on the proposed plan later this summer. Belinda Morton, NJN News, Jersey City. Students at two state colleges will have to dig deeper into their pockets this fall. The tuition is on the rise. Students at Ramapo College will pay nearly 9% more in tuition beginning in September. And William Patterson University is hiking tuition by 9.5%. That translates to hundreds of dollars more each semester. Even though state aid in colleges increased for next year, the colleges say it's still not enough. The Jersey City School District could soon be free of state control, but Newark schools continue to slide. Education Commissioner Leo Kleikold says test scores have improved, and Jersey City is, quote, very close to taking back control of its schools possibly next year, he says.

In Newark, however, this year's high-school math proficiency test results show only 50% of Newark's 11th graders passed. And that's down sharply from last year's 62% pass rate. And a reminder, what makes education really work? Great teachers. A hundred and county teacher has scored tops in the nation. Florence McGinn teaches high school English. As Rich Young reports, this national teacher of the year teaches English in a totally innovative way. Look around Florence McGinn's classroom, and you might think you're in a computer lab. In reality, it's an English class. McGinn teaches writing and poetry to students at 100 in central high school. What's unique is that everything is on a computer. Her program is considered so innovative technology and learning magazine named her as its national teacher of the year. McGinn says it's a job she cherishes. But I love working with kids. I love working with kids, the learning process, how the kids learn, and letting them express themselves.

That expression comes alive with the school's own website. It means creativity here is critiqued by the world. A big part of McGinn's class is an online literary magazine called Electric Soup. It started out with students just from this school contributing. Now they get articles sent in from around the world. It includes poetry essays and short stories. McGinn says the feedback is tremendous, the learning unique. We teach them how to think, not what to think. McGinn says she prides herself on never lecturing in front of a class. This is all 101. Her energy in the classroom is incredible and very infectious towards the writing process. She gave us enough independence that we could go our own way, yet we always had her guidance. At a time when most of these students should be at the beach, these are just a few who are spending their summer working on a new pilot project. McGinn says her classroom is seldom closed and students take advantage of it. Riching NJN News, Flemington. Still ahead tonight on NJN News, a check of Wall Street numbers coming up.

And how about some Urshwin to sound off your celebrations this holiday? It's all you, embrace me, you hear us. In tonight's health watch, AccuPuncher for Fluffy or Fido. Elton Medical correspondent Sarah Lee Kessler in her continuing series on alternative medicine in the mainstream caught up with some dogs who don't mind a little needling.

This 12-year-old Labrador has been hobbled by age and arthritis for the past two years. She has to be helped off and on the bed and in the car and that sort of thing. Last January, Samantha's been getting relief through AccuPuncher. Her Morris County veterinarian, Brian Boynick, is one of only a handful in New Jersey certified to do it. The number one reason that I see dogs and cats for a severe arthritis. Probably the second most common is kidney failure. Following vitamin B12 injections combined with 12 minutes of AccuPuncher, Samantha is good to go and feeling pretty well for about the next two weeks. Dr. Boynick says this ancient form of Chinese needle therapy works by boosting the release of cortisone and endorphins. He does 65 to 100 treatments a month. There's no antibiotics needed. In fact, some of these points, she's going to make some kisses here.

Some of these points are actually, or actually, you know, points to stimulate the immune system. AccuPuncher has certainly done wonders for Susie. This toxin was paralyzed when brought to Dr. Boynick three years ago. She couldn't use her back legs at all. They were just, uh, just dragged by the front legs. AccuPuncher is not a silver bullet, but it certainly is an excellent adjunct. Especially at less than $50 a treatment. You love these things, don't you? Early Catholic and JN News Randall. Dick is off tonight. I have a look at business. The holiday weekend is about to get underway. As we've been telling you in one of the places, they'll be packing them in Atlantic City. A Wild Wild West casino at Bally's Park Place turns a year old this month, and there's some celebrating going on. Since its opening, Bally says gone from decreasing winds to double digit increases, according to the Casino Control Commission. In 1997, before Wild Wild West opened, revenues for the first five months of the year showed no growth. When the Atlantic City Casino industry as a whole had revenue increases of 4%.

Now, a year later, Bally's Park Place says the casino has experienced a nearly 33% growth rate in the first five months of 1998. That compares to the industry's 2.5% increase. That puts Bally's total winds so far this year up some $50 million from the same time period last year. The stock market finished a holiday shortened week mixed with moderate trading today. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 23.5 closing at the 9025 level, but Gainers led losers on the broad market. For the week, the Dow gained just over 80 points, about 1%. The AMX dropped one and a third on the day today, the NASDAQ lost more than 20. The S&P 500 slipped to, and among the treasuries, the 30-year-long bond was up 14-30 seconds. It's yielded at 5.59%. Still to come tonight, a check of our holiday forecast for you and Jerry, how about sports? Wild Wild gets ready for its big tennis classic, that story. Next.

You're talking about tennis, stateside, I know tonight, but a little bit of surprise in Wimbledon today. That's right. Number three meets number one. Add Wimbledon today in the women's semi-finals. The last teenager in the draw and the number one seed was knocked out 17-year-old Martina Hing. Hing is serving here, became the youngest women's champion in the open era at Wimbledon. That was last year. This year, Hing is ran into veteran Yana Navatna, who appears to be playing her best tennis these days. Navatna came from behind and both sets to knock off the defending champ 6-4, 6-4.

She will be the favorite in Saturday's finals against Natalie Toziat, the first French woman, by the way, to reach the finals in 73 years. Of course, following Wimbledon, it's back to the hard courts as players get ready for the U.S. Open. Mauwa is one of the stops for some of the top women on the tour on the 13th. The A&P tennis classic is set for the 21st, 4th, 24th season. There's always a popular stop as the ladies get back at the hard court shape. This year's field will feature a popular champion. We've got a terrific field. We've got our five-time champion, Staffey Graff returning. Of course, she's making a comeback after a series of injuries and illnesses and just bad luck. And we're looking forward to having Staffey here going for her 6th title. We'll also be joined by Anna Kornakova, who's the newest teen Vixen on the tour. And she's a big fan favorite. And we're looking forward to having Anna back. She was a finalist in the tournament last year and a semi-finalist last year at Wimbledon as well. The tournament also features two concerts, one by the Beach Boys, where you'll see Stefi Graff and special performance. That's Etch and Stone. That's definitely going to happen. And if she does it, I'll be amazed.

But it's part of her contract that she gets to play the drums. So, that she wanted to do it and we wanted her to do it. And her agent said, what if she doesn't know the words to the song? And I said, Barbara Ann only has two words. And I'm sure even Staffey can figure out how to get that one right. Let's see. Stefi Graff on drums and tennis. How about that, Beach Boys? What work did you ask for? That's right. 13th through the 19th at Mawa. That's great. Thank you, Jerry. I guess you'd have to say today was pretty great tennis weather. At least here in New Jersey, we had plenty of sunshine. Temperatures stayed mainly in the mid-80s and not too much humidity. Well, here's a look at your three-day holiday weekend forecast. In North Jersey tonight, skies will be clear with lows in the mid-60s overnight. Tomorrow, sunny, with highs in the 80s. And Independence Day and Sunday, here's a look, partly sunny, with a chance of an afternoon shower. Both days, highs in the upper 80s. Both days. Here's a look at your South Jersey weather. Tonight, clear with lows in the mid-50s. Tomorrow, sunny, with highs in the mid-80s. And on July 4th and Sunday, too, expect partly sunny skies with a chance of showers. Both days, a high of 90 degrees. Not too bad.

Finally, tonight, you can enjoy this holiday by celebrating George Gershwin's music. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has scheduled a number of all Gershwin Park concerts. About 5,000 people came to Westfield last night to hear soprano Susanne Ishii sing some of George and Ira Gershwin's all-time favorites. Anisa Mejidi also listened in. Embraceable you, George and Ira Gershwin's best loved song. It's from the 1930 Broadway hit, Girl Crazy. It's just delicious. It's delicious to wrap your tongue around all of those words. It's deliciously fulfilling, heart-wise to sing that beautiful music. The Maplewood resident concertizes with orchestras around the world. And she's excited to sing a series in her own backyard.

As a singer, there's nothing more exciting or fulfilling than standing in front of an orchestra of extraordinary musicians. And, you know, the other lovely thing is the kids are running around and they're dancing and there's a freedom and there's just a joy there. Susanne Ishii is as comfortable on the indoor concert stage as she is in the park and on Broadway, too. Her new CD with Duo Partner Mark Hardy brings Broadway favorites to audiences beyond Broadway, just as this park series does. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra is celebrating the 100th birthday of George Gershwin who died in 1937, only 39 years old. Amisa Mehdi, NJN News, Westfield. Oh, how lovely. And the park series continues tonight in Wayne tomorrow in Paramas and on Sunday in Montclair.

And that's our news for tonight. I'm Kent Manahan for Jerry. We wish you safe and happy holiday. Good night from all of us. You You

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