NJN News; Tuesday March 26, 1996

Major funding for NJN News is made possible by grants from the Geraldine Ardodge Foundation, which believes that an informed citizen released to a participatory democracy. PSENG, committed to serving customers, strengthening the business community, and investing in New Jersey's future. First fidelity is now first union, serving 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, the heart of communication, in partnership with public television, serving to inform and lighten and educate the citizens of New Jersey. NJN News with Kent Manahan, Dick Forney with Business, and Pat Scanlon with Sports.

Hundreds of homes are evacuated in Hunterden County after a gas explosion and fire at an industrial gas plant. Evening, the blaze is under control at this hour after burning for most of the day in Kingwood Township. Rich Young has more on the explosion and aftermath. The explosion happened here just before 9 this morning at the Hunterden industrial gas plant. Investigators say workers wear apparently pouring chemicals or gases from a tube when they spilled and caught fire. Employees tried to contain the blaze, but quickly burning gases and high winds hampered their efforts. The winds were concerned because of the fact of the gases and the potential explosion. There was a house on the other side of the road with the initial explosion of fire that also caught fire. That one home was destroyed and another was damaged. Within minutes of the explosion, hundreds of firefighters and rescue personnel from two states converged on the scene.

The plant manufactures and sells various chemicals and gases, materials that could explode if mixed with water, so firefighters were forced to sit back and let the blaze burn out. We have everything from a settling liquid oxygen. We have calcium carbide, just a mix mash of everything in there. There's probably a total, I'd rather say maybe about 23 different chemicals in the building. One plant worker was injured, a half dozen others escaped unharmed. The fire also forced the evacuation of residents in about 200 nearby homes. And Deser lives just across on the plant and said the site seemed like a war scene. Just constant explosions, you know, every 30 seconds, every 15 seconds, a lot of explosions and no rattle in the houses. This was not the first incident at this facility, last summer, the owner of the plant died in an explosion there. Some nearby residents are now questioning whether this factory belongs in a residential area. It's too big for, you know, for where it's at. I got no room next man, right next to the road.

They've been fighting many a time for having their trucks too close to the 29. Cynthia Hart soar Nell owns a facility, but she would not speak to the media. The blaze was contained about 1 o'clock this afternoon. It also shut down Route 29 in the area. Firefighters are still waiting for an all clear from the Department of Environmental Protection before residents will be permitted back into their homes. That's expected later on this evening. Rich Young, NJN News, Kingwood Township. It was back to work for thousands of New Jersey General Motors workers today after being off the job for more than two weeks. The plant shut down during the Midwest auto workers strike. Jerry Henry was in Linden this morning when the first shift arrived. Some 2500 workers at the plant returned for the first time since March 12th. The workers were laid off because of a strike in Ohio that affected 44 plants in North America, mainly because of a shortage of parts. I'm glad to be back working. I hope whatever they strain down, I hope they stop the outsourcing or whatever, and I just say I'm glad to be back.

It feels good to be back only one thing. I think the company is giving us a real shift in because by bringing us back today instead of tomorrow, we'll lose our unemployment. Workers in Dayton, Ohio went on strike earlier this month because of GM's efforts to outsource work to non-union shops. Union leaders here echo the workers who most say we're not out long enough for the layoff to affect their personal finances. The strike will sell out in Dayton. Although the issues that were resolved there, there's not effect issues for us and they've come in agreement. But we're all happy to be back to work and we're going to come forward to September. We're going to get down to the new degree and try to get this thing straight now. Linden is home to at least 200 workers at the plant. Their return has the city's mayor breathing a little easier. It's hard for me to measure the impact that this short strike had on us, but it definitely wasn't a good impact when it was bad, it couldn't help us. However, it's still waiting to see for some 800 workers in Ewing who may not be back to work until later this week. Jerry Henry, NJN News, Linden. State officials tell NJN News they plan to look into whether funds were mismanaged in

the Cherry Hill school district. School board members there have asked the State Department of Education to find out how dozens of line item appropriations in the 1995-96 budget changed without the board's approval. The district's current budget is more than $92 million. Education officials would not discuss specifics of the pro, but they did confirm that it is expected to begin at the end of next month. It was called a protest and vigil for clean water in Trenton today by members of the Society of Friends from across the state. The Quaker Group was joined by environmentalists to oppose new water protection regulations, proposed by the State Environmental Protection Department, as not stringent enough. The group says water quality in New Jersey is at risk. We need to be willing to recognize the importance of the environment to our futures and to figure out what we need to do to stop messing it up. State environmental officials say the new rules will not endanger New Jersey's water supplies

and will help protect drinking water from pollutants, such as runoff from lawn fertilizers and construction sites. Since Ritalin only as directed, SIBA pharmaceuticals, the summit-based manufacturer of the popular medication for hyperactive children is issuing the warning amid reports that some youngsters are using the drug to get high. More than 100,000 pharmacists will be receiving material from SIBA for distribution to parents and school nurses about Ritalin's proper use. On Monday, the state will start requiring prison inmates to pay part of their health care costs. It's a program that's already in place in a number of New Jersey counties. In tonight's closer look, Jim Hooker examines how the program is working at the county level. It's been a while since the Mercer County Detention Center's 700 prisoners had a free ride on health care. Prisoners here get a bill for visits to the jails and firmerie, and the same goes for a trip to the dentist or receiving prescription drugs. There was no incentive for inmates not to sort of get a day off, quote unquote, by going

to the emergency ward. Let me call it. The Mercer County jail was among the first in the state to require inmates to help pay for their health care, starting its program in December 1994. Ten of the state's 21 counties now have such a program, and the idea is still catching on with those that don't. I think counties are now saying, wait a minute, we have to do something to control some of these wasteful, expensive patterns. The ten counties that have established inmate copay or fee programs so far are Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape Make, Loster, Mercer, Middlesex, Pacea, and Salem. Fees range from $5 to $10 for infirmary or dental visits, and from $2 to $5 for prescriptions. Some counties also charge inmates, usually $5, for X-rays, lab work, and psychiatric visits. The Mercer jail wardens says there are benefits beyond controlling costs. It does cut down the malingering of inmates just wanting to kind of wander around and pretend

that they have a real medical need to go to the medical unit. But more importantly than that, I think, or at least equally important, it teaches responsibility as well. But opponents of health copays for inmates say the fees could deter them from receiving medical treatment. I think there's a lot of people in the institutions that can't afford the $5 or whatever the copay is, and they may not be able to get medical services, even though they say that if they don't have any money, they will be able to get them. I think some people are going to be afraid to go and get in line and owe the $5. Inmates would love to have everything provided to them absolutely free, and there hasn't been any organized demonstrations. Memphis has been implemented very smoothly, inmates have accommodated. An official with a company that provides health services for Mercer and Bergen County jails says prisoner health hasn't been adversely affected by the changes. It has decreased the frivolous visits, and it has allowed the medical director and the

nurses to see more of the chronically ill inmates. Mercer County reports saving about $130,000 since the program started. There have been 3,500 fewer visits to the infirmary. Other counties report similar results. The state expects to save about $900,000 a year through the copay program it's starting next week. Mercer Executive Prunetti says the program is a popular one with taxpayers. So $120,000 to $130,000 is not a tremendous amount of money, but it's more the attitude, the perception that, hey, you're right. If we on the outside have to be making copays, why shouldn't people on the inside? Why do we need to pay them? They should be responsible for the same things that we are. Jim Hooker, NJN News, Titusville. There's much more ahead tonight on NJN News, including our Health Watch report. A warning tonight from a new Jersey pharmaceutical company over one of its drugs, stay tuned. If you have a comment, call NJN News at 1-800-Jersey-1, or our email address, njnnewsatalll.com.

Is my mic on? Can you hear me? Okay. Roll cue. And tonight's Health Watch, there's a warning from Merck about its hot-selling osteoporosis drug.

Apparently, it can cause serious side effects. Health and medical correspondent Sarah Lee Kessler joins us now from Newark with the story. Sarah Lee? Well, Kent, the medicine is called Phosamax, and it was first approved by the FDA last fall. It's the first drug that treats osteoporosis, a disease that affects 20 million women. Yes. My mother had it, my aunt had it, was very painful, they all became very small people. That's why there was so much excitement when Phosamax hit the market last year. Phosamax is one of the first drugs to really do a good job at replacing bone that's been lost through the process of osteoporosis. That's why there's so much concern now about serious side effects. Merck has mailed out letters like this to doctors and pharmacists all over the country. They warned that 36 people have been hospitalized with serious stomach ailments after taking Phosamax. How surprised were you at this news? I was not very surprised.

It's well known that the drug does cause a percentage of people who take it to have stomach and upper intestinal irritation. Merck's theory that most of the hospitalized patients didn't take their medication properly. They didn't follow instructions. Because a drug is not very well absorbed from the stomach, it has to be taken with only plain water and it needs to be taken at least half an hour, 30 minutes before the patient eats or drinks anything else. Pharmacies have dispensing information and they also have little labels supplied by Merck that they should be attaching to pill bottles. The label clearly says how the patient is supposed to take the medication. Why do you think patients aren't following instructions? When they do clinical trials, it's under controlled parameters. Once the patient starts taking the medication on their own, they're not going to follow instructions exactly like in a clinical trial. How many do you need about? Other instructions wait 30 minutes before lying down because Phosamax can be irritating if it lies on the esophagus.

Merck's advice to the 470,000 women who take the drug, read the label. It's worth it. In three year studies, it's been shown to progressively increase bone mineral density. It's the mass of the bone, the spine, the hip and total body. And that, of course, means less risk to elderly women of debilitating fractures, including hip fractures. Now, right now, Phosamax is prescribed only for women who actually have osteoporosis and despite the side effects, Merck says that it is going to continue with its plan to apply to the FDA later this year for approval to sell Phosamax as a preventive medicine for osteoporosis. Kent? Thank you, Sarah Lee. The Medical Society of New Jersey wants to join in the fight against cigarette vending machines. The group has asked a judge to allow court arguments for Birken County communities being sued for banning cigarette machines. Hackensack, Washington Township, Carl Stead and Palisades Park officials say the machines target teens.

But attorneys for the cigarette machine companies say the issue is not whether smoking is harmful to teens, but whether it's fair to ban vending machines. Still ahead tonight on NJN News, coming up in our business report, Pathmark takes banking services to market. And the state's tourism industry lets us in on how much they'll have to work with this year. We'll see you guys next up next with business news. And just as you said, last night on NJN News, the state released today the figures on how much they'll have for promotion this year.

For tourism for the tourism industry, Kent, that's true, and the lid is definitely on. You know, for 20 years, the $20 billion plus New Jersey tourism industry depended heavily on the state government to promote their businesses each season. However, as tax dollars got scarier, the budget for such promotion has shrunk to the point where, for example, the state no longer produces and pays to run expensive television commercials like these aimed at attracting visitors to New Jersey. This year, the state will hold the line on its contribution to the promotion budget for tourism at $2.7 million, and will again concentrate its efforts on print. The print advertising is working, it's working well, we feel with the funding that we have that we can generate the best results through the print advertising and through the marketing partnerships of that we organized last year and will continue this year. One example of the public-private partnership being touted as the most effective way to promote the state's tourism industry is the efforts of Jersey City Headquartered NatWest Bank. Well, such cooperative marketing programs are slated for an additional $2 million in

state assistance. Princeton Headquartered Summit Bank Corp says it plans to have full-service bank branches in as many as 70, path-marked supermarkets in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania by the end of 1998. The banks would be set up in the newest and biggest path-marked stores like this one, and would offer everything from checking accounts to safe deposit boxes. Summit is furthering a trend toward supermarket branch banking, which has been popular in other areas of the United States for a number of years. Here in New Jersey, core states also has banks within supermarkets like this one in Mercer County. But besides convenience, the supermarket branches increase security for the banks and their customers, as well as provide a natural base of potential new depositors. Interest rates will remain stable for a while longer, the policy-making arm of the Federal Reserve met and left rates unchanged. Most experts think that last month's upbeat unemployment figures showing an increase in new jobs promoted the Fed to a prompt that it is, the Fed to leave rates where they are. Well, the news on interest rates was, in effect, not news on Wall Street, which had already

discounted expectations of a rate cut. I'll have the market results next. Tonight's NJN News Business Report is made possible by Core State's New Jersey National Bank, providing financial services to New Jersey families and businesses. In spite of problems associated with this new osteoporosis drug phosomax, Merck Stock Rose won in five days today to close at the 64 and 8th level. Overall, the stock market reacted little to doings of the Federal Reserve in Washington and advanced. The Dow industrials rose 26 and 3 quarters to close at the 56-70 level. The MX index climbed nearly a point. However, the Nasdaq Compos is still suffering a hangover from the high-tech issues selling. Lost 3 quarters point. But the standard in poor is 500 rows, nearly 3. And that can is the end business. Two updates in a row for the Dow. Not bad. If you dig still ahead tonight on NJN News, a check of our weather is just ahead. And Pat joins us from our New York Bureau tonight with the Preview of Sports.

Pat? Well, can't the metal ends is getting ready for the final floor? And Bardot's boughs out as a giant. Details coming up next in sports. Oh, plenty of time. Bardot's ending in an 11-year NFL career as a giant today. Oats was released by the 40. Patty started out as the giant looks like he ends up as one, too. Longed up on that other coast, winning a Super Bowl title with the San Francisco 49ers and yes, Kent Bart Oats finishing up an 11-year NFL career as a giant today. Oats was released by the 49ers so he could sign a contract with his former team and retire

remember the giants. Giant GM George Young signed Oats as a free agent from the USFL in 1985 and Oats became the focal point of the Giants line that won two Super Bowl titles in 86 and 90. With X-Team 8 Phil Simms on hand and the Oats family president as well, Bard talked about his affection for the Giants. To me, it was very important because I just I wanted to make a public statement that there's loyalty in this game and that this this team is a good team. It's got great people at the head of the team and I pointed out in particular Mr. Mara. It says something about the giant organization and the history and the tradition that's been built here and I think it's we're all very proud when it's all over and you have a chance to stand back and look and you go well you know it is a special organization and I'm glad Bart finished it this way here with the New York Giants. Well it's a seat and hall law grad will continue to practice law in New Jersey.

Meanwhile what about Giant's free agent quarterback Dave Brown. GM George Young says the team has a substantial offer on the table and don't believe reports that the club is dragging its feet. But the guys who write the headlines still don't know what our offer is. So you're saying somebody would just find out what our offer is and then you make some judgment if that's possible. George what is your offer George. Good luck. George a man of few words today. Meanwhile preparations are underway at the metallands for this week's final four. If you're coming by land or air you'll know who bought the name to the arena. Yes the cotton and all airlines arena getting ready to host college basketball's big dance with existing arena advertising and signage being covered over for NCAA approved sponsors. By tomorrow morning the special NCAA tournament floor will be down and the sports authority will turn the building over to the NCAA Friday's practice sessions open to the public by the way beginning at noon. Meanwhile the net's closing out the home stretch at the arena with a loss to San Antonio

last night. Butchbeard's net's with the spurs 14 straight victim losing 95 88. Jason Williams how about this shot to end the third quarter 75 feet. That's a real three pointer. John Elliott though was able to lead the spurs with 35 points 10 rebounds for New Jersey Sean Bradley had 21 points. Also today one more note on the Giants Giants signing a free agent Lyman familiar to Rutgers football fans Ken Damon who had a look in camp last fall signs with the Giants he's out of little silver New Jersey so can't the big day in the NFL and everyone pointing to the final four. Of course practices are open that's a great chance for the public to get involved on Friday afternoon. It's like Minismatic thank you Pat. It was another sunny and pleasant day across New Jersey today. We saw a high in the state in Atlantic City of 61 degrees and in Titoboro the Mercury reached 58. Trenton's waterfront park will soon be filled with enthusiastic baseball fans there it is as the season is about to get underway in less than two weeks.

Temperatures still need to warm up a bit though so we can all look forward to an afternoon or evening at the ballpark. Oh well you didn't see too much of it there. In North Jersey tonight mostly clear skies with a low of around 20 degrees tomorrow mostly sunny with highs in the 40s. In South Jersey tonight clearing cold with a low of around 15 and tomorrow lots of sunshine with highs in the 40s. And finally tonight New Jersey is a frequent stage for the nation's largest children's theater company. On this most recent theater tour theater works USA brings the classic tale of curious George to young audiences and Nisa Mejidi saw the performance recently at Rowan College in Glassboro. It's a special day when you're four or five or six and you go see a play and this production of Curious George by theater works doesn't make you sit and squirm silently in your seat. I love it and the response from the children is just beautiful.

I open like this and I wave and I go and the kids are like George doesn't talk during the performance he does monkey things. I've done animals before I've done dogs I've done two rabbits. My little girls love to listen to Curious George at bedtime you know I think they can really relate to that innocent and inquisitive little primate playfulness I mean I think is something that's in in human nature. And little kids like little monkeys sometimes forget to do is they're told. Curious George forgets that what he does might not be such a happy thing for other people and he doesn't realize that he's doing something bad. If you're curious to see Curious George he'll be at the John harm center in Anglewood on Sunday March 31st, Anisa Mehdi, NJN News, Glassboro.

Curious George. Everybody knows Curious George. Is there anybody who hasn't read the story to their kids? It's a man in the yellow hat. Well that's our news for tonight I'm Ken Matahan for Pat and Dick and all of us here at NJN News thank you for being with us and we'll see you again tomorrow night. Thank you.