NJN News; Monday, April 10, 2000

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Bell Atlantic, communication solutions designed for the people and businesses of New Jersey. The New Jersey Education Association, people who care about your kids, and by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The Senate President pushes to amend the state constitution to block four challenges to Megan's law. New accusations in the heated Democratic Senate race this time over past business practices. Safety questions are raised over four in pilots who can't communicate in English. Federal checks pour in to help North Jersey towns hit by tropical storm Floyd. And how Girl Scouts are going beyond traditional roles to help others. NJN News for Monday, April 10th. From NJN Public Television. New Jersey's only statewide television newscast. NJN News with Kent Manahan. A new call today to tough in New

Jersey's Megan's law, it would amend the state constitution so authorities could eventually post sex offenders on the internet. The proposal comes as Megan Law advocates claim recent court rulings have weakened the law. An acting governor, a state senator and Maureen Kanka stood side by side saying the time has come to make Megan's law even stronger. They support a constitutional amendment to give the state broader powers to create new and stronger versions of Megan's law, including the possibility of putting the names and photos of sex offenders on the internet. Lawmakers have introduced a bill they say will constitutionally guarantee the protection of children from sex offenders. This amendment will bring our state's criminal statutes into the 21st century by authorizing the disclosure of information on sex offenders through the internet. Six years ago convicted sex offender Jesse Tumendoquas raped and killed seven-year-old Megan Kanka, the murder sparked Megan's law at the state and national level. It allows authorities to inform people when a sex offender is living in their

area. But since the law was enacted, it's been challenged some say weakened by the courts. Moring Kanka, Megan's mother says it's time to do more. We need to have the right to be able to know who all of them are. And I think the constitutional amendment will go a long way with bringing us up to pour in the state of New Jersey. Currently, about 15 states have some sort of internet site naming sex offenders. New Jersey would become the first to write Megan's law into a state constitution. Opponents, however, say this latest effort won't work. The efforts of the legislature to expand the ambit of Megan's law will still have to be reviewed by judges who, unlike their legislative counterparts, are required to read the constitution as well as swear to uphold it. The governor says she'll support the amendment. The assembly has already approved a bill that would allow names to be posted. And as spokesman says, Assembly Speaker Jack Collins has been considering a constitutional amendment. If the bill is approved, it will go to voters in November. The campaigns of the two Democratic

Senate candidates are on the attack. The battleground, private business practices. Jim Hooker reports the Florio campaign opened the fight with attacks on opponent John Corzine. We are here to discuss the role and responsibility of John Corzine, first as CEO and chairman of Goldman Sachs. And now is one of Goldman's largest The fight for public office, among the Democratic Senate candidates, is showing signs of focusing more and more on private business. And while John Corzine, in a million dollar a week, extolls the benefits of his former chairman chip at the Wall Street brokerage firm Goldman Sachs, claiming credit, for example, for the creation of 700,000 jobs in New Jersey. But the Florio campaign, which accuses Corzine of eliminating tens of thousands of jobs across the U.S. and mergers and acquisitions, sees something far more sinister in Corzine's role as Wall Street power broker. I would say John Corzine is a beneficiary an official area of slave oil, a slave money, a blood money. That's what I would say.

Florio's campaign claims Goldman Sachs under Corazine sold or is serving as underwriter for more than $375 million worth of bonds for two oil companies doing business with the Sudan. The country's ruling government has been condemned by the U.S. and is under sanctions from Congress for a war against its people that includes dealing in the slave trade. The campaign says Corazine's role in the investments is a legitimate concern to voters. I think it's important that his record is examined. If it isn't, we have nothing to judge this man by. Basically, we're going to say John Corazine is a nice guy because he runs warm and fuzzy TV commercials, but we're not going to examine his behavior at Goldman Sachs. I think that he has put Goldman Sachs in the play himself. We didn't do this. One of the company's Goldman Sachs helped underwrite for a Sudanese oil project is Canadian-based talisman energy. The state of New Jersey's pensions division sold off its holdings of the talisman company earlier this year. The Corazine campaign did not return phone calls earlier today.

Now, also today, the Corazine campaign did strike back at Florio in a facts press release. Now, this press release charges that the law firm, the former governor went to work for after he left office. Much rose, took management side during a major league baseball lockout. The Corazine campaign also claimed the law firm worked on behalf of foreign companies that later took US workers jobs. So, Rich, it looks like the private sector is now coming into play in the Senate campaign. Okay, Jim. Thank you very much. In the Republican primary contest, Senate candidate Bob Franks won the Bergen County Republican Convention over the weekend. Bergen is considered one of the most important counties in the GOP primary. Of the 763 votes cast by party activists, Franks won 58 percent. Bill Gormley, 27 percent. Jim Treffinger, 15 percent. Murray Sabrin did not participate. Michael Aaron has that story. Bob Franks was a happy man today. Bergen has 100,000 registered Republicans and will probably supply 10 percent of the primary vote. By winning its convention, Franks gets his name on the ballot line with other party organization backed candidates.

So, to not only have the endorsement of the Bergen County Republican organization, but to receive preferential ballot position on the June 6 ballot is a tremendous boost to our campaign. Are you and those are two out front now? I'm not sure, but I sure like to hear you suggest that I might be. But Franks' rivals were yielding nothing today. Still, Gormley congratulated the congressman, but said he could still win the election in Bergen and statewide. So, every county is different. Every dynamic is different as it pertains to each and every convention. But, once you get through the stage of the political endorsements, it then comes down to the people. It comes down to the message and it comes down to what individual stand for. I'm very confident. Jim Treffinger was incredibly confident for a man who finished third in such a key test. I'm still going to win because I have two guys running from the establishment and they're going to divide the establishment votes. And I'm going to win all the rest of the regular people.

He points to a recent poll that showed all four candidates bunched together in single digits or low double digits, with 60 percent of Republican voters still undecided. The good news is for me that nobody's really well-known. The bad news for all of us is that nobody's really well-known. So, I think it's a wide open election. Murray Sabrin points to the same poll to make the same point. For an underdog, he's doing quite well so far. Sabrin sat out the Bergen convention, even though he's the only candidate who lives in Bergen and works in Bergen. The reasons? One is financially, we didn't have the resources to compete with our opponents. That's one thing. And strategically, we think we can organize the grassroots, which is basically the goal of our campaign organized in grassroots within the Republican Party. And by doing so, we'll galvanize those voters for June 6th. Conservative grassroots. Absolutely. Republican consultant Steve Salmore says the Bergen result means Franks is slightly ahead. As it stands now, Bob Franks has support in much of the northern part of the state, plus a few counties in the south,

whereas Bill Gormley support primarily in the south with one county in the central part. There are more voters in the north than the south, so I think right now it gives somewhat of an edge to Bob Franks. Gormley has the fundraising edge with eight weeks to go. Franks, the organizational edge. But in a four-way low turnout race, any of the four can win. And they're now starting to take shots at one another. Michael Aaron and JN News Newark. A Congressional Subcommittee will look at communication problems in the skies over New Jersey and New York. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association says its members are challenged by pilots with heavy accents, foreign dialects, and proper commands that in some cases a complete inability to speak English. The International Civil Aviation Organization requires all pilots who fly internationally to have an understanding of standard aviation language in English. But a pilot looking for certification merely has to indicate his proficiency in English by checking a box on the form no tests are given. Federal Aviation Administration to demonstrate real leadership

and make an all-out effort to convince ICAM to mandate testing of English proficiency for all international pilots. In addition, the FAA must agree to take the lead in getting ICAO to establish an international glossary of aviation commands that all pilots and air traffic controllers around the world will be required to follow. Franks is also calling on the FAA to ground pilots who demonstrate what he calls a dangerous lack of English proficiency the health subcommittee on aviation will hold a special hearing of the problems tomorrow in Washington. Thanks to those Y2K worries, Port Authority Police collared a lot of overtime. Last year, the by-state agency paid nearly $23 million in OT. That's up $4 million from 1998. More than half of the hours logged between December and January was the result of Y2K anti-terrorist measures. Port Authority Police patrol the region's three major airports, the Hudson River Crossings, bus terminals, and the World Trade Center.

Still to come on NJN News, two students are arrested in connection with those Drew University fires, and more FEMA checks are handed out to some towns hit hard by tropical storm Floyd. Stay tuned. If you have a comment, call 1-800-Jersey-1 or our email address, NJNNews at njm.org. Two Drew University students have been arrested in connection with those recent dormitory fires at the university. Phil upon and William Conley are free on $10,000 bail.

They're charged with setting small fires that burned in four dorms during the early morning hours of March 26. No one was hurt. Drew officials say both men have been barred from their dorm room for their own safety, though they are allowed to attend classes. Hon told one newspaper he's innocent. There's no comment from Conley. Municipalities in Bergen and Pasey counties received federal checks today for damages from tropical storm Floyd. It's been more than six months since floodwaters receded, but many local governments say they still have not been reimbursed for over time and other expenses. Zachary Finca is more. It was technically only one of several payments Bergen County municipalities have received, and according to FEMA officials, more payments are on the way. But the checks handed out today were issued after Congresswoman Marge Rauchama met with FEMA in Washington last month. They're getting the money they are entitled to. It might not be in one check. It might be in two checks, but the point is we have expedited the payment. A total of $2.8 million was distributed

and more is expected later this week. The money reimburses local governments that were forced to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars in emergency services during the storm and in the days of flooding that followed. The common complaint about federal response is that while FEMA has been thorough and methodical, it has been tremendously slow in getting aid out to affected areas. As to the reasoning why, I couldn't answer that, it'd be the state's call, but I know that they were working on it also. There are a lot of activities that take time. With checks arriving today, the expectation was that municipalities would not have to push the costs onto taxpayers, but some say it's too late. We just did our new budget and we had to go up a point or two, and probably this money would have reduced our budget by a full tax point. How'd you have this before you did your budget? Correct. If that's the situation, promise is the first that I've heard about it. Many local governments in Bergen County and elsewhere have been drafting budgets for next year. Without immediate assistance, some of the costs from the flooding will have to be passed onto taxpayers. Raccoon and others have promised to get as much money as they can to the communities as quickly as possible,

but some complain it's still not enough. Is there ever enough? We only received about $12,000 today. Our expenses were well in excess of $75,000. But the biggest chunk of money we spent was actually in assistance to Rochelle Park. The Rochelle Park Municipal Building is still closed because of flood damage its interior has been gutted. Officials say it's expected to reopen next year. Zachary Fink, NJN News, Rochelle Park. U.S. Senator Frank Lauerberg is calling for national ocean water monitoring. The Senator and environmentalists are calling on nearly two dozen states to improve monitoring of beach water quality. They say it's time for other states to follow the Garden State's lead in this area. Lauerberg is sponsored a bill that would offer incentives to states that monitor ocean, lake, and river water quality. Coming up in Business News, a wild day on Wall Street as the NASDAQ takes a plunge. In details of a $600 million renaissance for one middle six county community, Business News is next. Another bad day for the technology issue is a sharp sell off in the NASDAQ

and makes sense to its second worst one day point drop ever. The reason earnings reports are out shortly and there's anxiety over whether the high tech stocks will meet expectations. Money from the NASDAQ was funneled into the blue chips. At the close, the Dow and Dustreels gained 75 points, ending the session at the 11,186 level. Among the broad markets, the IMX lost 30. The NASDAQ took a beating down 258 points. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 12, and the 30-year treasuries are up 13.30 seconds, it's yielded at 5.67%. New Jersey City by the Bay is about to get a major facelift.

The proposed redevelopment plan would transform Perth and Boys' waterfront into a prime destination for recreation, shopping, and living. The $600 million privately-funded project, called Sea Point Village, will turn 45 acres of abandoned factory lots into luxury homes, restaurants, and a cultural center, and a hotel. This project is estimated to create 2,500 to 3,000 jobs as part of the redevelopment project, and beyond that, permanent jobs for the community. A financial commitment of this size takes a lot of thought before a company like ours will step to the plate and make this type of a large financial commitment. It's in large part due to the stable environment you have here. The City Council is scheduled to vote on the measure on Wednesday if approved construction will begin in about a year. A new survey looking at performance of the nation's airlines show there's been little improvement in the past year, with one exception. A university sponsored survey ranked carriers on things including on-time performance, bumpings, and mishandled baggage. More passengers are complaining about late flights, but there are fewer complaints about lost luggage.

Overall, Southwest Airlines ranked first in passenger satisfaction, followed by Continental, Delta, Northwest, and Alaska Airlines. A separate U.S. Transportation Department survey found airlines posted a 74 percent on-time record in February, down from 78 percent a year ago. Some good news tonight for more than 3,700 New Jerseyans, the federal government owes them more than $3 million. All they have to do is go after the money. The IRS says the government is unable to deliver the checks because they do not have correct addresses. In some cases, the person who owed the money has died and family members don't know the person is owed the money. One New Jersey Congressman is sponsoring legislation that will require the IRS to put the names of those do refunds on its website. Still ahead, check out our forecast. And Jerry's in Princeton with a look at one of the top ranked women's lacrosse teams. I, Rich, will tell you about those streaking Princeton Tigers next in sports. Princeton University has one of the top women's lacrosse teams in the nation.

Jerry Henry is in Princeton now with that story, Jerry. That's right, Rich. The women's lacrosse team won its first national championship here in 1994. So far, this year's team seems destined for another national run. They are number two in the country behind national power, Maryland. The Tigers are currently nine and one and have won eight straight games after defeating Yale on Saturday, 16 to eight. It has been a surprising year for the Tigers who have been ranked among the top teams in the nation for the past 11 years. Yeah, it's been great. It was a real surprise to us, honestly, because we had graduated so many seniors last year. We weren't really sure how we do thought that, you know, this might be one of those proverbial building years. But obviously, the kids didn't believe that. And it's just a really nice group of great kids, and we're having fun and we're playing hard. Getting some big wins.

Got a huge win over Delaware. It gave them their first loss of the season, too. Yeah, it was a really big win for us. And that's a team that we had had a little bit of trouble with. We had beaten them last two years, but gone to overtime. And they were off to a great start. And so that game for us getting a win and winning as we did and convincing fashion gave us a whole lot of confidence. It's just another national championship year for this team. It was a two or a two. We'll see. We'll see. We're taking one game at a time this year. And just hoping that, you know, come the end. We're in the hunt. And we'll try to stay in the hunt and keep this streak going. They get ready for temple here on, as a matter of fact, they traveled to temple on Thursday, and we have six games left in the regular season, Rich, and looking very good right now. As I said, they won the national championship in 94. They were ranked number one in the country in 92. And of course, 94. So maybe they'll do it again this time. Okay, Jerry. Thanks very much. Okay. A sunny and breezy day across the region with temperatures mainly in the mid fifties. Quite a change from yesterday's spring snowfall. And certainly a nice day for a stroll with your best friend.

These seeing eye dogs were out training today with the runners down the streets of Morristown. As far as our pollution watch for tomorrow expect good-level statewide. Here's the New Jersey forecast in North Jersey tonight partly cloudy with lows in the mid thirties. Tomorrow a mix of rain and some snow showers highs of 45. And South Jersey tonight partly cloudy with some light snow possible after midnight lows around 30. And tomorrow a mix of snow and rain showers with highs in the mid fifties. And finally, New Jersey has more Girl Scouts than any other state in the nation with nearly 150,000 members. Girl Scouting helps prepare many young women for today's world. And that means doing things their predecessors never dreamed of. Here's Joyce Koo's report. Each stitch brings them closer to their goal. These Scouts from Trenton High are making learning bears for homeless children to help them learn their shapes and colors. It's most important for me because I have basically everything and I want to help other kids that's less fortunate than I am. These girls and young women are going to be tomorrow's leaders. A recent Lewis Harris poll shows that two thirds of this country's women of achievement, that is our doctors, our lawyers, our educators, our political leaders, were Girl Scouts when they were young.

They're sowing this learning bear for their homelessness awareness badge, which requires them to do a community service project. Much of what they do depends on their own initiative and the personality of the troop. These two girls have earned their gold award, the highest award in Girl Scouts by serving the international community. I got a chance to travel to Mexico and build a house for a less fortunate family and all, which was a great experience. It just gave me such great opportunity. It gave me a lot more confidence in myself and who I am and what women in general can achieve. The core values of the organization have remained the same. Courage, strength, service, leadership. But Carolyn McCullum says the women today have wider opportunities and they're taking advantage of them. Wags, which is the world association of girl guides and Girl Scouts, had people working in the displaced persons camps, for instance in Rwanda.

And they were teaching the girls life skills so that when they went back to their own countries, they would have a way of earning a livelihood. Although women have made incredible strides in the last century, Fredon says the glass ceiling is still there. And the organization hopes to train a new generation of leaders to shatter those barriers. The women in the new millennium will be leaders who are able to envision the future and who will be able to stay focused in what will be a very chaotic world. Girl Scouting has taught me that women can be self-supportive. We can be our own people. We don't need to rely on others for help in what we do. And it basically just gave me a lot of strength to do what I believe in. Joyce Koot, NJN News. Girl Scouting in the new millennium. That's the news for tonight for Ken Jerry and all of us here at NJN News, I'm Rich Young. Have a good night and we'll see you tomorrow.

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