NJN News; 10/13/1989/ Friday

Major funding for New Jersey Network News is provided by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, First Fidelity Bank, and Jersey Central Power and Light. New Jersey Network News with Kent Manahan and Phil Bremen. Good evening, Kent is off tonight. One of the voters' biggest concerns this election year is drugs. Jim Corpter had claimed the high ground on the drug issue until today. Now Jim Floreo is trying to make the most of the quarter camps embarrassment after one of its key players called very publicly for making some illicit drugs legal. The story from Sandra King. The legalization of drugs is the direct opposite of what it is that we should be doing. And as anyone who's followed this campaign can tell you, no one's likely to agree with

that more than the GOP candidate for governor. If I become governor of the state, we're going to have a toughest laws in America when it comes to drugs and crime. But this headline in today's Trenton Times put Jim Corpter on the spot and Jim Floreo in the cat bird seat. So during a stop in Bayon to promote his plan for an environmental prosecutor, Floreo hasten to spread the word of Bill Mathesius' controversial drug stance. This statement by his leading spokesman who has been out on the stump campaigning actively for Jim Corpter. I think we're entitled to know whether this is Jim Corpter's thinking as well. And it came as no surprise this afternoon when Corpter Press Secretary Don Seaco said, of course it is not, according to Seaco, Floreo simply making up blatant attempt to mislead the voters. But since the Mercer County executive is a key adviser in the quarter camp and a frequent quarter surrogate on the campaign trail, it gave Jim Floreo a chance to hit back at

the kind of charges Corpter has been leveling at him. Or he was trying to hide his own record on crime and drugs. Floreo's spokesman says his candidate stands by that charge and by the claim he made again today when he spoke to some high school kids in Bergen County. Talked about the importance of the laws that we had and my desire to strengthen them. That is what Corpter has been saying all along. So what will he do now about his friend Bill Mathesius? Who thinks legalization is a way to get criminals out of drug traffic and addicts into drug treatment? Well, Corpter spokesman Seaco says the candidate still will be proud to have Mathesius speak for him. So long as he doesn't speak about drugs. Sandra King, New Jersey Network News, Newark. The most talked about moment in Wednesday night's bruising debate between the candidates was when Floreo called Corpter a liar. The lie Floreo said was a claim to have sponsored legislation to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday.

Did Corpter lie about that? Michael Aaron went looking for the truth. Did you tell the group that you lied when you said that you sponsored the Martin Luther King day holiday bill? After Wednesday night's debate, you may have wondered what that charge is all about and whether or not Corpter lied. It all depends on how you define lie. Last July, Corpter spoke to reporters and as the Camden Courier post wrote it, said his commitment to civil rights is shown by his votes against apartheid and co-sponsorship of legislation making Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. Corpter voted for the bill creating the holiday in 1983, but he did not co-sponsor it. Four years earlier, he voted against the King holiday bill because he and his party were concerned about creating too many paid federal holidays. In 1984, he did co-sponsor a bill setting up a commission to implement the King holiday and served on that commission. So Corpter made a mistake when he told reporters he sponsored the holiday bill and the Floreo people caught it.

He said he co-sponsored the Martin Luther King holiday. Here's the bill. Corpter's name isn't even on it. He lied. In September, the Associated Press had quarter saying he never claimed sponsoring the holiday bill. Corpter says today he made an honest mistake and the Floreo people know that. Yeah, the truth is, normally when you vote for something, you just assume that you co-sponsored it. I neglected to co-sponsored it. I co-sponsored other types of bills dealing with Martin Luther King. I think it was making a permanent commission, I believe, and when the question was whether I co-sponsored something on Martin Luther King, I was thinking of the permanent commission and not the original holiday. Somebody that is so confused, really I have some questions as to whether somebody like that can be the governor. Corpter may have been puffing when he told reporters he sponsored the holiday. Floreo blows it up and calls it a lie. That's politics. Corpter, meanwhile, was just sworn into a second term on the holiday commission. Two years ago, he gave his seat to Jack Camp, who was then running for president. Now, Corpters in a campaign and gets it back, that too was politics.

Michael Aaron, New Jersey Network News. In other news tonight, 16 more inmates are scheduled to walk from the Essex County jail this evening as the controversial federal bailout program continues. Earlier this week, one of the inmates sprung last week, a taxpayer's expense allegedly repeated his crime. This time, as Marie DeNoia reports, authorities were being more careful. But I would like to request that he gave the full amount of time because every time we go to Crawford, whenever he'd do so, he always pleaded guilty and they let him crawl. And he came right back into the same thing to me again. Florence Lewis pleaded with superior court judge William Hart to keep this man behind bars. This month, Curtis Lee, Wizzanont pleaded guilty to two incidents where he threatened to harm Lewis and her children. Last week, when the Essex County taxpayers posted bail for more than 100 inmates to comply with a federal order to ease overcrowding, Wizzanont walked to. He was pounding at Lewis' door two days later.

None of them knows how I feel about what I go through because they don't be there to see us. And I'm tired of going through this. Actually, Wizzanont made it through this door last week, purely by accident. He was placed on the list of inmates eligible for release under the bail fund program before he pleaded guilty to his crimes. Apparently, no one double-checked that list. But this week, there was an exhaustive check and recheck of the list. Of the 41 inmates on the program administrator's bailout sheet, only 16 get the chance to walk. The difference between 41 and 16 isn't really a problem necessarily because it represents people for whom the county prosecutor has come in and said, these people should not be part of the list of 41 because, although they're on your, my list as a waiting trial in pretrial detention conditions, in fact, they've pleaded guilty already and are awaiting sentencing. Douglas Eakley, the federal appointing program administrator, says his first list would have brought the jail population well under the 594 prisoner cap.

But he wasn't unhappy with the way things worked out today, considering last week's dangerous error. Marie DeNoia, New Jersey Network News, Newark. Metal fatigue. That may have been the cause of Tuesday's helicopter crash near the Garden State Parkway in Lacey Township. Late this afternoon, the National Transportation Safety Board announced its preliminary finding, investigators said they have officially ruled out foul play and a mid-air collision. The rotoblade fracture was progressive and appeared to be related to fatigue while the transmission case fractures showed evidence of being instantaneous with no signs of prior weakening. There may have been clues of that prior weakening, though. Reports tonight say pilots of the Italian-made chopper have been complaining for years of unusual vibrations. The crash killed three top executives of the Trump casinos, as well as the pilot and co-pilot. Investigators say it could be months before they issue a final determination on the cause

of the crash. This is National Fire Prevention Week. Throughout the country, fire departments once again are getting out the word on not only how to prevent fires, but also how to stay safe if fire breaks out. Today, in Union City, firefighters took that lesson to a senior citizen's high rise. Trish de Gasparis was there. Statistics tell us that the most vulnerable in a fire are the young and the elderly. Even the thought of a fire and a high rise building that houses senior citizens is a nightmare. Although this apartment building is fire retardant, for their safety, the resident should know what to do of a fire breaks out, but too often they don't. The alarm does go off, and everybody runs to the elevator, and you tell them not to go to the elevator. That's the worst place to be at. As part of fire prevention week, the Union City Fire Department came to the senior citizens high rise today to give a firsthand lesson in fire prevention. If you have a fire in your particular apartment, don't even think about calling, get out of the apartment as quick as you can.

Fire officials pointed out that in a building like this one, where many people are in wheelchairs and some walk with difficulty, evacuation is not the plan. Keeping residents safely inside is. And then when you come out of the apartment, the first place you'll go to is your handrail, you grab the handrail and follow it down to the door. This is your smoke. This is a smoke-resistant door. The captain also showed residents what to do if they were sleeping and awakened by the smell of smoke. Well, it's advisable that you keep something wet in your bedroom, whether it be a bottle of water, wet a towel, wet something, stick it under the door. I mean, it's your life, the whole how you got to go out of the door. That's important. I couldn't say, but if you see all the people just jump out of windows and all, we don't have to do that. He taught us today. The residents of the building say that after today's lesson in fire prevention, they believe they'll be able to act and not panic if a fire should happen. Trish D. Gasparis, New Jersey Network News, Union City.

Coming up, not exactly a fire, but the bells were sounding. The second largest one-day drop in Wall Street history. The gym has that story in business, and a computer bug fails to foil computers here in the garden state. It's harvest season for cranberries just in time for the upcoming holidays.

But New Jersey's cranberry farmers say they could grow even more if federally protected wetlands were opened up. Current regulations aimed at guarding the ecology of the wetlands prevent development there. South Jersey congressmen went to see what can be done. Bill Haynes and his family have been harvesting cranberries for 100 years, and they've been producing their fruits and new Jersey's richest environmental area, the wetlands. But now Haynes and other cranberry farmers are finding themselves bogged down with what they say is unnecessary government red tape. Haynes says many farmers who want to expand their bogs cannot because of government rules designed to curb development in the wetlands area. But he says cranberry bogs actually help to protect the wetlands, not harm them. You have flood control, you have groundwater recharge, which is crucial to the pinelands

area, and we're creating wildlife habitat. In fact, many cranberry farmers insist that harvesting their crops here in the wetlands actually creates more of a natural environment for the species to live in. We have otter, we have beaver, we have American bald eagles here on the farm, we have tundra swans in the wintertime. New Jersey ranks third in the nation in cranberry production with more than 3,300 acres of bogs, looking for allies to argue their case before the Army Corps of Engineers, the cranberry farmers today invited congressmen James Sexton to tour their facilities. We're here today to review and to look firsthand at the situation with regard to how these bogs enhance the environment and how we can proceed to economically and safely produce a new bogs. Something the farmers hope will happen so they can meet the ever growing demand for the fruits of their labor.

Deborah Zara, New Jersey Network News, Chatsworth, Burlington County. Now let's find out about that big sinking feeling on Wall Street today. Here's our business correspondent, Jim Van Sickle. Yes, and is it deja vu all over again? Look at the numbers, the Dow simply plunging down 190 points on volume we haven't seen in many months, 251 million shares, and losers 11 for every stock that gained. All this on almost the anniversary of the Friday that preceded Black Monday back in 87. Probably the 13th this year to be sure, but the nearest Friday to that other grim day. That Friday, you may recall two years ago, the exchange was bedlin, the Dow plunged 108 points, that was big then, and it was a clear signal that Black Monday longed with its incredible plunge. I talked to Shearson Lemons, chief trader, Jack Baker, like this afternoon, and he has a reassuring prediction. There is no way, says Baker, that the country is going to have another Black Monday.

Baker bases that hopeful prediction on the fact that the government was slow to step into the picture until after the worst had happened back in 87. As the market plunged that Monday, the Fed did step in finally, poured liquidity into the banks, and the banks gave liquidity to the market, stemming the tide, but of course, not until after the terrible carnage had happened. Baker foresees a frenzy of activity over the weekend to stave off a crumbling of confidence, and then on Monday, quick action by the Fed and the White House to put a rescue in place. What happened today? Well, the trigger was announcement at mid-afternoon that the pilot's effort to obtain financing to take over UAL had fallen through, and as standard and poor as chief economist, David Blitzer, explains. The way L. Stark was up very high, it's in a lot of indexes, it's a big company, and seeing that would drop everybody starts saying, where's the next one? With great concern over mounting debt characterized by highly leveraged takeovers, and the many, many

takeovers in prospect or rumored of people investing money in them, the failure to gain that financing did hit at confidence today, and then a wave of selling hit. Baker says the more securities, the Japanese biggest bank in the world, was in with tremendous selling, twice this afternoon, Chicago futures trading, where stock market futures are traded, halted, and it was down and down from there. To this dismal picture, add the computerized programs, which drew so much heat, you'll recall back in 87, they were triggered, and the race was on, Dow plunging, as we see, 190. 190 points on that very large volume, loses running 11 to 1 over winners on this Friday, almost exactly two years since the crash. Insurance, of course, soared, as investors fled to safety, long bond yield down to 7.88 percent tonight, and of course the second areas are not spared, deep plunges, and amax

and OTC stocks. Before today, we had been up some 700 points just in the last 12 months, and 1,000 points since that crash back in 1987, Shearson's Jack Baker, ruse the harm that this may do to small traders' confidence in the market, and notes that the 1,000 points, we have come up since the 87 crash, has been corrected and corrected and corrected, careful basebuilding all these months in two years, in fact, but he does think that the government, and especially the Fed will be on the ball to instill confidence over the weekend, and to curb any damage on Monday. We certainly hope he's right. We do, and we'll be here, find out. Thank you, Jim. It was the stock market that went down today, a lot of people were afraid their computers would be crashing. This was the day an electronic virus was expected to cripple personal computers around the world. So far, at least, it has not proved so infectious. The story from our science and health correspondent, Mark Levinson.

If Princeton University fears a computer virus, they call Paul Knight. I'm a person who dropped off the virus detection software yesterday. As a computer consultant, he's been keeping an eye on Princeton's terminals for the so-called Friday the 13th virus, a killer program that when copied on the computer disks can erase loads of data. So far, there's only scattered viral reports. In fact, the only virus night found is a weak infection that turned up last year. We've got, in this same area, this message, welcome to the dungeon, a copyright message from a computer software store in Pakistan. Knight says even the worst virus is rare, meaning computers are more vulnerable to less exotic problems like power failures and breakdowns. You're much more, much less likely to be the victim of the virus than you are one of those everyday occurrences. Even though the virus never spread very far, it did get a lot of advanced press. But it highlights a growing problem. Viruses can cause millions of dollars in damage, like the infection a Cornell student spread

into an academic network last year. Viruses are literally everywhere, so protection is vital. IBM says it manufactures a detection system, but it only spots known viruses. The only real solution may be hygiene, keeping clean copies of computer data, just in case one of them gets sick. Even if in the remote case you did get a virus, then you'd have your beta backed up and you would be no more than inconvenienced by it. The scare may have taught some lessons, but as a computer virus, well, it's turned out to be more like a sniffle. So this Friday, the 13th may more likely be remembered for another kind of hacker whose targets are usually not computers. Mark Levinson, New Jersey Network News, Lawrence Township. Nothing is ailing our forecast. The weekend outlook is more suited to late summer than early fall. And coming up in sports, Jerry Henry takes a look at the net's forward, Charles Shackelford says he just wants to prove himself. Nothing at all unlucky about this Friday, the 13th in the weather department, temperatures

were the warmest they've been in a month, even hitting 80 in some areas of South Jersey. It was a perfect day to take your pet for a walk, which is what Danielle Fresco and her mother Lucille knew every day, it's just that their pets are horses. And they're in the midst of the state's largest city. This is Newark's Ironbound section. Today and we are in for a very nice weekend, no rain likely till Tuesday. Checking current conditions, clear all over Newark reporting 73 degrees after high of 79, Trenton and Atlantic City each checking in with 69. The forecast, tonight clear and cool with patches of fog by morning, low temperatures ranging from 45 north to 57 South. Tomorrow partly sunny, warm, beautiful again, highs between 70 and 77. Sunday, just a little less beautiful and a little less warm, the highs between 65 and 75. Pat Scanlan, who was telling his last night about basketball fever, is out in the midst

of it tonight. Jerry Henry filling in. Sure. That's right, Phil. Well, the college basketball season is up on us as practice gets underway at midnight tomorrow for most teams, but tonight some coaches are having a little fun and a charity roast in East Rutherford. That's where Pat Scanlan is standing by live right now with the report, Pat. That's right, Jerry. The hoopla roasts, the Benefit the American Diabetes Association, and joining us as they roast Villanova head coach, Roli Massamino, is former net's coach, Kevin Lockery, now an NBA commentator for the Atlanta Hawks and L.A. Clippers in Kevin. First of all, your connection to Roli? Well, I know Roli a long time ago. I was fortunate enough to broadcast some of the Villanova games, and I also know him very well through Billy Cunningham, and he does just a terrific tap. Kevin, tell me a little bit about the L.A. Clippers. Of course, Danny Ferry, signing drafted by the Clippers and going to Italy, had to be a devastating blow to the club. That was a big blow to the Clippers, with Danny Mann coming back off his injury and Danny Ferry.

They would have been an excellent basketball team, but as everybody knows, Danny Ferry opt to go to Italy and play basketball, hopefully he'll be back because he's an outstanding basketball player. How do you like it behind the mic as opposed to being on the sideline? It's so much easier to press you as much less than coaching. A very difficult occupation, particularly professional coaching, is not nearly as much a pressure. I enjoy it. All right, Kevin Locke. We're good to see you again. We'll have a few lines or two for Roli Massimino. That's the story from here on East Rutherford. I'm Pat Scanlon. Let's go back now to Jerry Henry. Okay. Thanks, Pat. In Pro Ball, the net's exhibition season gets underway tonight as they take on the Celtics and Worcester Mass, and the net's number two draft pick last season is hoping to make his presence known as the new season gets underway. As far as Charles Shackleford enters his second season in the NBA, as a rookie, Shackleford played in only 60 games last year under Coach Willis Reed, and averaged only eight minutes of games. But it's a new year and a new coach, and maybe a new shot. You know, last year it was a disappointment season for me being a rookie. You know, I felt like, you know, I didn't get as much playing time as I like, but, you know,

it was like the coach's decision. You know, I felt that, you know, his decision, you know, it was a good decision, but this year, you know, I'm really working hard. Like I just said, and, you know, and I just got, I just got a whole new frame of mind. Along with it, an urgency, he says, to change his reputation that has followed him since his college days at North Carolina State, one that has him label a troublemaker. But he says it was guilt by association with an old teammate. I got a very bad reputation, being like a bad kid and, you know, all it is, and it's not really like that. And I just, I'm just have to really prove to everybody that, you know, I can't be playing the NBA, and I will be playing the NBA. So far, so good for Shaq as the exhibition season begins. He says he's in top physical condition and hopes to play a major role in the bill fit here with the net. College football tomorrow Rutgers is at Kentucky for a night game. It's the Wildcats homecoming. And despite a 24 to 12 loss to Auburn last weekend, they came up with some key interceptions in that game. Has to concern the Scarlett Knights quarterback, Scott Ernie, who's been intercepted

nine times this season, plus the fact that outside pressure is mounting for a coach Dick Anderson to make a quarterback change. In the pro's Sunday, the Giants host the Redskins for Showdown Part 2, the Jets travel to New Orleans for a meeting with the Saints and the Eagles take on the Cardinals in Phoenix. And that's sports. And I'm glad I'm not getting roasted by Pat Scam on a night. Thank you, Jerry. Finally, your hoodie menu and the violin virtuoso comes to the state theater in New Brunswick tonight with the Warsaw Symphony. For more than 60 years, menu and has been giving concerts around the world, breaking barriers of politics and culture. Under the Arts Correspondent, Anisa Mejady reports on this living legend. He is known for his renditions of Brahms, of Beethoven, Irving Berlin, and Indian Ragas. Yehudi Menuans' collaborations with Ravi Shankar and Stefan Gapeli show an appetite and aptitude way beyond the classics.

Yehudi Menuans has fiddled around with all kinds of music, masterfully. Now, tireless in his 70s, he exchanges his bow for a baton. He's conducting now more than ever, giving younger violinists like Robert McDuffie some time in the spotlight. I have the custom to play with young people, I have many talented young people at my school and Robert is one of the most talented of the young Americans. At first I was intimidated, now we're colleagues, and while I still have the same enormous respect, I feel a lot more comfortable with him and I consider my friend. Do you think there might be people in the audience who are out there wishing he were playing? I'm one of them. He's not playing violin in New Brunswick, but he will play Bach's double concerto on other parts of this tour.

Menuans' musical goals are the same now as they've been for decades. They can play music and get an audience's pleasure and allowing them to escape the burdens which they have to carry and have a few hours of exhilaration. Anisa Mehdi, New Jersey Network News. That's all for this evening, I'm Phil Bremen from all of us here at New Jersey Network News. Thanks for joining us. And have a great weekend. This has been a presentation of New Jersey Network. Oh, good thing it wasn't live, huh?

Frischels from the Trump Organization, now I've released the names of three of the victims of today's crash. They were identified as Mark Etnis, the head of Trump's Taj Mahal Casino Project in Atlantic City, Stephen Hyde, the chief executive officer of Trump's Atlantic City Casino Properties, and Jonathan Benenov, executive vice president of the Trump Plaza. Donald Trump issued a statement late this afternoon saying he was deeply sataned by the tragedy and calling the crash victims three fabulous young men in the prime of their lives. A special committee of the state's Senate today reported on its investigation into the parkway. The committee chairman, concluding that as he put it, the governor's fingerprints are on everything. I'm sorry. We've got to get this done now, or we'll be straight prepared. Frischels from the Trump Organization, now I've released the names of three of the victims

of today's crash. They were identified as Mark Etnis, the head of Trump's Taj Mahal Casino Project.