NJN News; Tuesday, August 29, 2000

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care about your kit and by the german team for don's foundation that an early morning fire on the wildwood boardwalk the story several stores causing an estimated two million dollars in damage to some trite and residents blame reporting on tunnel projects for damage to their homes and neighborhoods and everything to the meadowlands side of a proposed entertainment and retail complex fire from environmentalists that story the judge's ruling today self self imposed smoking their differences and a federal judge a case a multibillion dollar national settlement involving fanfare nj and use for tuesday august twentieth century in public television only live television newspapers fire investigators are on the wildwood boardwalk trying to

find the cause of the early morning blaze seven or fart historic resort on the boardwalk this morning causing an estimated two million dollars in damage of course the fire comes at the height of the summer tours season with a labor day holiday just around the corner and say john georges now from our south jersey pure with the latest can't it's about one hundred and twenty five for different communities came to battle the early morning blaze and officials say that while they don't know because they are not ruling out carson spectators watched as barry firefighters continued to move down what was left of two feature stories and of everything for ninety nine cent store officials say the blaze was paul barrett won thirty and what we want to settle along firefighters say that when they arrived on the scene a few minutes later smoke and fire was coming from the basement storage area of one of the buildings at least three times what are the key partners and they're exhausted

firefighters were ultimately able to bring the blaze under control cohen is obviously an entire lost so are the replacement cost of drilling would they estimate that they at least some of the businesses were located next to the boardwalk chapel and they're perfectly secured about twenty young people were staying at the chapel on the blaze broke down pizza store owner john the pizza man ta heard that there was self irony notice that was sort of the in store and so he came to the chapel and pound on the doors getting people out as it turns out they had already started to smell smoke and wondering what was going on so the timing was very providential the chapel's as baseball and more damage officials there say they will close down an open up next season whereby those for saving the building and god shows the firemen to go on a war over this building up the heights of the fire and preserve the building you know i can make that runs a souvenir store next to the chapel and burned buildings says he arrived on the scene last night

and that's what they were buying water why would boardwalk is celebrating its anniversary a sense of shame for for the business owners the shape of the people who now have to deal with this for the rest of the summer season i guess if you can come up with any positive that there will be new construction here we will have it up and running for next for next summer american child you can guarantee yourself that there will be a renewed construction for next year the rich kids the jury of the summer's short the jersey shore that is also along the way most days in this fire could not have come at a worse time just one week before the labor day weekend but many in wildwood believe that the wire will not that there are people from spending bill last summer weekend and while back to okay ken thanks a lot for all proposed development in the meadowlands is drawn anger from

environmentalists say the wetlands will be disrupted a hearing was held in is rather for today's zachary frank was there he joins us now from our new york bureau with the latest isaak parishes for this project was first proposed five years ago i mean ninja why the army corps of engineers issued its draft environmental impact statement now and had the critical public comment period but this this product still faces opposition from small business owners as bulls environmentalists and generally it was the first of two public hearings the army corps of engineers to gather public comment before issuing the final environmental impact statement the virginia based news corp has proposed building an entertainment and retail complex two hundred six acre site known as the empire track in the meadowlands according to mills the project will create approximately seven thousand construction jobs and nearly thirteen thousand permanent jobs bergen county new construction workers showed up today to show support for the complex it's about because it's really a

win win for the people of new jersey on the one hand you have significant environmental hansman is going to be paid for entirely by the developer and then on the other hand the other first class development the primary opposition to the project comes from environmentalists who say any construction on the site will disrupt the fragile wetlands ecosystem what mills has proposed filling the two hundred six acres it also plans to preserve an additional three hundred eighty acres through mitigation environmentalists say that's not good enough it's the largest continuous track of weapons in the meadowlands there's enormous ecological via natural princes recognize protection agency to actually preserve those two jobs for construction workers are people who work in retail or opposed to is the idea that wilson's use its influence in its retail space office face a new hotel and restaurants are just some of the developments proposed that this site yale says it will draw between fourteen and twenty million people each year environmentalists and opponents say however they're not opposed to the concept here is the location according to the draft environmental impact statement issued

by the army corps of engineers forty seven other locations have been proposed federal government has not taken a stand on whether or not those alternatives are viable report also found that mitigation of wetlands would be required providing no net loss of wetland functions mitigation could result in any increase in vegetation species and habitats diversity and that development would not increase the duration or elevation of floods opponents at an agreement the federal government's filing necessary environmental opposition although they like to think that these wetlands will someday return to their natural state it won't happen without the proper funding is prominent critics of no it's no now a second public hearing is scheduled for next month and by actor relented all written comments must be must be submitted to the army corps of engineers which will issue its final environmental impact statement and after that it must get the permits and approvals from the state local and federal regulatory agencies

before any construction can begin rich because it was at one of the polling has brought a close to the continent or arena well initially that is what they were hoping to do and the reason we keep it where it is because it's actually very close his part to make it build a low bridge over the road there but what they're arguing is that there's no space there right now they say that it's still a near where the room has been rebuilt some bushes nibbled in your other saying that they're going to build the arena for the nets and i was right there on site in which case now there wouldn't be any room for this additional entertainment complex of his arkansas we've heard much more about this story we'll hear mercer county the controversy over twenty nine tunnel projects getting bad reviews this time from local residents they say the construction is damaging their homes joyce who has that story how liz shows signs of the pressure bernadine top of a thirty year resident of lamberton street and he says its structural damage not

happening ten years ago and what are those cracks of the conference president faith and thirty homes have been affected by the twenty nine ta five day job where the support for instance fbi agents are six in the morning or five in the afternoon they work over time we can write he just didn't have it because you have to blast the television to listen to it and the das sits in the house is just unbelievable meanwhile us that is one of the many seniors who lives on the street since the construction began her basement is what it occasionally now as it was when the project is finished vehicles will go underneath that title that begins here and runs for about a half mile the goal of the project is to divert traffic has invaded

this once peaceful neighborhood the phrase jack eighty million dollars because he already sits on the assembly transportation committee had only question the financial effects of the flood it but also its cost the homeowners you want this product to be successful we want these homes returned to the same condition as they found them as that's abating every back to committee had proposed legislation if necessary and state transportation department spokesman says they've documented the condition of the homeless beforehand and residents of the reinforced by the private contractor a dozen claims have been submitted so far and the projects only half complete the scheduled end date of december two thousand wild chilis and jen news trenton smokers interesting to continue lighting up this afternoon a judge rejected the smoking ban the judge ruled that the princeton regional health commission doesn't have the authority to restrict smoking to home cigar shop somewhere upwards judge says the panel can only recommend regulations violators would have faced fines of up to a thousand dollars

federal investigators released a preliminary report today on that brought intelligent mature car crash that killed eleven people but the report offers no new information the national transportation safety board says a final report is not expected for a year but officials may never know exactly what caused the piper navajo and pepper some an old clyde will inflate the report says most of the one play and landed on the garage of a house or the other plane landed in his soybean field the seven passengers and both pilots were navajo were killed the flight instructor and student killed onboard were killed or were the smaller aircraft no one on the ground was injured transit trouble information will soon be just a mouse click or beep away jersey transit says it plans to alert riders of mass transit problems like an email by the end of the year commuters also have the option to get word via cell phone pager or handheld computer writer say the key to making the alerts effective depends on how fast and jt can notify them the agency now serves more than three hundred thousand riders daily in political news democratic us senate candidate john cores on and republican opponent bob friends are slated to appear together tonight at a forum in berkeley township in ocean

county the two will discuss veterans' issues and military affairs the program is sponsored by the state vfw it's not a face to face debate it will be the first time the opponents will appear together for a formal event in the senate race ceasefire new jersey and other gun control advocates have taken a shot republican presidential candidate george w bush's policy on guns standing outside in essex county charge that were jointly called a hand gun control it took a lot a texas law which governor bush signed allowing citizens there to carry concealed handguns in public places that includes houses of worship hospitals and amusement parks the gun control advocates are concerned a potential bush presidency could lead to be an actor there was similar legislation here in new jersey couple bush's record in texas with his longstanding support from the gun lobby along with the nra stated commitment in the press booth passage of a national concealed carry law and it becomes alarmingly conceivable that under the george w bush presidency the carrying of concealed weapons could become widespread according to the gun

control advocates numbers from texas from the texas department of public safety show since the law took effect in january of nineteen ninety six concealed handgun license holders have been charged with more than thirty three hundred crimes including murder and attempted murder new jersey's average us at scores are out we'll show you how gordon six students got up and tis the season to seize the ragweed season arrives with a theory details or head of state is if you have a comment or call one eight hundred five years we want for our email address gillian news as both new jersey is tied for first when it comes to the number of students taking the s eighties test scores out today show garden state's it as did slightly better at macalester scoring an

average of five thirteen verbal scores on average health study afford it at the college board says students across the country scored an average of five fourteen a meth and five were five liberal portion of a wooden says the results show that new jersey is closing the gap with the nation a federal grand jury wants to see the bank records of washington township mayor gerald longo the subpoena obtained by the philadelphia inquirer is part of the reason we sort of probe into land deals in gloucester county township the inquirer reports the two investigations one federal the other states are focusing in part on a low income housing project that was the town's first effort to providing affordable housing there's been no comment from the us attorney's office official sell the newspaper the nut that another part of the federal investigation is a housing to lead to a nine hundred thousand dollars profit for several people connected to the mayor if your eyes and nose at the issue lately you're not alone ragweed season is here to south america correspondent sarah lee kessler tells us insight self watch doctors are fielding a growing number of complaints

ties forty four year old michel sullivan is feeling pretty miserable it's that time of year where we'd season which starts in late august and to last till the first frost allergies specialist very ambiguous of the hackensack university medical center says over the past few days wheat pollen counts have exploded she blames the wacky weather we have the summer this has been a summer that really was beset with rainfall so the weeds were wild oyster eyes because people don't cultivate it and now their holiday promenading and bringing intense suffering to patients like michelle who are allergic to ragweed has pixar likely end of summer and i really did get out of hand if i don't keep it in check when you talk

about him what are we talking about that he tries to be this you know sleeping a nighttime congested and then they can easily hear your solutions include anti histamine score because steroids and eye drops the dacha michela says one of the best things you can do for yourself is to stay indoors between the hours of five am and ten am which is when the ragweed is really blowing certainly kessler nj and knew his hackensack still the comic business news a federal judge approves the settlement for thousands of lawsuits and bridget announces plans to boost car production those stories and more on the government statistics it's both fb it's a nice businesses those who took the diet or accommodation fen phen could

receive up to one and a half million dollars that after a federal judge approved a three point seven five billion dollar national settlement also for fallout of the research like the diet or accommodation to potentially fatal heart valve damage under the settlement last summer the injured could receive over a million dollars most will get far less depending on their injuries more than nine thousand lawsuits were filed against madison based american products which made fun for me in the first half of the fen phen combination japan's bridgestone corporation said its boost entire production at a ford plant in japan to keep up with a massive fire still recall the company is now striving to manufacture five hundred seventy thousand tires by the end of the year the move comes after a farce and recalled six

point five million tires earlier this month after some versions of firestone's atx and wilderness tires were linked to sixty two fatal auto accidents afterward i would decline the price of gasoline is again on the rise analysts are blaming rising crude oil prices nationwide the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded rose to a dollar fifty five a gallon about two cents over the past week the icons after prices fell about eighteen cents a gallon over the past few months prices are now nearly a quarter a gallon more expensive this year than last new home sales surge in july a possible sign that americans are feeling secure in their jobs and to the economy sales soared why surprising fourteen point seven percent last month the biggest boost in seven years analysts were expecting a much smaller increase of around one percent but the news is not so good you're the northeast were sales actually fell for the month nationwide analysts credit the rise with falling mortgage rates are they where residents can have a place to learn about computers and the internet a spiral a community based organization open its first community technology center there today of the four hundred students parents and

local residents are invited to use the computer based educational center organizers here hope to present cyber vice president with a strong technology base we don't want to provide only youngsters of perth amboy an equal opportunity unequal access to technology it's really the future of education and the future of life in the empowerment of authorities are for the future at it invested twenty five thousand dollars in the center a spiral plans to open four similar computer science this year in trenton york patterson and can't do the third quarter outlook is not looking so rosy at and t the basking ridge this telecommunications giant lowered its third quarter earnings forecast by about five cents a share at and t is suddenly impact of its increased equity stake in excited home and the addition of the internet company's financial results to its own the restated ever is comes at a critical time for at and t the company stock has continued to drift downward amid concerns about its ailing long distance business on wall street stocks were mixed strengthen it in the

tech sector help for the nasdaq in positive territory for profit taking the blue chips push the dow into the red at the close contest rules lost nearly thirty points eleven thousand to fifteen among a broad markets the amex lost when half the nasdaq into was twelve the s a p five hundred shed for the bond market the ten year note is off seven thirty seconds it sealed up to five point eighty percent and still ahead on engines to check the forecast in jerusalem those were fans are crazy about the blue cloth did those be so jerry december seven an ever growing list of sins everybody wants to get in

on the action that finally based but those crazy our place my league baseball lakewood will clatter well cause are set to become new jersey's third a minor league baseball team the phillies are fully unveiled its new logo and uniforms today as fans lined up with little cough fever lakewood blue cross will join a host of other new jersey communities have minor league or semi pro baseball really got a look today at a new team logo and you know for its baseball hockey fans couldn't wait to get a piece of the action so many signed up for the team's mailing list scarf up hats and t shirts under my weight quite a bit and a lot more fun that was a particular bit more between innings games are exciting enjoyed quite a bit so what you think about having to write your clothes was i think is fantastic for a long time the city fathers of course appointed to the economic boom associate with minor league baseball in other parts of the state in fact organizers here have followed the blueprint created by the trenton thunder seven years ago to the letter late

what miramax now abbas keith knows it well they spoke so positively about and would have done for their neighborhood in the end it gave us some very sound advice and and we've taken it were following it and it has gone well from day one the few doubting thomases we have they're starting to turn many of them are here today buying their hats in just eight months the table open up shop here in a brand new six thousand five hundred seat twenty million dollar stadium blue bottle play in the sixteen teams south atlantic league clothes furniture builders say construction is on schedule and the luxury boxes open so we have to a luxury suites in a ballpark we've sold ninety we saw a lot of the foreigners wessel well over a thousand closer to fifteen hundred season tickets at this point the people in this area are roadside have baseball in their own backyard for years they've had to go for at the philadelphia to new york to see a major league baseball the last seven years to try to see our professional baseball possibly although they would say they've always had to do some

travel is now they can get through it or ballpark the house about fifteen minutes and i think the real exciting they're really i jumped on board and they can't wait until next spring that you're mine all of this for the senate acts was also some parts that will makes this group think is really successful for one reason the affiliation the tenth understand really well with the affiliation with the boston red sox they're phillies affiliation right across the river in philadelphia mythical the wonders of like what you have to say but the images say that the under done very well every year since davis says a star seven years ago the picture thanks a lot on the weather department was a cloudy day across the region with some scattered showers temperatures are mainly in the upper seventies and this man seriously and really what we were trying to be arraigned this afternoon by getting some painting and he was splitting up assad will and the chamber's board section of trenton and the winds and the soil for example ozone water or expect water levels in northeast and southwest elsewhere good conditions and here's the new jersey forecast

of north jersey's like cloudy with some drizzle likely close in the upper sixties tomorrow cloudy with scattered showers a high eighty degrees celsius like cloudy with a chance of rainbows around seventy towards the curies of rain with highs in the mid seventies and that's the news for today for jerry henry and all the syringe and news i'm rich and have a nice place for joining us it's by are fb the