NJN News; Monday February 10, 1997

I'm getting there I'm getting there I'm getting there I'm getting there yeah I hear you bye yeah yeah yeah crazy Eddie gets more prison time New Jerseyans may soon find these at racetracks dredging the Delaware digs up problems and for a disabled World War 2 veteran financial wounds on top of battle scars those stories and

more on NJN news this Monday February 10th major funding for NJN news is made possible by grants from the Geraldine R Dodge Foundation which believes that an informed citizen relieves to a healthy democracy PSENG committed to serving customers strengthening the business community and investing in New Jersey's future first union serves the financial needs of individuals and businesses from Connecticut to Florida HIP health plan of New Jersey dedicated to providing quality health care 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 from NJN the New Jersey channel the Emmy award-winning NJN news with Kent Manahan Dick Forney with business and Jerry Henry with sports good evening just moments ago it was announced that New Jersey native bill par cells will take over as coach of the New York Jets immediately the decision comes after representatives of the Jets and the New England Patriots where par cells was coaching met over five hours today with league commissioner Paul Tagliabo Jerry Henry will join us later on in the broadcast with more on this developing story in other news tonight he committed one of the biggest monetary frauds in United States history today crazy Eddie Antar was sentenced to six years ten months for his crime with credit for the time he's already served he could be out into in a half years Michael Aaron has the story this was Eddie Antar's second sentencing originally

he got 12 and a half years but an appeals court ordered a new trial and this time Antar plea bargain admitting one count of violating the Rico law for securities fraud he got a lighter sentence than the first time in the go-go 80s Eddie Antar epitomized the get rich quick mentality one crazy Eddie store grew into an empire of 43 but Antar was skimming cash and cooking the books when he went public investors plunked down millions for a stock that was overvalued and when the scheme unraveled Antar fled the country for three years he ran and moved money among 30 offshore bank accounts arrested in Israel he first tried to keep his money squirreled away but has now turned over everything 72 million dollars investors lost a total of 146 million nearly all of which has been recovered he feels badly about it I mean he feels badly what he did to the investors he did badly about what he did to his company to the employees and most of all to his own family not only is he

contrite he's broke even the government conceded today he has zero assets and debts of one billion dollars from civil lawsuits he has lost this lesson is as old as so many of these fraud cases which is that excessive greed does not pay as judge Harold Akerman put it all the juice has been squeezed out of the orange there's nothing left although he did slap an extra two hundred fifty thousand dollars in restitution on Antar on the theory Antar will be making good money again someday the same skills he used to build crazy Eddie and make a fortune he now uses as the supervisor of food service at Otisville federal prison in New York they'll have them there another two and a half years Michael iron and JN news newer prison and parole were among the bills tackled by lawmakers in Trenton today the Senate budget committee approved a package of reforms to the parole system it tightens parole eligibility allows probation officers to carry guns and gives the parole board more power to reject

requests the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a measure to ask voters to change the constitution to allow mentally competent death row inmates to wave last minute appeals and an assembly committee has okay to compromise welfare plan to allow municipal offices to stay open the offices would have to comply with new standards to crack down on fraud and error Woodbridge Mayor Jim McGreevey is the first potential Democratic gubernatorial primary candidate to file with the state for matching funds McGreevey announced he's raised nearly $334,000 that qualifies his campaign for $500,000 in public matching funding congressman Rob Andrews the other perceived front runner among Democrats says the campaign has $400,000 in available funding half of that amount comes from Andrews congressional campaign account a move which has been approved by the federal election commission the Senate Judiciary Committee today approved the nomination of John Haley as transportation commissioner it

comes as Haley wants answers to what he's calling a universal cry for help from drivers Haley is asking DMV officials to give him a list of the top 10 complaints his nomination now goes on to the full Senate horse racing maybe on the wrong track in the Garden State a declining track that's why a new commission is looking at ways to increase the gambling options at New Jersey's five race tracks Rich Young has some of the possible changes down the home stretch horse racing is a billion dollar industry in New Jersey it supports some 20,000 jobs both at tracks and on farms but with stiff competition from Atlantic City and the lottery many believe the industry is hurting it's in trouble right now it's in trouble right now well today the state's new racing industry study commission left the gate to change that racing enthusiast track representatives a casino owner and politicians discussed ways to raise more money horse racing expert Richard Thalheimer said tracks need a shot in the arm the jersey needs something as well as many other

states that are now suffering from competition from other forms of gaming Thalheimer says nationally tracks have become more competitive with three initiatives off track betting telephone wagering and slot machines one arm bandits at neighboring Delaware's horse tracks have reportedly been its success in New Jersey however with thousands in Atlantic City there's mixed opinions about how slots would affect casinos I think slots would kill the golden goose in terms of taxes and that's Atlantic City other states that have slots at tracks don't have casinos but thoroughbred odor of Frank Keegan believes slots are needed they would bring purses up to a level where the state in New Jersey would probably go back on the the cutting edge of the racing industry in the country the commission now has six months to send governor Whitman a list of recommendations she can either accept them reject them or take no action most degrees something needs to be done the save the horse racing industry in the state but the fences dividing the two camps are firmly in the ground on those answers are still way out in the pasture Richung and JN News at the state house there are concerns tonight along the

Delaware River about a proposal to depend to deepen the southern stretch of the waterway the project would help industries there but as environmental correspondent Edward Rogers explained some say the move will unearth lots of problems the Army Corps of Engineers has recommended deepening the Delaware River channel from 40 to 45 feet to accommodate larger ships using the river many vessels often have to offload their cargo at the mouth of the river so that they don't run aground the idea is to drag a 102 mile stretch of the river from Camden to the sea what that does is it permits a deeper draft vessel to command and there's associated transportation savings that go along with that transportation savings that as a result of the feasibility study estimated those savings to be somewhere on the order of 40 million dollars a year that means as you can carry more cargo in on each vessel the Army Corps plan calls for dredging 34 million cubic yards of mud and sand from the bottom of the river and dumping it at disposal sites like this along the Delaware River

and Pedrickstown Salem County Ellen DeBoys lives in the area and is opposed to expanding the site right now we have a current height of about 50 feet they plan to enlarge this site so that it will be diked up about 100 feet and we'll hold approximately 35 million more cubic yards cubic yards more of material the Army Corps says their recommendation is sound our analysis says that we're not going to find anything there are testing so far has proven it's right we in fact haven't found any contaminants down there we've got clean sediments in the Delaware River we don't believe that we feel that the sediment in the in the main channel that's targeted to be dredge may at the very least have hot spots as far as toxicities and other hazardous chemicals the Army Corps of Engineers says that the Delaware River area is the last major shipping channel on the east coast that is only 40 feet deep if the Delaware River Port Authority provides funding and the Army Corps of Engineers gives the

plan a final okay this dredging project could begin by 1999 at Rogers and JN News Camden new developments in that air scare off the New Jersey shore last week that coming up and a disabled vet finds himself in a new type of fight at City Hall Jim Hooker has his story if you have a comment call NJN News at 1-800-Jersey-1 or our email address NJN News at AOL.com the air force is suspending its flight so the Gulf of Mexico following two new

reports of close encounters between fighter jets and commercial airliners in an incident just last week off the coast of Atlantic City a civilian investigator reportedly has determined that a military controller failed to tell air National Guard pilots that a nation's air jet was entering military air space as a result at least one military plane similar to this F-16 approached the 727 from behind triggering an automatic collision system to sound off on the passenger craft two days later a similar incident occurred off the coast of Maryland New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg has called for a full

investigation the air force had previously suspended all training flights off the east coast a disabled New Jersey veteran could learn tonight whether his economic wounds will soon be healed World War II veteran Frank Rossi is among an unknown number of permanently and totally disabled New Jersey war veterans who qualify for exemption from local property taxes as Jim Hooker reports Rossi wants what he believes is his fair share of this little known exemption I was moving back while our tank were firing holding the thing the enemy back when I come out out of the trench the outside that's when I got hit the shella came in and blew me everything disappeared out of my hands 52 years ago army private Frank Rossi was fighting for his life on a German battlefield wounded in battle he spent 11 months in army hospitals they draw a pin from here to here today Rossi is at war again this time on the home front he wants a property tax

refund he believes he's owed I paid them all these years and I think they should refund me because after all I did something for them I gave my life to the country now why they took my money Rossi and his wife Bianca are battling west Windsor township over a World War II era state law it gives full property tax exemptions to totally impermanently disabled war veterans Rossi only discovered the law in 1995 when he first became exempt from $5,600 a year in property taxes but he's fighting to recover $58,000 in taxes he's paid since 1975 when he was declared totally disabled at least one council member supports him and I think very clearly that when a person has given so much of themselves that $58,000 is not a great deal of money state law says local governments may return property taxes already collected on late claims to the disabled veteran exemptions but the payment isn't required lawyers working with the

town council subcommittee looking into the Rossi case have prepared a report obtained by NJN news recommending a maximum retroactive payment $2,500 they ought to be shameless themselves the council takes up Rossi's tax question tonight Jim Hooker NJN news 29 years ago in Vietnam the Tet Offensive was a major defeat for American troops 14 years later in 1982 the Vietnam veterans memorial was dedicated in Washington D.C. Anisa Mejide reports from a museum in East Orange where there's an exhibit about the wall the Vietnam Memorial in Washington lists the names of those who died the people who loved them and still live honor them there as if the wall were an altar with photos and trinkets and letters Chris Suza was the bravest man I ever knew he saved my life on the Mekong Delta January Howard this little pink dress is the one which your daughter were home from the hospital she was born two months after

you died over 53,000 items have been left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. Most of them are in a warehouse this exhibit is an educational and historical legacy now thanks to a grant from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial fund this 200-piece collection can tour the state it can go to the high schools and public libraries and places in the New Jersey New York area or more and more people can really experience the power of remembering people that we miss we're teachers the whole staff is teachers and the young people that work with us and the support of the history and we felt it was something that made sense to try and share with the kids who visit painted by a 12-year-old boy who died a 21-year-old man March 23rd 1967 love mom dad Ron and Andy when I started this project the idea was to build a memorial and I sort of had some doubts whether many people would even want to come and visit it because of the unpopularity of the Vietnam War when you read the heartbreak that so many people felt and

continue to feel that's kind of what gets to me more than anything else. Gikki I'm sorry I would have been there if I'd known but the Jersey Explorer Museum is the only place in the country outside Washington DC where parts of this collection are on display. Anisa Mehdi and Jan News East Orange coming up on NJN News in our business report it's no game a major toy company wants to make a New Jersey buy and a skilled worker is a prize possession here in the state and difficult to find. Dick Forney takes the job of looking into the labor squeeze which might surprise you. So what kind of toys are we talking about Dick? Well let's see I know this is

before your time but some of us remember when every kid had to have a pezz dispenser. Oh it wasn't before my time. Well that's one of the toys we're talking about. That's right on the day the International Toy Fair opened in Manhattan Hasbro announced it is expanding its product line with the acquisition of two units of a New Jersey company. Bergen County based Russ Berry will sell its cap toys and odds on subsidiaries to Hasbro for $166 million. Russ Berry is best known for its stuffed animals that you're seeing here. Its cap toys division makes novelty candy products such as the pezz dispenser odds on makes the kush ball. US cable has sold its Patterson and Alamucci systems to cable television giant TCI the sale of the two systems with about 22,000 subscribers in North Jersey as part of a larger deal between US cable and TCI which is head US cable that is is headquartered in

Montvale, New Jersey. TCI also plans to purchase two other US cable systems one in Illinois and the other in Indiana. What would you say if I told you that many high paying jobs are going begging here in New Jersey? Tonight in the first of two parts a special report on a tight labor market that leaves many New Jersey employers with a sign help wanted skilled workers. He looks to straight maybe you should think on making it more around there. Bloss Castro likes his job and he's good at it. Bloss is a student worker designing jewelry at a 130-year-old Cremence company in downtown Newark. Cremence needs more workers like Bloss. We are finding skilled tool makers, model makers and setters. Very difficult commodity to find. It's ironic that so many businesses report difficulty in finding skilled labor considering the state's unemployment rate is about a full percentage point ahead of the national average. There are plenty of workers

available. It's just that many of those workers don't have the skills that businesses are looking for. We are continually striving to find individuals whose skills and abilities match the needs that we have in order to operate our machinery and produce a quality product. At Foss from company in Pasek they need precision welders who can work to the specifications of government contracts which are the lifeblood of the company. If people can't find enough skilled people skilled workers to fill their needs they'll move elsewhere where there are those skilled workers. Indeed the ability of the state to compete economically is a major concern. In 1996 59 percent of New Jersey businesses and industry association members cited difficulty finding skilled workers. Meantime according to the New Jersey chapter of the national federation of independent businesses nearly 20 percent of their members are having trouble getting skilled labor. We have the skilled workers we just have

to sometimes the skills are not quite what the employer needs and we have to help train and develop them into what the employer does need and also there are people who have the skills who can't be found and that's where our employment service and the one stop by shopping has to match and have a database that matches the skills with the jobs. In part two of our special report we'll take a look at what's being done by businesses government and education in New Jersey to retool workers for skilled positions. Investors cash in on high tech stocks. I love the marketing details 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. Well high tech stocks were big losers on Wall Street today as investors took profits that they racked up in the sector's January gains. The now industrial average

fell 49 and a quarter points close at the 68-06 level. The MX composite rose a point in a quarter the NASDAQ where many high tech issues are listed was clobbered 22 and a third points and the standard of poor is 500 fell about four. I'll leave the MX with a game. I think so and you know high tech stocks have had their 15 minutes of fame. All right thank you Dick. Still to come tonight to check of our forecast coming up and Jerry's here with a preview but to head its board. Okay as you said Bill Parcell's is clear to coach and Seaton Hall hopes history will repeat those stories next in sport. So Jerry what do you know about this newly announced Parcell's deal? It's

still very new because it came in very late but the jets gave up a lot but not exactly what the patch wanted. Let me tell you about it. The jets will get their coach this season. This after a marathon meeting today in New York between the Patriots, the jets and NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabo. The deal struck today includes New York's first round pick in 1999. A second round pick in 98 plus their third and fourth round picks this season. Also the jets will give $300,000 through the Patriots charitable foundation. The patch had won it. The jets first round pick in the draft this season. They didn't get that again. Bill Parcell has been clear to coach for the jets in the upcoming season. College basketball tonight at the MEDALAND's at Seaton Hall and Miami in a big east matchup. A huge game for Miami who's fighting for sole possession of first place in the big east seven. Meanwhile, Seaton Hall has struggled of late by letting lead slip away. But the pirates may have history on their

science tonight as they face one of the hottest teams in the conference. Miami has never won in the continental arena. George Blaney is hoping to keep it that way. Well, I'm not a superstitious guy so I like the fact that they haven't won an arena. I hope they keep that record intact. They're a very good basketball team, knowing they haven't a great year. They play great defense and they've been beating a lot of good teams in the air. They're in first place so obviously they're having a terrific year. The danger coming off a win over Rutgers this past weekend. In fact, they won six of their last seven. On the other hand, the pirates are struggling to find answers. They've dropped their last three. They don't have to find them quickly if they have any hopes of post season play. This is when you want to be playing well. We've played two good games in a row and haven't won either of them. And so now we're hoping we can put together another good game tonight and play well tonight. I think in the big east you have to be much more concerned about the game on hand rather than the game coming up. And we try to do a good job of staying focused on the game at hand and Miami is what we have tonight. So we really need to get after that

tonight. And I tell you what Kent, as he said, March madness is going to be really crazy. If the biggest is any indication this year, everybody's beating up everybody. We've got teams like Miami fighting for first place here in February. So it's we it's a weird season. The pirates have to play hall ball. That's right. Real hall ball. Let's take a look at whether we saw a mix of sun and clouds across New Jersey today. Highs got into the 40s. As far as our air quality goes for tomorrow, we can expect cold yellow readings for the northeast, but good air quality throughout the rest of the state. And here's the forecast in North Jersey tonight. It will be cloudy with lows in the teens. Tomorrow, a mostly cloudy day, the chance of some flurry some places with highs in the mid 30s. In South Jersey tonight, partly cloudy skies with lows in the teens and tomorrow, partly sunny conditions with highs in the 30s. Well, it's a campaign with a real heart as Valentine's Day approaches. Have a heart for the hungry is an effort that's making tens of thousands of meals available to food banks in New Jersey and in New York.

In a gift from the heart for those in need, six tons of heart shaped pasta is being donated by fun foods of Hoboken. And some of it was dished out for some sampling today. In all, about 78,000 meals will be served to needy people in both states. At this time of the year, organizers say many shelter pantries are bare. That's our news for tonight. I'm Ket Matahand for Dick and Jerry and all of us here at NJN News. Thank you for being with us. We'll see you again tomorrow night, everyone. Show that bear again. I love that. What bear? A bear they have for rust. That bear was shaking back to me almost. Oh, yeah. That was fun. It was funny. I get you right. I like that.

Well, the octopus is what got me though. The octopus is my rock. Flour. Dick, you bear.