NJN News; Thursday February 25, 1993

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . an assemblywoman Claire Farahir, who returned today after 40 days in the hospital, and David Russo, who abstained in a previous unsuccessful override effort. Russo said he would have preferred a bill similar to one in the Senate that would have grandfathered gun ownership to current owners, when that did not happen, he voted to override. You had to have some way to grandfather them, and it's just not going to happen, and otherwise the only way to do it was to repeal. I'm not particularly happy with that, but that's the political reality of it, and that's the only thing I thought was going to happen. The other reality are the polls, though, that show people don't want these guns.

You know, I feel the same way, Mr. Stupedegel, and I must tell you, this was probably the hardest vote I've ever had, and probably will ever have. This is the ninth time the assembly is overridden one of Governor Floreo's vetoes. The bill now goes to the Senate, where it faces a more uncertain future. In a statement released this afternoon, Senate President Donald E. Francesco said, I've said all along, that if the Assembly overrode the Governor's veto of A7S700, I would be willing to post the bill for a vote in the Senate. However, I do plan to consult with the Senate Republican Conference membership on the scheduling of such a vote. The administration this afternoon was urging the public to pressure the Senate not to go along with the Assembly. The Senate is next scheduled to meet on March 15th, Larry Stupedegel and Jane News. Joining us now from our New York Bureau is Reverend Jack Johnson, leader of citizens to stop gun violence, a coalition of groups working to uphold the Governor's veto. Good evening. Was this vote sprung on you and your allies today?

Indeed it was. That's why you weren't at the State House chewing on legislators' ears? Indeed it was. We did not anticipate this vote would take place today, and we were completely surprised by the vote. The Governor has condemned the Assembly's action today as we heard, but really aren't most of these gun owners law-abiding citizens, and isn't this just a political issue at this point by the Governor? Well, in fact, they are not law-abiding citizens in the 1990s. There was a law pass that said we didn't need these weapons. These assault weapons encirculation in our society and since that occasion, some 2,000 of those weapons have either been turned in, made in operable or been confiscated in criminal acts, and we again believe that these guns are not necessary. There are many guns that are still out there, and one of the reasons they've been out there is the legislature. It continually promises these persons that they're going to change this law, a law that makes sense in order to stay in place. 2,000 of the many, many thousands of guns that are still out there, but the law is not proving to be that successful then. Well I wouldn't say that.

Again, the law is designed to ask the citizens of this state, and we don't know what the numbers really are, to turn in these guns that have no utilitarian purpose. The NRA and the New Jersey sportsmen's group for the last 2 years have been, again, trying to change that law and keep telling citizens to hang on to those guns. I think if the law was placed in no fact once and for all, and people didn't think there was going to be a change, that in fact more citizens would turn into guns or make them inoperable. With regard to those statistics, gun advocates claim that the FBI stat show 1% of all murders in the U.S. are committed with these kinds of weapons. And 1% is 1% too many. These are weapons that have no utilitarian purpose, their weapons of war, their design is to kill, to maim, and we don't need them here in the state of New Jersey. Senate President Donald D. Francesco, as we heard in the report, has said that if the assembly could override the governor's veto, he'd post the bill in the Senate. What is your strategy now to counter passage in that house? Well, again, I think this is going to raise this vote today very much, the consciousness of the citizens here in the state, some 73% of the citizens support this law, in fact.

And we're going to make every effort to get turn those citizens out to speak to their state centers and enable them to know that they are opposed to the repeal of this law. Reverend Jack Johnson, thank you for being with us this evening. 42-year-old Matthew Heikle will be an old man when he gets out of prison if he doesn't die there. The Burnard's Township Man was sentenced today for murdering his parents in January of 1991. Matthew Heikle blinked as Somerset County Superior Court Judge Michael Embryani sentenced him to the maximum allowed in the murders of Richard and Dawn Heikle. An unreprinted Heikle verbally sparred with Judge Embryani who asked him if he was sorry for killing his parents. You said it to me in the afternoon. That's what I'm trying to do. You have anything more to say, Miss Diaglet? OK, good. So I have never heard you apologize to your parents. I apologize to them every night. And maybe they'd like to hear it out loud in public. Maybe I'd like to hear it.

I'm the one that's going to sentence you. I will. The jury that convicted Heikle in December spared him from the death penalty. Heikle's defense was insanity and adoptive child syndrome. A defense rejected today in Judge Embryani's sentencing. At the time of the murders, you were not under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. At the time of the murders, you were lucid, had full control of your faculties, and you knew exactly what you were doing. You are a danger to others, especially those who love and befriend you. And if you are permitted to return to society, I believe that you will kill again. The earliest Matthew Heikle would be eligible for parole would be in 60 years. Advocates of self-service gasoline stations say a murder this week in Burlington County might have been prevented had self-service been allowed in New Jersey. Kensing John reports the killing has fueled a new drive to make at least limited self-service legal. It was 12.30 a.m. at this Amaco station on Route 130 in Del Ran, Burlington County, when two robbers entered the kiosk of the station, and during a robbery stabbed the night attendant

39-year-old Michael Eck 15 times. The robbers took about $200 and six cartons of cigarettes. Latest robbery and death of an overnight attendant has renewed the call for self-service gas stations in the state, even on a limited basis. Even if the state in New Jersey doesn't want to allow self-service during the day, would they please do something to protect these guys at night because this isn't going to end? New Jersey is one of only two states that prohibits self-service gas stations. The New Jersey Petroleum Council says recent statistics show there were 800 gas station robberies in New Jersey, while in Pennsylvania, which has self-service, there were only 400. Because the attendant is not out in the open, the attendant is not exposed carrying cash as they are here in New Jersey. Limited self-service may be the answer, and it's something certainly that the legislature should consider. Opponents say that while the attendant would be protected under self-service, it also puts the customer at risk.

But still the consumer who's going to be exposed, we're just saying that for a limited time, the attendant may not be exposed, and yet there's a way of getting them out of it. They did it in the subway token boots in New York. Gas station owners have mixed reactions to the idea. This owner believes stations should be closed overnight, even with self-service. Only because the desolate areas, the crime rate, the high killings, the murders, everything's going on. I really don't feel as though the old company should press the dealers to stay up in 24 hours. I don't think it's safe. I think it's a good idea. I'll maybe limit it to midnight or from 12 to 6 in the morning. Culturally, New Jerseyans are used to having their gas pump for them, and many motorists seem to want it to stay that way. Not only because of tradition, but because it does make them feel safer. I wouldn't want to get out of my car that late at night, definitely not now. I would rather have someone come service me. Ken St. John and JN News. A Gloucester County man has been charged with breaking into his neighbor's house and allegedly stabbing a man and attempting to sexually assault his daughter.

The incident occurred shortly after 5 this morning when 19-year-old Brian Benish allegedly gained entry into this Washington Township home. Alerted by his daughter's screams, police say John Stakel confronted Benish and was stabbed while attempting to subdue him. He and his daughter, who was stabbed in the chest, remain hospitalized tonight. The suspect is being held on attempted murder charges. An Atlantic City grandmother and teacher has been arrested charged with leaving her 7-year-old granddaughter home alone while she went off to gamble. Neighbors had to break down the door to save the youngster when the house caught fire, as Margie Smith reports. 47-year-old Cynthia Holmes used to live in this now burnt out house in Pleasantville with her 7-year-old granddaughter, Trianna Cundiff. Today, the Atlantic City school teacher is facing charges of endangering the welfare of a child for allegedly leaving the girl locked in the house while she went to a casino. We alleged that while she had a duty of care to a child that she left that child home alone on February the 18th.

She left around midnight on that day, left the child in there and subsequently returned home around 6 o'clock in the morning. But while Holmes was gone, fire broke out in the back of the house, the child couldn't get out because the front door had been locked with a deadbolt that could only be opened from the outside. A neighbor across the street broke down the door and saved the little girl. And I've seen the houses on fire. My wife, she was telling me there was a little girl that'd normally be in there. We just kicked the front door open, you know, and seen a lady there on the floor, and I reached around the door, you know, and just pulled her out. How was she when you saw her? She was unconscious. She was out. The 7-year-old is still hospitalized in stable condition. Investigators say the house had a smoke detector without any batteries because of the fire is still unknown. Authorities would not say in which school Holmes teaches Atlantic City school district officials had no comment. Cynthia Holmes has been released from custody. Her case will be presented to a grand jury within the next four to six weeks.

If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in prison. Margie Smith and Jayne News, Pleasantville. In other news tonight, from around the state, a construction company has been cited for safety violations in a methane gas leak last summer that killed the Cape May County police officer. C.I. O. City Patrolman Michael Cullinane died in 37 workers were injured last August, after they inhaled the gas fumes at an excavation site. OSHA has cited the company that was involved on shore construction for 15 safety violations, which could result in fines totaling $66,000. Drew University in Madison is the beneficiary of a $2.5 million gift. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary William Simon at his wife Carol of Morris County are donating the funds to the Liberal Arts College. The money will finance construction of a new gymnasium to be named after the Simon's. We're honored not only then because of the benefits that this gift will bring our campus in the region.

But because of what these gifts, I believe, say about Drew University, we're moving to the forefront of innovation and excellence in higher education. The award is the largest individual gift ever received at Drew University. Coming up on NJNU's New Jersey on the Presidential Travel Agenda. And top GOP legislators from around the nation gather tonight in the Garden State, stay with us. If you see news happen, call the NJNU's TIPLINE at 1-800-JERZY-1, that's 1-800-537-7391. President Bill Clinton brings his traveling economy show to New Jersey Monday.

The president will visit Rutgers University to lobby for his economic plan and he'll use the collegiate setting to reveal more of part of his budget, the National Service Plan. Clinton wants any college student to be able to get a loan and then pay it back through community service, such as through teaching or police work. Rutgers officials say the president chose the State University of New Jersey because of its reputation for community involvement. Ideas for a new era. That's the theme of a congressional conference scheduled for tonight in Princeton to plan upcoming policy agenda for the 103rd Congress, more than 120 Republican members of the House of Representatives, including New Jersey's delegation, are expected to be in attendance for the strategy session.

The gathering is taking place a week after President made his first policy address to a joint session of the Congress. Among the featured speakers tonight, expected to spark interest and ideas, former President Richard Nixon and political critic and humorist P.J.O. Wark. Lobbyists are picking up the tab for the three-day affair at $6,000 or more, a piece. Law enforcement and other juvenile justice experts today worked in Morristown on ways to cut down on juvenile crime in New Jersey. Trisha Gaspers reports. Right now in New Jersey, there are 1,200 juveniles incarcerated, how to keep them from being repeat offenders after they do their time, and how to prevent them from getting into trouble in the first place was the topic at today's juvenile justice roundtable. Hosted by Mars Petty Prosecutor Michael Murphy, participants included the Attorney General, as well as child advocates, drug counselors, even a family court judge. The issue of whether or not the child is guilty or innocent is, of course, a great significance. The real problem is, what do we do afterwards?

It's not that often that we get the leaders of government at the highest level, the public advocate and the attorney general, to come in to an area like Morristown and hear directly from the service providers and those people are concerned about those issues to discuss what can be done. What are we doing, where are we going, and what are our goals? Although not everyone agreed today on how to remedy the variety of problems, they did agree that two things are essential, adequate funding and early intervention. Tony Parks of Daytop Village, which is a long-term drug treatment center, talked about the need for halfway houses after treatment. We have kids, 18 and 14, and we're saying they can't go back home. The home is full of drugs, alcohol, physical abuse, and what do we do with them? John Sanchez, a member of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce, said there was a lack of outreach for Hispanic students in Morris County. Like in the school system, we lack bilingual programs. There is very little bilingual programs and very little bilingual concern with the education

system. Basketball, great Roy Henson, works with abused children in Morris County, and Henson summed it up best. I love kids. I have kids of my own, and I think it's very important for us to just protect them as much as possible. They're so innocent, and there are so many adults out there that are going to hurt them that we need to step up in public forums such as this, and protect them as much as possible. Trish D. Gasparis, N.J. and News, Morris Town. When we come back, your child's favorite toys could soon carry a warning label. And we'll have the latest on an approaching snow storm. In tonight's money matters, Pennsylvania-based bank cooperation is a big step closer to taking

over a New Jersey bank. Meridian Bank Corp of Redding today has announced it has received all regulatory approvals for the acquisition of Cherry Hill National Bank of Medford. The officials say the deal should be completed in about a month. Hispanic Magazine has named a New Jersey Corporation to its list of the top 100 U.S. companies providing the most opportunities to Hispanics, for excelling the corporation of Somerville was cited for its activities throughout the nation. You could soon be seeing warning labels on some toys. The toy manufacturers of America has told Congress it will support a law requiring them to put a warning sticker on toys with small parts which could choke children under the age of three. Congress's head resisted calls for such labels. First time claims for jobless benefits have increased for the first time of the month, the increase of 4,000 was about half what was expected and also was still small enough

to keep the four-week average down. General Motors today denied reports that will lay off 11,000 hourly workers next week that Detroit Free Press reported a $1.7 billion fund that subsidized their jobs as empty. The fund was for UAW members laid off for at least nine months and allowed them to be called back to work even if they didn't have a specific job to perform. Auto sales rose nearly 9% amid February. Light trucks led the gain of big rise in truck sales including many vans and sport utility vehicles easily offset a slight drop in passenger car sales. Chrysler today says it will have a new minivan for sales early as next January and it will be powered by natural gas. Natural gas powered minivans will probably be first used in fleets. Mixed day on Wall Street the Dow has finished up nearly nine points in heavy trading, gainers edge losers five to four, the MX has finished up more than three, the OTC up nearly five. And just ahead we're going to tell you about how much snow to expect. And in sports the stage is set for the NJAC Championship, Jerry Henry has to tell us next in sports.

Dave Barber is having some technical problems tonight in the NJN Weather Center, preventing him from bringing us tonight's forecast, but I have it for you. Well, there's another winter storm headed for the garden state, but it appears at this hour that only half of New Jersey has to worry about the possibility of a significant snowfall. Winter storm watch is up for tonight in Cape May and Cumberland counties in extreme South Jersey, three to five inches of snow possible in those counties. The rest of South Jersey is under a snow advisory for two to four inches of snow.

That snowfall is expected to begin just after dawn and could complicate the morning commute for all of us. Our forecast calls for increasing cloudiness tonight with lows in the teens to near 20 degrees. The snow begins tomorrow morning and then continues much of the day in the South Jersey areas. The northern half of the state, expecting only light snow or flurries, although that forecast could change based on the track of the storm, tomorrow's highs will be in the low 30s. It's starting to get a little old, isn't it? Well, time for sports and Jerry Henry. Okay, Steve. Division 3 basketball, Rowan will meet Cain College in the New Jersey Athletic Conference Championship tomorrow, Rowan beat Trenton State last night's 70, 354 in Glassboro. Now Rowan's only lost this year was to Trenton State, but last night the props added to a two point halftime lead with a 12-2 second half run thanks to 13 points from Omar Foot and Lonnie McCory led the way with 16 points as the props improved their record to 24-1. At the end of the first half, they had two or three offensive putbacks that really changed

the game. They didn't get as many of those in the second half. The other half that unfortunately is hard as Trenton State works and as hard as we work. Trenton's game just depends a lot on shooting also, and Trenton State just didn't shoot as well in the second half as they did in the first, and that's no fault of those. Sometimes that's just the way it goes. That's certainly what happened to us up in Nurgent. At Stockton State first year Cain, coach Mike Gatley had his team thinking upset, and his top gun, Fred Drain's had been shooting 78 percent from the floor in the last three games. Drain's finished 10 of 12 for 24 points last night, Stockton did manage to send the game into overtime when Ramon Gaines tied the game at 58, and on to OT, Cain went ahead for good on Lion Marsha's bucket. Marsha would finish with 17 points in the 76-3 win. He and Drain's were too much for the Stockton State in number 2-C. That hit Drain's is the best player in the league.

I mean, he plays defense, he's a division one player that slipped through a crack. That's mainly the fact that we've been working hard since day one, and really our backs were up against the wall tonight for a lot of reasons, and the kids came out and really executed the way we had to in the second hit. Coach Gatley with his daughter, Megan. On to the pros and the big search for the net, who seemed to have disappeared during the All-Star break. New Jersey with another ugly loss in Boston last night, 103-88. Coach Chuck Daley wondering where his old team is. The Celtics' Reggie Lewis didn't mind, though. He had 31 points last night to lead all scorers. It was tough all night for New Jersey, even when they scored. I know what Chris Morris did manage 21 points in the losing effort, and Drazen Petrovic could only manage 15 points in another miserable night shooting net fall to six-and-a-half games behind the mix. And the Sixers had a long night at home with the Hawks losing big, 132-107, Mookie Blaylock could have helped the nets last night, but he was in a Hawks' uniform.

He finished with 21 points, and teammate Dominique Lowkins paced his club with 26 points getting the four-point play here as they handled the Sixers easily. NFL News, the Eagles today, named Reggie White as their franchise player, but since White was a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the league, he may still test the market. Eagles president Harry Gamble says the club still wants to sign White. And Lawrence Taylor told New Giants head coach Dan Reeves he'd like to play another season with the Giants. And that's sports. That news made me happy. I'm sure. Thank you, Jerry. Recapping our top stories tonight, the state assembly has approved an override of Governor Floreo's veto of a bill to weaken the state's ban on semi-automatic weapons. The Lower House approved the override in a 54-23 vote following a brief debate. The override attempt now goes on to the state Senate. Governor Floreo is calling on the public to urge state senators to uphold the ban. Unconvicted murderer Matthew Heikola has been sentenced to life in prison for the 1991 shooting of his adoptive parents in their Bernard'sville home.

Heikola must serve at least 60 years before he'll be eligible for parole. And that's our news for tonight. I'm Steve Heismuth. And I'm Kanteh Maddahan. From all of us here at NJN News, thank you for being with us. We'll see you back here tomorrow. Good night everybody. . . .

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