New Jersey Nightly News; New Jersey Nightly News Episode from 07/07/1978 6:30 pm

I am. New Jersey nightly news. I was. With Rebecca Sobel in Trenton and Clayton Vaughn in Newark. Good evening. In the news tonight Mount Laurels a controversial housing plan has been upheld in court. New Jersey's unemployment rate is down but it's still higher than the unemployment rate nationwide and the theatrical Phoenix has risen from the ashes in Middlesex County. Clayton. Good evening Rebecca. And sports Paul bloodline reports on the record sued by a Gloucester County Little League Baron who claims his child isn't playing enough. And tonight's closer look segment reports on the New Jersey Symphony and its new summer season Rebecca. A judge in Mount Holly ruled today that it is not up to the courts to decide how much low and moderate income housing is needed in a town. Today's decision involved Mount Laurel township in Burlington County and is an outgrowth of a landmark 975 state Supreme Court ruling that ruling ordered Mount Laurel and all other developing New

Jersey communities to rezone and provide a fair share of low cost housing. Mount Laurel obey the Supreme Court order. But the end of a lacy peach challenge the plan claiming it didn't go far enough. Well Superior Court Judge Allen would disagree but he did strike down one part of the plan a ban on mobile homes in the township. He said it was arbitrary. Good news today on the New Jersey unemployment front. It went down last month to 7.3 percent. That's half a percentage point better than the month before and well under the 9 percent of June a year ago. New Jersey 7.3 is still well above the nation's jobless rate of 5.7. That's the lowest national rate in four years and compared to a year ago seventy six thousand more people are working here in the state total on the job force three million one hundred twenty eight thousand job level for any June in 10 years. You Jersey College of Medicine and Dentistry president Dr. Stanley Bergen today responded to charges of institutional racism. Those charges were made yesterday by a spirit of Puerto Rican educational group a

spirit says Puerto Ricans are under represented in student and faculty populations. But Bergen thinks it's a problem of personnel availability. If you could refer me to some sources where I could find that a faculty I'm sure they're all 16s of the college would be happy to interview such individuals unfortunately once again even more than with the black issue. The pool of faculty who are statics and particularly the type of Hispanics Puerto Rican Hispanics that would be a spirit group are talking about very small Bergen says that the school will refute other charges in a report which will be released later this summer. The cost of staying healthy seems to be outstripping the protection given by medical insurance. That gap could leave you in a serious financial bind if you should get sick. My power has the story. If you go into the hospital for an operation you might be in for a surprise when you wake up

and it won't be a bouquet. It will be a bill. And if you think you don't have to worry because you have Blue Shield think again. Chances are your Blue Shield coverage is running behind your salary and your surgeon's fees. Many people who go in for surgery believe BlueShield will pay the whole bill. There's a good chance it won't. It depends on your income. Sixty percent of Blue Shield subscribers belong to plans to say they can't make more than $12000 a year and still have the surgeons bill paid in full. The median family income in New Jersey is about $15000 a year. So that typical family has to make up the difference from its own pocket and that can be a surprise of several hundred dollars. For example having your gallbladder removed the most common Blue Shield plan pays three hundred seventy five dollars. A typical doctor's fee in Burlington County. Six hundred fifty dollars.

So you don't really examine the terms because you're not dealing with a salesman. So who might have an incentive to confuse you so you come away come away thinking this pays your fees. That's right. And it doesn't it should be pointed out that if the patient's income is below $12000 a doctor who takes part in Blue Shield will perform the surgery for the Blue Shield fee. But since most families in New Jersey earn more than 12000 BlueShield is moving to catch up with them. It's offering a new and more expensive plan. This one raises the income you can earn and still qualify for full coverage to twenty thousand dollars. Blue Shield does offer subscribers a plan for full coverage regardless of their income. But it's costly and fewer than a quarter of Blue Shield's policyholders have it. I would like to see for coverage I think the American public has been led to feel that this is what they deserve. I personally feel that this is what they should do.

So there's a good chance that unless you have the very best coverage you'll pay part of the surgeons bill yourself check your insurance policy. But first take some advice from health planners. Get a second doctor's opinion to see if you need the operation at all. In Burlington County I'm Mike power. There's a new concept in medical treatment that traces its roots back to Eastern mysticism and Western faith healing. It's called therapeutic touch and early reports from a few medical researchers show that the technique actually changes the body's chemistry. More than 4000 nurses in this country is said to use therapeutic touch on their patients. One of those nurses in Morris County Michael Norman reports. She's neither a mystic nor magician Diana Finneran is a registered nurse with years of experience and medical credentials to match. She runs a children's ward in

northwest New Jersey hospital but in a room in her house in Randolph. She feels a less orthodox role that of a nurse healer. Here she's trying to ease the pain of a patient who suffers from chronic rheumatoid arthritis. This is Finneran and others who practice therapeutic touch believe people become ill or feel pain because they suffer from a lack of internal energy. The healer or healthy person has excess energy and the idea is to transfer that excess to patient. I would place my hand in the area where I felt a difference in other words. Sense of heat or sense of coolness. Words different from what would appear to be the normal part of the body. And I would just allow my energy to flow into that part of the body in different positions depending on how it felt. Ursus have been touching patients for hundreds of years since the very very beginning of nursing. And this is finally the way

it's been at an awareness that nurses can finally begin to realize that that touch does in fact have a greater significance than simply rubbing on a lotion. At this point there's only limited medical evidence that therapeutic touch changes the body's chemistry. But there's also the testimony of patients. It's not permanent help but it does help me when I hurt the most to get through the next few hours or so. Do you have any sense of how it helps. You know it just seems to take it away even though Diana Finner and practice is therapeutic touch here at home. We want to show you the hospital where she works. But hospital officials refused. They said they did not want their institution associated with therapeutic touch something they said they knew very little about. In Randolph. I'm Michael Mormon. The state education department has ruled that parents cannot withdraw their children from mandatory sex education classes in public schools because of religious beliefs. A

demonic couple had objected to their daughters having to attend such classes saying that Roman Catholic family should provide such education at home. Clayton. 30 million dollar facelift is underway on the New Jersey side of the New York Harbor. And today a boatload of politicians and photographers took a look at the progress of the boat supplied by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers which is also supplying 70 percent of the money for the cleanup. The idea is to clear away the derelict boats and rotting Piers that scar the harbors waterfront from Jersey City. The policy park officials hope that once the waterfront has been given a new look it can become a new center for residential and industrial development. A federal judge ruled today that the city of Garfield cannot set rules about the use of that railroad spur that runs through the main street of Garfield. The judge said only the state and federal governments can set such rules. Not cities. Garfield passed an ordinance limiting use of this bird by Conrail on the grounds of the health and the potential danger of the chemical shipments involved.

The Garfield city attorney says the city's next step now will be a petition to the state board of utilities. Going to the theater from New Jersey. Usually means fighting for expensive tickets crossing one river and worrying about what parking is going to cost. But for those who know about Middlesex county's plays in the park it means spreading a blanket and settling in for a hassle free theatrical evening. SANDRA KING reports. Right right. Let me take a. Look at it. Well there were no hangings in Roosevelt Park last night but there was plenty of good theater and good spirit as plays in the park unveil the production of My Fair Lady. It was the opening of the company's 16th season and the first performance in an impressive new home. The original

theater which stood on the same side in Addison burned to the ground three years ago. But last night there was no time for looking back. And just hours before curtain time stage fans were still busy with last minute finishing touches. For the company. It was the filament of a three year dream. The praise was plentiful and encompass the actors who were all volunteers. The county government which funds the theatre and the state which supplied money to rebuild the companies. You know we hear an awful lot about the European ideal of government supporting the arts and here is a really fine example of that in America. And as a kind of support they've given us the money and the facilities and they've pretty much kept out of our way and let us do the kinds of things that we want to do. So it's been a kind of ideal happy arrangement of politics and art. The nicest part is that admission is free and more than 5000 people were on hand last night. The biggest bargain in town. The.

The. The. Low in Madison. I'm Sondra. The Jersey Shore community of Wildwood now has its new dress code on the books but it's being ignored. The code forbids bare chests for men and bikinis for women and apparently was aimed at getting people to cover up in the evenings. But men without shirts and women in bikinis are still strolling the boardwalk on the streets and the number of arrests is exactly zero. The American Civil Liberties Union of course is getting ready to take Wildwood to court in the name of bare manly chests and bikini clad women. But without an arrest there's no test case. Some wild locals appear mildly amused by the whole thing pointing out it's been too cool in the evening lately anyway to run around half naked. A court showdown over a Woodbury literally Guymon that story and the rest of the Garden State Sports News when the New Jersey nightly news continues.

Here's the weekend weather forecast mostly fair tonight with patchy fog in low lying areas low temperatures will be in the 60s tomorrow should be sunny and humid inland in New Jersey. The high temperatures will be in the low 90s at the shore tomorrow it'll be sunny and humid with high temperatures in the 78 to 83 degree range. The ocean water should be about 65 degrees with one to two foot waves and five miles visibility. The outlook for Sunday partly sunny hot and humid with a chance of afternoon showers. Clouds it is Ford brings the latest athletic happening right into your living room every Monday evening at 8:00 and Saturday afternoon at 4:00. If it's interviews with sports personalities we've got and if you want to learn how to play sports we can show you if you want to know the latest development is in sports medicine we can tell you. Plus provide you with provocative sports information you'll find nowhere else. I declaimed as Join me on that's a new

sports Mondays at 8:00 and Saturdays at 4:00 here on New Jersey Public Television. Good evening. There are few subjects more controversial than Little League baseball. To some it's the greatest thing going To others it's repugnant. Now there's a new controversy brewing in South Jersey. Samuel Goodwin of Woodbury wasn't happy at all about what happened this past season. Mr. Goodwin decided that his son Sammy wasn't getting enough playing time in the Woodbury little league. So Mr. Goodwin filed suit in Sapir your court. The suit has been big news in South Jersey and asked that all children in the Woodbury little league be given equal playing time. What we really hope to gain through this is that in the end all the children will be able to have the same chance to play. But there's another side of this story. The Woodbury little league already has a rule stating that each player must play four innings each week. Donald Smith is the lawyer for the Woodbury little league. And if there's one parent who feels that that rule is not correct. Now then it's a

question should he within the group itself the democratic process so to speak make a motion go to a meeting and say let's have equal playing time. Apparently Mr. Goodwin hasn't chose to do that. I think that winning is stressed over enjoyment to the point where something has become. Primarily concerned with winning and we will make some children sit on the bench where they don't get to for enjoyment of the program or they don't participate fully. I don't think their. Winning is over emphasize especially in the minor division. Yet there has to be enough. Winning to keep the boys interested. They've had a problem already believe it or not with a team that didn't win. And the players dropping off the team to the point where the rest of the players on the team couldn't play because they had to forfeit games. Let the Kids Play look at kids have a good time and let's prevent the situation all about us. Let me say let's insulate the children from a situation where you have a manager who just because he

wants to work again will make some child sit on the bench. Sammy what do you think of the whole thing. Are the other kids from having equal chance to play. The next move in the case will be on August 21st when as a Pirie or court judge will rule on a motion by the Woodbury Little League to have the case thrown out of court. Here a few of the things coming up this weekend around the state. The New Jersey American soccer team is home against the Cleveland Cobras. That's Sunday evening 7:30 at Rutgers. In slow pitch softball the New Jersey statesman take on Detroit at Mercer County park there a double header set for both Saturday and Sunday nights. It's a tennis tournament for boys and girls 18 years of age and younger begins this weekend at the bring up and Racket Club in Edgewater. It'll be another good fishing weekend especially for brown trout in the Round Valley reservoir in Hundred and down all varieties of pin fish can be found in most New Jersey lakes and ponds and on the coast. Blue

Fish are strong along the beaches and in bays and inlets flew in fantastic numbers are in Barnegat Bay. And that's sports for tonight. Rebecca. Thanks Paul. The New Jersey Symphony has begun its summer season and will have some of the sights and sounds from a concert and an interview with the symphony's music director Thomas Moore holic on tonight's closer look. Coming up next. It was. Keep an eye out for some of the best romp and stomp and bluegrass music ever to hit the east from New

Jersey. It's bluegrass at the English town Music Hall. This show features Tex Logan and Don Stover. See it Monday at 8:30 on New Jersey Public Television. Perhaps no institution has as much impact on our cultural scene in our state as the New Jersey Symphony. Like a group of travelling minstrels the state's orchestra performs in all 21 of the state's counties during its 29 week season. Symphony started its ambitious summer season of pops concerts Sunday in Princeton contributing reporter Terry Lowe and fan was their. Opening program on the playing fields near Princeton University's Palmer stadium. It was more of a happening than a formal concert. Music lovers came early to picnic on the grass soak up what was left of the late afternoon sun and listen to the musicians tune up. But the festivities were underscored by an air of anticipation.

This was the first test of the symphonies new mobile sound stage. This is Betty Rob Johnson who was instrumental in getting the half million dollar foundation grant which purchased the stage sat in conspicuously among the crowd. The sense of excitement grew as conductor Thomas Muhammad gave the downbeat for what is probably the best known musical phrase in the classical repertoire. Beethoven's Fifth Symphony was the perfect medium to test the new sound system. The audience of 5000. Young and old were stirred by the familiar strains projected to the very back of the bass field as if by a gigantic hi fi system. Last Friday the orchestra was assembled at Symphony Hall in Newark to prepare for the Princeton concert and its

summer season. During a break in the rehearsal I talked to my stomach holic about many things including the new mobile sound stage and his goals for the orchestra. What contribution will the new sound stage mic and the orchestras plants and I think that's a giant step for nudes as a symphony being able at least to play. Some of the season in the same conditions. It's very important for us things we're finally dealing with the same sound system we finally have something which is even visually beautiful. And I think. That this is most important step the most important step for us and I'm very. Happy I was that excited I can hardly wait to see it on Sunday. What are your goals and priorities and building the artistic stature of the orchestra. Well I will never compromise on the quality of the orchestra so I

strongly believe that being Sunday between New York and Philadelphia. Should only help. I want a situation because we senator should try. To come up to the level of those stores just as I'm talking about Philadelphia Orchestra New York Philharmonic. Providing that the economic background and the backing would be there too. Then you don't you don't see it as a handicap. No absolutely not absolutely not. I think that's a healthy competition. It's providing. Just as I was provided. A. Great possibility and what I've read between orchestras can always. Help orchestras and the music that acts. In the artistic achievements since he became music director a year ago. Mr. Muhammad has made some significant personnel changes. I asked him if this wasn't affecting morale among orchestra members. Oh I don't know about you know I will not answer this I ask you a question. When the executive

promised a new position and he doesn't like a secretary he doesn't like the way she types he gets a new secretary and so you know me it's Secretary of the Union will never interfere in his problems. Well and the music director comes and let's say does not. Like people who work for him doesn't. Look what it's like for the job. The chances have to be made. I suppose there's not a conductor alive or dead who had the complete devotion and love of the orchestra which you directed. There never will be one. There never would be one that you cannot possibly as we know this from life you know the kind of boss of the satisfied. The needs or taste of everybody. I mean every musician of the orchestra painting a meet and greet in your head and the other because it is an inspiration they are willing to play together and are willing. To excite themselves and willing to give everything they have or sometimes even more sometimes they play

like that above their heads. The musicians play about their. Marches accompanied by a firework. Musical. The same with everything from Beethoven Ticos. To Gershwin. Lerner and Loewe. The concert school ranged widely across the state. In stadiums secluded meadows and. Parks. The commission is relatively. Free. Thanks to the new found state. Thousands of New Jerseyans will have the opportunity to hear their orchestra. Many perhaps the first with with. Eyes fireworks nice music lady reporting that piece was pretty were bordered Turlough and those are in our studio. Very obviously you like the orchestra and appreciate the orchestra pointed out many of its good things what's really it's it's basic

and again what's wrong with it. In your view. Basically there's nothing wrong with the orchestra except that it needs money. What do you mean by that. It's funded that I think you told me earlier close to two million dollars a year 1.8 something like that. Well that's the budget that they are the orchestra operates on except that most people don't realize that a symphony orchestra just doesn't make it on ticket sales. They only have for the New Jersey 70 in particular that only about 25 percent of the budget. So it seeks money from the private sector from the needs of New Jersey state legislature. The wonderful gifts like the shell of the stage that we saw. If if the budget were increased What could it do to the New Jersey Symphony that we are not doing now. Well to begin with it could give the symphony more visibility that they could play 36 weeks instead of twenty nine. Why shouldn't they play 52. Why shouldn't it be a year round thing.

It should be and I'm sure that the orchestra would be very thrilled to know that it could work for 52 weeks a year but we have to be realistic about it and if we can go from twenty nine to thirty six that will be fine. Yes and of course it needs a permanent home. So when you know addition to the money to fund it for a year round operation it also needs a home. That's right and both of them of course come back to dollars. Thank you very much Terry for the report. New Jersey has its lottery and casino gambling now the voters are going to be asked to legalize per mutual betting on highlight what are the pros and cons on Monday's closer look. Once again our top stories. A judge has upheld Bell oral townships planned for lower and middle income housing. And New Jersey's unemployment rate went down half a percentage point last month. And that's the news for Friday. Good night Clayton. And I'm Rebecca and good night for the New Jersey nightly news. New Jersey Nightly News is a joint presentation of New Jersey Public Television

WMU 13. Portions of the report.