New Jersey Nightly News; 05/07/1978

My my can if you want to talk. I think so. Does it look funny. Does it look funny. I said I have changed to give tickets to like telling my my out for item 3 want to die out. And that. New Jersey night. With Rebecca and Clayton Vaughn Good evening.

In the news tonight the contempt case against the New York Times and its reporter Myron Farber gets to the state Supreme Court. A setback today for Congressman Edward Patton and his efforts to perch him selfe of Korea gate charges. And an historian predicts the Miss America pageants will die out quite get in line reports on college football coaches and the youngest one in the country. And on a closer look with one of New Jersey's lottery millionaires. The New Jersey Supreme Court today did not make a decision in the Farber case and did not indicate when it will. The justices reserved decision after hearing arguments for and against the principle of journalistic privilege forever in the Tatas have been found guilty of contempt for refusing to turn over files relating to the murder trial of Dr. Mario just all of it. The case may become a test of the state's shield law. Mike Power reports across the supreme court room the case quickly boiled down to one question. Does a reporter in New Jersey have to turn over any materials from a story

and if so to who. Myron Farber is released from jail last Wednesday was a surprise but today he stayed away from the court that had at least temporarily freed him. His lawyer was there though making what one justice called a catch 22 argument before Dr. Just Galavis could see any of barber's notes the logic went. He must prove they're relevant to his trial that started the legal dispute. Justice Clifford without seeing them how can he tell what's relevant. Floyd Abrams farmer's lawyer. But how can he see them without violating Mr. Fargus First Amendment rights. Chief Justice Hughes we're just going around in circles here. The justices said perhaps a judge should be allowed to see the notes and decide their relevance by himself. Roy Brown Dr. Just calabashes attorney said that isn't good enough. Barbara he said has already cooperated with a prosecution if he divulge his information to the prosecutor Brown said. Why not give it to us. The argument he led in the courtroom Brown had argued that

Farber legally surrendered the protection of the state's shield laws to gave it up brown said by signing a contract to write a book about the Doctor X case and by feeding information to the prosecution or the father's lawyer rejected Brown's argument. He said he didn't think a judge should be allowed to see farmers files either. Christopher I was always been willing to turn over some materials in his files. It has always also been the case that so that there is other material which is very confidential and which would pose enormous problems and which we would hope and we think are fairly protective of the New Jersey shield law. Chief Justice Hughes predicted the court's decision on journalistic privilege will be unanimous. He would not say when the justices might reach that decision. What's being tested here is the value of a reporter's word. A reporter has always been able to tell a news source if you tell me what I think the public needs to know. Nobody will ever find out where it came from. Whether he can still do that in New Jersey. Without going to jail. Is now being decided by the Supreme Court. In Trenton.

I'm Mike. New Jersey his reporter's shield law was enacted in its current form only last year. It's been called the broadest measure of its kind in the country. But as reporter Steve Taylor explains nobody really knows how broad it is. What we call the shield law is found in the official state rules of evidence. It says that a reporter has a privilege to refuse to disclose confidential information in any legal or quasi legal proceeding or before any investigative body including any court. That's what the law says but it's never been tested in court. And so guidelines don't exist about whether the law applies in all cases. A lawyer for Dr. Jeff cabbage for instance says that where the shield law conflicts with his client's constitutional right to a fair trial it cannot apply. There's another section of the shield law which makes this case even more complicated. The law says that a person waives his privilege to refuse to disclose information if he has already made disclosure of any part of the privilege matter. In this case reporter farmer did voluntarily give some information to

prosecutors and he signed a contract to write a book about the case. So just calabashes lawyer says farmer has waived his privilege. New Jersey attorney general John Degnan says that if the shield law winds up with a narrow interpretation of just Calum and his lawyer suggest it would hurt law enforcement in New Jersey at the same time that it made it harder for investigative reporters to obtain information. I've been in this office for six months and I've started two or three investigations that I can recall myself based on either information given to me by reporters or by articles that I read in the paper. Now the ability of a reporter to get somebody to talk to him is not something that I can use a trial to prove the guilt or innocence of a person that may be charged. But I think it will tip you off to something which if through the process is of my own investigation I can prove I want to pursue the case. And Eggman says if he were a reporter he'd be watching this case very carefully in Trenton. I'm Steve Taylor.

Governor Byrne Just back from Rome where you attended the investiture of Pope John Paul the first finds himself faced now with an expected budget deficit next year that could run from 70 to 200 million dollars. The governor says he'll try to balance the books without increasing the state income tax. Commitment to try first 50 percent of the state to. Actually do the feeding to us. Business people to look at the state's financial resources and recommendations for possible cutbacks in state spending. Earlier this summer Congressman Ed Cotton asked the House Ethics Committee to dismiss charges against him in connection with Korean businessman Tang sun park.

Today staff attorneys for the ethics committee recommended the patent request be denied and the committee is expected to go along with that recommendation perhaps by Thursday and hold a full scale hearing on the charges. Patton has been accused of failing to report cash contributions by park to a political party or get Patton says an aide of his mishandled the paperwork. The state insurance department is considering a plan that would establish its own auto insurance rating Bureau rating bureaus evaluate information when used to figuring to figure auto insurance rates insurance commissioner James Sheeran says his department needs its own rating bureau to make sure insurance companies are telling the truth when they file for rate increases. If the insurance companies are correct it will help to confirm their cases. However if they're wrong and if they've been charging more than they should or if their rates are too high based upon data that we develop then their rates will go

down. But we have to wait until we have the capability to do that. And that's the purpose of. Beefing up our ability to represent the public interest. Sharon denies the state is planning to set up its own insurance company for high risk drivers as was done in Maryland five years ago. More people are riding the bus here in New Jersey and that's big news because buses here mean big business and big subsidies bus ridership until last year and particularly the last six months have been declining from the one point two million a day in 1969 when the states started the subsidy program that will cost 50 million dollars this year from the one point two million and 69 ridership fell to 800000 in 1976. But now transport of New Jersey the state's largest bus company reports a five and a half percent increase for the first half of this year over last and the State Department of Transportation shows a similar increase for other companies are hoping of course it's the start of a trend which will eventually lower the subsidy. But they say it's too early to tell. Labor Day weekend drive it does toll in New

Jersey under the FOV which means it was a relatively safe holiday on the road. Rock music fan was also killed when he fell from a walkway at the Giants stadium during a rock concert. A student pilot died in the crash of his wife. Plane a ticket to any air arsenal on a solo from Essex County Airport. And last night in New York two separate fires killed brothers aged 10 and 12 and a 36 year old man. Causes of the fires which left a dozen families home most are still under investigation and in major Trenton State Prison is clinging to life in a Trenton hospital after being assaulted in the prison yard Sunday morning. Thirty three year old Philip Reeves was hit on the head with a piece of weight lifting equipment. Prison officials don't know what touched off the incident but they've charged two other prisoners with atrocious assault and battery. Review is serving a life sentence for murder is in critical condition in the St. Francis hospital intensive care unit. A two and a half million dollar federal grant will be adding five New Jersey counties to the nine others already on the

state's rent subsidy program. Low income families elderly and handicapped people on the program are sure they'll have to pay no more than a quarter of their income on rent and utilities. The counties that will be coming onto the program are Atlantic Camden Cumberland Mercer and Salem. Glassboro State College is one of five colleges in the country that's been awarded a federal grant to operate a teacher center. The center would train teachers as well as update them and for the first time will bring together teachers board members and other college faculty. Impact on student lives. Three demonstration centers will be set up to serve six South Jersey counties including Camden Salem Cumberland Gloucester Cape May and Atlantic. Marine life along the New Jersey coast could become endangered of the oceans oxygen levels continue to dip. Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration known as Noel are closely monitoring the oxygen values following routine tests that showed a problem may be developing. So I'm working. Join the nor' researchers at the Sandy Hook

laboratory. The test for dissolved oxygen values is simple but the problems foreshadowed when those values are too low are both serious and complex. Too little oxygen in the water can mean a mass death sentence for certain forms of marine life. And what can follow is a serious ripple effect through the oceans entire food chain two parts oxygen 1000 parts seawater is considered stable. When the oxygen level goes lower oceanographers start to get worried. And that's why the sampling and testing programme here by both no one and the Environmental Protection Agency from helicopters and boats has been stepped up in. The past several weeks we've seen several oxygen areas along the northern New Jersey coast. Fortunately we think we're far enough into the late summer fall season so it may not present a serious problem. That's not a problem for this year but what about other years. Well of course every year is a new sequence of events

and anything like that in 76 is of concern so every year we're out there watching. Just two years ago the warm weather of an early summer and late fall combined with the pollutants carried down the Hudson River depleted the ocean floor oxygen along more than 100 miles of the mid-Atlantic coast. As a result millions of marine animals and a year's crop of clams were killed off. Oxygen values here off Sandy Hook are at safe levels today. And if the Fall brings cool weather they'll probably remain that way. But some testing sites off the Jersey Shore have produced ocean samples with dangerously low oxygen levels and researchers here will be keeping a close watch until they're sure that the Marine disaster of 76 won't be repeated in 78. I want to know what vessel the comma. I'm Sandra King. All of your dribble last night was network television or radio reception or long distance phone calls blame it on a temperature inversion in Ohio in Indiana. The AT&T

microwave center in Bedminster says microwave signals are messed up by those inversions and that's what happened last night. The Permian averred with Monday Night Football in this part of dealing with that something that shouldn't be messed with there's nothing that even our Gozo can do about that other than wait for it to go away. We're back. Resorts International announced today that its casino took in an average of more than a quarter of a million dollars a day in August. That's a 14 percent boost over the take in July. That means that gamblers lost a total of almost 24 million dollars last month. Company chairman James Crosby said the company bought the Haddon hotel in 1976 for six million dollars. And since the casino opened has rocketed 60 million dollars. Chairman Cosby Crosby's reaction to the return on his investment. He said quote I'm pleased and quote. Finally the people in the Miss America pageant down of Atlantic City this week are looking at more than beauty talent evening gowns and swimsuits they're looking at a new book called.

There she is the life and times of Miss America the history of the 57 year old pageant by Frank to Ford Perhaps because it is well researched perhaps because no one else cared enough to write a book about it this book may be the definitive work on the pageant. But there she is may have been better titled there she went. If the Fords promise that the show is in trouble is accurate he says the TV ratings are sagging and that may eventually cause the pageant to wither and die. Ford recommends the pageant people adapt to what he calls the more liberal tastes in television. But the pageant people are not pessimists and will not compare the convention hall to the Titanic pageant German for instance notes of the Ford he's an excellent writer in the sports field and he should stay there. College football in the rest of the day and sports in New Jersey. Coming up next. Wow. Here's New Jersey weather forecast. Will a partly cloudy skies tonight throughout the state.

Those will be about 57 to 63 degrees. Tomorrow we'll have sunny skies with high temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s. It'll be sunny the shore tomorrow also but low temperatures in the mid to upper 70s. The water will be about 75 to 79 degrees and visibility will be five miles or more. The pollen count in New Jersey today is 62 and the outlook for Thursday is partly sunny and warmer. The ball. Oh my all. Right I was wrong. First try. Was. Have watches when they get a. New Jersey. Public television. Good evening. You can tell it's football season when the press launch and start popping up each Tuesday metropolitan

area college coaches meet at Giants Stadium to talk about their respective teams their first gathering was today. Bill Perry was on hand. The area college football coaches got together today here at the Meadowlands for their first of their weekly college football luncheons at this time of the year. All college football coaches are optimists and all have good reason to be optimistic after all. Right now all these guys have teams with undefeated records. It's no different for the coaches at Seton Hall in Montclair State. We finished up strong last year and we have a lot of those young people back with a years experience so we are looking forward to this year much more optimistically than last year. We were on the optimistic side especially offensively we lost some great defensive football players one of which was in the jet cam for quite a while. We have to find some replacements there but often simply we really lost two boys and where we think we have the maturity we need know any offensive line which we didn't have the early part of last year. So we're optimistic from that standpoint. Montclair State opens their season hosting Glassboro state this Saturday night at 8 o'clock Seton Hall opens up one week from Saturday afternoon playing at Hofstra at Giants Stadium.

Bill Perry on the subject of head football coaches most of them could be considered to be in their middle years usually a man is in his 30s or 40s before the head coaching job at a college comes along usually but not always says Tricia Gaspar's reports. Trenton State has the youngest college football coach in the country. His name is Eric Hamilton and he's only 24 years old not much older than most of the fires. It's the second year here as coach and he's brought it back with and has a rather unique philosophy on coaching. I think one of the things that I like in football is that you have the begins and it's fun. I think the kids have to play a sport at this level for have have fallen are going in you know you don't have a shot far as far as philosophy goes. If we think of fun first and involve a lot of kids. I think we're doing our job. And as Hamilton admits fun is probably his team's biggest selling point. He's attracted a lot of local high school talent this year and his reputation is growing on an all. Hamilton is still the boss there is a long time between culture and choir and it's a lot of respect.

I don't think age makes a difference in the common Iraqi 50 I could be 15. And once we draw that line of respect I think that age then placing a factor is as far as being up to date with age problems and then probably sounds like well I was tenacious problem solvers financially from the stand I have girl problems and I have money problems. I mean there's things now that if I was 50 years old maybe when I can relate to accident happen to me right now the coaching staff and myself are able to relate to some of the problems that they're having as far as. Now 1978 and I think that's a plus. Which brings us to the players. What do they think of their young coach. It doesn't affect us at all. We listen to him just like if he was a 45 year old person who'd been coaching for 20 years. We he's learning you know you as you get a full five seasons. I mean Les she does she's going to have a winning season with the ballplayers he's getting you know he's loony. We are alone in.

Thinking about the great age at Trenton State College this is Trista Gaspar's reporting. Trans state opens up against the University of the District of Columbia in a week and a half. Last night the cosmos took a beating at home in an exhibition game. The team lost to Atletico Madrid of Spain three to one the final tonight at the Meadowlands thoroughbred racing opens up the season in a big way. It's 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew seen here winning the Belmont Stakes will be entered along with 12 other horses in the Patterson handicap slew and the others will be running in the six the race. The first money a sum one hundred fifty thousand dollars. Third rate racing will continue at the Meadowlands through December 30th. Seattle Slew one today in Wall Township. Fifteen year old Tim Condon and 20 year old Liam are Cheney set a new world record for continuous Wrecking Ball plying play for 100 in two straight hours. And at last report they're still going strong. Rebecca thanks. What is it like to win a million dollars. We'll

talk to a woman who did just that. Next on a closer look. Was. Was. Was. Now as. Now our. Text of the country's best. George needed traffic.

Join us. Thank you light a public television program. Every week thousands of people buy New Jersey lottery tickets. Whatever lottery game they play the weekly the pick at the pick for the instant. Everyone who buys a ticket has the same dream the dream of winning a fortune. Recently Clayton visited Agnes snow west a woman who had that dream come true. Here's his report. The worst you are 66 years old a widow. She used to be a court clerk in Monmouth County. But after May 10th 1972 she didn't need that job anymore. That was the day Mrs. M. West who won the New Jersey watering becoming an instant millionaire. They invite you know I was invited to the drawing down of the War Memorial Building in Trenton. They sent me a telegram and I started off I just think you may be New Jersey's next millionaire. And so forth and you know where it was going to be and I think

so I got it late Saturday night so I called Monday and I said this is our you know your next millionaire. And the girl is a boy you're a positive thinker I said Honey that's the only way to go. And then I want that Wednesday you have things change for you in the last six years hasn't changed at all and they're on the same all things I mean more of them things. For me. Well that's one of the more of them. Yes I take it. I took a trip a cruise every year before I won and now of course I've been to South America and I've now extended my travel. A little bit. I don't like to travel in the summer. That's why I have the cool put in. A lot of people really put New Jersey down as a place to live. A lot of the stay here in the same neighborhood. Why did you decide to stay. Because I like it here. I have I have a lot of friends and their jersey. And. I have no desire my daughter moved to Florida. And she

wants me to move down there but I don't like Florida. I could down a couple times a year. SYR. Perhaps you could describe for us exactly what you did to fix up your house for the first year I did the entire inside over. I made some changes. I didn't have a dining room before and I made a dining room out of one of the bedrooms and I for refurnish the whole place. I'm on the second year I did the outside and I bought the car. And I think the third year I put this patio on and. Now I'm in the pool. It's you know whatever I. Say. Whatever idea I get I try to do something each year. I'm pretty well completed now though.

You know you seem to be extremely optimistic happy of course but there are some walk there's got to be some negative part to this. People that write you and bother you what what I ask for. I had an old gent from Brooklyn that wanted a thousand dollars and he wrote me a note and Italian and he said to the lottery in the lottery send it to me and. I can't read the time it and. The couple days later I got another one. And it was beautifully written. I'm one of those big index cards. And. They he said that he was 95 years old and he would like a thousand dollars to buy a new TV. You're a feel like you're ostentatious. You know I'm just doing the things I want to do. And the. Fact I was just up I have a T-bird now. And I was just up last week looking at a beautiful Mark 5 I had a mark three a mark for rather. And then I bought the T-Bird

and my son. Took the mark four. Now if I buy the mark five my other time gets the T-shirt. What do you think of when you think of the date of May 10th. A million dollars. I get it on the air. I mean I must been a good girl this year I got a week early. I was surprised when they came but I usually get a ride on May 10. Either I go to one of the they call me and ask me if I want to go to a drawing or they send to me registry. Although Agnes nowhere in the 71 others who won the top lottery prizes are called millionaires they aren't in the same category as the Rockefellers or the DuPonts. They don't receive a million dollars in a lump sum the winners of the weekly lottery receive a check for $50000 once a year for 20 years. The winners of the instant lottery win $1000 a week for life with a guaranteed minimum payment of

one million dollars. In addition these winnings are taxable every year. Agnes no West loses $16000 to taxes. Tomorrow we'll take a closer look in an innovative community mural project in Newark. Once again our top stories the state Supreme Court heard arguments in the contempt of court case against the New York Times and reporter Myron Farber. But a decision on the case has been taken under advisement. The state insurance department is considering setting up its own bureau for gathering data to set auto insurance rates and Resorts International says its casino winnings for August topped twenty three and a half million dollars. That's up 14 percent over July and that's the news that I like.