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Asbury Park PressSaturday, May 16, 1992 A7 Firsfaniily of Toms River reunites Nation tm Mil I nil -J HI! Ml 1m ill I II 1 NOAH MURRAYAsbury Park Press Thomas Luker, a 21 -year-old descendant of the man for whom the Toms River was named, joins J. Mark Mutter (left) and Dover Township Mayor Paul D. Wnek at ceremony renaming the Huddy Park footbridge. By JEAN MIKLE PRESS TOMS RIVER BUREAU TOMS RIVER Dover Township played host to a whole lot of Lukers yesterday. Not all the people who attended a bridge dedication ceremony in Huddy Park bore the last name Luker, but most of them could trace their ancestry back to Thomas Luker, the man for whom the Toms River is believed to have been named.

The Luker descendents came to Dover on a cool, damp day as township officials named Huddy Park's small footbridge after Thomas Luker, who first settled in the area in the late 17th century and later established a ferry service across the river, which was then known as Goose Creek. The only Thomas Luker present, a 21-year-old descendent who lives in Stafford Township, helped cut a ribbon on the bridge with a giant pair of wooden scissors. About 100 Luker descendents joined township officials and spectators in walking across the bridge and posing for pictures. The bridge dedication was one of a series of events commemorating Dover Township's 225th anniversary. Anniversary Commission Chairman J.

Mark Mutter said he was surprised that so many Lukers answered his invitation to attend the event. "I must have received 50 phone calls from these people," Mutter said. Associated Press Suicide machine inventor Dr. Jack Kevorkian (left), 63, leaves the home of Susan Williams, who committed suicide yesterday. Kevorkian counsels woman as she kills self CLAWSON, Mich.

Dr. Jack Kevorkian counseled a seriously ill woman and was by her side when she committed suicide yesterday, the attorney for the suicide machine inventor said. Susan Williams, 52, died at her home after taking a dose of "self-administered carbon monoxide," attorney Geoffrey Fieger said. She suffered from severe multiple sclerosis that left her incapacitated and blind and had used a wheelchair for about 12 years, he said. Her body was found in a bedroom, with a mask covering her face and nose, said police Lt.

Daniel Zalewski. The mask was connected to a 3-foot canister containing carbon monoxide and it appeared she had pulled a lever on the canister before dying, he said. No charges had been filed by Friday afternoon, said police Lt. Mike Walsh. Mayor Paul D.

Wnek said he was surprised at the size of the Luker contingent. "We thought it would be just a small gathering," he said. County Historian Pauline S. Miller told the crowd that more than 35 years of research have led to her conclusion that the river, and hence the town of Toms River, were named after Englishman Thomas Luker. Miller's research indicates that Luker, who was called Tom Pumha by the Unami Indians, was the likely source of Toms River's name.

Pumha means "river" in the Indian Miller said, so the Indians would have called the river Tom's Pumha or Tom's River. Thomas Luker said he hadn't learned about his family's rich history until about two years ago. "I think it's pretty cool," said Luker, whose father and great-grandfather were also named Thomas. Luker, who said he's a surfer and salesman, said he'd like to name his son Thomas, too if he has one. "It would keep the tradition going," he said.

Following yesterday's dedication, the Luker descendents gathered in the municipal building's community room for cake, cookies, coffee and story swapping. The oldest descendent present, 71-year-old Marion Luker-Estlow, of up for Founders Day Manchester Township, said she has researched the history of her family and has also been fascinated by her heritage. "This is very nice," she said of yesterday's gathering, where Luker descendents were able to view their family tree through a series of genealogical charts on the community room walls. The youngest Luker descendent didn't have too much to say. Two-month-old Connor Pizzulo smiled and waved his tiny fists as his mother, Andria Pizzulo, explained that the baby is related to the Lukers through his great-grandmother.

Pizzulo, of Beachwood, said she had picked up the history of the township and also Miller's list of the facts and legends surrounding the naming of Toms River so she can teach Connor about Thomas Luker. "I figure it would be neat 25 years from now if they do another celebration and we come back," she said. Miller, who had asked the Lukers to bring any information about the family history to the dedication ceremony, said one of the Luker descendents, George Phillips, had told her the name of the Indian chief who befriended Thomas Luker. The chief's name was Sun Cloud, which Phillips discovered in a family Bible. Miller said she had not previously known the man's name.

Luker the chief's daughter, an Indian woman known by her European name, Princess Ann. Man gets four years for blaze PRESS TOMS RIVER BUREAU TOMS RIVER A former Jackson Township man found guilty of igniting a 1987 fire in an apartment complex while free-basing cocaine was sentenced to four years in jail yesterday by a state Superior Court judge. Eric F. Christensen, 32, must also pay more than $60,000 in restitution when he is released from jail at the rate of $100 a month, Judge Francis P. Piscal ordered.

At that rate, it will take Christensen 50 years to pay off the debt. Christensen was convicted of criminal mischief in March for his involvement in the fire. The jury acquitted him of recklessly risking widespread damage. An arson charge was dismissed by Piscal because there was insufficient proof to show he intentionally set the fire. The fire destroyed more than 12 apartments in the Pine View Village Apartments, off County Line Road, Jackson, and damaged eight others, police said at the time of the Aug.

30, 1987, fire. The fire caused more than $500,000 worth of damage. Christensen's companion on the night of the fire, William Dillon, pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in February 1991. Free-basing is a form of drug use in which a flammable gas is used to burn impurities out of cocaine. The fire at the apartment complex left numerous tenants homeless and more than 100 firefighters from Jackson Township and Lakewood responded to control it.

Two firefighters were taken to Kimball Medical Center, Lakewood, where they were treated for heat exhaustion. tion hearing Wednesday for Gordon Meyette, who had violated probation. Meyette, 43, spoke out of turn and when Fleet criticized the outburst, he muttered to a bailiff: "If I had a gun, I'd kill that judge." Fleet, incensed, pulled out a revolver. Elsewhere Some 900 numbers for sex fantasy lines had two new customers recently St. Mary's Catholic Church and First Baptist Church, in Grinnell, Iowa.

Officials at the central Iowa churches discovered a total of more than $3,000 in calls were made to the sex-fantasy lines. When Pastor Anthony Farrell opened a monthly phone bill and discovered charges totaling $2,400, he exclaimed "Heavenly days!" From Press wire services Bush stops In Pittsburgh PITTSBURGH -Trying to show a more compassionate face, President Bush paid another visit to inner-city America here yesterday on what increasingly has come to resemble a get-acquainted tour of the nation's urban woes. The visit to a poverty-stricken borough was the fifth in eight days for Bush, who until the Los Angeles riots had rarely ventured beyond hotel ballrooms and suburban venues. Judge waves gun at man FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A judge waved a gun after an outburst by an unruly defendant and invited the man to "take your best shot." Broward Circuit Judge J.

Leonard Fleet brandished the gun in a crowded courtroom during a proba Booths lined PRESS TOMS RIVER BUREAU TOMS RIVER About 47 booths have been approved so far for Dover Township's 18th annual Founders Day, to be held June 13. Mayor Paul D. Wnek and Daniel J. Vitale, co-chairmen of the celebration, said about 130 booth applications have been mailed to groups that participated in last year's Founders Day. The theme this year is "The Good Life 225 Years: A Rededication of Spirit." World Manchester man fined $3,500 after GB radio spurs complaints chairwoman of the 225th Anniversary Mary Francis Miske, (908) 505-9100, has more information on the cake-decorating contest.

Any local non-profit organization or commercial craft person interested in registering for a booth may call the Toms River-Ocean County Chamber of Commerce, (908) 349-0220. Parade applications are available by contacting parade chairwoman Patricia Hanlon at (908) 505-5545. sonnel to inspect his equipment. "He (Wirth) was apparently chatting with other people, but we couldn't tell who because we weren't picking up their signals since they were too far away," said Anderson, explaining that the agency monitored Wirth's transmissions before approaching him. "His voice was coming across his neighbors' TVs and stereos several times a day, and it was jamming their TV signals if they didn't have cable TV." Wirth's phone number is unlisted and he couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.The fine could be reduced if Wirth successfully appeals it.

According to Anderson, 25 people in the FCC's northeast region, which stretches from Maine to Delaware, were fined during the crackdown. PRESS TOMS RIVER BUREAU THE FEDERAL Communications Commission has slapped a Manchester Township man with a $3,500 fine for his use of a too-powerful citizens' band radio that wreaked havoc with his neighbors' television and radio reception. Part of a recent nationwide crackdown by the FCC against airwave violators, the fine against Joseph Wirth of Birmingham Avenue in the Pine Lake Park section may be the largest ever issued by the agency in the Shore area, FCC spokeswoman Gertrude Anderson said yesterday. Anderson, who is based at the agency's regional headquarters in Philadelphia, said the FCC went after Wirth after receiving at least a half-dozen tu -i Kj Activities being planned for the annual event will include a cake-decorating competition and a parade. The cake-decorating contest will be open to all Dover-based commercial bakeries, restaurants, caterers and culinary schools.

All entries must be 100 percent edible and 144 square inches (12 inches by 12 inches) minimum, Trophies will be given to cakes that best depict the spirit of Dover Township by exhibiting nautical or colonial structures, people or events, said Barbara W. Steele, co- i His voice was coming across his neighbors' TVs and stereos several times a day, and it was jamming their TV signals if they didn't have cable TV. Gertrude Anderson FCC SPOKESWOMAN complaints from neighbors. Rep. H.

James Saxtori, also received complaints, she said. Wirth is charged with using a CB radio that exceeded power regulations, with using unauthorized frequencies and with refusing to allow FCC per 'you show us tell us how you're going to solve a problem you present it, you research it, it's all yours." The contest is becoming an increasingly popular means of bringing creativity to the classroom, Dunne said. When it was founded in 1978, 100 children participated. This year, more than 10,000 children have participated statewide. Howell Township schools have been coordinating the Central Jersey contest since 1990.

This year, Dunne said, there were 5,800 entrants in the regional contest. Classroom winners compete in a schoolwide contest, and those winners participate in the district competition. Judges for the inventions are volunteers from a several New Jersey corporations. While there are no prizes involved, students who win the district competition are honored at a special dinner at Mobil Research Corp. in Princeton.

"We get kids to identify a problem that needs to be solved," said Dunne. "It could be a dripless ice cream cone, Associated Press ELECTION POSTERS A girl walks in front of posters showing several presidential candidates on a Quito, Ecuador, street yesterday. Equado-rans tomorrow will choose a successor to President Rodrigo Borja, who many blame for a stagnant economy. North Korea admits Plutonium production BEIJING A North Korean official disclosed publicly for the first time yesterday that his country has produced plutonium, which can be used to make nuclear weapons. The disclosure came as Hans Blix, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was on a visit to North Korea to clear the way for international inspections of nuclear sites in mid-June.

Li Sam Ro, the head of Pyongyang's delegation at normalization talks with Japan, said in Beijing that plutonium had been produced at a North Korean radiation chemistry research institute. Pupils match wares at invention contest other leaders in the Convention for a Democratic South Africa. Yeltsin denies bingelng TASHKENT, Uzbekistan Boris Yeltsin yesterday vehemently dismissed the latest allegations that he has a drinking problem and accused his opponents of trying to slander him. "Certain forces in the Supreme Soviet and Congress have launched a massive campaign to discredit the president, the democratic state powers and its reforms," the Russian president said. Elsewhere The port city of Genoa, Italy, paid tribute to its most famous son yesterday, opening an international exposition celebrating the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' discovery of America.

Fifty-three countries and international organizations have set up exhibits at the 12-acre fair, Christopher Columbus: Ships and the Sea. From Press wire services i 1 J- hi rip-- a Sifl Azerbaijan building seized MOSCOW Several thousand opposition supporters seized Azerbaijan's parliament building and presidential palace yesterday, just one day after cheering lawmakers restored President Ayaz Mutalibov to power. The whereabouts of the president, who assumed emergency powers upon reinstatement, were not immediately known. South Africa talks stall JOHANNESBURG, South Africa Negotiations to end white rule in South Africa suffered a significant setback yesterday when a key committee of black and white leaders abandoned attempts to reach agreement on the percentage of votes that would be necessary to adopt a new constitution. The stalemate, after five months of closed-door talks, put the future of the negotiations process in the hands of President Frederik W.

de Klerk, African National Congress President Nelson Mandela and 17 By EILEEN MOON PRESS CORRESPONDENT HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP Is your hamster looking a little mussed? Perhaps he needs a hamster hairbrush to help spruce him up. Are you always ripping the knees out of your bluejeans? Why don't you nip that rip in the bud with a pair of padded, snap-on knee patches? On Wednesday, young inventors from seven counties in central New Jersey brought their brainchildren including the above inventions to Bell Laboratories for the Central Jersey regional judging of the Student Inventions and Technology competition. The pupils came from 32 school districts to compete in the district mini-invention contest funded by the Vocational Education Division of the state Department of Education. "The gist of this thing is that, in school we tell (students) what we want them to learn," said contest coordinator Joe Dunne of the Howell Township School District. "Here we tell them v- 'A BUSS DE SANTIS Asbury Park Press Paul Lewis of Brick Township, a fourth-grader at the Drum Point Road School, tries to trace a path while looking into a mirror.

it could be putting handles on a coffee ship came up with a pingpong ball dis- filter." penser. The idea came to him right David Melnick, 13, of Veterans Me- away. "It just flicked into my hed," morial Middle School in Brick Town- he said..