The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 20

6-B Wednesday, Sept. 7, 1983 Philadelphia Inquirer WWg 1 NOT LEAN OU'i VIMDQVS mm i irr mm I i.iw I 1 I i. 49 TK 6 flF a9 i 9 i 'Jr. i S- Z. ii' v.

.1 Praise, confusion greet reopening of subway spur St i W- yimm wrrfflTiTirfmr 1 1r -f nr nr Iffr fffwi ff' fc Riders leaving the train used in dedication ceremonies at new Chinatown station on the iic a t' 'pi PERMALENS BAUSCH Alto Soft Extend! Ww4 ISTImATIC Contact Lenses SSFTIIFCSM. Contact Lenses the Route 90 bus to the hospital at Eighth and Spruce Streets. Yesterday, she took the subway all the way home. She walked from the hospital to the Ridge Avenue spur station at Eighth and Market Streets, got off at the Erie Avenue station, and then took an express train to Olney. The spur closed in February 1981 when construction of the Center City Commuter Tunnel- interfered with its operation.

Yesterday, SEPTA restored service on the spur, which connects with the main Broad Street Subway at Girard Avenue. On weekdays, trains on the spur run from 5:40 a.m. to 9:20 p.m.; on Saturdays, from 6:30 a.m. to 9:20 p.m. The spur is closed Sundays.

During weekday rush hours, the trains continue beyond Girard Avenue to Erie Avenue Station-. William Bruce, 27, his wife, Rhonda, 22, and their daughter Shar-onda, 3, were standing on the platform at Allegheny Station when the Ridge Avenue spur train pulled up. They listened to the announcement and with some hesitation hopped aboard. They had not known about the spur, but it would take them where they wanted to go, so they gave it a shot. "It's a surprise," said Bruce, a By Sara Kennedy Iiuguirer Soft Writer The reopening yesterday of the Ridge Avenue spur of the Broad Street Subway went smoothly for SEPTA, but it didn't go so smoothly for many subway riders who were surprised as the trains pulled up on the first day of service in more than two years.

The doors popped open, the driver announced, "Ridge Avenue spur, go-ing to Eighth and Market," and then there was a flurry of discussion in the crowd waiting at the Erie Avenue platform. "Ridge Avenue spur? What's that?" they said to one another. Some boarded, thought twice, and got off again. Others got on, realized their error, and bailed out at the next stop. But for those who knew what it was, it was great.

"It's more direct for where I have to go," said Mrs. Albertha Smith, a nurse at Pennsylvania Hospital. "I used to take it long ago, and I really missed it." Mrs. Smith said that until yesterday she took the Broad Street Subway from the Olney stop, near her home. Then, she would get off at the Walnut-Locust stop, and walked or took JC IS Kidd.

"It's very unsafe," said Kidd. "It's guaranteed there are going to be people injured or killed as this thing goes on." the union officials said SEPTA had only a single driver working each train, rather than, as is typical, a driver and a conductor. Because passengers board from both sides of the train, depending on the station, the driver has to move from the controls on the right side of the train to the left side, where he opens a window and checks to see that everyone has safely boarded before closing the doors and moving over to the right side again to start the train. In the seconds it takes to move across the car, Kidd contended, people could try to grab on to the train and a lone driver would have no way of preventing an accident. SEPTA'S manager of system safety, Richard L.

Fasy, could not be reached for comment. SMITH CC3CNA DIVILLifOMTAHl Lightweight portable with carrying case. Include many. features of larger machines. SMITH-CORONA I L7 5 the 88 case.

Touch plus $20.00 for a one year service plan -which includes eye examination and all office Philadelphia Inqunr MICHAEL VIOLA. Ridge Avenue subway spur LOMB HYDROCURVE II rSi" i 4 Wm. at LfcMmwi 00. PhO Dr. Lichtman has written a book on contact lenses and was an international lecturer for Bausch Lomb.

Smith-Corona ILICTRA PORTABLE I NATICXAL CCXTACT LENS 1510 Chestnut St. 563-9222 Ethics panel: Ex-official ignored a conflict-of-interest agreement restaurant cook. The family had been visiting a relative in Philadelphia, and wanted to connect with the PATCO line at Eighth and Market to go home to Pennsauken, N.J. Because the Ridge Avenue trains arrive on the same tracks as the local trains, subway patrons iad to choose the right one. Local trains stay along Broad Street; Ridge Avenue trains end up at Eighth and Market instead of on Broad Street; and express trains stay on Broad but only run between the Olney and Walnut-Locust stations.

Subway riders can tell which is which by the colored lights on the front of the train: Local trains have white lights; Ridge Avenue spur trains have yellow lights, and express trains have green lights. While most gave the spur good reviews, two riders thought it was awful. "It stinks," was the comment of Dominic DiClerico, president of Transport Workers Union Local 234, who was inspecting the spur line with union secretary-treasurer Earl nificantly different understanding of your agreement with Secretary Cohen, you simply proceeded to participate in steel industry tax mat-' ters," the commission told Matson in its ruling. "You were content apparently to say one thing to the public and to do quite another when you proceeded to participate in steel industry tax matters." Regarding the Bethlehem Steel case, the commission said that Mat-son signed documents on June 7, 1982, approving the tax settlement that had been forwarded to him by the state attorney general. Noting that the action came "at a time of a heavy workload and immediately following a morning spent in the dentist's chair for root canal work," the commission wrote Matson that he "should have taken extra care to insure that such instances did not present themselves." Matson had told the commission he had not been involved in negotiations leading to the proposed settlement and that he had signed it simply to discharge his duties as deputy revenue secretary.

'WYALDUCATCSft BUNDY ELECTRIC PORTABLE IUCTKK POKTABU Attractive electric with automatic QUALITY PRECISION PORTABLE SERVICED BY BUNDY WAS $299.95 1119 95 159" keyboard with character, set margins. EUCTRMWPOttTUlf TYPEWRITER Om touch iiwntofy corrvctioit NHs crrorf right otf ftw poQt HEWLETT-PACKARD KP-12C Compound interett, bond yitldt, depreciation A more. 109" WUJ150.00 SAVE TO 40 AMDEX COLOR MONITOR- '319" EPSON MX JO PRINTER '399 GEMINI 10 PRINTER '389" SILVER-REED 749" COMMODORE DISK "259" By Walter F. Roche Jr. Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau HARRISBURG The state Ethics Commission has concluded that a top state Revenue Department official did not violate state ethics laws in dealing with matters relating to the steel industry, but did ignore an agreement intended to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

In a six-page ruling made public yesterday, the commission said that Robert E. Matson, who just resigned as deputy revenue secretary, should not have participated in steel industry matters. The commission said that Matson, who had served as director of state government tax affairs for Bethlehem Steel before his appointment to the state post, acted on steel industry matters while he was deputy revenue secretary. In addition, the commission said that Matson had signed an agreement in 1982 that settled a tax case involving Bethlehem Steel. The commission said Matson's actions in those cases were in conflict with an agreement made public at the time of his appointment under which he would not participate in matters relating to Bethlehem Steel or the steel industry in general.

The commission said that its investigation turned up no evidence, however, that Matson's actions benefited his former employer or himself. "The policy referred to by the department regarding your appointment should have been followed to preclude any appearance of a conflict of interest," the commission said in a letter to Matson. 379M WAS $349. ChongtoWt Drop-in Ribbon Catwtto Free Carrying Cow oornDutxzf REPEAT OF I SELLOUT! UAMOm APPLE 11 48X COMPUTE! witkli. MODULATOR 705 00 Si OR $40 PER MONTH REMEMBER TO SAY I LOVE YOU ON GRANDPARENTS DAY Tell them you love them with lowers or a plant.

BOUQUETS $0A95 PUNTS FROM I Matson, whose resignation from the state post took effect late last week, has been under investigation by the Ethics Commission for a year because of charges leveled by a former Revenue Department employee. Those charges, however, involved Matson's role in the department review of another tax case, involving American Telephone Telegraph. The ruling yesterday did not address the case apparently because the commission investigation has not been completed. Matson has denied any wrongdoing in that case. He could not be reached yesterday for comment on the Ethics Commission ruling.

According to the Ethics Commission statement, a press release issued at the time of Matson's appointment in 1979 stated that he had taken a leave of absence from Bethlehem Steel and would continue to accrue retirement credit with the company until April 1, 1981. The press release also cited an agreement between Matson and then-Revenue Secretary Howard Cohen under which all matters relating to "Bethlehem Steel and the steel industry generally" would bypass Matson and be referred directly to Cohen "to preclude any appearance of a conflict of interest." Matson, according to the commission, disputed the 1979 press release and later denied that he had agreed not to participate in general matters affecting the steel industry. "But rather than retracting the press release or expressing your sig shuttle diplomacy between legislators in both houses for weeks to make sure the agreement did not collapse. ''We're very happy the bills are moving," he said yesterday. "We want to make sure the language is acceptable." By Jan.

1, any of the 200 companies that write auto insurance for the state's 3.7 million insured motorists would be able to offer choices to premium-holders that would enable them to pick what coverage they wanted. By July 1, they would have to offer the options. The major piece of legislation, which was passed 68-5, is titled "The New Jersey Automobile Insurance Freedom of Choice and Cost Containment Act of 1984." Under it, a driver would have to incur $1,500 worth of medical bills before being able to sue for pain and suffering, instead of the current $200 threshold for such lawsuits. But the driver would have the option, at a higher premium, of having a policy with no threshold. Also, deductible of up to $2,500 would be offered under personal-injury protection coverage for the first time.

And bodily-injury liability would not be compulsory for good drivers, as a three-year experiment. FLORIST carrioge return VtSHMUTHCIUKF. $10095 list WAS $199.93 SIERRA JUKI OFFICE TYPEWRITER SH -correcting Cartridge Ribbon "Bad" Interchange with IBM Setectrtc II lob Approved 395 00 SAVEMOO00 OSBORNE COMPUTER SAVE $600.00 '1295" Includes Wordstar Word Processing, Mail Merge, Supercak, C-Basic, M-Bask. rail RIDGE AVE i iinmiMitf 482-1801 ROTHE WOLTEMATE FLORISTS CITY WIDE DELV. 0 GRANDPARENTS CREDIT DAY ARRANGEMENTS ACCEPTED Slum urn If ALL MAJOR CKtDIT CARDS ACCEPTED 7I48GERMANTOWN PA.

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2223 N. Front St. By Lewis Freedman Inquirer Trenton Bureau TRENTON With little debate and even less opposition, the New Jersey Assembly yesterday passed a package of bills that supporters said would reduce the average auto-insurance premium in the state by $150 next year. The bills would alter drastically the state's 11-year-old no-fault insurance system, which has been blamed for giving New Jersey the highest premiums in the nation, at an average of $706 this year. The seven-bill package, developed by Gov.

Kean and legislative leaders in a series of meetings over the summer, would take effect Jan. 1 if passed by the Senate. The upper house was expected to take up the bills after it reconvenes next week. The basic thrust of the plan is to allow drivers to reduce their premiums by selecting areas in which they would carry reduced coverage. Kean has described the package as a "freedom of choice" plan and has said it would give New Jersey residents wider latitude in picking the kind of insurance they wanted than has been given residents of any other state.

Kenneth Merin, Kean's deputy counsel, has been involved in virtual aaaBBBaajafHaaaM 1 PENNY'S There's no one in the world like Grandma and Grandpa. This Grandparents' Day, give them a gift that says love. Give them a bouquet of fresh flowers or a plant. Right now, we have an excellent selection of both. Just stop by or give us a call.

Grandparents' Day is Sunday, Sept.l 1 mm DELIVERIES PHILADELPHIA SUBURBS 4300 WOODLAND AYE. DREXEl HILL, PL 19021 FRUIT BASKETS ffOSES CARMTIONS ASSORTED FLOWERS MAJOR GOURMET FRUIT CARDS OPEN SUN. Watar Osxtt Car Anaptad WHARTON (VENUES SEE YOUR PROFESSIONAL ALLIED FLORIST Aflouer is worth a thousand words KESWICK IEXSIDE.PL SIGN OF A PROFESSIONAL 884.