Courier-Post from Camden, New Jersey • Page 12

2B COURIER-POST, Wednesday, August 26, 1992 er layoffs Camden pla ns city worn Official: Cuts could include police, firefighters Keating said he expected that "not many" of the 70-odd civilian employees in the police department would be laid off. But police Chief Bob Pugh said he is concerned that he could be forced to take uniformed officers off the streets to fill jobs now held by civilians. Pugh also said it will take at least 80 new officers to fully staff the proposed citywide network of up to four police substations and six or more mini-stations, at an annual cost of $6 million. The department currently has 310 officers, at least 100 fewer than its peak strength in the By KEVIN RIORDAN Courier-Post Staff CAMDEN The city plans to lay off up to 50 civilian employees by the end of the year. The workforce reductions are Camden's first in 11 years and will save the always cash-starved municipal government about $1 million, city officials said Tuesday.

While layoffs of police officers and firefighters are not expected, "I wouldn't rule it out," city business administrator Patrick Keating said. The city is separately seeking special state funding to hire up to 80 additional officers for its proposed network of police substa- Today The city began to lay off about 50 temporary and provisional workers last Friday. If the plan for the permanent workforce cuts is approved, notices would be issued sometime next month, with the layoffs tentatively scheduled for Nov. 1, according to a DOP spokesman. Council 10 president Richard Riggs, whose union represents about 500 city workers, has been notified of the plan, Keating said.

Neither Riggs nor Mayor Aaron Thompson, who has said he hoped to avoid layoffs, could be reached for comment Tuesday, tions and ministations, he added. Although Camden the poorest city in New Jersey in essence has been unable to pay its bills without state aid for more than a decade, it is being squeezed even harder this year by the rising costs of operations and debt service. The employee health care portion of the proposed $83 million municipal budget for fiscal year 1993 is expected to rise by $2.5 million alone, Keating said. Given a tax collection rate hovering somewhere around 80 percent, and the uncertainty of additional aid from a state that is itself laying pastime, Russian style Council to vote on special district American ft 1 j. A.

i By KEVIN RIORDAN Courier-Post Staff CAMDEN After three months of study by a citizen task force, an ordinance to create a Special Improvement District (SID) on the downtown waterfront is again before the city council. Scheduled for a preliminary vote at 1 p.m. Thursday, the seven-page measure reflects some of the suggestions made by citizens and task force members, including a provision for establishing SIDs in neighborhood business districts. City council President James Mathes says the revised ordinance will boost the redevelopment of the waterfront, and offer shopping areas like Broadway and Mount Ephraim Avenue a means of providing stepped-up security, sanitation and other amenities. SIDs, such as Philadelphia's widely praised Center City District, are an increasingly common way for fiscally strapped cities to provide cleaner, safer downtowns and attract visitors and investment, all without raising taxes on other neighborhoods.

Nevertheless, an SID ordinance passed early this year by the Camden city council sparked an uproar among many residents, who viewed it as a scheme to turn the crown jewel of the city's downtown redevelopment into a private preserve. Council rescinded the measure after a citizen petition drive was organized to force a referendum on the SID. Mathes then appointed the task force in order to "explain the SID and be receptive to suggestions" from the public, the city council president said. The group was to present its recommendations to the council within 60 to 90 days. But task force member Lois Teer said the group's recommendations were completed Monday and were never formally reviewed by or even By Avi Steinhardt, Courier-Post Bowlarama: Russian students (from left) ton Township.

The students are in the U.S. as Artem Rezmikov, Olleg Korsunsky and part of the Hands Across the Water exchange Andrei Lukyanov watch Rob Gehring bowl at program. Their American counterparts the Brunswick Cross Keys Lanes in Washing- visited Russia in July. Marlton woman disappears off workers, "I don't see any way around" the municipal layoffs, Keating added. Some workers in all seven city departments, with the possible exception of human services, would lose their jobs under the plan the city has submitted to the state Department of Personnel.

The city has about 1,200 employees, and positions ranging from laborer to clerk to supervisor would be affected. "We're spreading it out," Keating said. "We're trying to make it not have any real impact on services." cago. The two left their Marlton home together Saturday morning. "We drove up to Chicago Saturday night and the next day she left about 1 p.m.," he said in a telephone interview Tuesday night.

Daren said the car had had brake and engine trouble ever since leaving home. Zywicki is a senior at Grinnell College, where she is working toward a degree in art and Spanish. Zywicki was expected Sunday night at Grinnell, where she was going to spend two weeks taking photographs of the school's sports teams. "I hadn't heard from her on Sunday and then my parents started calling around to see what had happened to her. "The police have a lot of people saying they remember seeing the car broken down.

"Some people said they saw a semi-truck stop to help. But she's pretty street-wise and I don't think she would have gotten in with anyone." TAMMY J. ZYWICKI disappeared in Illinois Here are the new hours for all 35 N.J. motor vehicle inspection stations: Monday 8 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

Tuesday 11 a.m. 7:30 p.m. Wednesday 8 a.m. 7:30 p.m. Thursday 11 a.m.

7:30 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. 4:30 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m. noon.

And while they always opened at 8 a.m. each day, they now open at 11 a.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays. Lee said the new schedule would allow better use of overtime hours by keeping the stations open longer at night, when more people could get to them without having to take time off from work. But the DMV did little to publicize the new schedule, which was overshadowed by the news that Saturday and late-night hours hi? A I si Bi.

'-I By MAURICE TAMMAN Courier-Post Staff A 21-year-old Marlton woman on her way to college in Iowa disa-peared while driving on Interstate 80 in Illinois Sunday. Illinois state police said Tammy J. Zywicki, of 178 Carlton had car trouble on the cross country highway Sunday afternoon. Witnesses told police they saw, Zywicki peering under the hood of the car Sunday afternoon. One witness is said to have seen a truck pull over near her.

Joe Dale's Big Band will perform at 7 p.m. at Scotland Run Park in Clayton. The park is on Clayton-Williamstown Road. To suggest items of interest for this column, call the Courier-Post news bureaus in Burlington County (267-9486), Camden County (757-7193) or Gloucester County (845-4617). Man held, charged in drug death Roommate took fatal mixture Courier-Post staff 1 CAMDEN An unemployed man from Oaklyn was charged Tuesday with providing the drugs that resulted in the death of his roommate earlier this month.

Daniel Kenneth Hinch, 31, of the 200 block White Horse Pike, was being held in the Camden County Jail in lieu of 10 percent of $75,000 bail. Bail was set by Acting Criminal Assignment Judge Isaiah Steinberg. He is the first person in Camden County to be charged with drug-induced death under the New Jersey Comprehensive Drug Reform Act of 1987, said Camden County Prosecutor Edward F. Borden Jr. Hinch was arrested Tuesday in connection with the death of Paul Seymore, 51, who shared an apart-'ment with him.

An autopsy by the Camden County Medical Examiner's Office revealed that Seymore died of an adverse reaction to drugs. Seymore was found unconscious in a hallway at the apartment complex about 10:45 p.m. on Aug. 4. He was taken to West Jersey Hospital, Camden, where he was pronounced dead about 45 minutes later, according to a joint statement by Borden and Oaklyn Police Chief Ronald J.

Frumento. An investigation by local police and the prosecutor's office alleges that Seymore ingested a combination of cocaine and heroin by intravenous injection, commonly known as "speed balling," before he died. The fatal combination of drugs is reported to have been created by Hinch, according to Borden. Borden said the 1987 law essentially states that anyone who man-factures, distributes or dispenses an illegal drug is strictly liable for any death that results from the consumption of that drug. The law says that person, if convicted, is guilty of a first-degree crime.

Borden added that the 1987 law created a new form of homicide, where death results from certain drugs distributed to the victim by "the suspect. He said the state does not have to prove that the defendant intended or even should have known that death was likely to result from his act. Air facts Air quality for the past 24 hours: MODERATE. Worst pollution was recorded in BRISTOL where the Pollution Standard Index hit 83, in the MODERATE range. Worst pollutant was the OZONE, which irritates eyes and respiratory system.

The forecast: Due to continuing sunshine, air quality will remain moderate to unhealthful. "The Pollution Standard Index rates air quality good if it reads Between 0 lo 50, modeidid between 50 to 100, and unhealthful between 100 to 500. Source. Clean Air Council Republicans release school aid estimates presented to the council before the revised ordinance was placed on Thursday's agenda. "It hurts that we worked all these months and haven't submit ted our work to them, and we're presented with the final ordinance," Teer said Tuesday.

"I wish they could have waited two weeks and reviewed our recommendations." The longtime civic activist also said she was surprised that "the two major (recommendations) we thought would help the rest of the city the most have been eliminated" from the ordinance. Those measures would have utilized part of the SID property tax, as well as a proposed additional sales tax within the district, to offset city operating costs and to enhance services in other sections of the city. Teer noted that the proposals would have diverted what eventually could be "millions" of SID revenue away from the Camden Waterfront Management the private, non-profit organization established earlier this year to operate the district. Task force chairman Robert Miller disputed Teer's contentions. "Lois was upset because she didn't get her way" about the revenue recommendations, he said.

"Everyone (else) was looking at the larger picture. They wanted this thing to move." Although Miller said the council had "very little contact on a regular basis" with the task force since it was appointed in May, task force consultant James Ricks said Mathes was apprised of the work and the recommendations on an ongoing basis. And Councilwoman Gwendolyn Faison, who attended several meetings including a final session on Monday, said the entire council "was fully aware" of the recommendations. ple, who are advised to restrict outdoor activities. Healthy adults are advised to exercise early in the moming or late in the day when ozone pollution levels are lower.

On Monday, the DEPE had forecast unhealthful ozone levels for South Jersey. That forecast, however, was altered by shifting weather patterns that could bring cooler weather and cleaner air to the area by Friday. Air pollution in some parts of Central and North Jersey did reach unhealthy levels Tuesday and is expected to be high again today. At those levels, everyone is advised to avoid outdoor exercise. The first woman in line said she would wait the three hours until the station opened.

She had planned to do this today and was locked in," said Cooke. Cooke didn't wait. He went to a private inspection station and paid $20.50. "I feel like I accomplished something today," said Cooke before returning to Maryland to resume his vacation. Despite the lines that stretched onto Hampton Road by 11 a.m., lane inspectors worked quickly once the station opened.

By 1 p.m., the lines were virtually gone. The DMV is depending on the media to make the public aware of its new inspection hours, and may print the new hours on inserts with registration and license renewals. There are no plans to go back to the old hours, however. -uys ukh 1 fx At 5 p.m. Sunday police found the car abandoned on 1-80 near LaSalle, 111.

They said nothing in the car had been taken or disturbed. Police have searched the area with dogs, helicopters and airplanes. Zywicki's brother, Daren, arrived at LaSalle Tuesday night from Evanston, 111., about 100 miles away, to help police with the search. Daren, 19, attends Northwestern University in Evanston, near Chi- sters, not formulas," the governor said then, adding, "New Jersey's children need fewer 'sky-is-falling' press releases and more thought about investing in them and their future." "My position is the same as it was last week," Florio said If you think something is wrong, tell the people how you want to fix it, and then let's talk about it." "Today's sequel from the legislators differs only in that it tries to scare people by predicting future school aid numbers for individual school districts," he said. "Such predictions are virtually meaningless, because income growth and property values, especially in these volatile economic times, are impossible to determine so far in advance." vices Director Skip Lee announced Saturday and late-night hours were returning after a l'i-month absence.

The public was clamoring for the late-night and Saturday hours, casualties of the Republicans' billion-dollar budget cuts that cost the DMV more than $5 million. Lee convinced legislators that the DMV would generate the $5 million through sales of reflective license plates, so the hours were restored. But while the Saturday hours that resumed Aug. 15 are the traditional 8 a.m. to noon, weekdays are something else again.

Whereaseach of the 35 inspection stations traditionally had a particular late night before Tuesday? for Cherry Hill and Wednesdays for Deptford, for example they are now all open until 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. South Jersey air quality not as bad as predicted Continued from Page 1B The two legislators said middle-income districts are being "squeezed" by the existing formula because needier districts must get a bigger piece of a shrinking financial pie. They said formula revisions they propose would not increase the estimated total $4.8 billion in anticipated 1993-94 state school aid and would aim to ensure that no district loses any state aid funding and that all districts strengthen effective programming and accountability procedures. Florio said last week after Rocco and Ewing warned that the QEA formula promised "disaster" for middle-income districts that he was ready to discuss QEA changes in a bipartisan manner.

"Hopefully, this is about young New inspection station hours hit drivers by surprise By ROSE VENDITTI MclVER Courier-Post Staff Ozone pollution in South Jersey flirted with unhealthy levels Tuesday, but did not reach the danger zone as predicted. The state Department of Environmental Protection and Energy (DEPE) said the air quality in the southern part of the state was moderate and that no change is expected today. Moderate air quality is a yellow caution flag for people who are very young, very old, pregnant, or have chronic heart or respiratory diseases. Moderate air pollution can cause wheezing, chest pain and shortness of breath in those peo would resume. On Monday, when the new weekday hours went into effect, there were no problems.

But the Monday hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., were the same as usual. Then came Tuesday. Frank Cooke of Pennsauken had scheduled the day for car inspection and drove all the way from his vacation home in Maryland to get it done. He got up at 6:05 a.m.

and had no traffic problems on the drive up. He expected to wait in line since it's nearing the end of the month, and bought himself a Courier-Post to pass the time. But when he got to the station after 8 a.m., the lines were even longer than he expected. Then he realized nothing was moving. At all.

"The station was closed. Some people were leaving. But others said they had no choice but to wait. By BARBARAS. ROTHSCHILD Courier-Post Staff CHERRY HILL There's a new twist on the old gripe motorists have with the N.J.

Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and you only had to look at the long lines at the inspection station on Hampton Road Tuesday to see it. As the first "late" day of the newly revised and expanded inspection hours dawned Tuesday, inspection lines began forming for the usual 8 a.m. opening. Problem was, the station didn't open until 11 a.m. Some people left.

One inspector called it a "demolition derby" as cars abruptly high-tailed it out of the lot. Others dug in their heels and waited. More came and fumed but stayed. And so the lines grew. On Augl4, Motor Vehicles Ser.