The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 1

NBA: Knicks lose to Bulls, 94-91, C-l Last Word: Thrifty home buys, C-10 Somerset County Edition A Gannett newspaper serving Central Jersey Bridgewater, Monday, May 13, 1996 (908) 722-8800 MONDAY (oM Griping could cost you Skier, boater fall into cold water i) feJiT1: 'Wiwi rf'' y. A L1 By VINCENT PATERNO Courier-News Staff Writer FRANKLIN (Somerset) A man stuck in the waters of the Raritan River after his Jet Ski overturned Sunday was dramatically pulled to safety. A few hours earlier, rescuers saved a man whose canoe had overturned near the Griggstown Causeway. "I heard somebody yelling," said Gary Kist of South Bound Brook, who was fishing in the canal when the overturned Jet Ski left a man stranded in water about 4:30 p.m. "Next thing I know, the cops were coming, the rescue squad and all that." Kist guessed that the man had become stuck when he tried to maneuver his Jet Ski over the Canal Road weir.

Rescue squad members from the Elizabeth Avenue Fire Company arrived on one side of the river and Find-erne fire and rescue volunteers on the other side arrived to help. Each shot out rope to the man, who was wearing a wet suit. "He was hanging to the Jet Ski for a while. It was lucky his muscles didn't wear out, it was so cold," said Irene Hudson of Manville, who witnessed the rescue. Eventually, the man got hold of the rope, crawled through the raging river to the other side and was pulled to safety.

He was taken to Somerset Medical Center, where he was reported in stable condition and was expected to be released Sunday night. Earlier in the day, another man was rescued when his canoe flipped in the Griggstown Causeway. He made it to a small island, said Kevin McKenna, chief of the Somerset Volunteer Fire Rescue Company. "All we had to do was deploy a boat over to the island," McKenna said. Franklin Township police said two people were in the canoe.

A woman got out safely, but the man had to be rescued and taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. Police would not disclose his identity Sunday night, and the hospital would not comment on his condition. "Unfortunately for us this year, it started in January," McKenna said of the squad's rescues. "We've been going basically from call to call to call, starting with the individual who fell through the ice in the canal on Jan. 2.

We also had the other guy in the canoe this exact location in March or April. This is a real dangerous part of the river." jr TOUGH ON CLINTON In his latest salvo questioning the president's crimefighting credentials, Sen. Bob Dole demanded Sunday that the Clinton administration explain the conduct of a federal prosecutor in Arizona during a child porn probe. A-3. ID? OF THE FIRE KILLS 5 An early morning fraternity house fire killed five people Sunday, bringing tragedy to the University of North Carolina campus just hours before annual Mother's Day graduation ceremonies.

A-3. 2 AMERICANS MISSING Two Americans were among eight mountain climbers believed dead on Sunday as rescue workers searched Mount Everest for missing members of 11 expeditions. A-4. SOMERSET ROAD PROJECTS ON TAP Turning Hillside Avenue in Bed-minster into a dead-end street will be one of several road projects to be discussed at a public information session next week. B-1.

WORKING ON HER DAY While other mothers were busy getting served, spoiled and pampered on Mother's Day, Asila Shafi was busy serving many of them at La Cucina Restaurant in Somerville. As a single mom, there is no other choice. B-l. STATE CAUGHT IN THE WEB Several New Jersey residents, companies and organizations hold their breath as a court-appointed trustee tries to unravel the mess of The Bennett Funding Group, an office-equipment leasing firm accused of orchestrating one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.

A-2. WOIiLD RUSSIA BOOTS AMERICAN An American businessman was expelled from Russia for alleged espionage activities, the country's security agency said Sunday. A-3. mi Partly Tonight, clear and cold. High: 59 Low: 33.

Full weather report, A-3. By LUTHER TURMELLE Courier-News Business Writer Consumers will have to pay to file complaints by telephone with the Better Business Bureau under a proposal that the nonprofit organization will vote on in June. If the proposal passes, bureau offices would have the option of charging an as-yet-undetermined amount to take a complaint over the phone, said Holly Cherico, a spokeswoman for the Council of Better Business Bureau in Arlington, Va. Written complaints and requests for reports on companies would be free. Charging would allow bureau offices to provide a higher level of service, Cherico said.

"We feel consumers will be willing to pay for that kind of added value," she said. "Individual offices would have to demonstrate how they would improve service before implementing the charge." Offices from around the country including the Hamilton Township-based Better Business Bureau of Central Jersey, which serves Somerset, Hunterdon, Middlesex and Union counties will vote on the proposal. Better Business Bureau offices in nine cities now charge between $2.50 and $4 for taking callers' complaints as part of a trial program, Cherico said. Other Better Business Bureau offices take complaints only in writing and charge nothing. The trial program has generated $3.5 million in fees for the participating offices, Cherico said.

But Bill Mitchell, president of the Better Business Bureau office that serves southern California, said bureau fees don't make up for the offices' high operating costs, he said. "We notify the company that is the subject of the complaint in writing," Mitchell said. "Then we notify the person who made the complaint. Thirty-two cents here, 32 cents there it eats up what we've charged." Mitchell's office handles 45,000 complaints a year, the largest volume of any Better Business Bureau office in lhe United States. When it began taking complaints by phone in 1993, the volume more than doubled.

"The more complaints we get on any given company, the more accurate a picture we can paint for consumers," Mitchell said. "People are more likely to make a complaint if they can give it over the phone." If bureau offices reject the proposal, the nine offices would have to cease charging by the end of the year. The New York City office of the Better Business Bureau began the test in 1991. The remaining eight cities joined the test in 1993. the court to ask their questions than for the lawyers to make an argument," said Rubin.

The potential for rapid-fire questioning by 13 justices is a daunting prospect for most attorneys, because they rarely face so many judges. By comparison, the New Jersey Supreme Court has seven justices and the Supreme Court of the United States has nine. The next step would be the nation's highest court. "It is Supreme Court material," Rubin said, "but it's premature to consider that." TODAY'S TOPIC Where to vote and what it means for each townA-4 Kenilworth, Mountainside and Springfield. Garwood and Mountainside will have to send high school students out of district as they do now.

The number of districts will drop from seven to six. To a degree, a reconfiguration follows a state government recommendation to move all districts in the state to a K-12 format for greater efficiency. But it also directly counters the findings of a study by Rutgers Professor Emeritus Ernest Reock, who concluded costs would drop if the state's 49 regional high See SCHOOLS on Page A-4 i Miii. j. t.

Courier-News photos by Vincent Paterno the Finderne Rescue Squad, top from Somerset Medical Center. wants to teach." Board of Education attorney David Rubin said the school district, which is the defendant in the case, did not want to get involved in a legal proceeding either. After Federal Judge Marianne Trump Barry ruled in favor of Taxman in 1993, and awarded her $144,000 in back pay and damages, Rubin said the board decided to appeal because it felt it had "taken the right action for the right reason." The lawyers will each get 10 minutes to make their arguments Tuesday. "It's really an opportunity more for 41 A man clings to his Jet Ski in the Raritan River on Sunday. Members of photo, help pull the man out of the water.

He was treated and released Reverse-bias gets day in appellate court Stakes high in vote on deregionalization case filed suit in 1989 after the school dis trict, citing its affirmative action plan, elected to fire her and retain a similarly qualified black teacher. The district at the time was trimming staff. The latest chapter in the legal saga will be a rare "in banc" argument before all 13 members of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia. The case made headlines when the federal civil rights officials switched sides in the case.

The federal government originally filed motions supporting Taxman, but the Clinton ad principal in crash aircraft. Police said the first body parts were found late in the day. National Transportation Safety Board officials said they were unaware of any bodies found. But the medical examiner's office got a call late Sunday afternoon to send vans to the site. Sabo recently completed a doctorate in education administration at Rutgers University, then retired from high school administration, Heelan said.

He went on to become a professor at Auburn University in Alabama. For 17 years prior to his Manville tenure, Sabo worked as a teacher and administrator at South Brunswick High School. He was a student teacher there after graduating from Trenton State College with a degree in math education. Heelan called Sabo "an innovator" and said he was always concerned with students' progress. Sabo also had a great rapport with ministration switched to support the district's original decision.

As the case moved through the courts, one thing remained constant. That's Taxman and both her low-profile approach to the case and her refusal to carry the torch for opponents of affirmative action. Klausner said Taxman is a very private person. Taxman, who eventually returned to the district after being fired, has not discussed the case publicly or granted any interviews. "She didn't want to be here.

She never wanted this," her attorney, Stephen Klausner, said last week. "She Right 592 InsidcA-8 Everglades swamp has always been hostile to humans. FAA defends safety of low-cost airlines. ValuJet goes under FAA scrutiny beginning today. Complete list of victims.

parents, Heelan said, and was able to get them more involved in the school. "He's kind of an easy-going personality, very suave," Heelan said. "He started up coffee klatches with parents and was very good at meeting with parents and staying in touch with them." Sabo is survived by his wife, Beth, and two children. The Washington Post contributed to this report. By BOB GAYDOSH Courier-News Staff Writer PISCATAWAY A township-based reverse-discrimination case that already is taking on landmark, precedent-setting significance will be argued again Tuesday before a federal appeals court.

One of the few things that lawyers on opposite sides of the case agree on is that both clients would rather not be in this situation. Sharon Taxman, a white business teacher at Piscataway High School, Ex-Manville feared dead By DENISE VALENTI Courier-News Staff Writer A former Manville High School principal was among the 109 people believed dead after Valu Jet Flight 592 crashed in the Florida Everglades. Dennis J. Sabo, 49, served as principal from 1985 until 1990, when he left to become principal at Borden-town Regional High School in Burlington County. "It's a real shock to find out he was on that plane," Manville Superintendent Francis Heelan said Sunday night.

"He was a wonderful principal for the Manville school district." Heelan said Sabo left the district to work closer to his home in the Yardville section of Hamilton Township. Divers discovered the plane's two engines Sunday and reportedly found a chunk 20-to-30-feet wide of the IIIDfll Ann Landers B-6 Legals C-4 Bridge B-6 Lifestyle B-4 Business A-6 Local B-1 Classified C-6 Movies B-5 Comics B-6 Obituaries B-3 Crossword C-8 People B-5 Cryptoquote C-8 Sports C-1 Editorials A-7 Scoreboard C-4 Last Word C-10 Television B-5 I 1 By BERNICE PAGLIA Courier-News Staff Writer When it comes to changing the way schools operate, proposals on sharing and cost-saving can run head-on into issues of turf, identity and historic grudges. In 1992 the Union County Regional High School District 1 board voted to close one of its four high schools, a move aimed at saving $4 million. That move may come full circle on Tuesday, when voters from six municipalities will decide whether to dissolve the district itself, which state Education Commissioner Leo Klagholz has called "the highest-spending regional high school in the state." If the district is dissolved, the result will be six K-12 districts Berkeley Heights, Clark, Garwood, FEU ClLIYIEY CALL (800) 675-8645 TO EyY A CLASSIFIED A3: CALL (800) 675-7519.