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

Knee surgery may 1 t3 Elton John 1 1 union county force Giants C-V forsaking wgsrart linebacker to quit flamboyance South Plainf icld Harry Carson had wanted to hold off 70? Rock singer talks about changing his ffir retirement until the end of the seasonD-1 frii style and defending his reputationC-1 a Cloudy, cool today, high around 50; rain likely tonight, more tomorrow Weather details Page A-2 Union, Middlesex, Somerset Edition 25 Cents 722-8800 A Gannett newspaper serving Central New Jersey Bridgewater, Saturday, November 19, 1988 HUllTiRDON'S GIFT TO BIG APPLE Quaffs 3 I Plainfield educator faces fight over tenure Long-distance cable severed By J.D. SOLOMON, MARY ROMANO and ROBIN SIDEL Courier-News Staff Writers "It's almost like a highway in that you have to go along it to get from, say, New York to Florida. This is a major blockage affecting the whole East Coast." Jim Nelson, district manager Mk i .1 IE "-f a' a I By BERNICE PAGLIA Courier-News Staff Writer PLAINFIELD A long-rumored fight to block tenure of the city's eighth school superintendent in 10 years erupted Thursday night when three board members walked out of a closed-door meeting. Three school board members who left the evaluation session say they are concerned that Dr. Annette Kearney's ouster is imminent.

Board member Dave Beck said the three "walked out in disgust" after board President Cecil Vincent said Kearney allegedly rated unsatisfactory on her evaluations. His comments came before board members discussed the evaluations Joylette Mills-Ransome and Beu-lah Womack joined Beck in walking out and deciding to break the confidentiality of the closed session. They said that if things go as planned by a four-member faction that wants Kearney out, the public's only chance for input will be at a regular business meeting on Tuesday. The troubled school system is facing state monitoring and initial stages of a decertification move as a result of unsatisfactory math scores. For years, it has been plagued by low test scores, a high dropout rate and poor attendance.

Superintendents over the past decade have offered solutions, but few have lasted long enough to implement them. The instability at the top has itself been blamed for the district's ills by both residents and board members. According to board Attorney Victor E.D. King, the earliest Kearney could achieve tenure would be March 14. Her contract, which ends June 30, 1990, could be broken by either party at any time with 90 days notice.

Although Kearney does not have to give a reason to quit, the board must give reasons to fire her. "Dec. 14 is a crucial date," King said, because that is 90 days before she would receive tenure. Evaluations by all nine board members, which were to have been discussed at Thursday night's meeting, range from totally unsatisfactory to good or superior, Beck said. The differences of opinion follow an already apparent split in the board between Kearney supporters and detractors, with one swing vote.

Vincent, reached Thursday night, said he would not comment on what happened in executive session. See TENURE on back page American Telephone Telegraph longdistance telephone service throughout the East Coast was disrupted for about 10 hours yesterday when a major transmission cable was severed by a construction crew working in a Sayre-ville train yard, officials said. Problems were especially severe in portions of Central Jersey, and customers closest to Sayreville were expected to be among the last to have their service fully restored, an spokesman said. The break in the 3-inch fiber optic cable occurred at 12:15 p.m. Service was restored gradually as computers rerouted calls through other points.

Almost all service was restored by about 7 p.m., said. However, service in Central Jersey still was disrupted in some spots late last night, but was expected to be restored by this morning. Local calls and long distance calls carried by MCI and other major carriers were not affected, according to spokesmen for New Jersey Bell Telephone, United Telephone Co. of New Jersey and MCI. The accident occurred in the Brown Junction railroad yard.

It caused massive rerouting of thousands of calls that ordinarily use the cable, District Manager Jim Nelson said. "It's almost like a highway in that you have to go along it to get from, say, New York to Florida," Nelson said. "This is a major blockage affecting the whole East Coast." The disruption in service meant many callers either got a busy signal or a recording asking that they dial again, Nelson said. Most callers who kept trying ultimately got through, other officials said. In addition to affecting phone service, private customers whose computer networks use phone line transmissions experienced service problems, Nelson said.

Harry Baumgartner, a spokesman for in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards, said calls between area codes on the East Coast were rerouted along i4 alternate paths by computerized network. For instance, he said, calls between East Coast cities made between 3 and 4 p.m. likely were rerouted through California and other West Coast lines, which are not as heavily used during that time their lunch hour. The company did not have specific details of the accident. Baumgartner said the damage to the cable was consistent with a backhoe accident, a frequent problem for phone and sewer lines.

Gary Morgenstern, another spokesman, said the service problems probably were more extensive than they would have been several years ago because the damaged cable was a newer, fiber optic cable instead of a traditional wire cable. A fiber optic cable, which transmits phone See PHONES on back page 1 Associated Press photo A 75-foot Norway spruce from Raritan Township is hoisted into position near the ice rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City yesterday. Millions of tourists and city residents flock each holiday season to see the spectacle. Sullivan candidate for seat on Bush Cabinet 7, a Union resident, has been mentioned as a candidate to be labor secretary in the Bush administration. Sullivan, who finished third in the 1981 Republican gubernatorial primary, also has been considered a likely candidate for that race next See SULLIVAN on back page Sullivan, chairman of the Turnpike Authority for six years, is the third Central Jerseyan whose name has been connected to a Cabinet post.

Bedminster resident Nicholas Brady, a long-time friend and adviser to Bush, has been named treasury secretary. U.S. Rep. Matthew Rinaldo, R-Dist. Cabinet post in the Bush administration and said he would accept a job if it was offered.

Rumors have been circulating around Washington, D.C., that Sullivan, 51, is being considered for secretary of transportation. Sullivan, a Bedminster resident, said in a telephone interview that the Bush transi tion team has requested biographical information, which he has forwarded. "I don't see how I could not accept it," Sullivan said of the transportation post. "I think that if you're called upon to serve the nation by the president or president-elect of the United States, you'd be very hard-pressed to say no." By PAT POLITANO Courier-News Staff Writer and The Associated Press Joseph "Bo" Sullivan, who resigned this week as New Jersey Turnpike Authority chairman, confirmed yesterday he is under consideration for a Branchburg man grabs $2M in lottery The Best Olympic horseman returns to alma mater, displays medal been buying Pick-6 and Quick-Pick tickets every Monday and Thursday for the past four months. Thursday evening, he and a friend were driving to a hockey game in Flemington when they stopped at Somerville Quick Service on Route 22 to fill his gasoline tank and buy some soda.

"So when I went in, the guy asked me if I had bought a ticket for the big jackpot. I said, but I bought a quick one anyway. When I got home around 12:30, one o'clock, I was getting ready to crash out. Then I called to hear the numbers because I missed them on TV," he said. Beede said that when he heard the numbers (2, 5, 9, 11, 16 and 32), he screamed and immediately awoke his parents.

He and a Bergen County couple claimed two of the top three prize tickets that share the $7.1 million See MILLIONAIRE on back page By LINDA BANASIAK Courier-News Staff Writer Darren J. Beede would like to celebrate. After all, what good is $2,367,357 without a limousine? "Millionaire here," Beede greeted telephone callers last night. "Do you know of any limo services that aren't booked up?" Beede's millionaire status comes courtesy of the New Jersey Lottery, which announced yesterday it will pay him $94,800 for each of the next 20 years. "We are gonna raise hell tonight!" he exclaimed.

"I've really been working hard these past couple of years and I just want to have fun this year live it up." Beede, 23 and single, lives in Branchburg and operates a family business, Penguin Quality Cleaners, in Raritan Township, He says he has Gill not only made the Olympics, but won a medal," junior Rob West of Watchung said. "The younger kids are walking around saying, 'I saw a said Chris Gorham, the head of school at Gill-St. Bernard's. "For some of them, It's just a thrill to touch his silver medal or meet someone who is in the news." Best was equally excited to return to the school. "It's neat that they wanted me to come back," he said after speaking to a group of older students.

"It was very flattering and It has been a lot of fun." For Darren Graziano, a freshman from Warren who is active in show jumping, Best's visit may have pro- See BEST on back page By LUTHER TURMELLE Courier-News Staff Writer PEAPACK-GLADSTONE -When Olympic silver medalist Greg Best graduated from the prestigious Gill-St. Bernard's school here in 1982, he didn't leave on horseback. But yesterday morning, the Flemington resident returned to his alma mater that way. The Olympic show jumper was greeted by a shower of brightly colored balloons and streamers and the warm admiration of the school's 310 kindergarten, elementary and high school students. The private day school honored Best with a daylong celebration appropriately titled, "The Best Day Ever." "I can't believe someone from Courlsr Newt photo by Oeorg Smith welcome Greg Best, who won a In the Olympic Games at Seoul.

Students at Gill-St. Bernard's silver medal in show jumping QE3 1 ill lllWllH! SPORTS Rate increases at N.J. hospitals intended to help fight AIDSA-3 President Reagan signs bill strengthening anti-drug forces A-3 Scholar says religious cults growing rapidly despite bad press A-3 Sports LIFESTYLE Landers Television Movies Classified LOCAL Obituaries B-2 Police news B-2 Business B-3-B-5 Classified 6-B-8 NEWS Editorials Lotteries Comics Legals 4'-.