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

1 Pcnn State beats Modern-day Rutgers in NIT, 58-55 Cinderella story Third-round loss ends Rutgers dreams of a Richard Gere and lia Roberts berth at Madison Square GardenC-1 co in fai tale romantic t-t comedy, Pretty Woman D-1 North Plainfiold Board of Education says schools will remain smoke-free. Page B-1. Piscataway St. Pius High open house aids transferring students. Page B-1.

Mostly sunny, high 63; tonight, low 34; partly sunny tomorrow, high 59; Weather details PagA-2 Union, Middlesex edition I A Gannett newspaper serving Central New Jersey Bridgewater, Thursday, March 22, 1990 722-8800 25 Cents Murder trial jury chosen quickly v' I conviction, although public defender Elijah L. Miller Jr. could have a less serious charge, like involuntary manslaughter, in mind. Miller refused to comment on the judge's announcement yesterday, but indicated he may appeal certain aspects of the jury selection process. In fact, the strategy tipoff overshadowed another startling development at least from Miller's perspective here yesterday.

List's public defender has always insisted his client could not get a "fair and impartial" jury in Union County, and Wertheimer has always disagreed. On Jan. 23, the judge denied Miller's See LIST on back page "In effect, it's an admission of the killings," a source close to the case said about the so-called "diminished capacity" strategy List's attorney apparently revealed at a meeting with prosecutors and the judge several weeks ago. But it's not an admission that List, 64, acted "willfully, deliberately or with premeditation" when he shot his wife, mother and three teen-age children in his Westfield mansion. That's what assistant prosecutors Eleanor J.

Clark and Brian Gillet would have to prove to get a first-degree murder conviction, the source said. Malice a finding that List acted recklessly when he killed is usually grounds for a second degree murder By JILL VEJNOSKA Courier-News Staff Writer ELIZABETH A jury chosen here yesterday will have to decide whether John List had a mental disease or defect when he killed five family members in 1971. The startling announcement about a possible defense strategy came at the start of jury selection, when Superior Court Judge William L'E. Werth-eimer told some 70 prospective panelists List denied his guilt because he was "incapable of forming the necessary criminal state of mind," which is an element of first-degree murder charges. Courier-News photo by Dean Curtis John List watches as a prospective juror is interviewed yesterday at the Union County courthouse in Elizabeth.

Judge William L'E. Wertheimer gets the last word i On-time TV SHOW REUNITES FRIEHDS FROM VIETNAM WAR Florio trims report card for schools Just ask i ii iirir1 'Hiif ii''nrn' 1 i'lniiwiniii f''ii ipiit 11 1 1 1 'iirir i 1 1 1 mr-rri WASHINGTON (AP) Airline passengers hate delays, yet few seem to realize they could improve their odds of arriving on time if they heeded one simple clue. Just for the asking, travelers can learn any flight's recent record for tardiness. An example: If you were thinking of taking USAir Flight 896 from Philadelphia to Boston at 5:55 p.m. you could know your chances of arriving late are better than 80 percent.

"Late" is defined as more than 15 minutes behind schedule. The clue lies in the flight's code that appears in airline and travel agent computers. The code for the USAir flight, for example, has a "1" as the last digit. That means that for the past month the flight has arrived on time between 10 and 20 percent of the time. A "2" at the end of a flight's com- niter code would mean the flight ands on time between 20 and 30 percent of the time, and so on up to the 90 to 100 percent range.

A rating of less than 30 percent gets "chronically late" honors in the Department of Transportation's monthly "Air Travel Consumer Report." So what does a traveler do if the flight has a low score? A passenger flying from Philadelphia to Boston could take Delta 648 at 4:50 p.m. with a 60 to 70 percent chance of arriving on time, or USAir 424 at 5 p.m., which has a 40 to 50 percent chance. But how often do customers ask for this information? "No one ever has," said Yolande Frommer, referring to customers at her Washington, D.C., travel agency. They'll ask the type of aircraft, how many seats are in a row, where the exits are and what movie is playing, she said, but they don't think to ask the chances of the plane arriving on time, even though it often is a major concern. Many people simply aren't aware that the information is available.

The data comes from the airlines themselves. They are required by law to report it to the government each month. Delays due to mechanical problems are not counted In the ratings because the government thinks that including them might encourage airlines to rush repairs in order to keep up their on-time rating. By LAURENCE ARNOLD Courier-News Staff Writer The Florio administration has canceled funding for the School Report Card program this year, but a spokeswoman for the governor said the cards will return in 1992 and every twef years thereafter. The report cards, introduced last fall amid fanfare and some opposition, grade the performance of individual school districts.

The cards were sent to parents in, each of the 2,170 districts in the The original plan for the cards, as proposed by former Gov. Thomas Kean, called for the release of annual, statistics on school districts. i The cards were structured to plot the annual information against sta tistics from the prior two years. Nancy Kearney, a spokeswoman for Gov. Jim Florio, said money was not a factor in the decision, even though Florio's proposed budget for next year cuts state spending dramatically.

Preparation of the cards last yeaf cost the state about $120,000, twice the original estimate for the Some Central Jersey superintendents said they were not impressed with the cards. "As I've said all along, I believe full disclosure by school districts is essential, but that poor an instrument, in my opinion, wasn't worth putting out," said Richard Horowitz, superintendent of the Bridgewater-Raritan school district. Bridgewater-Raritan and Plain-field schools challenged the state's request for information for the cards last year, but officials gave in after a court decision upheld the request. Education officials who opposed the cards said parents might judge individual school districts solely on the basis of isolated statistics. They also feared that a district's performance would be viewed in comparison to statewide statistics, which also are provided on the cards: Plainfield Deputy Superintendent Jeff Klein said the report cards were of limited use to the community.

"We got surprisingly little feedback from parents next to none, in fact," he said. "There was no information in those report cards that had not been disseminated in other ways." I i Courier-News photo by Kathy Johnson Linda Sharp Caldwell clutches a tissue as she watches Jim Baczkowski, an old friend from Vietnam, on NBC's "Unsolved Mysteries." 07 a Wounded veteran uses 'Unsolved Mysteries' to find by liVtfli Wiyj N. Plainfield woman who nursed him back to health By KATHIE FLANNERY Courier-News Writer i i ing it so they would be found," he said last night after watching the program. But he was a bit nervous when it came time for the show to air. "I didn't want to watch it" Baczkowski ad- mitted.

A lot of emotions came forth during the taping, he said, and good and bad memories resurfaced. At 8 p.m., a collective chill ran up the spines of the Caldwells and the Baczkowskis as the story unfolded and the pair were reunited electronically. Baczkowski said he was pleased at the result, except for the 10 pounds of weight the camera seemed to add to his frame. "She gave me what I needed to keep going," he said. "It hit home.

That was from the heart" And it was apparent from Caldwell's tears that it also hit home in North Plainfield. She said a few parts were exaggerated or inaccurate, but that the majority was on target. Caldwell and Baczkowski weren't the only ones reunited. Because of the show, both said they heard from people nationwide with whom they had lost touch. wrote a crucial letter to his wife and supplied a cold beer to celebrate his recovery.

i i Determined to find the young, blonde woman who helped him, Baczkowski went to "Unsolved Mysteries" with his story. 1 Caldwell saw the preview of her story, called the producer that night and the veterans were reunited before the full show aired. "Once we get on the phone, it's Just like old friends," said Baczkowski. Since they first spoke on the phone last week, the pair have been in contact regularly. Cald-: well even sent flowers thanking Baczkowski, who lives in Colorado, for finding her and wishing him and his wife the best.

"You shouldn't have sent these flowers," she said he told her. "I'm supposed to be thanking you." Each talks excitedly about the in-person reunion they're planning in April two days after Jim and his wife Dolores' 22nd wedding anniversary. To Baczkowski, the reunion was inevitable. He said he had no doubt he would find Cald-; well someday. "When you want to find someone, you're do- NORTH PLAINFIELD Linda Sharp Cald-i well let out a gasp and clutched her shirt as she met face-to-screen after 20 years with a Vietnam veteran she had nursed back to health af- ter he lost his leg in combat.

She knew she was the focus of a "lost loves" segment of NBC's "Unsolved Mysteries" last night because she had identified herself during last week's preview, but talking about it and seeing it were two different things. As Jim Baczkowski; the veteran she helped, told viewers "Captain Sharp is the only good memory I have" of the Vietnam War, Caldwell let a few tears escape. "It's all right," said her 11-year-old daughter Amanda, trying to comfort her. Newly married, Baczkowski lost his right leg in combat four months after he arrived in Vietnam. Caldwell, a nurse with the 67th Evacuation hospital in Qui Nhon, helped him back to health physically and mentally with comforting words, Florio may be forced to compromise on assault-weapon legislation -7 "I will look at the language of any By LEE SEGLEM Gannett News Service lawmakers that the bill is too broad and confiscatory.

The measure would all but outlaw possession of a large class of semiautomatic weapons those that chamber a cartridge with every trigger squeeze. Current owners would be forced to sell their weapons or turn them over, without compensation, to authorities until obtaining a license siped by a judge. By strongly backing the measure, which the administration says would stop military-style firearms from reaching the hands of drug dealers and other street criminals, Florio has been seeking to fulfill a major campaign promise he made last year. But his early push for quick approval, which has sparked an intense backlash among gun enthusiasts, has exposed a major political rift the first of his administration between Florio and members of the Democrat-controlled Legislature. "I'm not opposed to the basic principle of this bill getting assault weapons off the streets," said Dalton.

"But how do you do that in a thoughtful and reasonable way? "Let's put it this way: I dont have a' high comfort level with the way this bill is written." 3 Three Senate Democrats Sens. Francis McManimon, D-Dist. Raymond Zane, D-Dist 3, and Thomas F. Cowan, D-Dist 32 already have said they would vote against the r' See GUNS on back page amendments," Florio said. "And if it is something that doesn't do violence to the basic principles of the bill which I support, I (would) accept it" Senate Majority Leader Daniel Dalton, D-Dist.

4, a longtime close Florio ally, said the governor may have no choice but to soften bis stance because of mounting concern among TRENTON Facing possible rebellion from fellow Democrats in the Legislature, Gov. Jim Florio said yesterday he would not rule out a compromise to limit the scope of a proposed crackdown on assault weapons. 1,1.