The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey • Page 51

C-l TheCourief-Neujs Inside Classified ads Saturday, August 14, 1999 LOCAL BRIEFS TiFfTi TfKriA7l 2 i fry y. 11 L-niv a to lawyir: i. I .1 1 1 First-year medical students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick wait to receive their white coats and pins Friday during a welcoming ceremony for the class of 2003. Students start medical careers their clients. "We are talking about Jim Crow on the highways," Buck-man said.

Troopers from the Perryville barracks patrol 1-78 in Hunterdon. During Friday's hearing, Skarpetowski presented information her office compiled on stops on 1-78 in Hunterdon. The survey was compiled using only reports readily available to the public defender's office. Out of a sample of 81 stops that led to summonses over the past four years, 73 involved black or Hispanic motorists, Skarpetowski said. She asked for more information to complete her study.

Bernhard ruled Skarpetows-ki's survey did not warrant further information. But because her case was consolidated with Buckman's, she was able to rely on his arguments. Buckman's experts studied months of ticketing records of two troopers suspected of racial profiling on the interstate, and compared them with other surveys. They showed that Hispanic motorists were 7.2 times more likely to be pulled over by those officers than non-Hispanic drivers. Bernhard said he thought Buckman's argument established a basis for providing more information.

Skarpetowski has two similar motions pending for cases involving 1-78 traffic stops of minorities that led to arrests. She asked that those cases be consolidated with Buckman's, but the judge denied her request. i i r4m STAFF PHOTOS BY KENNY PANG end, but I'm not too sure if it will help. We'll have to wait and see." There are no plans to close recreation fields in Warren and Green Brook townships. Fields are brown and dry, but residents are able to enjoy them.

"The weather has not altered anything," Warren Township Administrator Mark Krane said. "We don't anticipate prohibiting any activities on the fields. It's supposed to rain this weekend, and that should help the fields." The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ikx Ceremony officially marks first day of scholars' lives as physicians. By LESLIE BOYD Education Writer NEW BRUNSWICK Brian Gable shrugged the white coat up onto his shoulders, smoothed the front and stood tall in front of 500 people.

Stephanie Beale beamed in the direction of her parents. Gable and Beale, both of Clinton Township, officially became medical students at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood-Johnson Medical Cen-terr during the two-hour cere Borough woman injured in crash READINGTON A Raritan Borough woman was hospitalized after her car rolled several times on Route 202. Jeanne Hansen, 35, was in satisfactory condition Friday at Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick following the Thursday evening crash. Hansen's 1999 Hyundai Accent drifted partly onto the center median of Route 202 North, police said. The car returned to the northbound lanes twice, crossing onto the shoulder and finally striking an embankment.

Hansen's car rolled several times, and she was ejected from the vehicle, police said. Hansen was treated on the scene by rescue workers from the Flemington-Rari-tan Rescue Squad and taken by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson. Hospital officials didn't have further information about her condition. Hansen was issued a summons for failing to use caution. Larry Higgs Cops arrest man after knife threat PLAINFIELD Police arrested a man carrying a knife after he threatened a pregnant woman on Roosevelt Avenue.

But they're not sure who the man is. The woman told police she was on Roosevelt Avenue Thursday when the man called to her and displayed a large knife. The woman, who is seven months pregnant ran away. She was not harmed, police said. Officers arrived at the scene and arrested the man, as a "John Doe" because he was too intoxicated to identify himself.

Police found a pay stub made out to a Jose Mejia and used that to attempt to identify the man. The stub was from a Princeton landscaping firm. Bernice Paglia No charges filed in township crash BRIDGEWATER The investigation into a crash on Route 202-206 that killed a Bridgewater woman continued Friday without the filing of any criminal charges. Anna K. Todd, 77, died Thursday when she was thrown from her minivan on Route 202-206 near the Top O' Th' Hill Tavern.

Todd was thrown from the vehicle after she was hit broad side by a southbound passenger car, authorities said. Todd died immediately from the impact and was pinned beneath the overturned van. Witnesses pulled her two grandchildren, ages 13 and 3, from the vehicle. Sandra Farina-Post, the driver of the passenger car, was treated for a broken hand at Somerset Medical Center Thursday afternoon and released. Somerset County Prosecutor Wayne J.

Forrest said the investigation is continuing and that detectives will work on reconstructing the crash next week. Anna Farneski Stephanie Beale of Clinton Township, center, recites the Hippocratic Oath during the ceremony. Drought crunch felt underfoot mony, when they and 153 others received their white coats and recited the Hippocratic Oath for the first time. The ceremony capped a weeklong orientation for the class of 2003, and marked the first day in their lives as physicians, said Dr. Harold Paz, dean of the medical school.

Gable, who graduated from Drew University, has wanted to be a doctor since he was hospitalized at the age of 5 with a severe infection. His roommate was a 16-year-old cancer patient. "He was terminal, but I didn't know that at the time," Gable said just before the ceremony began. "A few weeks later, my mother told me he had passed away, and it was devas- See STUDENTS on page C-2 Restrictions have been put in place in parts of Middlesex, Morris, Passaic, Monmouth, Ocean and Cape May counties, he said. The lack of rain has dried up most athletic and recreation fields, making them very hard to use.

"Right now everything is in Mother Nature's hands, and everyone is hoping she's a football fan," Yaple said. Some are concerned the dry fields pose a hazard for players. Many school districts don't want to take the chance of students getting hurt while playing on the fields, Yaple said. In Westfield, recreation officials are contemplating re STAFF PHOTO BY J.T. GREILICK John Mount of High Bridge, above, prepares to leave for Bethel, N.Y.

for a concert marking the 30th anniversary of Woodstock. were the same. He went again the following year. This year, for the first time, Mount will bring along a tent, sleeping bag and air mattress. Mount says that's as prepared as he cares to be.

"This is the real anniversary celebration of Woodstock," he said Friday. "The so-called official one was little more than a celebration of money and See FESTIVAL on page C-2 They represent two minority motorists pulled over on 1-78. By JESSICA A. CALENDAR Staff Writer Defense attorneys will get information that could support claims that state police target minority motorists on Interstate 78 in Hunterdon County, a judge ruled Friday. It's unclear just what information will be turned over to Hunterdon public defender Carol Skarpetowski and attorney William Buckman.

State Superior Court Judge Edmund Bernhard told the attorneys Friday that they may not get all the information they want. Bernhard said the attorneys have asked for about 70 categories of information dealing with race and the state police. Assistant Hunterdon County Prosecutor Katharine Errick-son, representing the state, said some of the requested information is irrelevant or cannot be released. Skarpetowski and Buckman are defending two minority motorists pulled over by state police on 1-78 and arrested on drug charges. Bernhard agreed to hear their discovery motions jointly.

Buckman's client, Ramona Maiolino of New York City, is a Hispanic woman. Skarpetows-ki's client, Karim Ward of Frederick, is a black man. The two attorneys believe race may have motivated police to stop 1 Like the others, baltfield No. 2 not fared well under the brutal UPDATE when they return home. Jessica A.

Calendar STATION MAKEOVER: NJ Transit's new train station at Bridgewater won't be ready until October, officials said. But the building will resemble the new Somerset Ballpark, which is barely a long fly ball from the Raritan Valley Line. NJ Transit officials said work has begun on the former Calco station. The old stop offered little shelter, with a shed on the eastbound side and platforms barely able to accommodate most trains. Bonita Contracting of Flor-ham Park has begun construction on the $365,000 project, which is being funded through the state Transportation Trust Fund.

The project includes a new shelter on the eastbound side of the tracks, benches, better lighting, improved access to platforms, new sidewalks, landscap at sun Kosovar refugees heading homeward 1 1 STAFF PHOTO BY J.T. GREILICK Tamaques Park In Westfield has this summer. ing, signs and other amenities. Larry Higgs CENTER INSPECTION SET: Inspections were scheduled for the electrical system at the Anthony Yelencsics Senior Citizens Residence in Edison on Friday night to check repairs made after an accidental fire damaged the complex's wiring. Many of the center's 120 seniors have stayed in the Ra-mada Inn at Raritan Center since the fire Wednesday at the building off Route 1.

A spokesman for building owner Middlesex Management said crews were working around the clock to ready the electrical system for a township inspection at 6 p.m. If construction official Walter Sosiak approves the repairs, Public Service Electric Gas will be authorized to return power to the building. Dore Carroll This column runs stricting play time on their fields. "Obviously the conditions are pretty dire, and we may want to impose restrictions, but have not done so yet," said Glenn Burrell, recreation director for Westfield. Town officials will discuss the matter further next week, he said.

In two weeks, fall sports will begin. Westfield allows local athletic organizations to play soccer and football on municipal fields. But if the department is unable to save the fields, playing time may be restricted, Burrell said. "The grass is not ruined," he said. "We can salvage it.

We're expecting some rain this week PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHN MOUNT Mount as he appeared in the late '60s, when he attended the original concert. By JANET A. HINES Staff Writer Cornfields and livestock aren't the only things suffering from the summer's dry, hot weather. Municipal and school athletic fields could become Central Jersey's latest drought victims. "We don't have an exact count, but we're seeing school boards as well as municipal recreation programs either closing their fields, or putting restrictions on where kids can play," said Mike Yaple, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association.

Festival lacks the hype, not the spirit High Bridge man heads to 'real anniversary' of Woodstock. By LESLIE BOYD Staff Writer John Mount set out for Bethel, N.Y., Friday for the fourth time. He left with no plans, no tickets and no idea what to expect, just like the first three times. The first was in 1969, and his parents weren't pleased with his long hair, his left-of-center politics or his desire to go to a three-day outdoor concert. The second time was a quarter century later, for another three days of peace, love and rock 'n' roll.

The High Bridge resident's hair was shorter, but his politics and his desire to go to a three-day outdoor concert ii. i A family of Kosovar refugees that has been living in Flemington since June has decided to return to its war-torn homeland. Musli and Pashie Paiaziti and their son Fidan, 14, and daughter Fitore, 10, lived in Flemington after coming to Fort Dix from Macedonia. Tova Friedman, director of the Jewish Family Service of Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren Counties, said, "The husband and the two children like (America) very much." Her group helped the family settle here. But Pashie Paiaziti, the mother, is homesick, Friedman said.

Serb soldiers forced the Paiazitis out of their Pristina, Kosovo home in March. Immigration officials will determine when the family can return, Friedman said. Friedman said they have been able to save some money during their stay here. She said that will help them make a start GOT A TIP? For questions or comments, you can e-mail us at or call Metro Editor David Hilgen at (908) 707-3115. You can also call our Hunterdon County bureau at (908) 782-2300 or fax (908) 782-2366.

Or write to us at 122 Main Flemington, N.J. 08822. THIS SECTION Pages in this section were designed and edited by Marie Brzostowski, Marlaina Gray, Kathy Phillips, Todd Ritter and Chad Weihrauch..