The Record from Hackensack, New Jersey • 49

Izz Local 2B TENAFLY ERUV FIGHT GOES ON Council to petition U.S. Supreme Court. 2 HILLSDALE, EDGEWATER PASS SCHOOL BONDS But voters in Bergenfield say no. 5 DEATH NOTICESOBITUARIES L-4, 6, 7 EDITORIALS L-8 WEDNESDAY JANUARY 29, 2003 baby, rail Infant left in Little Ferry has Down syndrome know the woman's name or have contact information, Molinelli said, only that she drove a red, two-door car. "We don't necessarily consider this baby-sitting episode to be out of the ordinary," Molinelli said, adding that cultural factors might account for the Korean baby sitter's lack of knowledge about the woman thought to be the mother.

Kyeyoung Park, a professor of anthropology and Asian-American studies at the See INFANT Page L-4 By KAREN MAHABIR STAFF WRITER LITTLE FERRY County officials are searching for the woman who left her baby, only months old and suffering from Down syndrome, with a baby sitter Friday night and never returned. Known as Kevin Lee, the Korean infant was dropped off with a caretaker Friday at 6 pm, Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli said Tuesday. The baby sitter Molinelli said the baby's Down syndrome, a genetic disorder, might have been a factor if this is a case of abandonment "Certainly, that is a conclusion we are assuming is a possibility," he said. He added officials also are looking into whether something happened to the woman, leaving her unable to pick up the child. The baby sitter said she had been taking care of the child every night from 6 p.m.

to 9 a.m. since Tan. 20. She said the child was dropped off by a woman, thought to be the mother, who was always well-dressed and prompt Yet she did not contacted police Monday morning, and the boy is in the custody of the state Division of Youth and Family Services. Molinelli said the baby did not appear to be abused and was in good physical health.

County prosecutors said Tuesday evening they had no leads. Chilling on the job Cold spell turns outside work into endurance test Pot haul tips scale at 1,600 pounds Mah wah truck stop called transfer point 1" I 1 By KAREN MAHABIR STAFF WRITER MAHWAH An officer patrolling a Route 17 truck stop Sunday stumbled upon 1,600 pounds of marijuana being transported through the borough in three vehicles, police said. "It was enough to fill a small room," said CapL Steve Jaffe, referring to the marijuana, which is believed to be the largest such seizure in the borough's history. The estimated street value is $3.5 million. Police said the driver of one vehicle is in custody, but in the chaos of early Sunday morning, a second driver, and possibly a third, escaped.

Jaffe did not know where the drugs were destined for, but believes the truck stop may have served as a transfer location. Jaffe said Officer Travis Canning was on routine patrol Sunday at 1:30 a.m. when he stopped to check on a 1998 blue Lincoln Navigator parked with its interior tights on at the Travelport Express truck stop on Route 17 south. Canning was running a license plate check of the vehicle, Jaffe said, when a man in the car noticed him and suddenly fled on foot Canning called out to the man to stop and then checked the vehicle, Jaffe said, finding two black trash bags filled with shrink-wrapped bundles of the drug. He said the officer called for assistance and then stopped a U-Haul truck leaving the lot The driver of the U-Haul jumped out and fled, Jaffe said.

See MARIJUANA Page L-4 4 CHRIS PEDOTASTAFF PHOTOGRAPHER As people climbed aboard the ski lift, bundled-up host Nancy Luxton of Newton braced herself against the wind Tuesday at the Mountain Creek resort in Vernon. By LAURA FASBACH STAFF WRITER The wind slapped the north face of Mountain Creek ski resort Tuesday morning as Patrick Fournier completed his daily trail inspections. The single-digit temperatures forced early bird skiers and snowboardcrs to bury themselves in extra layers as they hit the slopes in Sussex County. But the chill in the air warmed Fournier's heart "Cold doesn't bother me," said the mountain operations director, who oversees the Vernon resort's snowmaking and spends nearly all of his workday on the slopes. Granted, the colder it gets the easier his job becomes.

But Phyllis Emmerich, the resort's promotions coordinator, said there is another reason why Fournier has been unfazed by this month's Arctic cold. "He's Canadian," Emmerich said. "He's used to this." It's been a little tougher for the non-Cana dians in North Jersey whose jobs have kept them outdoors during a cold spell that forecasters say should finally end today. As Gregory Maldonado worked his lunch shift as a crossing guard at Elm and West Main streets in Bogota, he joked that he didn't need a weatherman to tell him how cold it is outside. He said he gauges the temperature by the way his fingertips feel.

"The tips are not hard, that's the sign," he See WINTER Page L-2 2 couples sought in store theft of $5,800 Pulled off diversion in Saddle Brook A winter postcard 'Daughter for a Day5 helps put seniors in the pink "VI She became a profes A speck of frills with a touch of That is the opening line of a poem titled "How God Made Little Girls" and it hangs on many a daughter's bedroom door. Pink is the color of sional daughter. Yep, a professional daughter: Her business is named Daughter for a Day. Beside the tulip on her business card, it says that she docs social and administrative services, mainly for senior citizens. -XAr 6 ROD ALLEE By AMY KLEIN STAFF WRITER SADDLE BROOK Two couples pulled off an elaborate diversion at a check-cashing store on Tuesday, luring an employee outside before stealing more than $5,800, police said.

The ruse was carried out by a man and a womun who entered Checks Cashed Etc. at 125 Route 46 around 10 a.m. and picked up something from an Avon products display to buy, suid Suddlc Brook Deputy Chief Robert White. The woman passed a couple of crumpled dollar bills to the employee and wulkcd out the door. When the employee realized the woman had not left enough money, she ran outside to confront her, leaving the man alone in the store.

Police believe the man then used a crowbur to pry open a steel compartment where money is kept and fled with $5,800. See THEFT Page L-4 Rita Fine's business stationery. Her envelopes are pink as are her fliers. Her business card is white with a pink tulip. Rita Tine is no longer a little girl, although when I ask her age, she quickly answers, "Light!" There is a pregnant pause.

"OK, I'm 59," she grins. By now Rita Fine is a mother with grown-up children. She is remarried to Lenny and happy in their corner Clifton split across the street from a park. Lust year, at an age when many people arc looking forward to retirement, she opened her own business. Daughter for a Day this is one of those ideas that cause the rest of us to slap ourselves upside the head and exclaim, "Why didn't I think of that!" When I heard about it, I scooted over to Rita's kitchen for the story.

"September 11," Rita said, sipping her coffee. "That morning Lcn called and told mc to turn on the TV. Something changed that duy." Rita was an at home head-hunter. She had been a training director for a bank and a legal See ALLEE Pdqc L-4 RICH CIGLIiWF PHOroCRAf'HLR Unbearable cold notwithstanding, January has produced some exceptionally beautiful tablcaus, such as tills early morning scene of the Icy Passaic River In Patcrson's Westslde Park..