News Headlines for January 1995

January 1995

January 31, 1995

In an attempt to ease "chronic overcrowding," city school officials plan to experiment this summer with a "year long" school year. Under the plan, students would not have the traditional 2 month summer vacation. Instead, they would be given "staggered" schedules, with a few three week breaks.

There are nearly 1,000,000 children enrolled in the City's public school system. By 2003, that number will have risen to 1,250,000.

January 30, 1995

Governor Pataki proposed today the deepest cuts the welfare system in New York State has ever seen. He is calling for tough new restrictions on eligibility, broad requirements for work, and reductions in benefits for both able-bodied recipients and mothers with children. Mr. Pataki is receiving much attention for his annoucement not only for its contents, but also because he announced it at a special press conference. Normally, a governor's recommendations are all announced as part of the state's annual budget.

January 28-29, 1995

Mayor Giuliani has finally made peace with the Legal Aid Union after striking what many consider to be a one-sided deal with them. The Mayor demanded that they take a pay cut and sign a no-strike clause into their new contract. He got virtually everything he wanted. Now that the contract has been signed the head of the Legal Aid Society has agreed to cooperate with the Mayor and the City to represent the City's poor defendents.

January 27, 1995

New York City has offered to create a $600 million "theme park and playground" around Yankee Stadium in order to keep the New York Yankees in the city. The team has thought of moving to a new site, possibly in New Jersey, citing parking and transportation difficulties for its fans.

January 26, 1995

29 year old Rachel Rosen's body was discovered in her Murray Hill apartment. She was a student at the New School for Social Research. There was no suicide note and no sign of struggle, police are investigating.

January 25, 1995

The "Preppie Killer", Robert Chambers, who claimed he accidentally strangled his date in Central Park during rough sex, has been denied parole. Chambers showed no remorse in his statement before the parole board and is serving a 5 to 15 year sentence for manslaughter.

January 24, 1995

The judge in the case of the World Trade Bombing incident is probing jurors to see if the recent bombing in Israel will affect their decisions.

January 23, 1995

A New York doctor said today that he had extracted sperm from the corpse of a man who died in police custody so that his widow could bear his children. Anthony Baez of the Bronx died in police custody on a street in December after an argument. The family attorney charges that police used an illegal chokehold to restrain him, and ultimately kill him.

January 22, 1995

Amy Fisher claims she was raped by a guard and beaten by other inmates while in prison. She plans to sue New York state for not protecting her. Fisher has served more than two years of a five to 15 year sentence for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco, the wife of her one time lover, Joey Buttafuoco.

January 21, 1995

Potential jurors in the case of Colin Ferguson, the man accused of a deadly rampage on a Long Island Railroad train, were interbiewd yesterday. Three jurors have been chosen thus far.

Ferguson, 36, is charged with walking through an LIRR car on Dec. 7, 1993, shooting everything in sight. The attack left six dead and 19 wounded. Although his attorneys argued that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial, Ferguson pleaded with the judge to allow him to stand trial. He is acting as one of his own lawyers.

January 20, 1995

Police have a possible suspect in the case of Dr. Teresita Costello, the Queens doctor found brutally murdered in the trunk of her car last week. Police are quesitioning the victim's son, James, about the possible disappearance of $50,000 from his mother's posessions.

According to police, the relationship between the mother and son was at times brutal. James "tormented" his mother with his drug abuse, according to neighbors, and forced her to place a padlock on the door to her bedroom to keep her things safe.

January 19, 1995

Sergei Bubka, world record holder in the Pole Vault, has agreed to come to the United States for the Millrose Games track meet. Bubka brings added eminence to the Millrose Games, which have been unable to attract top athletes recently. Bubka is the only person to have ever pole vaulted higher than 20 feet (6.09 meters). The 35 year old Ukraninan has set 35 world records during his career.

January 18, 1995

Rashid Baz, the car service driver accused of killing 1 Hassidic Jew and wounding 14 others as he drove them across the Brooklyn Bridge, was sentenced today to 141 consecutinve years in prison. The judge in the case ordered that the prisoner would have no possibility of parole.

January 17, 1995

At an auction to raise money for the New York Historical Society, a painting by Lo Scheggia called "Triumph of Fame," painted to honor the birth of Lorenzo de Medici, fetched $2.2 million. The Metropolitan Museum, which has had the painting on loan since 1979, has not yet decided if it will counter the bid from the London dealer. Under a special deal with the state attorney general, the Met has the right to offer a matching bid if it wants to keep the work in New York City.

January 16, 1995

Today is an official holiday in New York in honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

The Pope has asked John Cardinal O'Connor to stay on as Archbishop of New York past his 75th birthday.

A group of protestors spoke out against the death penalty this morning on 125th Street. They claim that the death penalty is more often than not applied against black defendants in crimes committed against whites. The new governor of New York, George Pataki, is likely to sign the death penalty back into law in New York State.

January 15, 1995

Today, his 75th birthday, New York Archbishop John Cardinal O'Connor will send off a letter to the Pope. The single paragraph letter will contain his resignation from his tenure as Archbishop of New York.

Canon law requires this resignation, which will be mulled over by the Pope. The Archbishop hopes the Pope will "make good use" of his well known name in deciding his next appointment within the Church, which may involve speaking tours or even running his own day-to-day congregation.

January 14, 1995

Three young men pushed their way into a Bronx apartment Wednesday night, demanding the money and jewelry of the people inside. When they found that their victims only had about $50, they told the people "they'd be back for more." Last night, the robbers called their victims and told them that they were "on their way to pick up the cash." The police were notified, and arrived at the building in time to confront the suspects.

Only in New York would a robber call ahead to let his victims know he was on the way.

January 13, 1995

Jury selection in the trial of Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was interrupted Thursday with a false fire alarm and two potential jurors pointing at the Sheik and making throat slitting motions. One of the defense lawyers, Valerie Amsterdam, claims she saw two of the potential jurors pointing at the defendant and making "obviously biased gestures" toward him.

So far, 400 potential jurors have filled out questionnaire forms, and 100 have been intervied by both the prosecution and the defense. 25 have been selected as "eligible" to remain on the panel.

January 12, 1995

Mayor Rudolph Giuliani signed legislation yesterday banning smoking in virtually all public places, including outdoor sports stadiums and most restaurants. "Thousands and thousands of lives have been destroyed" as a result of smoking, including second-hand smoke, the mayor said. The new law bans smoking in dining areas of all restaurants seating more than 35 people. Smoking is still permitted in bar areas and enclosed lounges, and bars without restaurants. Smoking is also restricted in work areas to separately ventilated rooms and to private offices when no more than 3 people are present.

January 11, 1995

Edward Leary, the unemployed Computer Analyst accused of setting off a firebomb in the Fulton St. subway station last month, pleaded no guilty to all charges. He was arraigned in his hospital room, where he was formally charged with attempted murder, grand larceny, assault, and criminal possession of a firebomb.

January 10, 1995

The trial of Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman began today with a Federal District Court judge asking potential jurors to fill out a 19 page questionnaire. The case, which is expected to last six to nine months, will be the first sedition case tried in the united states since the late 1950s. Government prosecutors intend to show that the Sheik and his followers attempted to methodically bring down the govenrment of the United States of America.

PSE&G has restored power to Newark Airport, after an outage of more than 18 hours due to a construction crew accidentally cutting power cables. Power was restored at 4AM this morning, and flight processing resumed at 6AM. There may still be delays -- please call your airline beforehand!

January 9, 1995

Newark International Aiport has been shut-down until tomorrow morning due to an accidental cut of all three electrical cables. Flights are being diverted to the other two area airports.

January 8, 1995

Hassan Elharrousy was arrested last night for allgedly jumping a turnstile at a NYC subway stop. Police found nearly $15,000 dollars in $20 bills in his bag. Elharroussy claimed the money was "for his boss". It is not immediately clear who the suspect works for, but police are investigating. In the meantime, Elharroussy could spend up to a year in prison for theft of service.

Police yesterday found the bodies of 4 women and six men in an apartment in Queens. The only apparent survivor of the mysterious attack scribbled a note to police from her hospital bed which told them where to find the other victims. Police found her lying on the front lawn of the apartment building, unconcious, after she jumped from her second story window to escape.

January 7, 1995

A runaway elevator decapitated 54 year-old James Chenault as he tried to help fellow passengers to safety. Chenault straddled the doorway of the elevator at the Kingsbridge Welfare Center in the Bronx and helped other passengers to safety when the elevtor car shot up to the second floor at an unusually high speed. With the doors still open, the elevator resumed its climb, cutting off Chenault's head. A mechanic was working on the elevator bank at the time of the incident, but it is not known if the elevator in question was under repair.

The U.S. Government intends to accuse Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman with sedition, saying that he and his followers sought to overthrow the government of the United States with their acts of terrorism. Lawyers for the Sheik counter with arguments of free speech, saying that he was merely exercising his right to free speech and religion in instructing his followers in their Jihad against New York.

January 6, 1995

The student who subdued a gunman at State University of NY-Albany during a hostage situation intends to sue the state and the school for $20 million. Nineteen year-old Jason McEnaney was shot in the side of the abdomen when he lunged to disarm the gunman. His lawyer claims that by allowing the gunman on campus, SUNY officials were negligent.

Jury selection for the World Trade Bombing incident begins next week. About 300 jurors will be questioned about the case against Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, a Muslim fundamentalist cleric, and co-conspirators.

January 5, 1995

Beginning this week, 15 New York Transit Police will carry handguns with laser beam sights on patrol in the subways. Transit Police Chief Michael O'Connor wants to outfit all 4,300 Transit Police with the specially modified Glock 9mm handguns before the end of the year. Police hope the new guns will allow them to aim more carefully when in dangerous situations.

January 4, 1995

Reuben Harris, a mental patient from the Manhattan Psychiatric Center, was charged today with the murder of a 63 year old grandmother from Queens. Harris has been "missing without consent" from Manhattan Psychiatric since December 14. According to police, Harris shoved Soon Shin in the path of an oncoming 'F' train at the 34th Street Station.

January 3, 1995

A man in a Far Rockaway, Queens housing project is holding 7 people hostage. Police have talked the suspect into releasing 5 of the original 12 hostages, and are hopeful that he will release the rest without harm by tomorrow morning.

January 2, 1995

Two New York City Police officers have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child after repeated beatings of their 23-month old daughter. Officers Carmen Vega and Marcus Payne were suspended after police were called to their apartment by worried neighbors. The child was rushed to Mary Immaculate Hospital with multiple skull, jaw, and hand fractures.

January 1, 1995

Happy New Year from all of us at Mediabridge Infosystems!

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