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Vol. 20 No. 36 "M s-«« c**p. *« September 5, 1984 .7. *

Montreal-Cape by Air?

By JOE ZELNIK The tourist season risk of being crunched by Canadian motorists could be reduced Economical air transportation between Montreal and the Cape May County Airport at Erma is being explored City Express of Montreal plans within 60 days to fly from that city 's Mirabel airport to Atlantic City's Bader field, and eventually to Newark The one-way fare has been estimated at $79 Canadian. With the current 30 percent exchange rate, that would be $55 American. THE SO-CALLED "no-fnlls, low-fare flights are part of a three- year experi-

ment in deregulating U.S. -Canada air traffic. Mirval airport is further from Mon treal than Dorval airport, and under utilized. In a telephone interview, City Express President Victor Pappalardo expressed interest in Cape May County, while admitting he has never been here "The charter business is the magnet all along the New Jersey coastline, " he said, adding that he also intends flights from Toronto to Atlantic. City. Pappalardo asked about customs and immigration facilities at the county airport, but said the lack of them need not be a problem since Atlantic City's Bader also does not have them Instead, flights will be "pre-cleared." be said.

The planes carry 50 passengers, he said, and would fly initially "at least three times a week." ■ WE'RE GOING TO GET our oar in there and see if we can't skim off some of the business." said Louis A Rodia, Jr.. assistant director of Public Affairs for the county "If they're going to fly as far as Atlantic City, we would be remiss if we didn't make known we have a fine airport and a volume of Canadian business they could capitalize on. "We will contact them and suggest they establish service to Cape May County It would be an added way to bring Canadians down on vacation. We can house and feed them here and transport them to Atlantic

City by land " X2LJF "WE RE ONE STEP away from the big time." said A H i Rick I Childs. who is ex ecutive director of the airport and of the county's Industrial & Economic Development Commission Childs said the county was still "resear ching" the air service expansion and had not yet contacted City Express. "We'll also be talking with other airlines ■ Page 18 Please)

News— ~ Digest ZTsLes No Asbestos Shutdowns CREST HAVEN - Robert C. Boogart, county superintendent of schools, said Friday that Ocean City, Wildwood and Lower Township school officials reported that they should receive state approval to open their school doors on schedule today According to the state Public Advocate, certificates of occupancy were being denied those and many other districts statewide last week because of questionable asbestos removal projects Lower Township did not remove the material as planned, however. Ocean City and Wildwood did. but tentative state approval for air quality tests was expected. Bongart said. Super Complaint COLD SPRING — Lower Township Schools' Superintendent Edward J Campbell was more than a little ticked off by a report out of the state Public Advocate's office last week that listed Maud Abrams and Lower Township Consolidated elementary schools among more than 100 statewide that would not be issued certificates of occupancy because of questionable asbestos removal during the summer. The district has planned to remove the material but bureaucratic red tape held it up. Campbell explained Schools will open today, he declared Guess Who? TUCKAHOE - It looks like Committeeman Leonard Migliaccio will be handing over his seat to One of his Republican primary rivals after November's election. Running as a (Sheriff) Beech Fox Regular Republican, the committeeman squeezed past his GOP organization opponent George Betts by 894-893 votes, according to a recount. But Superior Court Judge John Callinan threw out one Migliaccio vote last week, allowing the county GOP organization to decide which candidate will carry the party standard against their Republican primary opponent, Bruno Tropeano, now the Democratic write-in candidate. i Page 39 Please )

Doru Ward INTRIGUED — The county library's six-week "Dog Days at the Library" reading program drew an average of 430 children, pre-schoolers through fifth-graders, each week. Among the delighted participants. Anna Beamis and lan McGurk, both 4. Anna is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Beamis of Ocean View: Ian is the son of Mr and Mrs. Michael McGurk of Cape May Court House.

County Links Sea Isle Aid to Zoning Changes

Sea Isle City Mayor Dominic C. Raffa last month asked county freeholders for "the same courtesy as Upper Township" in sharing the cost of beach protection. This week's mail brought it — sort of

Raffa and Upper Mayor Daniel Beyel received almost identical letters from Freeholder Director Anthony T. Catanoso in which the county linked its future help to .each municipality's dune maintenance program and. most important, zoning changes. There was one difference. Upper Township already got its money — $141,033. Sea Isle City hasn't THUS THE LETTER to Beyel said any future county participation "will be contingent upon accomplishment of the following measures But the letter to Raffa said "... we request that the following be accomplished as a condition to county participation in funding subject protection measures." Raffa told the Herald and Lantern dune maintenance was no problem — "We've always had dune maintenance " But he indicated zoning could be difficult "I don't see where they have the right to come and tell us what we should do in Sea Isle City," be said. "We'll close off Ocean Drive; that's their highway They collect 40 cents on each end of it ; it might as well be a toll Toad And we maintain it for (Page 39 Please)

Kotzen: Focus on Academics

By EJ. DUFFY ERMA — "Education should be a goal in itself," said Stanley Kotzen, new principal of Lower Cape May Regional High SchoolThat observation underscores his philosophy that education should not be tied to the ups and downs of local economies or the overall job market ; learning is reward enough as he sees it. Extending that philosophy a bit, he also ^holds that "there's room for both" ^academics and extra -curnculars in LCMR nut "extra-curricular activities are extra " That's coming from a man who has coached sports since 1957 and produced 41 musicals in the past 20 some years. "The focus should be on academics,"

Kotzen said of the emphasis at LCMR. "We should be turning out grads who are able to read and write and think. "I want to put out a kid who can think clearly and express himself clearly, both verbally and in writing," he added, "with a feeling of accomplishment when he graduates from this school. "And I would like the community to take pride in the education its kids get here," be continued. THE COMMUNITY INCLUDES Lower Township, West Cape May, Cape May and Cape M ay Point which together sent about 1 ,000 students to LCMR for education by its 80-member faculty and 20-member support staff. "The first thing I want to do is make an (Page 18 Please)

Seniors: 'Polities' At Center By JOE ZELNIK COURT HOUSE - A dozen senior citizens, claiming they are being treated like "senile citizens" by the manager at the Airport Senior Center in Erma. took their case to the board of freeholders last week The center 's .clients also urged the county to bring back Cass Clark of North Cape May. an arts and crafts leader who walked out on her job three weeks ago, charging "harassment" by center manager Jo Anne Dionne of Rio Grande County officials rejected the complaints as coming from "a rather small minority" of ceramics class participants "socially involved with Mrs Clark", according to William C Sheva. executive director of the Department on Aging Margaret L Spencer, assistant executive director, said the 12 women and one man were "a very small representation" of a class that "usually" m umbers 55 Dionne said 70 to 89 persons take the class and it's doing "very well." "Mrs Clark was never harassed, she said "She had a job here as long as she wanted it " THE SENIOR CITIZEN'S also suggested the problem was "political." the result of Clark's support of the Common Sense Coalition in the Lower Township Council (Page 39 Please)

Slate Home Care Program RIO GRANDE — A "Community Care Program" to give nursing home care at borne to 30-35 disabled adults and persons over 65 is slated to begin in the county Oct 1. Hie state Medicaid Program will pick up the tab for the program, which has strict prerequisites and income eligibility requirements Applicants must have family members available to provide some care. They cannot have cash assets exceeding $1,509 And maximum monthly income is $882 Present nursing home residents are eligible if they have "family support will(Page 39 Please)