December 28, 1995

Pataki Veto Pleases Giuliani

The political clamor over Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's decision to demote two little-known Criminal Court judges intensified yesterday as he became embroiled in a fresh dispute with the state's top judge and lost any possibility of a re-election endorsement from former Mayor Edward I. Koch, one of his key supporters in 1993. Former Mayor David N. Dinkins also stepped up his criticism of his successor yesterday, suggesting at one point that the Mayor was racially motivated in a recent attack on him.

The Federal agency that guarantees many private pension plans settled the largest class-action lawsuit ever brought against it today, agreeing to pay nearly $100 million to 40,000 retirees who were covered by pension plans that failed. Today's settlement by the agency, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, resolves cases involving 11,000 failed pension funds that imposed stricter rules than allowed by Federal law for the number of workers qualifying for benefits. The pension agency had previously made payments only to workers who met the very strict standards set by these pension funds.

A second person has died as a result of an electrical fire in a Kenilworth home that also took the life of its owner, the authorities said. Jack Noble, 75, died on Tuesday evening at St. Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston. He was a friend of Patricia Rogers, 89, the owner of the home, said Edward M. Neafsey, Acting Prosecutor for Union County.

A pack of wild dogs has been roaming Woodbine's streets, the Cape May County Health Department said yesterday. Up to nine dogs, with an average weight of 50 pounds, have kept residents trapped in their homes, health officials said. At least one poodle was killed by the pack. TERRY PRISTIN