April 21, 1997

Observers in a fire lookout in the Pine Barrens literally can't see the forest for the trees, and that has led to a dispute about whether it might be necessary to destroy part of the forest in order to save it. In Lebanon State Forest, an 85-foot fire tower is surrounded on three sides by 400 white pine and loblolly pine trees that measure 90 feet high. The pines obstruct the views of fire observers, who are the first ones to spot most forest fires in the Pine Barrens, said Richard W. Bentz, the assistant division fire warden of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.

New Jersey State employees express concern over Governor Christine Todd Whitman's proposal to borrow billions of dollars for public employee pension system; Governor Whitman has been negotiating with state labor leaders to win support for borrowing plan, which is cornerstone of her election year budget; photo (M)

Metro Matters column notes that Senator Alfonse M D'Amato, in his role as chairman of Senate Banking Committee, is in position to hold up any version of bill to reauthorize Intermodal Surface Transportation Act, which expires in September; D'Amato has made it clear that any satisfactory bill would include money to construct link between Long Island Railroad and Grand Central Station in Manhattan's East Side (M)

Rebounding from an off year, traffic at Newark International Airport increased to 29.1 million passengers last year, a jump of 9.3 percent over 1995, according to figures released by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey last week. The growth at Newark helped the region's three major airports post their busiest year ever last year, serving 81 million travelers. Traffic increased by 2.6 percent at Kennedy International Airport and by 0.5 percent at La Guardia Airport.

Doctors, medical researchers and patient advocates report deeply held mistrust of medical establishment among blacks nationwide, particularly concerning AIDS and its treatment; say suspicions are rooted in historical fact, namely, Tuskegee syphilis study, which took place 1932-1972; hundreds of black men who had disease were monitored by Federal researchers, but not treated, even after penicillin became available in 1940's; suspicions include belief that AIDS virus was hatched in Government laboratory in plot to eliminate blacks, and that patients who take protease inhibitors, anti-viral durg, are little more than guinea pigs for Government; researchers are increasingly alarmed by level of distrust, and fear many will die when life-prolonging treatment is within grasp; photos (M)