New Jersey

"To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan." There has never been a more succinct statement about the obligation and privilege the nation has to care for its military veterans than that brief clause in Abraham Lincoln's second Inaugural Address. But the New Jersey legislature thinks setting aside a day on which to remember those who have bought our freedom with their blood is not as important as it used to be. New Jersey legislators have unanimously passed a measure that includes a provision to remove the state mandate to teach about Veterans Day in the public schools.

New Jersey filed suit yesterday against three dozen former executives and directors of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co., charging them with mismanaging finances and driving the nation's 18th-largest life insurer into insolvency.The suit seeks to hold a list of prominent business leaders responsible when they served as directors of Mutual Benefit. If successful, the suit could make the defendants personally liable for more than $1 billion in company losses. Insurance covers only $20 million of the directors' liabilities.

ARLINGTON, VA. -- A joke is on display in New Jersey, where the majority Democratic legislature and Gov. Jon "I promise not to raise your taxes" Corzine are in a fierce battle over the state budget, which last weekend led to a government shutdown reminiscent of the 1995-1996 closings of the federal government. A decade ago, it was a battle between a Republican Congress and a Democratic president. Now, in Trenton, it's a fight among Democrats over how much taxes should be raised (and which ones)

TRENTON, N.J. -- Hoping to realize $100 million more annually in lottery revenue, New Jersey is following in Maryland's footsteps with the addition of computerized keno to its assortment of numbers games.Starting in the spring, keno will be available in 200 to 300 establishments such as restaurants, taverns and convenience stores in eight counties, said Eugene McNany, chairman of the state Lottery Commission. If this trial run is successful, he said yesterday, the game could be expanded to as many as 2,200 agents in all 21 counties.

NEW YORK -- The state of New Jersey, already home to what used to be New York's two professional football teams, has drawn up a proposal to build a 50,000-seat baseball stadium in the Meadowlands sports complex for the Yankees, state officials have reported.One official, who spoke on the condition that he not be named, but who is familiar with the plans of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said that the authority was "definitely interested" in having the Yankees in New Jersey.

THE NEW JERSEY BOOK OF LISTS.Gerald Tomlinsonand Ronald A. Mayer.Home Run Press.1! 192 pages. $9.95 (paperback).This is an amazing collection of trivia on New Jersey, written by a resident of Lake Hopatcong (near the largest lake in the state -- Page 78) and one of East Hanover (home of Prima Donna's restaurant, No. 11 of the state's top 12 Italian restaurants -- Page 137). You may learn all you may ever want to know about the Garden State -- or is it the Mosquito State, or the Switzerland of America (nine nicknames for the state -- Page 176)

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey's horseshoe crabs will be protected, after all.Through a court settlement, the state Marine Fisheries Council has agreed to reinstate key portions of a horseshoe-crab harvesting ban that Gov. Christine Todd Whitman had imposed but that the council vetoed in September.The action came after a coalition of environmental groups and the governor's office filed suit against the Fisheries Council, obtained a temporary stay against the council's veto, and raised questions in court briefs about the council's constitutional authority to veto a governor's action.

In a political and personal news conference without precedent, New Jersey Gov. James E. McGreevey announced yesterday that he was gay, had engaged in an adulterous affair with a man, and was resigning effective Nov. 15. With his second wife, Dina, and his parents by his side, McGreevey, 47, said he was stepping down because the affair had left him "vulnerable to rumors, false allegations and threats of disclosure" and compromised his "ability to govern."...

Columbia will look to add a few regional soccer titles to itsnumerous state accolades when four of its recreation teams compete in the Eastern Regional Championships at Rider College in New Jersey this weekend.After qualifying in the recent State Cup tournaments, the Crusaders (under-19 girls), Spirit (under-15 girls), Darby (under-15 boys) and Chargers (under-17 girls) will compete against teams from 16 states in this season-ending event.The Crusaders seek their first regional title after dominating the state once again.

PENNSVILLE, N.J. -- In November 1987, Pennsville police found the body of a 45-year-old hunter in a marshy, unpopulated stretch along the Delaware River south of here known as The Baja. The man had been shot in the head, but the New Jersey authorities couldn't touch the body.In the same area, for generations, local youths have used drugs and alcohol without fear of arrest. Cars have been abandoned, stripped or burned in The Baja after they were stolen from this Salem County town, police say.Hunters have bagged deer and ducks there, out of season.