New Jersey

THE LIGHTHOUSES ALONG NEW JERSEY'S shore are so much more than photographs on souvenir postcards, subjects for paintings and models for light-catchers in kitchen windows. Although often overshadowed at vacation time by beaches, sun and seashells, they have stories to tell to all who are willing to listen. Just as surely as waves roll in and rake sand and shells into their swirling grasp for an instant, exploring the state's lighthouses is like breezing into history at full sail. "The lighthouses represent the maritime history of the nation, when wooden ships were sailed by iron men," says Brett Franks, spokesman for the 1,000-member New Jersey Lighthouse Society.

As pipelines go, the Spirit's are rather curious.Yugoslavia, past as well as present, is one. New Jersey, of all places, is another.Player-coach Mike Stankovic is the first link in the Yugoslav Connection. He is from Serbia, part of the present Yugoslavia, as are rookies Nesko Milovanovic and Sasa Zoric, whom he brought here after conducting a tryout camp in his native country last summer, and Bo Vuckovic, purchased from the Tampa Bay Terror in November.From Croatia, which was a republic in the former Yugoslavia, the Spirit has Branko Segota, an 18-year pro who is one of only six indoor players with 500 goals.

TRENTON, N.J. -- Staking a position markedly different from that of some black ministers and civil rights leaders, the New Jersey Chapter of the NAACP urged Gov.-elect Christine Todd Whitman yesterday not to take office until investigations clear her of allegations that Republicans spent $500,000 to suppress the urban black vote."

After months of threatening imminent action, New Jersey officials say they will soon begin broadly enforcing a law that requires polluters to pay the total costs of restoring water sources and other natural resources damaged by contaminants, not just clean up the mess left behind. The state's decision to pursue aggressively what are known as natural resource damages could create hundreds of millions of dollars in additional costs for New Jersey businesses, especially any heavily polluting chemical and petrochemical companies.

UNIONDALE, N.Y. - You don't need a weatherman to make predictions when the Baltimore Bayhawks and Long Island Lizards are scheduled to play. It's going to rain. Hard. You can count on it. That was never so true as it was last night, when the teams played 6:29 of their game at Mitchel Athletic Field before a downpour drove them to their locker rooms. Long Island was leading 1-0 at the time on an unassisted goal by Jay Jalbert. After a delay of 2 hours, 10 minutes, the regular-season finale for both teams was canceled.

TRENTON, N.J. - New Jersey Attorney General David Samson agreed yesterday to accept New York's $100 million settlement with Merrill Lynch & Co., leaving Missouri and Arizona as the only states that haven't signed on to the agreement. The settlement, brokered in May by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, calls for Merrill to pay $1.4 million to New Jersey to resolve charges that the biggest securities firm by capital misled investors with stock reports tainted by investment banking ties.

MARLBORO TOWNSHIP, N.J. -- Holding rosary beads, they gathered outside Joe and Veronica Januszkiewicz's rambling beige house with white shutters to honor the Virgin Mary on her birthday.They gathered, as most of them had done before, in the yard where Joe Januszkiewicz says the mother of Jesus began appearing to him in March 1989. They gathered despite a driving rain, and despite an announcement yesterday by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Trenton, N.J., that a year-long investigation by a four-member commission had found no evidence to support Mr. Januszkiewicz's claim.

TRENTON, N.J. -- New Jersey officials have sketched a $300 million vision for the redevelopment of Ellis Island, most of which has been concealed behind overgrown weeds and chain-link fences from the millions who visit every year. They hope the plan would turn the long-neglected island in New York Harbor into a setting for meetings ranging from local corporate conferences to global peace talks, with new museums devoted to America's immigrant heritage and the study of public health. As a more urgent -- and realistic -- first step, Gov. Christine Todd Whitman said that $8.6 million had been secured from state, federal and private sources to stabilize dozens of decrepit buildings around the island, especially on its tumbledown southern half, the so-called sad side, where immigrants too sick to be allowed entry were housed in hospital wards until they recovered or died.

If you think the Jersey Shore means just sand and surf, the National Park Service wants you to think again.This month, it will take the wraps off an ambitious project called the New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail. Stretching along 275 miles of coastline, the trail's scope is huge: American Revolution sites, Victorian seaside comfort stations, wildlife habitats, commercial fishing hamlets, boardwalk amusements and summer religious retreats."People usually look at this area because of recreation," says Janet Wolf, the project's director.

New Jersey?Isn't that the place with the shore, not the slopes? Isn't that the state with a turnpike, a bunch of oil refineries and a native son named Bruce Springsteen?So how do you explain that the only sure-shot gold medalist the United States will bring to the Winter Olympics comes from that great Alpine state of . . .New Jersey?Donna Weinbrecht, a 26-year-old native of West Milford, is the reigning world champion in mogul skiing. The freestyle event, sort of the ice dancing of snow, will be making its first appearance as a medal sport in the Winter Olympics in Albertville.