I live in central Jersey and I found this artical in my local paper. Here are a few snips:

"I always prefer to be overprepared rather than underprepared. Even though we don't anticipate any problems, we're advising people to exercise a little discretion, so they'll be ready if anything does happen," McKenna said.

McKenna added that the borough's computer and communication systems have all been tested successfully and "we've received assurances from everybody -- our major vendors, the utilities -- that everybody is Y2K compliant."

The borough plan calls for the stoppage of all liquor sales and cooking if power goes out and requires that all customers in a business be escorted outside if the power remains off for more than 30 minutes.

At Prown's Variety Store, owner David Prown said flashlights, kerosene and battery-operated lanterns and radios have been among the store's top sellers recently.

"I think in this last week there's been awareness about it," Prown said, adding that he's more worried about surviving the holiday season than Y2K.

Asbury Park Press

-- M A Mastrorilli (mastrorilli@hotmail.com), December 17, 1999