MAY 2019 FREE
COMMUNITYNEWS.ORG
Circle of friends
Our new toxic neighbor?
Monthly event aims to help dementia patients and caregivers alike
Pollution from proposed hazardous waste plant could affect air in Ewing
By Michele AlPeRin As the director of Greenwood House senior living and care community, Donna Sobel has witnessed the ongoing struggles of people with dementia and their caregivers. As difficult as it is for the people suffering from memory impairment, for caregivers it can be even harder. “Usually people with dementia and their care partner get isolated,” Sobel says, due both to a memory-challenged individual’s difficulty performing everyday activities and “the stigma where people can feel embarrassed in a public situation.” Starting in July, Ewing-based Greenwood House will be cosponsoring Friend’s Circle: A Memory Café the second Tuesday of each month at Adath Israel Congregation in Lawrence. This free, nonsectarian café was developed by Sobel and is being conducted in collaboration with the Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Mercer County. According to the Alzheimer Association, today 16.1 million Americans care for people with Alzheimer’s and 5.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s, a number that is See MEMORY, Page 8
By RoB Anthes
ranthes@communitynews.org
Members of the EHS unified basketball team pose with the trophy following their state championship win on March 17, 2019. Pictured are coach/teacher Matthew Lynch (left), Yohance Adams, Alex Davis, Oshan Foreman, Najiair Oliver, Marquis Moore, Asante Evans, Zachar y Whyte, coach Katlin Doolan, coach Barbara DennisGarcia, and Khyon Wilkins (front).
EHS wins unified basketball title By Justin Feil The Ewing High School unified basketball team modeled the goal of Unified Sports on its way to a state championship win. The Blue Devils did well with the X’s and O’s, but something more made the difference. They overcame every obstacle and stuck together to hold off defending champion Moorestown, 36-31, for the NJSIAA state crown on March 17 at Rutgers. “When they got knocked down, they were picking each
other up,” said Ewing coach Katlin Doolan. “Not every team we saw was doing that.” Unified Sports were created to bring athletes of all abilities together, and the Blue Devils lived it start to finish this season. Doolan credits the championship to Ewing’s strengths. “Pretty much their enthusiasm and the communication and acceptance from day one between athletes and partners,” she said. “They were all the same playing field. You couldn’t tell from the way they socialized any difference between them. They were unified... Our team
understood what was expected of them and they worked together.” It was critical when the Blue Devils saw a 12-point fourthquarter lead erased by a late run by Moorestown to tie the game. Ewing did not let the run last. “Their attitudes were great,” Doolan said. “Moorestown almost came back to win. It was 31-31, and they got their heads back in it and did what they had to do to pull out the win.” Najiair Oliver led all scorers with 17 points. His two free throws See UNIFIED, Page 6
HEALTH
HEADLINES B I - M O N T H LY N E WS F R O M
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The next few weeks mark a crucial juncture for a proposed toxic waste treatment plant in Bucks County that environmentalists say would pollute the air and potentially the drinking water of nearby New Jersey towns. Israel-based Elcon Recycling Services has plans to build a facility in Falls Township that would store and treat nearly 200,000 tons per year of hazardous and residual waste. This includes mercury, lead, cadmium, benzine, vinyl chloride and 260 other chemicals. Elcon says the facility is safe and “eco-friendly,” and has touted the 150 temporary construction jobs and 55 full-time jobs that would be created by the facility. But nearby residents say the loss of a few dozen jobs is a small price to pay to ensure the health and safety of the region. Many of them speak from experience, and worry that the same towns that woke up covered with red dust from the Fairless Works steel mill in the mid-20th century would be in the path of pollution from Elcon’s stack. See TOXIC, Page 11
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