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Pearl Harbor Day event focuses on Navy vet’s WWII experience
Regenerative Spine & Pain Institute
Luxury senior apartments will create a place to live, work, and play in Bordentown. Page 4
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HISTORIC WALKING & BUS TOURS + CANNON FIRING BATTLE REENACTMENTS + THE COLONIAL BALL CONCERTS + KIDS ACTIVITIES + MUSKET DEMOS
Former police chief WWW. PATRIOTSWEEK. COM convicted of lying to the FBI
DOWNTOWN TRENTON
By lOis leVine What do Clara Barton, Thomas Paine and John Quincy Adams have in common? At one time or another, they all visited or lived in Bordentown. In fact, Thomas Paine was such a fan of the city near the Delaware River that he once said he’d “rather see my horse Buttons eating the grass of Bordentown then all the pomp and show of Europe.” As many might already know, the city, which was first inhabited in 1682 by English Quaker Thomas Farnsworth, is steeped in transportation histor y, becoming a major colonial transportation hub for the new United States, and occupied by British Forces in 1777 and 1778. In the mid1800s, it was noted for the first movement of a steam engine on rails, just outside the town, the “John Bull” engine, which is now housed at the Smithsonian. But its military history is what is particularly interesting to many New Jersey residents and on National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day (Dec. 7), the Bordentown Historical Society partners with the Armed Forces Heritage Museum for a presentation called “Bridge Over the River Kwai.” The Bordentown Historical Society, founded in 1930, was created to preserve and educate the public about the rich history of See HISTORY, Page 7
Nucera retrial set for March +
By saManTha sciarrOTTa
Kara Parker (left, with Lily Glatz), a student at Bordentown Regional Middle School, started Project Bolsa as part of her Girl Scout Bronze Award requirement. She collects old T-shirts and transforms them into reusable tote bags.
Saving the earth, one bag at a time Tote project takes over Bordentown
By saManTha sciarrOTTa Kara Parker is into the environment. The Bordentown Regional Middle School student said she’s interested in anything that relates to protecting the planet. So, when it came time to complete her Girl Scouts Bronze Award, she channeled that energy into her service project. Parker launched Project Bolsa, a nonprofit organization that converts old T-shirts into tote bags. “Why can’t we just take old T-shirts that we don’t want to
wear anymore and turn them into bags for shopping?” she said. “So, one night we all got together as a family, and we cut a bag. We tried it out, and I was like, ‘This is really cool.’ We started putting stuff in it, and it held everything. We started making more and more and asking for more donations, and we finally got really big.” And the project is still going strong. Over the last two years, Parker has partnered with Mimosa Goods, the Bordentown City Green Team and the Bordentown City Farmer’s Market. She sponsored Bordentown’s Green Fair in 2018, and as of November, the bags are also available at the Bordentown Library.
“I think just because it was a simple solution,” said Raquel Parker, Kara’s mom. “It didn’t have to be this huge project. It was just a small, simple solution that anybody can do, even kids. A kid thought of it. People have been responding very well.” Parker first collects used T-shirts of any size. To make the bags, she starts by folding the shirt in half lengthwise and then cutting the sleeves off. Then, she cuts the neck and waist stitching. Finally, the bottom of the T-shirt is cut into strips and tied together one-byone to form a durable bottom. Ultimately, they wanted something that was easy to construct and didn’t require sewing but See PARKER, Page 13
Former Bordentown Township police chief and township administrator Frank Nucera is expected to be back on trial early next year. Nucera, 62, was indicted in late 2017 on charges of hate crime assault, deprivation of civil rights and making false statements after he was accused of slamming 18-yearold Timothy Stroye's head into a door jamb during a 2016 incident at the Bordentown Ramada. The case went to trial earlier this year. Nucera was convicted in October of lying to the FBI, but the jury was unable to reach a decision on the other two charges. The retrial is set for March 16, 2020. The jury deliberated for eight days but could not come to a consensus on the hate crime and civil rights charges, according to a state District Attorney press release. The complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office against Nucera states that the thenpolice chief assaulted Stroye, then 18, at the Ramada Sept. 1, 2016. Two Bordentown Township police officers responded to a call from a hotel employee, who claimed that Stroye and a companion stayed in a hotel room without paying. The situation turned physical, and the responding officers called See NUCERA, Page 8
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