Volume LXXIII, Number 51
Six Days of History at Annual Patriots Week . . . 5 W-J Mural Project Moves Forward . . . . . . 12 HomeFront Makes Holiday Push . . . . . . . . 16 PCTV Proponents Urge Continued Funding . . . . 17 Living With The Irishman . . . . . . . 20 Renowned Artists Present Schubert Song Cycle . . . . . . . . . 22 A Christmas Carol Returns to McCarter Theatre . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 PU Women’s Hoops Tops Penn State as Alarie Makes Big Return . . . . . . . . . . 33 Wexler Stars as PDS Girls’ Hockey Wins Invitational . . . . . . . . . 38
Caroline Cleaves Named New Development Director at Arts Council . . . . . . 13 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .24, 25 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 29 Classified Ads . . . . . . 43 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 41 Performing Arts . . . . . 26 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 4 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 43 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Lifelong Princeton Resident Mark Freda To Run for Mayor Mark Freda, president of the Princeton First Aid & Rescue Squad (PFARS) and a former member of Princeton Borough Council, will run for mayor of the town in the 2020 election. The 63-year-old lifelong Princeton resident made the announcement this week. “My view on effective local government is simple: be open, be honest, be transparent, and communicate often,” he said in a press release. “I believe we can learn a great deal from the past. But change will keep coming at us. We can ignore it, or we can work together to shape it. My civic experience in leadership roles puts me in an excellent position to act on this vision.” Freda grew up on Erdman Avenue, attended Notre Dame High School, and graduated from the College of New Jersey with a degree in political science with an emphasis in public administration. He had been involved in local organizations since he was 18, including time with the Princeton Youth Employment Service and Princeton Area Jaycees. Freda’s 13 years on the former Borough Council included five years as council president. He has been a volunteer firefighter with the Princeton Fire Department since 1974, and served as fire chief in 1989. He is currently on the board of Dorothea’s House, and co-chairs the Spirit of Princeton. Before PFARS, Freda was a vice president of Goldman Sachs in New York, and also served as Princeton Borough’s director of emergency services, director New York headquarters site operations for Pfizer, and global head of facilities and real estate at Soros Fund Management. “The goal of my campaign is true transparency and open government, promoting timely and clear two-way communication with Princeton residents on important decisions, and acting promptly on decisions once they are made,” he said. “Over the past several weeks, I’ve met with local residents and business leaders to gather feedback on issues impacting the future of Princeton. I look forward to continuing these important conversations.” Mayor Liz Lempert said she remains undecided about whether she will run for a third term. “For now I’m focused on the job I was elected to do,” she said. “The end of the Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, December 18, 2019
Hundreds Expected for Impeachment Rally Hundreds of demonstrators calling for President Donald Trump’s impeachment and removal from office were expected to gather in Hinds Plaza adjacent to the Princeton Public Library yesterday evening. The rally was to take place at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, after press time. In spite of weather, traffic, and holiday distractions, rally leaders said they were anticipating a large crowd of supporters as part of the more than 500 nationwide “Nobody Is Above the Law” rallies in all 50 states on the eve of the U.S. House of Representatives’ vote to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of justice. The Princeton Police Department
yesterday announced the possibility of closing parts of Witherspoon and Hulfish streets during the rally in the event of an overflow crowd in Hinds Plaza. The House is likely to pass the two articles of impeachment today, making Trump the third president in history to be impeached. The Senate will probably vote in January on the question of removal from office. “When the president manipulates congressionally-appropriated funds in order to pressure a foreign power to help his own re-election, and then obstructs Constitutionally-mandated oversight,
FESTIVAL OF TREES: Morven’s own Wish Tree is just one of the many festive trees and mantels on view in the annual celebration of the season at Morven Museum & Garden . Decorated by area designers, garden clubs, businesses, and nonprofit organizations, the display continues through January 5 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
public protest to preserve our democracy becomes a patriotic duty,” said Laura Zurfluh, Indivisible Cranbury founder and one of the rally organizers. With 956 signed up to attend the rally as of Tuesday morning, Zurfluh was expecting more than 1,000 demonstrators, many with flashlights to “shed a light on corruption.” Speakers on the agenda for last night’s rally included Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert, New Jersey Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker, Princeton Councilman Dwaine Williamson, Coalition for Peace Action Continued on Page 10
Referendum Projects, Long-Term Planning Move Forward at PPS On the agenda for last night’s Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) meeting was an update on projects planned as part of the $26.9M bond issue approved by Princeton voters in December 2018. The meeting took place after press time, but scheduled to provide information on the building projects were Scott Downie, architect from Spiezle, Inc.; Kathy Tartaglia, construction manager from Epic Inc.; PPS director of Facilities David Harding; and PPS business administrator Matt Bouldin. PPS has been working on a series of health and safety improvements at the six district schools. Some of these improvements, such as air conditioning in the Princeton High School (PHS) gym, were completed last summer, and others are scheduled to take place over the next 24 months. Several of the biggest improvements will take place at PHS, where four new classrooms and an educational commons area will be added above the fitness center and the guidance offices will be renovated, with six meeting rooms added. PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane also mentioned a recent focus on the planning for a remote dining facility, the Tiger Cub Cafe, on the main floor at PHS “to expand student access to high quality food.” In a major renovation at John Witherspoon Middle School (JWMS), the Academic Conference Center (aka the old library) will be converted to three flexible classrooms, with an additional outdoor Continued on Page 14
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