Volume LXXVI, Number 15
Spring Home & Real Estate Pages 21-28 Historic Farmstead in Skillman to Tell a True Story . . . . . . . . . . 5 Police Are Cracking Down on Distracted Drivers, Walkers, And Cyclists . . . . . . . . .12 Progress on Establishment Of a Dog Park, or Parks, In Town . . . . . . . . . . 13 Lewis Powers PU Baseball To 2-1 Weekend Against Cornell . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Surace Stars as PDS Girls’ Lax Rallies to Win over Hillsborough . . . . . . . 36
Chekhov’s Poetry is Especially Meaningful at Time of War . . . . . . . . 17 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 30 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 41 Luxury Living . . . . . . . . 2 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 16 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 31 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 39 Performing Arts . . . . . 18 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 41 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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As COVID Rates Rise, Princeton Wonders “What’s to Come?” Philadelphia has just announced the reinstating of its indoor mask mandate, the first major city in the country to do so, and as new COVID-19 case numbers rise locally and throughout the northeast many wonder if this is the start of a larger surge in infections. Princeton Deputy Administrator for Health and Community Services Jeff Grosser wrote in an email, “As witnessed in other countries (UK and around Europe), the increase in cases sometimes demonstrates a ‘What’s to come?’ scenario, and I believe that’s where we are right now.” He cited the “extremely contagious BA.2 variant” as the primary cause of the uptick during the past month, “along with the relaxation of public health precautions and restrictions in places like schools and other indoor settings.” Grosser continued, “We also have waning immunity among those who have received their booster more than four to six months ago,” but he went on to emphasize that despite the increase in cases there was no increase in severity of the outbreak or hospitalizations. “This does not discount the need for disease surveillance, but we need to keep this in mind when we talk about return of restrictions or closures due to increasing cases,” he said. The Princeton Health Department on April 4 reported 45 new COVID-19 cases in the previous seven days, a total of 2,518 cases in Princeton since the start of the pandemic. Princeton Public Schools (PPS) reported 31 new cases for the week ended April 8, 14 of those cases at Princeton High School. PPS had only 12 cases in the week ended April 1 and only seven the week before that. Princeton University reported a 4.02 percent positivity rate for the week ended April 2, with case severity remaining “mild.” The transmission rate in New Jersey climbed to 1.29 on Tuesday, April 12, denoting a growing outbreak, with any number over 1 indicating that each new case is creating more than one additional new case. The state’s seven-day average for new cases was up 37 percent from a week ago and up 64 percent from a month ago. Grosser noted several top priorities for the Princeton Health Department among Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, April 13, 2022
BOH Raises Red Flags on Cannabis At a meeting last night that occurred after press time, the Princeton Board of Health (BOH) was expected to vote to recommend that Princeton Council delay licensing of cannabis sales in Princeton until health safeguards are implemented and further planning has taken place. BOH draft resolutions were proposed that would also urge Council to adopt a slate of a dozen least-harm cannabis usage guidelines (LHCUG). “It’s simple,” said BOH Chair George DiFerdinando. “Minimize harm.” Princeton Council, on March 29, listened to more than three hours of public comment and debate on the question of cannabis in Princeton and is planning to meet again on Tuesday, May 17, to continue listening, before eventually deciding whether or not to create an ordinance to approve retail sales of recreational cannabis in Princeton. Last night’s 7:30 p.m. BOH meeting was scheduled to begin with a period of public input. At its February 8 meeting, the BOH created an ad hoc committee to research the health impacts of recreational cannabis use and to consider a recommendation from the town’s Cannabis Task Force (CTF) that would allow for up to three retail cannabis establishments in town.
The BOH committee — which includes Ferdinando, an internist and longtime public health program director; Meredith HodachAvalos, an internist at Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center; and Rick Strauss, a pediatrician — prepared a detailed background document and a draft resolution, which it revised following comments at the March 8 meeting and expanded to include detailed information on preparations that are needed to minimize potentially harmful effects of cannabis sales in Princeton.
“Prevention first,” DiFerdinando wrote in summing up the committee’s cautionary stance. “Before considering approving local sale, assess current local use and local prevention needs,” he said. “Before considering if we should have one or more retail cannabis stores, we should plan, and plan to implement, education and outreach to assure that the public is aware of lower risk cannabis usage guidelines to prevent as many negative effects as possible of recreational cannabis use.” Continued on Page 8
Work Sessions on Two Key Streets Dominate Princeton Council Meeting
After considering a request from Princeton Council to further investigate whether it is possible to have a bike lane and underground utilities on Phase 2 of the Witherspoon Street redesign plan, which spans Green Street to Franklin Avenue, municipal staff has concluded that it is not. “We looked at comments from the community, the PBAC (Princeton Bicycle Advisory Committee), and Council, and compiled our findings in a 12-page design report,” the town’s Assistant Municipal Engineer Jim Purcell told the governing body at its meeting Monday night, April 11.
“We simply cannot find a way to provide dedicated bike lanes within this limited corridor. It would not be safe for all of our users.” Purcell added that after a recent meeting with PSE&G, “We now understand that undergrounding utility lines is unfeasible.” Staff is sticking with its recommendation from the Council meeting two weeks ago that a concept that doesn’t include bike lanes and underground utilities be the one to be approved. Each of the three phases involved in the project comes with a grant from the New Continued on Page 10
HONORING A HOMETOWN HERO: Councilman Leighton Newlin, left, and Mayor Mark Freda read a proclamation at the Arts Council of Princeton last Saturday, as part of the annual Paul Robeson Week of Remembrance. In addition to the inauguration of the Robeson Scholars Recognition Program, the day celebrated Robeson’s legacy with song, poetry, storytelling, spoken word, and more. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)