Volume LXXIV, Number 29
Home Sweet Home Pages 31-37 Lambertville Parking Lot Becomes Drive-in Theater . . . . . . . . . . . 5 McCloskey, Grisham to Discuss Books, Criminal Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Community Foundation’s Philanthropy Provides Scholarships, Relief . . 10 BlackLivesMatter: Equality March . . . . . 13 PU Coaches Helping Athletes Deal With Ivy Decision to Cancel Fall Sports . . . . . . . . . .22 PDS Alum Fletcher Enjoyed Stellar Career with Cornell Men’s Lax . . . . . . . . . .24
Composer Ennio Morricone Joins Director Sergio Leone in This Week’s Book/Film Review . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .20, 21 Classified Ads . . . . . . 29 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 15 New to Us . . . . . . . . . . 19 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 26 Performing Arts . . . . . 17 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 12 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 29 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Fraga, Cohen Look Like Town Council Winners In Democratic Primary In unofficial, incomplete results reported by the Mercer County Clerk’s Office on July 14, as the counting continues, incumbents Leticia Fraga with 3,255 votes (40.43 percent) and David Cohen with 2,871 votes (35.66 percent) appear to have won positions on the November ballot as Democratic nominees for two available three-year terms on Princeton Council. Contender Dina Shaw has received 1,903 votes (23.64 percent). Mark Freda, running unopposed, won the Democratic nomination for a four-year term as mayor to replace Liz Lempert, who will step down at the expiration of her term at the end of 2020. No Republican candidates have filed for the mayoral or council election in Princeton. The July 7 primary election, postponed from June 2, was conducted mostly by mail, and the Mercer County Board of Elections is still counting the paper ballots, which include provisional ballots and a few more vote-by-mail ballots that were postmarked by election day and arrived by July 14. The November election now becomes the focal point on everybody’s radar. “My office is already gearing up for the general election in November,” said Mercer County Clerk Paula Sollami- Covello. “As soon as this election is certified on July 24, we will begin preparations for November’s election.” School board candidates must file their petitions by July 27, with three seats up for grabs on the Princeton Public School Board of Education, and on August 10 the Clerk’s Office draws for ballot position for the general election. Ballot prep and printing follow soon afterwards. “There really is no down time this year,” SollamiCovello said. With a presidential election and more contested races on the ballot than there were in last week’s primary, Sollami-Covello anticipated a much higher turnout in November. “We do feel this primary election was a good test run for us,” she said. “It gave us practical experience as to what would be required to conduct an all vote-by-mail election if that is what is ordered by the governor for the November election.” Sollami-Covello pointed out that the clerk’s office has learned better processes for mailing out the ballots, as well as “better ways to direct the mailing and Continued on Page 11
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Wednesday, July 15, 2020
Council Approves Affordable Housing Plan Princeton Council voted Monday in favor of the town’s Third Round Housing Plan and Fair Share Plan. The governing body also approved zoning ordinances allowing for the construction of additional affordable housing, including rezoning of portions of Nassau Street, Route 206, a parcel at Terhune Road and Harrison Street, and Princeton Community Village. Council also approved the introduction of a zoning ordinance for additional housing at Franklin Avenue and Witherspoon Street, voted in favor of a bond ordinance for police body cameras, and funding for road projects with grant monies attached. The approval of the housing plan is significant because it is the first that combines elements of plans from the former Borough and Township. Princeton entered into a settlement agreement with Fair Share Housing Center late last year to establish the town’s third round affordable housing obligations. The preliminary compliance efforts were approved by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson in February. The final hearing before the judge is August 12. Mayor Liz Lempert called the plan an important milestone. “In our country, unfortunately, your zip code determines your destiny,” she said. “Princeton’s is the kind where if you live here, it can really change
your life. We talk about affordable housing in really sterile terms. But every unit is someone’s future home, and in that home is a family, and that family’s life can be transformed. For sure, our community is not perfect, and we have a lot of work to do. And all of us here at the meeting know that. But it is also true that living in a place like Princeton opens up opportunities that are life-changing.” Lempert said there were three goals in putting together the plan: that it was
rooted in smart growth, near schools, jobs, transportation and businesses; that it allowed for growth as a community in a sustainable way; and that the affordable housing was spread throughout the town. Princeton’s Planning Board reviewed six ordinances at its meeting on July 9. Four of the six were voted on by Council. The two remaining ordinances, which are related to properties at Princeton Shopping Center and were the subject of some objections from some community Continued on Page 7
No New COVID Cases in the Past 2.5 Weeks; Health Dept., Business Community Plan Ahead No new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Princeton over the past two and a half weeks, as the town continues to focus on opening up in the most effective ways without jeopardizing the safety of residents and visitors. The state has also succeeded in maintaining relatively stable numbers of new cases, deaths, and hospitalizations in recent weeks, with the numbers having fallen significantly from their peaks in April. “We are working hard to maintain our lower incidence but must remind ourselves that we arrived at this place of lower incidence in large part because
of massive changes to our daily lives of social distancing, masking, and being mindful of our own health,” said Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser. Grosser warned of possible dangers in the coming weeks. “New Jersey is one of just a couple of states that continue to see lower and lower daily incidence rates,” he said. “Unfortunately New Jersey is beginning to see an increase in younger adults testing positive for COVID-19, mainly attributed to social gatherings and, specifically, beach-related activity.” He added, “At the Princeton Health Continued on Page 12
TAKING THE PLUNGE: One swimmer takes flight while others look on at the Community Park Pool on Monday, the opening day of the summer pool season . Things went smoothly as patrons adjusted to the Daily Admission Card (DAC) procedure and safety protocols necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic and executive orders issued by Gov . Phil Murphy . (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)