Volume LXXIV, Number 33
Hopewell Pennington Pages 16-17 Spotted Lanternfly Arrives in Princeton . . . 5 Joint Effort Weighs in on 2020 Election . . . . . . . 8 PU Among Universities to Keep Students Off Campus . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Man Dies After Jumping From Spring Street Garage . . . . . . . . . . . 9 PU Alum Davis Taking Helm of Lawrenceville Boys’ Hoops . . . . . . . 22 Former PHS Star Amon Shows His Stuff for TCNJ Baseball . . . . . . . . . . 24
Keeping Company with Thomas De Quincey During Last Week’s Power Outage . . . . . 11 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .18, 19 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 15 Classified Ads . . . . . . 30 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 10 New to Us . . . . . . . . . . 27 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 28 Performing Arts . . . . . 12 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 30 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Town Names Director Of Emergency Services At Council Meeting The appointment of Michael Yeh as Princeton’s new director of emergency and safety services was announced at Princeton Council’s virtual meeting on Monday, August 10. Since the passing of former Emergency Services Director Robert Gregory last January, Princeton Police Chief Nicholas Sutter has been acting as the town’s director of emergency management. Yeh, who was Rider University’s Commander of Emergency Management and Special Operations since 2013, will be coordinating Princeton’s emergency management while overseeing the Fire Prevention, Housing Inspection offices, and the Fire Department. The director also serves as the liaison to the Princeton First Aid and Rescue Squad. “He comes with a wealth of knowledge,” Municipal Administrator Marc Dashield said before introducing Yeh, via Zoom, at the meeting. In a press release, Dashield added, “Michael’s experience and expertise in emergency services will be critical as we continue to manage our current public health emergency.” Yeh’s appointment will become effective on August 24, which is the date of Council’s next meeting. “I’m very excited about this step, and engaging with the Princeton community to refine our preparedness,” he said, “and working with the community to identify any areas of concern they have.” Also at the meeting, Princeton Police Captain Chris Morgan delivered the 2019 Annual Police Department Report, which is nearly 80 pages long. “This is by far the most comprehensive report we’ve put together,” he said. “There is a significant amount of data. We’re very aware that there is significant amount of concern in the community about the police. But this is our way of being transparent — having a dialogue and open conversation, and moving from there.” Among the topics Morgan cited as most important are marijuana arrests, probable cause searches, and use of force. The full report is available on the municipal website, princetonnj.gov. Council voted to introduce three ordinances. One updates an existing ordinance for tree protection zones, clarifying and better defining the way contractors are supposed to protect trees on neighboring properties during construction. It Continued on Page 7
MADE IN
AMERICA SALE
The Whole Month of August
Savings on all American-made manufacturers
75¢ at newsstands
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Power Now Fully Restored for Princeton At a meeting of Princeton Council Monday evening, Deanna Stockton, the town’s municipal engineer, got word that power was back on at the last remaining location where it had been knocked out by Tropical Storm Isaias nearly a week earlier. “I’m very happy to report that all of the PSE&G outages have been restored so we have full electrical operation,” she said. “When we started the meeting, we still had one outage on the map, but now that’s fixed.” Most locations had power restored by Friday. But just after the storm on Tuesday, August 4, multiple roads were closed as a result of fallen trees and wires. Power and cell service outages were widespread. Among the roads blocked were Pheasant Hill Road near Province Line Road, Laurel Road, Cleveland Lane, Herrontown Road, North Harrison Street, Walker Drive, and Drakes Corner Road. Trees were suspended on wires at several locations. Traffic signals were out on North Harrison Street at Terhune, Valley, and Mt. Lucas roads. The municipal building was open for people who sought relief from the heat or needed to charge devices. More than one million New Jersey homes and businesses were left in the dark by the storm’s rain and winds. New
Jersey was part of Isaias’ path up the East Coast, battering Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania before hitting New York and New England. One person in Maryland, one in New York, and two others in North Carolina died as a result of the storm. More than 20 tornadoes were reported from North Carolina to New Jersey. Surf City on Long Beach Island reported a wind gust of 109 miles per hour. Gov. Phil Murphy urged New Jersey residents to stay off the roads during the
storm. New Jersey Transit suspended service as of midday Tuesday. At the Monday Council meeting, Mayor Liz Lempert thanked municipal staff for their response to the storm. “It was a huge event to hit Princeton, and it was complicated by having COVID on top of it, so a lot of responses had to be rethought and reconfigured,” she said. “Given the challenges, we acted creatively.” Earlier in the day, Lempert said she was Continued on Page 7
Planning and Discussion Move Forward on John Witherspoon Middle School Name Change The movement to rename John Witherspoon Middle School (JWMS) seemed to gain momentum at Princeton Public Schools‘ (PPS) second scheduled session of community input on Monday night, as more than 50 people participated on the Zoom call. Support for a name change appeared almost universal, among Board of Education (BOE) members as well as community participants, though there was a range of opinions about when and how that change should take place. “We appreciate the community comment and we want to move forward with
the process,” said PPS Interim Superintendent Barry Galasso, pointing out that the BOE policy committee must first change the district policy on naming, and then the process of choosing a new name could go forward. “That could happen quickly,” Galasso said, and he noted that JWMS could have a temporary generic name – Princeton Unified Middle School was suggested – during the “teachable” interim period as the community considered a new permanent name. Suggestions for permanent names Continued on Page 7
UPROOTED: This tree on the Westminster Choir College campus was among the many casualties of Tropical Storm Isaias, which slammed Princeton with heavy rain and winds on Tuesday, August 4 . By Monday night, all power had been restored . (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
Rider Furniture.com Where quality still matters. Name Brands Always Discounted Living Room, Dining Room, Bedroom, Home Office, Area Rugs, Etc.
4621 Hwy 27 Kingston, NJ | 609-924-0147 Monday -Friday 10-6 | Saturday 10-5 | Sunday 12-5
Best Furniture Store Best Outdoor Furnishing Store