Volume LXXIV, Number 39
Fall Arts & Events Pages 24-26 Town May Hire a Consultant to Tackle Vacancy Issue . . . . . . . 5 BOE Candidates Share Visions of PPS Future in WJNA Forum . . . . . . . 8 Crossing Abbey Road Again — Baseball, Beatles, RBG, and Nabokov . . . . . . . . . 15 State Theatre NJ Presents Broadway Online Trivia Night . 16 PU Baseball’s Boone Joining Family Business, Signing with Nationals . . . . . . . . . . 28 PDS Girls’ Soccer Aiming for Memorable Fall, Even With No Tournaments . . . . . . . 30
Mariel Hemingway To Deliver Keynote at NAMI Mercer Virtual Conference . . . . . . . . 10 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .20, 21 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 19 Classified Ads . . . . . . 35 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 33 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 27 Performing Arts . . . . . 17 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 7 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 35 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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PPS Back to School: May Start In-Person Phase-in on October 5 Keeping a close eye on COVID-19 transmission rates and guidance from local and state health officials, Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Interim Superintendent Barry Galasso is ready to propose the next step of a phased-in schooling plan, with Pre-K, kindergarten, first grade, and self-contained special needs classes K-12 possibly going into the schools in person on October 5. In the first 10 days of school, PPS students have been learning virtually, remotely from home through a new learning management system that is reportedly much improved over last spring’s flawed system. Galasso said on Friday, September 18 that the buildings should be ready for the youngest and the special needs contingents on October 5, for all the elementary students by October 12, and for middle and high school students by October 19, but he acknowledged that he can’t predict the course of COVID-19. “I can predict HVAC schedules,” he said. “I can ascertain whether teachers will be ready to teach, but I can’t figure out the virus. That’s a wild card. We’re going to have to play that by ear. I can’t predict what will occur.” He pointed out that the number of cases in Princeton has risen in recent weeks, and he noted that both Hopewell Valley Central High School and West Windsor-Plainsboro’s Community Middle School had to close temporarily last week after hybrid openings followed by reporting of new coronavirus cases. Galasso remained optimistic that the plan will stay on track. He will be visiting the schools on this Thursday and Friday and consulting with medical experts before making a final decision. The decision will be announced at the September 29 Board of Education (BOE) meeting. The district reported on Monday, September 21 that none of the six PPS schools had issues with staffing. More than 100 teachers and staff had applied for accommodations, most seeking arrangements to continue to work remotely for health reasons. Most of those requests were reportedly denied. Galasso declined to comment further on private personnel issues, but pointed out, “We’re working with individual teachers, and I think that’s the appropriate thing to do. We have offered some people administrative work-at-home Continued on Page 12
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Wednesday, September 23, 2020
COVID Battle Sees Spike in 18-25 Age Range The Princeton Health Department is reporting a significant increase in COVID-19 cases in Princeton among 18- to 25-yearolds during the past month, despite mostly positive news otherwise in the ongoing local battle with the COVID pandemic. “They are an active demographic, especially during the late summer and early fall,” said Princeton Press and Media Communications Spokesman Fred Williams. “End of summer socializing, Labor Day, and back-to-school activities on campuses across the country are sustaining the trend, but the good news for us here in our region is that this uptick does not appear to be associated with any community spread or ‘super spreader’ events.” Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser noted that college campuses are seeing spikes in infections and that some of those cases are being imported into the town of Princeton from colleges and universities across the country. “These institutions are choosing to send their students home when there is a confirmed outbreak on their campuses,” said Grosser. “Those students may or may not receive tests before departing school and returning home.” He continued, “When they return home, they often seek testing, which is how we are receiving these positive test results
here in Princeton. The 18- to 25-year-old range has seen a dramatic increase in the past two weeks, with nine new cases, six of which were from individuals coming from out-of-state higher education institutions.” The Health Department has urged those individuals to isolate safely at home to avoid further transmission. Williams stated that, based on contact tracing data compiled from the cases among the most recent infections, the recent trend does not appear to consti-
tute a “second wave” of COVID-19. “The other positive,” he noted, “is that there is no increase in serious COVID-19 cases requiring hospitalizations, and our rate of infection remains low despite increased activity such as returning to work, indoor dining, gym use, etc.” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy reported Tuesday, September 22 that the state’s rate of transmission had increased slightly to 1.13, still above the critical indicator of 1 that shows that the spread is expanding. Continued on Page 7
Community Members Weigh In On Witherspoon Street Project A virtual public meeting about the Witherspoon Street Improvement Project attracted a sizable online crowd on September 15, with many community members expressing opinions about the future of the roadway between Nassau and Green streets. A portion of the street has been oneway in recent months to allow for outdoor dining and encourage the patronage of local businesses that have been suffering since the onset of COVID-19 in March. There are five options being considered for Witherspoon Street going forward. One is to keep the street one-way
northbound, as it is now, with one lane of loading and parking between Nassau and Spring streets. The option would consider pairing with the one-way southbound operation of South Tulane Street. A second alternative would be much the same as the first, but with two lanes of loading instead of one. The third option would close the street completely to motor vehicles between Nassau and Spring streets, and consider pairing with the one-way westbound operation of Spring Street. The two other design alternatives would allow for Continued on Page 12
NEW HOME: Homestead Princeton hosted a Grand Reopening on Sunday afternoon at its new location on Witherspoon Street . The event featured giveaways, raffles, and participation from local businesses . Attendees share what type of business they would like to see come to Princeton in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)