Volume LXXII, Number 7
Faces of Real Estate On Pages 45 - 47 Princeton Restaurant Scene Grows . . . . . . . . 5 March Safe Streets Program Events . . . . . 15 Dryden Ensemble Plays Bach Cantatas . . . . . . 30 Gray’s Cry, Elliott’s Labor of Love . . . . . . . . . . . 33 PU Men’s Lax Opens 2018 Season . . . . . . . 36 PHS Boys’ Track Rallies to 3rd Straight Indoor Sectional Crown . . . . . 40
PLC’s Joel Hammon Advocates Self-Directed Education . . . . . . . . . 11 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .28, 29 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 35 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Classified Ads. . . . . . . 48 Clubs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Music/Theater . . . . . . 31 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 44 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Summer Camp Guide 16-24 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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PennEast Pipeline Gains FERC Approval, Faces Local Battles
More than three years after its pipeline project was first announced, PennEast last month received Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approval to build the 120-mile pipeline in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The 120-mile pipeline would bring natural gas from Luzerne County in northeastern Pennsylvania across the Delaware River near Riegelsville, Pennsylvania, across Hunterdon County to the edge of Mercer County near Pennington. With approvals still needed from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) and others, and widespread opposition from environmental groups, municipalities, property owners and other individuals, as well as New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, the PennEast Pipeline project is likely to remain a battleground for many months, perhaps years to come. Taking the first step towards litigation, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN) filed a rehearing request with FERC on January 24, asking the agency to reconsider its approval. “From a lack of need to its devastating impacts on the environment, to the demonstrated false, misleading, and missing information provided by the PennEast companies to FERC, there is no way to support approval of this project,” said Delaware Riverkeeper leader Maya van Rossum. She continued, in a statement issued last month, “Our grounds for legal challenge are strong and we will pursue them. We also have many other battle fronts, including preventing permits from the state of New Jersey, defeating permits issued by Pennsylvania, and preventing approval by the Delaware River Basin Commission. We will fight on and we will win.” Citing the vast natural gas reserves in the Marcellus Shale of northeastern Pennsylvania, PennEast argues that the pipeline would significantly lower energy prices and provide a host of additional benefits for New Jersey residents. “Approval of the PennEast Pipeline is a major victory for New Jersey and Pennslvania families and businesses,” said Anthony Cox, chair of the PennEast Pipeline Company LLC Board of Managers. “They will reap the benefits of accessing one of the most affordable and abundant supplies of natural gas in all Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Schools’ Space Crunch Spurs Innovative Plans Princeton Public Schools (PPS) are crowded, but the challenge for the community, its educators, and architects as they look ahead to an October 2 facilities referendum is not just to provide more room for students and staff, but to create the kinds of spaces that will help to transform the learning endeavor from a traditional industrial-age process to a 21st-century model. In describing the town hall meetings held last Thursday with architect Prakash Nair and education expert Heidi Hayes Jacobs and attended by a total of about 150 community members, PPS Superintendent Steve Cochrane said, “There was an excitement about how the transformation of space in our schools could also transform learning district-wide.” Emphasizing that “schools should reflect the world for which we are preparing our students,” Cochrane noted that par-
ticipants at the meetings showed “an appreciation for how the skills our students need for the contemporary world, skills such as collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving, could be learned better in flexible, comfortable spaces that inspire students to apply and create knowledge—not just be recipients of it.” Cochrane also asserted the need to provide the time and the training for teachers to use the space in new ways. “I think people left with the sense that this referendum is not just about expanding space, but about transforming learning,” he said. “We are not, for example, adding a large addition at the high school, but looking instead to renovate and repurpose interior spaces, such as courtyards and hallways, to create welcoming, inspiring, and smaller learning communities.” He added, “We are growing in num-
ON THE WINGS OF LOVE: Ice artists showed off their skills at Saturday’s Hearts on Fire — Palmer Square on Ice event, as giant ice blocks were sculpted into 3-D figures, with many themed for Valentine’s Day. Hot chocolate was also served to all those who came to enjoy the festivities. (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
bers, yes, but we are looking to use the transformation of space to create a stronger sense of community and human connection.” Nair, in showing slides of schools around the world designed by his architecture firm Fielding Nair International (FNI), cited the growing “relevance gap” between what children are learning inside and outside school, warning that schools are in danger of going the way of the post office in becoming obsolete. He praised PPS for its record of accomplishment and for its outstanding students and teachers, but “when it comes to buildings, you’re way behind the times,” he said. Quoting Princeton High School Continued on Page 8
Ongoing Issues at Griggs Farm Are Among Council Topics The continuing efforts to aid victims of the December 27, 2017 fire at Griggs Farm were the subject of some discussion at a meeting of Princeton Council Monday night, February 12. The governing body also held a brief work session on the 2018 budget, and passed a resolution regarding the renovation of the Mary Moss Playground. A public hearing and Council vote regarding McCaffrey’s Supermarket’s plan to purchase the liquor license owned by the now-closed CoolVines store was postponed until March 12. A local resident who has been helping people displaced by the Griggs Farm fire suggested that Council create a special fund that would kick in immediately should another disaster occur. Such a fund, which would be nonprofit, would ensure that guidelines would be in place and relief would be provided more quickly. While numerous individuals and organizations have contributed time, money, and supplies to help those made homeless by the fire, the response could have been better coordinated, according to Lawrence resident Martha Friend, who also spoke. “Taking nothing away from Princeton Community Housing and Princeton Human Services and their 24/7 work, there was a problem and balls were dropped,” she said. “We have to do this better. There are still people in incredible crisis. There have been some very generous people, Continued on Page 4
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