Volume LXXII, Number 24
PFARS Cadets Heading to College . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Multifaith Service, Vigil for Peace . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Balanced, Free Meals at PSRC . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Concordia Chamber Players Open Princeton Festival . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Rock and Roll, Baseball, and the American Dream . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Wildberg Stars for PHS Boys’ Track at MOC . . 29 Summer Men’s Hoops Tipping Off 30th Season . . . . . . . . . .32
PU Baseball Star Gross Selected in Draft . . . . 27 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .22, 23 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 26 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Classified Ads . . . . . . 36 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 19 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 34 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 4 Service Directory . . . . 35 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Princeton, Cranbury Examine Send-Receive Schools Agreement With a June 30 deadline approaching for renewal of the Princeton-Cranbury send-receive schools agreement, both school boards have been reviewing the current contract and the possibility of extending it through 2030. The Princeton Public Schools Board of Education (BOE) was planning to address the matter at last night’s meeting, but it was not known at press time whether or not a vote was taken on the issue. At a community conversation, “Understanding the Princeton-Cranbury SendReceive Agreement,” sponsored by the BOE Saturday morning in the Princeton Public Library, about 80 people listened to an informative 25-minute presentation and engaged in an hour-long follow up discussion. “When you look from a superficial point of view it seems like there might be an easy solution to the question,” said Board member Beth Behrend, “but the details provide a different picture. It’s complicated, but it’s not helpful to say that without explaining why. The library session was planned to help people understand the choices. Hopefully this meeting helped to get the information out so that the public understands.” The Princeton-Cranbury agreement was signed in 1988, and last year Cranbury, which does not have a high school, paid $4,813,480 to send 289 students to Princeton High School, according to information presented at Saturday’s forum. The presentation highlighted financial and educational benefits of the agreement for both districts, including economies of scale, with Cranbury finding it not cost-efficient to provide a high school for fewer than 300 students and the Cranbury tuition payment providing Princeton schools with their second largest source of revenue (after the tax levy) to support a wide range of programs and expenses. The presentation went on to discuss alternatives to renewal, which could include letting the contract expire in 2020, in which case the send-receive relationship would continue indefinitely on the same terms; or taking steps to terminate, which would involve legal action, a feasibility study, identification of a new district to accept Cranbury students, approval from the New Jersey Commissioner of Education, and the possibility of further appeals and legal action. Continued on Page 14
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Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Princeton Dems Rally to “Flip NJ Blue”
“Catch the Blue Wave: Flip NJ Blue!” was the rallying cry on Sunday night, as a crowd of about 170 enthusiastic Democrats filled the Suzanne Patterson Center and made plans to help Democrats win five New Jersey congressional races that have been targeted by the national Democratic Party in its effort to retake control of the House of Representatives in the upcoming November elections. Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-12) set the tone for the evening with a rousing keynote speech. She was followed by Democratic candidates from three of the five “flippable” districts and two speakers representing congressional candidates who were unable to attend. Local high school students introduced each of the speakers, and 16th District Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker served as emcee for the proceedings. Zwicker noted that in 2015 he had “showed, with the help of many people in this room, how you swing a district from Republican to Democrat.” There had never been a Democrat representing the 16th District in the New Jersey assembly until Zwicker’s 2015 upset victory. “To see this large enthusiastic turnout is heartwarming as we set out to change the course of this country,” Zwicker said.
Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) Vice President Mary Anne Greenberg commented on the strength of these New Jersey’s Democratic congressional candidates. “These are substantive candidates,” she said. “All these candidates are very focused on and committed to service. It was very powerful.” It was also apparent that all of the speakers were motivated by dissatisfaction with the Trump administration and the effects of President Trump’s actions on
New Jersey. “Currently there is a great deal of unrest,” Greenberg said. “This event helped people to focus on an action that is cathartic at this time as well as impactful. People signed up to work for these candidates outside their district. People showed that they are committed.” Along with the PCDO, co-sponsoring organizations, that, Greenberg noted, will be “working together throughout the summer and fall to create results,” include Continued on Page 11
FAA Accepts Master Plan for Mercer Airport Improvements With acceptance by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received last week, Trenton-Mercer Airport is now able to pursue plans for upgrading, updating, and modernizing. But these projects at the increasingly popular Ewing Township airport do not include an increase in the size or number of flights, according to Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes. “This is just to give people a better experience when they travel in and out,” he said Tuesday. “It’s something we’ve been waiting for a long time. The stamp of ap-
proval from the FAA allows us to move forward with scoping plans for a new terminal. The one we have now is about 55 or 60 years old and it lacks many of the modern amenities you’d expect from a growing airport.” It has been two decades since the airport has updated its master plan. Consultants Urban Engineers and McFarland Johnson have been working on the plan, which is funded 90 percent by the FAA and 10 percent by Mercer County. Three public meetings have been held during Continued on Page 4
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PRINCETON PARKLET RETURNS: The Arts Council of Princeton’s (ACP) third parklet officially opened on Saturday at its debut location in front of Small World Coffee on Witherspoon Street . Sponsors and supporters each said a few words about their part of the parklet and their support for public art in Princeton . Pictured, from left, are Jessica Durrie, owner of Small World Coffee; Jim Levin, ACP board president; Jim Waltman, executive director, The Watershed Institute; Councilman Tim Quinn; Maria Evan, ACP artist director; Kristin Appelget, director, community and regional affairs, Princeton University; Sherry MacLean, MacLean Agency; Councilwoman Leticia Fraga; Jim Davidge, Davidge Design Studio; and architect Joseph Hobart Weiss . (Photo Courtesy of ACP)
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