Volume LXXIII, Number 9
Montgomery Area Life Pages 17 - 19
Princeton Charter Wins Regional Science Bowl . .5 Council Delays Vote on FAR Bonuses . . . . . . . 8 PU Hosts FLI Students Conferences . . . . . . . . 9 Douglass: A Vision of Freedom Fully and Freely Expressed . . . . . . . . . 11 Owens and Brownlee Team Up at McCarter . . . . . .12 Schwieger Stars as PU Men’s Hoops Posts Weekend Sweep . . . . . 27 PHS Boys’ Hockey Advances to State Quarterfinals . . . . . . . 30
PHS’ Chloe Ayres Ready for State Girls’ Wrestling Tourney . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .20, 21 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 23 Classified Ads . . . . . . 34 Dining & Entertainment . . 22 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Music/Theater . . . . . . 13 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 24 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 33 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 6 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 34 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Kingston Pastor Watches Methodist LGBTQ Deliberations
A special session of the General Conference of the United Methodist Church (UMC) met in St. Louis over the past four days to determine the future of the UMC in regards to same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. Jess Winderweedle, lead pastor of Kingston United Methodist Church, and her congregation have been following the proceedings closely. A graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, Winderweedle lives in downtown Princeton with her wife. She is currently in the process of becoming ordained as a full-fledged minister of the church. The conversation over the ordination of LGBTQ persons and the decision for clergy to perform same-sex weddings is one “that has been ongoing for the last 40 years in the UMC,” Winderweedle says, “and many Methodists are concerned that what may result in the end is a split within the denomination.” Winderweedle, who has been part of Kingston UMC for several years and pastor since 2016, went on to note, “throughout my time at Kingston UMC, I have known it to be a place of wide welcome, despite the ongoing conflict within the UMC regarding LGBTQ persons.” In the context of the contentious conflict at the General Conference, she added, “I believe that the story of Kingston UMC tells an important counter-narrative that could provide hope for members of our community.” The Kingston UMC congregation voted unanimously on February 10 to adopt a Statement of Welcome, including a “welcome to people of all genders, all gender expressions, all sexual orientations and identities.” In St. Louis more than 800 delegates from around the world — half clergy, half lay people — have been considering several plans, attempting to work towards unity, rather than a schism, in the church. Official UMC policy since 1972 has stated that “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” The church does not permit same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ persons, but enforcement has been inconsistent. “Some people have been trying to change that language to make our denomination more inclusive for all,” Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, February 27, 2019
Dinky Restart Date Coming This Week Commuters awaiting the resumption of service on the Dinky train line will have an actual date by the end of this week. “As per the governor’s direction, by the end of the week we will be providing customers with a date certain for the restoration of service on the Atlantic City Rail Line and the Princeton Dinky,” said Nathan A. Rudy, senior public information officer for NJ Transit. According to New Jersey Assemblyman Daniel R. Benson, who chairs the Assembly’s transportation committee, Gov. Phil Murphy made the announcement at an appearance in Hamilton, related to another matter, on Tuesday morning. Service on the Dinky and two other NJ Transit lines, suspended since October for the federally mandated, system-wide installation of Positive Train Control (PTC), was originally supposed to resume in January. Much to the frustration of commuters, NJ Transit moved the date to the end of the second quarter, meaning by the end of June. Last week, it
was announced that the date for resuming service would be announced within three weeks. At the Dinky station on February 20, NJ Transit held an information session for commuters. On hand for the gathering were Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti, commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Transportation; NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett; Assemblyman Benson; Assemblyman Roy Freiman; Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker;
Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert; and Princeton Council members David Cohen, Eve Niedergang, and Tim Quinn. Gutierriez-Scaccetti, who became DOT commissioner last June, stressed that the shutdown was due not only to the PTC installation, but to long-standing problems throughout the system. “What we inherited was just a mess,” she said. “I apologize to all of you.” Retirements and a lack of properlyContinued on Page 9
Leaving Princeton is Bittersweet For Library Director Bonfield As he prepares to leave his post as executive director of Princeton Public Library for a new job in Cincinnati, Brett Bonfield wants to make one thing very clear: his accomplishments during his three-year tenure in Princeton are a result of teamwork rather than his individual efforts. “It is we — not I,” he said during an interview on Monday. “Everything we’ve
done here has been a group effort. It has been just incredible to see what this team could do. Almost from the beginning, to be a part of that team was a great privilege.” The library’s board of trustees announced on February 20 that Bonfield will depart on April 12 to become chief operations officer of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County in Ohio. Continued on Page 4
WINTER FAIRY FUN: A fairy prance was just one of the activities enjoyed at Saturday’s Winter Fairy Land event at The Watershed Center in Pennington . The youngsters also danced, played magical games, listened to winter tales, and created fairy art . Participants share what they like about fairies in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
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