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Leader by example
New leaf and brush rules coming
Flower power
Junior Dominic Yarson has been the Blue Devils’ top hitter and pitcher
Township to start year-round collection in July
By RiCH FisHer
On a sparkling mid-May afternoon, Ewing High baseball coach Dave Angebranndt was preparing for practice and needed two players to put the batting practice mat at home plate. One that was quick to volunteer was junior Dominic Yarson, who was the Blue Devils’ leading hitter and pitcher through their 4-9 start. According to Angebranndt, that little moment said as much about Yarson as any of his statistics. “As a junior he doesn’t have to go do that but, he’s that lead-by-example type kid,” the coach said. “The kids look up to him, he’s supportive, he’s energetic, he’s positive, he always wants to get kids better and he’s a great kid to have on the team.” He’s also darn good. As of May 19, Yarson led the Blue Devils in hits (14), average (.387) and RBIs (7), and also had four doubles and nine runs scored. On the mound he had two wins and led in innings pitched (29.1) and strikeouts (16) with an ERA of 3.82. But Yarson doesn’t pay much attention to those numbers. “It’s a team sport, you can’t really look too hard at it individually,” he said. “One person doesn’t make a team. I can pitch or hit as good as I want See YARSON, Page 16
By Bill Sanservino
Dr. John Kazmierczak, chief of staff of the West Trenton Animal Hospital, shows off the prized Carr Irises blooming outside the building last month. The flower is named after famed Bordentown horticulturist and flower hybridist Franklin Carr. His Irises won 12 international awards in Europe, and the Boehm Company of Trenton used his Pontiff Iris as a model for the Pontiff Porcelain sculpture presented to Pope John Paul II. Kazmierczak links his blooms with the internationally known buds provided directly from the Carr family.
Seniors to graduate in-person By Bill Sanservino
After more than a year of virtual learning due to COVID-19, Ewing High School seniors will finally get to experience a normal rite-of-passage. Commencement exercises for the EHS Class of 2021 are set to take place on Tuesday, June 22, at the Cure Insurance Arena in Trenton at 7 p.m.
The district plans to continue to monitor public health guidelines for changes, and is currently planning to allocate five tickets each for guests to attend the ceremony. Guests should wear masks and all attendees will be required to complete a COVID-19 screening prior to admission, and adhere to social distancing protocols while in the arena.
The district is also hoping to livestream the graduation to people who are unable to attend the ceremony. Meanwhile, the Observer is running its annual feature spotlighting the top 10 academic seniors. To read about this Top 10 and their feelings about their senior year as impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, turn to Page 10.
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Ewing Township is implementing new procedures for leaf and brush collection starting next month. Under an ordinance amendment approved earlier this year by council and Mayor Bert Steinmann, collections will no longer be scheduled periodically and instead will take place year round. Under the new regulations, residents will be prohibited from raking leaves or debris into the street for pickup, as had been allowed in the past. “We always had an ordinance, but we needed to tweak it a little bit,” Steinmann said. Under the old procedures, “you could put any type of branches out on the street, whether they were 4-feet, 6-feet, 10-feet or 20 feet-long. One guy even put a whole tree out there. You can’t do that anymore.” Now brush must be cut into lengths of no more than 4 feet and placed at the curb. It can be loose or placed in a container. Large batches of brush can be bound together using rope, twine or other similar recyclable materials. See COLLECTION, Page 5
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