Volume LXXV, Number 10
Pages 19-24 PCS Takes Home Science Bowl Win For 4th Straight Year . . . . . . 5 Library Mounts Window Display to Mark Women’s History Month . . . . . . . . 9 Vision Zero Initiative Focuses on Pedestrian, Cyclist Safety . . . . . . . . 10 Chopin Comes to the Carnival of Souls . . . . . 13 PSO Performs Music of Respighi, Puccini in Virtual Concert . . . . . . 14 Reflections on a Turbulent Year of COVID And Sports . . . . . . . . 28 Senior Star Jardine Finishes on a High Note for Hun Girls’ Hoops . . . . . 32
Caroline Topping Enjoys Big Senior Day for PDS Girls’ Hoops . . . . . . . . 31 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 18 Classified Ads . . . . . . 35 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Cast Your Vote For New Middle School Name; Semifinalists Chosen The Princeton Public Schools (PPS) middle school students have chosen ten semifinalists in the process of renaming their school, and the next step is in the hands of the Princeton community, which is invited to vote for its preferred candidate. Formerly John Witherspoon Middle School, now temporarily Princeton Unified Middle School (PUMS), the school on Walnut Lane will be renamed by June — maybe it will be Albert Einstein Middle School or Elizabeth Stockton Middle School. Or John Lewis or Michelle Obama or Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape Nation or Paul Robeson or Ruth Bader Ginsburg or Shirley Satterfield Middle School. Or, with a growing contingent eager to give the various middle school hallways names rather than the whole school, the middle school might become Princeton Community School or Walnut Lane Middle School, with future naming opportunities for the hallways. The Board of Education (BOE) will make the final decision by June, but promises that that decision will be informed by the voting of PUMS students and community members. “Our community’s commitment to our core values of diversity, inclusion, and respect for all is at the foundation of the Princeton Unified Middle School’s process to determine its new name,” states the PPS website. More than 600 PUMS students recently viewed video projects created by eighth grade civics students to promote possible new names. The community voting page is available at princetonk12.org and includes the students’ videos and further
Performing Arts . . . . . 15 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 10 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 35 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 34 School Matters . . . . . . 10 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
COVID-19: One Year and 625 Cases Later One year ago the Princeton Health Department announced Princeton’s first positive case of the new coronavirus, a 49-year-old resident who had attended a private party in Princeton where two people from the Boston area were later found to be infected. Fourteen of the 47 people at the party were Princeton residents. They were all contacted by the Princeton Health Department, and nine of them reported one or more symptoms of COVID and were tested. On Sunday, March 15, 2020 the health department announced the second, third, and fourth COVID-19 cases in Princeton. Since then there have been more than 620 cases and 21 COVID-related deaths, with an additional 13 probable COVID-related deaths, reported in Princeton. Noting that there has been little time for reflection over the past year, Princeton Health Officer Jeff Grosser wrote in an email on Tuesday, March 9, “Tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary of Princeton’s first confirmed case reported to the health department, although we had already been contact tracing prior to the first confirmed case because reporting was delayed in the beginning due to laboratories scrambling to deal with the influx of
new specimens.” Emphasizing the ongoing struggle with the pandemic, he added, “It’s hard to believe it has been a year. The health department has not had much reprieve in the last 12 months, with all of the changes and new things learned about COVID-19. It has put public health to the test, and reflection has not been an option, nor a priority.” He continued, “The only priority the health department team is focused on right now is vaccine distribution to as
many people as possible. And after that, time will tell but it will likely be the catching up of many preventative health services delayed due to the pandemic, along with the social and emotional repercussions we are just starting to skim the surface of.” On Monday, March 8 the Princeton Health Department reported a continuing decline in cases, with just three new positive cases in Princeton in the past seven days, and 12 cases in the past 14 days. Continued on Page 7
Bruschi to Return as Administrator Until Position is Permanently Filled At a meeting of Princeton Council Monday night, it was announced that former longtime municipal administrator Bob Bruschi will return as interim administrator beginning sometime next week. Bruschi, who was administrator of the former Borough and later of consolidated Princeton until his retirement in 2014, will temporarily replace his successor Marc Dashield, who announced last fall that he would be leaving this spring. Bruschi will be in the post for anywhere from about six weeks to a few months, Councilwoman Eve Niedergang said.
A decision on a permanent hire for the job is hoped for by the end of this month. Niedergang also announced that the town has hired a new sewer manager, and that interviews will begin soon for the position of open space manager. Municipal Engineer Deanna Stockton reported that she and members of other departments had met with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) regarding improving the safety of the traffic signal at Nassau and Witherspoon streets. “I think we made good progress Continued on Page 11
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New to Us . . . . . . . . . . 24 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 34
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Daylight Saving Time starts this Sunday at 2 a.m. Turn clocks ahead one hour.
SIGNS OF SPRING: Morven Museum & Garden Horticulturist Louise Senior points out witch hazel during a tour of Morven’s grounds on Sunday afternoon . Participants share their favorite early signs of spring and spring flowers in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Charles R.. Plohn)
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