Volume LXXIV, Number 12
Music, Dance Lessons Continue Via Tech . . . . 5 Award-Winning LALDEF Serves Local Immigrant Community . . . . . . . . 9 Community Closures Due to COVID-19 Outbreak . . . . . . . . . 10 The Moveable Feast of Hemingway and Cézanne . . . . . . . . . . 12 PU Men’s Hockey Sees ECACH Run End Due to Coronavirus Crisis . . . 19 PHS Girls’ Hoops Showed Growth as Young Players Got Experience . . . . . . 22
John Seward Johnson Jr ., sculptor and creator of Grounds For Sculpture, Dies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .16, 17 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 15 Classified Ads . . . . . . 26 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 24 Performing Arts . . . . . 13 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 26 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Princeton Dems Endorse Freda for Mayor, Cohen And Fraga for Council It was virtual democracy in action Sunday evening as the Princeton Community Democratic Organization (PCDO) went online with its forum for mayoral and Princeton Council candidates and its presidential straw poll. Commentary was live streamed and more than 200 participated in the forum, endorsing Council incumbents David Cohen with 174 votes (82 percent) and Leticia Fraga with 169 votes (80 percent), while challenger Dina Shaw finished third with 63 votes (30 percent). In the race for the mayoral nomination Mark Freda, running unopposed, won the PCDO endorsement with 174 votes (82 percent), with 37 PCDO members (18 percent) voting for no endorsement. In a straw poll on the race for Democratic presidential nominee, PCDO members supported Joe Biden over Bernie Sanders by a 183-21 margin. “These are extraordinary times,” said PCDO President Jean Durbin in introducing the event and explaining the process of canceling the traditional gathering and moving the PCDO’s first virtual endorsement vote online. “It’s exciting tonight for us to test this technology.” The PCDO Executive Board brainstormed many different ways to hold the event, initially planning to livestream the forum with a small audience followed by the option of an in-person or a virtual vote. As the COVID-19 pandemic evolved, the PCDO decided to use Zoom for the forum participants and then livestream it through YouTube to the public. The PCDO membership needed only an email address and an internet connection or a smartphone. The PCDO set up an email address to receive questions for the candidates before and during the event. “Bill Schofield, our publicity and website chair, was really our techno guru, with support from Chris Fistonich,” Durbin said. “Owen O’Donnell, our treasurer, also helped a lot. It was a real team effort. The candidates themselves were extraordinarily patient and good natured. Despite the unfortunate circumstances that caused us to hold a virtual forum and vote, I know we all are proud of how we came together as a community to get it done.” All three Council candidates and the Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, March 18, 2020
Coronavirus Pandemic Continues to Grow As the number of coronavirus cases grows rapidly throughout the state and the nation, officials are taking unprecedented measures — restrictions, cancellations, closures—to help combat the spread of COVID-19. There were 267 confirmed cases in New Jersey as of Tuesday afternoon, and Governor Phil Murphy announced late Monday that a third New Jersey resident, a man in his 90s at Hackensack University Medical Center, had died from the disease. Murphy has also announced the closure of all schools, movie theaters, indoor malls, amusement parks, casinos, gyms, nightclubs, and racetracks. He has also banned dining in at restaurants and gatherings of more than 50 people, and he has recommended a statewide curfew between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m. except for emergencies and essential travel. Locally, the Princeton Health Department announced on Sunday the second, third, and fourth confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Princeton. The first Princeton case, announced Friday, March 13, was a Princeton University staff member. The other three cases were members of one family. All four attended a February 29 social gathering. Two people from Boston, who also
attended the February 29 gathering, returned to Boston, experienced symptoms and subsequently tested positive for COVID-19. The Health Department has been seeking to identify those exposed and to encourage isolation of those who may be at risk of contact with these individuals. Three Pennsylvania residents and two residents of South Brunswick, who also attended the party, have subsequently tested positive. A total of three Princeton University staff members have
tested positive and remain in self-isolation, according to a University announcement Tuesday. It is not clear how many of those are Princeton residents. According to the March 15 Health Department announcement, “All identified cases in Princeton have so far been directly associated with this particular event. However as several of the persons involved were in the community prior to being requested to isolate, we must presume some level of community exposure has Continued on Page 9
Friends and Colleagues of Dorothy Mullen Remember Her As a Passionate Innovator Dorothy Smith Mullen, a well known local environmental, food, and health care activist, died of metastasized lung cancer in hospice care at her Princeton home on March 15. She was 64. An innovator in the field of healing through healthy eating and home-grown produce, Mullen was a founder of the Princeton School Gardens Cooperative and the nonprofit Suppers Program, geared toward building a community of people whose health problems related to the dangers of processed food. “There is only one Dorothy Mullen. She
was a major leader in the community, advocating for people’s health and wellbeing,” said Adrian Hyde, the former executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA). “She was very sincere and selfless in her efforts. She was a very close friend of ours, and a lot of plantings from her garden are now at our farm.” Mullen’s garden on Patton Avenue provided plantings to schools and other private gardens throughout the community. Passersby found scissors and signs Continued on Page 8
QUIET ON CAMPUS: Usually bustling with activity, the area surrounding Nassau Hall at Princeton University was almost empty on Saturday . Students have been told to stay at home after spring break and finish the semester online . The Princeton Public Schools are also teaching classes via remote learning, at least through March 27 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)