Volume LXXI, Number 23 New Parklet Opens on Palmer Square . . . . . . . 5 Cherry Valley Cooperative In New Location . . . . . . 8 Local Activists Aim to Quiet Leaf Blowers . . . 11 The Poem As a Way of Life in Paterson . . . . . 13 Concordia Chamber Players Open Princeton Festival . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Programs for Special Needs Challenges . . . . 21 Weeks Helps Boston College Women’s Lax Make NCAA Final . . . . 33 PHS Freshman Schenk Soaring to New Heights in Pole Vault . . . . . . . . . 34
Riverside School Teacher and Author Gita Varadarajan . . . . . . . . 10 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 27 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Classified Ads . . . . . . . 38 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Music/Theater . . . . . . 16 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 28 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 37 Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 38 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Democrat Murphy Wins; Republican Guadagno Wins; Two Will Race for Governor In the primary races for governor, the only contested clashes on the ballot in Princeton, Phil Murphy, former Goldman Sachs executive and ambassador to Germany, easily defeated his Democratic opponents, and New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno eked out a close victory over Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli to gain the Republican nomination. According to unofficial results, Mr. Murphy and Ms. Guadagno will be the candidates in the November 7 election for the four-year term to succeed Governor Chris Christie. According to the Mercer County Clerk’s Office, with 94 percent (228 of 243) of districts reporting, Mr. Murphy received 10,488 votes or 45 percent of the vote, while John Wisniewski got 5,784 or 25 percent in the Democratic primary. Jim Johnson earned 5,396 votes, Raymond J. Lesniak 746, Bill Brennan 482, and Mark Zinna 158. For the GOP, Ms. Guadagno received 2,272 votes or 40 percent, Mr. Ciattarelli 2,073 or 36 percent, Hirsh Singyh 557, Steven Rogers 543, and Joseph R. Rullo 252. In the vote for two open positions for a three-year term on Princeton Council, Leticia Fraga and David E. Cohen, both Democrats, were unopposed. There were no Republican candidates. Unopposed winners in the 16th District State Senate primary were incumbent Christopher “Kip” Bateman for the Republicans and Democrat Laurie Poppe. In the races for the nomination for two New Jersey General Assembly seats in the 16th District, also unopposed in both parties, incumbent Andrew Zwicker and Roy Freiman will represent the Democrats and Donna M. Simon and Mark Caliguire will represent the Republicans. In the election for sheriff, John A. “Jack” Kemler will be on the ballot for the Democrats in November, and Charles “Chuck” Farina will run for the Republicans. In the race for two positions on the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Lucylle R.S. Walter and John A. Cimino will run for the Democrats and Jeff Hewitson and Michelle Noone will represent the GOP. —Donald Gilpin
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Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Princeton’s Tradition of Service
Princeton University held its 270th commencement ceremony on the green in front of Nassau Hall yesterday morning. A total of 1,268 seniors were awarded undergraduate degrees, three from former classes, and 988 students were recognized with graduate degrees. The University also gave honorary degrees to five individuals for their contributions to public service, the sciences, athletics, education, and the humanities. Recognized were Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, basketball star and social activist; Juliet Villareal Garcia, the first Mexican-American woman president of a U.S. college or university; Pamela Matson, an academic leader in environmental science; Bunker Roy, Indian social activist and educator; and Jeremiah P. Ostriker, astrophysicist and former provost of Princeton University who helped establish its pioneering financial aid program. President Christopher L. Eisgruber, the University’s 20th president, presided over the event and addressed the graduates. The full text of his talk is as follows: In a few minutes, all of you will march through FitzRandolph Gate as newly minted graduates of this University. Before you do, it is my privilege to say a few words to you about the path that lies ahead.
In doing so, I continue a venerable Princeton tradition that permits the president to have the first word to each entering class at Opening Exercises and the last word to each graduating class at Commencement. Those of you who arrived in September 2013 and heard my Opening Exercises address may perhaps recall something I told you then: namely, that I could not remember a word of what the University president said to my class when it entered Princeton in September 1979. I wish
I could say that Commencement was different, and that I remembered vividly the speech the president delivered almost exactly 34 years ago, on June 7, 1983. It was a good speech, I can tell you that — but I can tell you that only because I re-read the speech about four weeks ago when I was preparing these remarks. I cannot honestly tell you that I remember hearing it delivered. I do, however, remember well the man who delivered it: Princeton’s 17th Continued on Page 6
Teachers’ Contract Extension Agreement Is Close to Resolution The Princeton School Board and the teachers’ union are ironing out the final details of a two-year extension to the current contract that would carry through to the end of the 2020 school year. Seeking to avoid the kind of conflict and public demonstrations that characterized the contentious negotiations over the current contract, which were finally resolved two years ago, the board and the Princeton Regional Education Association (PREA) have laid the groundwork to reach an agreement at least a year before the contract expires on June 30, 2018.
The tentative agreement, which was achieved in a series of meetings between representatives of the board and representatives of the teachers’ union over the past three weeks, calls for 2.63 percent overall annual salary increase, in line with the final year of the current contract, and the same rate of health benefits collection and shared savings as in the current contract. The next step is to agree on the specifics of the salary guide and the distribution of the increase among teachers with Continued on Page 4
I LOVE A P-RADE: Grand Marshal Dan Lopresti, Princeton *87, leads the Princeton University P-rade on Saturday afternoon during Reunions weekend . He is followed by alumni in festive attire grouped by graduating class, starting by tradition with the 25th reunion class . Participants share why they came for Reunions weekend in this week’s Town Talk, and more photos are featured on page 18 . (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)
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