Volume LXXIII, Number 28
www.towntopics.com
Joint Effort 2019 Will Honor Locals In Week of Festivities
Topics of the Town . . . . 5
Looking ahead to next month’s actionpacked week of educational, celebratory, and athletic events, reflecting this year’s theme of “Celebrating Life by Honoring Our Past, Recognizing Our Families and Lifting Up Our Town,” the Joint Effort Princeton Witherspoon-Jackson Safe Streets Program has announced its honorees for 2019. During the August 3-11 festivities, John Broadway, Ida Belle Dixon, Cecelia B. Hodges, Laura Wooten (posthumously), Mamie Oldham, Bob and Barbara Hillier (Town Topics shareholders), and Minnie and Eric Craig will receive the 2019 Paul Robeson Spirit Award. Leighton Newlin and Lance Liverman will be honored as the 2019 WitherspoonJackson Citizens of the Year, and Frances Broadway Craig and Cynthia “Chip” Fisher (posthumously) will receive the 2019 Jim Floyd Memorial Lifetime Achievement Awards. The 2019 Mildred Trotman Community Service honorees are New Jersey Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker; Princeton Mayor Liz Lempert; Princeton Councilmen David Cohen and Tim Quinn; Princeton School Board Member Jess Deutsch; Mercer County Youth Advocate Grace Kimbrough; Princeton Housing Chair Alvin McGowen; Diversity Advocate John Heilner; Town Topics and this writer Donald Gilpin; and WitherspoonJackson Community Citizen Advocates Antoine Newlin, Ashley Hightower, Marshawn Ferguson, Richard Wilson Jr., and Tommy and Joanne Parker. “The 2019 Joint Effort Princeton Witherspoon-Jackson Awards recipients are a quality group of individuals and all are well deserving of their Joint Effort Safe Streets honor,” said Joint Effort Safe Streets organizer John Bailey in making the announcement. “These 2019 honorees represent a cross-section of the town. They are inter-generational and each supports the Witherspoon-Jackson community and the town of Princeton.” Shirley Satterfield, president of the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society (WJHCS) and a member of the Joint Effort Safe Streets Host Committee, added, “WJHCS is honored to be a part of this year’s Joint Effort Safe Streets Program and is very happy to see
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Princeton Student Film Festival Explores Multiple Genres . . . . . . . 5 ACE Program Seeks to Reduce Absenteeism at PHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Summer Music on Proust’s Birthday . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Brass Ensemble at PU Summer Chamber Concerts Series . . . . . . 13 Princeton Summer Theater Presents Deathtrap . . . 14 PU Grad Smith Pitching in Angels Organization . . . 20 PHS Alumna Shane Has Big Finale for Michigan Women’s Lax . . . . . . . . 22
Peter Westergaard, PU composer and educator, dies . . . . . . . 10 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .18, 19 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 17 Classified Ads . . . . . . 27 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Music/Theater . . . . . . 15 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 26 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 8 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 27 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
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Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Order Blocks Council From Canceling Contract A temporary restraining order issued Monday by Mercer County Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson prevented Princeton Council from passing a resolution that would have ended its agreement with a sewer repair company for work on Spruce Street and Linden Lane. At its meeting Monday evening, July 8, the governing body put aside the resolution that would have terminated its contract with Integrated Construction and Utilities of New Jersey (ICUNJ). The company is connected to an investigation into alleged illegal dumping at the River Road sewer department facility. ICUNJ, which does sewer repair, demolition, and asbestos abatement, has done work for Princeton for over a decade. After it was revealed last month that a container filled with asbestos materials was at the River Road facility, the municipality informed ICUNJ that its contract would be canceled. The company responded by filing a lawsuit against the town, saying it was simply following directions from Princeton officials in disposing of materials at the site, and therefore should not be punished. Three municipal employees have been terminated as a result of the illegal
dumping scandal. One has been charged with second degree bribery for allegedly accepting payment in exchange for letting contractors dump dirt and other materials at the municipal site. Council did pass a resolution at Monday’s meeting authorizing the hiring of Whitman Environmental Consulting for an environmental assessment of the sewer site, for a fee of up to $163,375. Municipal Administrator Mark Dashield said that after the New Jersey Department of
Environmental Protection issued a violation notice to the town last month for operating an illegal solid waste facility at the River Road site, the town had five to ten days to hire a licensed state remediation professional to test for contamination. “We hired Whitman because we’ve had good experience with them,” he said, referring to work the company did on the AvalonBay rental complex site in 2016. “We did reach out to another firm, but with Continued on Page 10
Lights for Liberty to Rally in Hinds Plaza; Vigil Friday Evening for immigrant Rights
Hundreds of Princeton area residents are expected to rally in Hinds Plaza this Friday from 7-9 p.m. to support immigrant rights and to protest the treatment of immigrant families by the current administration. “We are expecting a contingent of students associated with LEDA (Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America) from Princeton, as well as some families directly affected by the policy, people of faith who believe this is not what their church/ mosque/synagogue has taught them, and many community members who believe
it is their duty as human beings to show compassion to those seeking refuge,” said local organizer and Indivisible Cranbury leader Laura Zurfluh. As part of an international demonstration titled Lights for Liberty: A Vigil to End Human Detention Camps, the Princeton event will feature local representatives and activists, including Maria Juega, co-founder of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF); Princeton Councilwoman Continued on Page 4
CELEBRATING EVERYTHING BLUEBERRY: Pick-your-own-blueberries was just one of the activities at the Blueberry Bash, held last weekend at Terhune Orchards on Cold Soil Road . The annual event also featured a blueberry bake-off contest, wagon and pony rides, live music, a puppet show, wine tasting, and plenty of blueberry treats . Festivalgoers share their favorite ways to enjoy blueberries in this week’s Town Talk on page 6 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
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