Volume LXXII, Number 50
Princeton Theological Seminary Redevelopment Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 PU Scholars Win International Awards . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Nature’s Nation Gives Way to Gravity’s Rainbow . . . . . . . . . 21 A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre . . . 22 Alarie Returns with a Bang for PU Women’s Hoops . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Patterson Leading the Way for PDS Girls’ Hockey . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Former Princeton Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins Writes Memoir . . . . . . 18 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtor . . .14, 15 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 31 Classified Ads . . . . . . 46 Dining & Entertainment. . . 29 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Music/Theater . . . . . . 23 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 36 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 45 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 4 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 45 School Matters . . . . . . 11 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6 Wedding . . . . . . . . . . . 8
www.towntopics.com
NJ Transit Woes Prompt Gov. Murphy To Launch Campaign
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Voters Pass $26.9 Million Schools Referendum
Travelers on New Jersey Transit (NJT) know all about delays, cancellations, aging trains, and not enough engineers to run them. And local commuters, faced with the ongoing suspension of Dinky train service between Princeton and Princeton Junction, are all too familiar with the agency’s woes. According to a recent announcement by NJT, some relief may be in sight. Last week, the agency revealed plans to launch a “customer focused communications initiative.” The new effort “focuses on addressing customer needs, providing more timely information, and improving all customer touchpoints including announcements, station and facility conditions, and the onboard experience.” More specifically, NJT plans to purchase 113 new multi-level cars and 182 new buses. The mobile app is being upgraded. There will be new touch-screen interactive information kiosks at four stations, but alas, not Princeton, as part of a pilot program. As for the problem of hiring and retaining personnel, there have been “successful recruiting efforts to attract additional bus operators and locomotive engineers,” the release reads. “Since January 1 [2018], more than 300 new bus operators have been hired and more than 5,000 applications for locomotive engineers have been received.” The agency also states that four new locomotive engineer training classes are underway, with 13 engineers anticipated to graduate in May, 2019, and three additional classes graduating before the end of 2019. The average “cycle time” on procurements has been reduced by 20 percent compared to 2017 and 40 percent compared to 2016, it says. “Under the Murphy administration, NJ Transit has made remarkable progress on the federally mandated Positive Train Control (PTC) installation,” it continues. “In January, NJ Transit was at just 12 percent completion. NJ Transit is now at approximately 93 percent completion.” It is the installation of PTC, not on the Dinky line, but in other parts of the Continued on Page 8
75¢ at newsstands
Princeton voters passed a $26.9 million Princeton Public Schools facilities referendum bond yesterday by a vote of 2,186 to 1,613, according to unofficial results at press time. Provisional ballots have not yet been counted. Though fewer voters turned out for this one-question, “yes” or “no” vote than for the November 6 election, there has been a significant show of interest in the community over the much-debated proposed renovations and upgrades to the Princeton Public Schools (PPS). Polls at Community Park Elementary School, Riverside Elementary, Johnson Park Elementary, and Littlebrook Elementary were open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. School officials have noted that this $26.9 million bond, scaled down from an original proposal of almost $130 million, will address the district’s most immediate and urgent needs, including safety, security, and HVAC upgrades in all the schools, as well as the creation of four additional classrooms at Princeton High School (PHS), along with a new dining center on the main floor, increased space for athletics, and improved space for student counseling. The Princeton Board of Education (BOE) has described this referendum
as an initial step in addressing the challenges of aging buildings and growing student population, with the youngest building, John Witherspoon Middle School, built in 1965 and the oldest, PHS, dating back to 1927. None were designed to address today’s security concerns or HVAC needs. The BOE has planned for ongoing discussion with the community in the coming year, looking to another referendum on the ballot next fall, possibly seeking funding for expansion of the PHS building and a new 5/6 school. Anticipated impact on property taxes of this new bond is approximately $57
additional in the first year, 2020, for an average assessed home of $837,074, according to the PPS website. Subsequent year estimated additional costs would be about $61 in 2021, about $106 in 2022, then sizable reductions in 2023 and beyond after debt from a previous bond has been retired. The BOE anticipates debt service aid from the state of New Jersey to cover 27 percent of the cost of the bond. Construction on the proposed upgrades and renovations in the schools are scheduled to begin in the spring of 2019. —Donald Gilpin
Symposium on Indigenous Communities Examines Discrimination, Climate Change Tanya Talaga, journalist and author of the recent bestseller Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City, told the stories of the seven fallen feathers and how she had come to write a book about the seven indigenous high school students who died in Thunder Bay, Ontario between 2000 and 2011. Speaking to an audience of about 60 in the Princeton Public Library community room last Thursday
evening at the opening of the twoday International Symposium on Indigenous Communities and Climate Change, Talaga, a reporter for the Toronto Star and the only indigenous national print journalist in Canada, described how her proposed newspaper story on why indigenous people don’t vote turned into a project that lasted many years and led her into the lives of the seven students and their world. Continued on Page 10
CELEBRATION ON THE SQUARE: Thursday evening marked the fifth night of Hanukkah and the Annual Menorah Lighting on Palmer Square. The event, led by Rabbi Adam Feldman and Cantor Jeff Warschauer of The Jewish Center of Princeton, also featured holiday food and live music. Participants share their favorite Hanukkah gifts in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
Location
OVATION-WORTHY
Call for information: 609-331-9117 1 Riverwalk | Plainsboro, NJ 08536
www.ovationatriverwalk.com | Active Adult Living