Volume LXXII, Number 31
HopewellPennington Area Life Pages 10-15
Several Western Section Homes are on the Market . . . . . . . . . . 5 PU Summer Chamber Concerts Closes 51st Season . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Celebrating 50 Years of Hey Jude . . . . . . . . . 19 Princeton Summer Theater Presents The Children’s Hour . . . . 26 PU Women’s Rower Kallfelz Takes Silver at U-23 Worlds . . . . . . . 27 LoyalTees Wins Summer Men’s Hoops Title . . . . 30
New Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora Encourages Collaboration . . . . . . . . 7 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Berkshire Hathaway Fox & Roach Realtors . .20, 21 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 23 Cinema . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classified Ads . . . . . . 33 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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University Stands Firm On Gym Memberships Earlier this summer, Princeton University informed members of the local community who have been using the school’s Dillon Gymnasium and Stephens Fitness Center that they would no longer be able to buy memberships for use of the pool, squash courts, and other facilities. That did not go over well. But despite an outcry among this group and appeals to the University to reconsider, the decision is firm. As of January 1, 2019, the gym memberships will no longer be offered to the general public, some of whom have been using the pool for decades. “We understand the disappointment regarding the decision to no longer offer general memberships to these facilities,” wrote University spokesman Michael Hotchkiss in an email when asked if the University was planning to reconsider. “This decision was not made lightly or quickly. We know participants valued the program, but we are confident alternatives are available.” A letter sent to members in June read, “Due to space constraints and growing demand from students, faculty, and staff on campus fitness and recreation facilities, the University determined it will no longer offer gym memberships to the general public starting January 1, 2019. Fortunately there are numerous fitness and recreation facilities available in town and nearby offering similar programs and facilities that had been available on campus.” In letters to Town Topics’ Mailbox, several people have expressed their disappointment that the pool, in particular, would no longer be available. A letter on July 3 said the closing was announced without informing anyone affected by the decision until it was too late, calling it “a swift, simplistic, and secretive decision that was also the ultimate in hypocrisy.” On July 25, another reader wrote “at the very least the University should allow all grandfathered members to continue their membership until such time that the directors sitting in their lofty towers can figure out how to embrace our community in the way it deserves.” In its June letter, the University apologized to members of any inconvenience and thanked them for their patronage over the years. It also included a list of
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Joint Effort Kicks Off 2018 Celebration
As it prepares to launch its ten-day summer program on Thursday, 2018 Joint Effort Safe Streets (JE) has announced the names of honorees who will be recognized during this year’s celebration, “The Black Community in Princeton: Our Stories Lived But Seldom Heard.” During the August 2-12 festivities, the JE program will present the Jim Floyd Memorial Lifetime Achievement Awards to Jimmy and Audrey Mack and Johnnie and Micheal Hill. The Princeton Public Library (PPL), the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP), and Moriah Akrong will also be honored, receiving Mildred Trotman Community Service Awards. “All of this year’s award recipients have
made significant contributions to the Witherspoon-Jackson and the Princeton community and are more than worthy of this recognition,” said Princeton Councilman Lance Liverman. “The contributions of community institutions like Princeton Public Library and the Arts Council are huge. Jimmy and Audrey Mack have been contributing to our community for years. The recognition of Johnnie and Micheal Hill, two of the most versatile and talented women ever to come from this town, is long, long overdue as well as is the acknowledgement of Moriah Akrong, a future leader among our young adults. Good selections.” Liverman was recognized by JE at a
New To Us . . . . . . . . . 16 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 32 Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 School Matters . . . . . . 23 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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AL PARISH
BOE Sued Over Alleged Violation Of Sunshine Law
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DRIVE TIME: Christine Shao from Green Brook, N .J ., hits a drive Monday at the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) Championship at the Springdale Golf Club . The three-round event, which included a field of more than 70 of the top junior golfers in the country, was slated to run from July 30-August 1 . (Photo by Erica M. Cardenas)
Visit www.princetonsummertheater.org/tickets or call (732) 997-0205 to buy your tickets today!
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special event in his honor in March, after announcing that he will retire from Council at the end of this year. In addition to the awards, there will also be JE book scholarships presented to Denise Spivey (Stockton University) and Zahrion Blue (Lincoln University) and a special Youth Recognition Award to recent Princeton High School graduate Amira Jackson. JE gets underway Thursday at 6 p.m. with a concert by Amazin’ Grace and the Grace Little Band, sponsored by the ACP, in the courtyard of the Princeton Shopping Center. The host committee will hold a community gathering at the Elks Lodge on Birch Avenue Thursday evening following the concert. On Friday at 10 a.m. a youth basketball clinic will take place on the Community Park (CP) basketball courts. At 5:30 p.m. Friday there will be a JE Kick-off Continued on Page 8
DIRECTORY OF LIGIOUS SERVICES Music/Theater . . . . . . 24
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Two Princeton residents have initiated a lawsuit against the Princeton Board of Education (BOE), charging a violation of the New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), known as the “Sunshine Law.” Filed by Corrine O’Hara and Joel Schwartz in Mercer County Superior Court on July 27, the complaint concerns the manner in which the BOE voted to renew a sending-receiving agreement (SRA) with the Cranbury Board of Education by which Cranbury students attend Princeton High School. As a result of the computer voting method used by the BOE, the public cannot witness who votes yes, who votes no, and who abstains, according to the complaint. Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Steve Cochrane defended the Board’s use of electronic voting procedures and questioned the basis of the lawsuit, which he characterized as “less about democracy and more about disruption.” He stated that a conversation would have been more appropriate than a lawsuit for resolving any concerns that the complainants may have had. Cochrane noted that PPS “is one of many districts throughout the country utilizing BoardDocs for the electronic management of its meetings. The electronic Continued on Page 8
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www.princetonsummertheater.org Our 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards next week Do you What’s your favorite areacloses restaurant?
love? Town Topics Newspaper is happy to ann Choice Awards competition is now open for vo
August 9th
Welcomes Lead Pastor Rev. Jenny Smith Walz Wherever you are on your journey of faith, you are
Vote online at Towntopics.com Ballot in today’s paper on page 32