Volume LXXIX, Number 30
Spotlight on
Lawrenceville/ Lawrence Township Pages 16-17 New PPS Superintendent Mike LaSusa Prepares for The 2025-2026 School Year. . . . . . . . . 7 Musings on Raymond Chandler’s Birthday: A conflicted Reading Adventure. . . . . . . . . 12 New Jersey Symphony Showcases New Pieces by Selected Composers. . 13 After Previous Stint as Assistant for PU Women’s Hockey, Kessel Gets Return Engagement to Guide Tiger Program. . . . . . . . 21 Former PU Men’s Hoops Star Stephens Back in the Game, Competing for Novi Wealth Partners in Summer League. . . . . 26
Stoutsburg Sourland Museum Features All Stars: Black Baseball in Jersey and Beyond. . . . 5 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 15, 18 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . 29 Mailbox. . . . . . . . . . . . 11 New To Us . . . . . . . . . . 20 Performing Arts. . . . . . . . 14 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . . . 8 Real Estate . . . . . . . . . 29 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Topics of the Town . . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
LALDEF Reaches Out to Anxious, Beleaguered Immigrant Community
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Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Forest Restoration Project is Underway Of all of the parks that make up Princeton’s Greater Mountain Lakes Natural Area, Community Park North (CPN) is in the unhealthiest shape. Decades of “deer browse,” and the straight-line method in which many of the Norway spruce and Eastern white pines were planted, have taken their toll on the 45-acre expanse. But a grant to amend the situation has been obtained by the Municipality, with the support of Friends of Princeton Open Space (FOPOS). On July 15, the firm of Clarke Moynihan started work to kick off the Natural Climate Solutions project at the park. The goal is to rehabilitate the degraded woodland. According to a press release from FOPOS, the $552,000 grant was awarded by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in 2023 under a program funded by the multi-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The project will be supported by over $110,000 of contributions by FOPOS in the form of 600 hours of the time of its Director of Natural Resources and Stewardship, Anna Corichi; 640 hours of paid intern time; almost 2,500 hours of work by board and community volunteers; and $2,500 towards any necessary repairs of a deer exclusion fence. (The FOPOS contribution is actually substantially larger, since both paid and volunteer hours were valued as of 2022.)
The process will remove invasive species and replace the many dying and dead Norway spruce and Eastern white pines with nearly 5,000 healthy native trees and shrubs, to be protected from deer by fencing and caging until they are well established. The Clarke Moynihan firm, which is based in Andover, has begun clearing the area. This portion of the work should last till the end of October. Until then, trails in Community Park North — except Pettoranello Gardens — will be closed.
“Community Park North is just across Route 206 from central Princeton, including the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood,” said Wendy Mager, president of FOPOS. “It is a gateway, of sorts, for people coming from the east. But sadly, of the various parks that comprise what we call the Greater Mountain Lakes Natural Area, it is probably in the worst shape. That’s because the trees, for some reason, were all planted in straight rows, probably in the sixties. They’re old, and the lower
With its headquarters in Trenton and its Princeton satellite office at Nassau Presbyterian Church, the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) has been on the front lines in responding to recent anti-immigrant policies and actions by the federal government. Over the past several months there has been a steady increase in clients seeking assistance of all kinds from Continued on Page 10 LALDEF. “Our nation finds itself at another crossroads, with immigrants once again bearing the brunt of damaging policy decisions,” LALDEF Executive Director It was 80 years ago, on August 6 and from 7 to 8:30 p.m. with a focus on the relCecy Jimenez-Weeast wrote in a June 9, 1945, that the United States’ atomic evant lessons to be learned “as countries letter to LALDEF supporters. “From bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki continue to maintain (and even escalate) sweeping immigration reforms to increastook place, still the only uses of nuclear large stockpiles of nuclear weapons,” acingly hostile enforcement, the current weapons in an armed conflict. The dev- cording to a press release from the Coaliadministration remains steadfast in their astating attacks led to the Japanese sur- tion for Peace Action, which is sponsoring render and the end of World War II on the event along with the PPL. push to punish those pursuing a better August 15, just six days after the bomblife for themselves and their families.” Speakers will include Shiho Burke, ing, but hundreds of thousands of people whose family experienced firsthand the She continued, “In the chaos of the were killed, the aftereffects were horrific, atomic bombing of Hiroshima; Princcurrent moment, the greatest tools we and debate over the justification for the eton University Astrophysics Professor have at our disposal are communication bombing continues. and former Princeton Plasma Physics and community. By building bridges rath“Remembering Hiroshima and Naga- Laboratory Director Robert Goldston; er than burning them, we can meaningsaki,” an 80th anniversary observance of Seabrook Educational and Cultural Center fully forge a more equitable, welcoming the bombings, will be held in the Princeton (SECC) Museum Director Larry Eriksen; future for all. In the spirit of collaboration, Public Library (PPL) on Tuesday, August 5 Continued on Page 9 LALDEF is proud to work alongside local law enforcement to advocate for immigrant rights, enhance protections, and leverage resources to best serve all those who call our communities home.” Jimenez-Weeast noted that LALDEF’s deep ties to Mercer County and “the history of trust we’ve built among our clients” have been key factors in its continuing success in serving the immigrant community. She cited a significant increase in the numbers of green card holders approaching LALDEF for help in pursuing pathways to citizenship, with many clients feeling that citizenship is the best option to assure their continued safety in the country. She also reported a steady increase in the number of clients seeking a Power of Attorney to give families the chance to identify a guardian to oversee the care and safety of their children Set amidst in one ofthe Princeton's most prestigious neighborhoods, within a short walk to town, the difficult realities of deportation and family University and other cultural venues, this classic Federalist home embodies the community's separation. history of sophistication. A grand, inviting hallway withdecia fireplace opens to the spacious “These types of devastating living and dining rooms suitable for the most RAINY DAY MUSIC: Fans who turned out at Palmer Square Green for the Saturday, July 19 concert by Ess Gees did their sions are the real-world consequences elegant entertaining. Built in a period of skilled best to cope with the rain. But when the drizzle turned into a downpour, the band and the audience had to pack up. craftsmanship, these well-proportioned rooms of policies and procedureshave which place high ceilings, deep moldings and other The weekly series will continue this Saturday, July 26 with the Erik Daab Trio, and continue through August 30 with after details. First floor rooms flow politics over our sharedsought humanity,”
Anniversary of Hiroshima, Nagasaki Bombings Will be Observed at Public Library on August 5
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(Photo by Thomas Hedges)