Volume LXXIX, Number 2
Conservation Organization Receives Grants to Promote Private Land Stewardship . . . . . . . . 5 Special Connections Support Group Helps Parents of Adults with Special Needs . . . . . . . 8 People and Stories/ Gente y Cuentos Earns Top Rating from Charity Navigator . . . . . . . . . 10 Sparked by Career Game from Senior Forward Hill, Tiger Women’s Hoops Tops Cornell in Ivy Opener. . . . . . . . . 23 Featuring a Blend of Veteran Stars, New Faces, PHS Wrestling Getting Tested on A Weekly Basis . . . . . 27
A Times Square Sighting Of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Gatsby Begins the New Year . . . . . . . . . 16 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 21 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 33 Home and Design . . 18, 19 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 13, 14 Obituaries . . . . . . . 30-32 Performing Arts . . . . . . . .17 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . .10 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 33 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
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Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Mike LaSusa To Be New Schools Superintendent
RSV Levels Rising; Local Health Officials Assess the Situation Runny noses, coughing, sneezing, fever — respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) cases are on the rise, with cold-like symptoms that are often mild but can cause severe illness in some people, including babies, older adults, and the immunocompromised. RSV is the leading cause of childhood illness and hospitalization in infants, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which also recently reported that more than half the counties in New Jersey have a “very high” percentage of emergency department visits for RSV. Emergency room visits for RSV in Mercer County were described as “moderate.” Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center Emergency Medicine Chair and Faculty Medical Director Colleen Marchetta, DO, FAAEM, reported, “Post-holiday, we have already seen a significant increase in patient visits to our Emergency Department for respiratory illnesses.” She continued, “The growing concern about RSV arises from its increased incidence and the pressure it places on health care systems. RSV is a leading cause of hospitalization in infants and can cause severe disease in older adults and those with underlying health conditions. The simultaneous circulation of RSV with other respiratory viruses, such as influenza and COVID-19, exacerbates this burden.” Marchetta described significant variations in RSV in recent seasons, which Princeton Deputy Administrator/Director of Health Jeff Grosser attributed, at least in part, to effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. “After the pandemic years (2020-2022), when strict social distancing and masking measures reduced the spread of many respiratory viruses, there was a notable surge in RSV cases in late 2022 and early 2023,” Grosser wrote in an email. “This was attributed to a lack of natural exposure during the pandemic years, leading to a higher number of unexposed individuals once restrictions were lifted.” In order to manage the surge in RSV cases, the Penn Medicine Princeton Medical Center Emergency Department has “increased bed capacity and ensured adequate staffing to accommodate the influx of patients,” “reintroduced face masks in clinical areas to curb the spread
The Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) will vote on the appointment of School District of the Chathams Superintendent Mike LaSusa as the next superintendent of PPS at a special board meeting on Wednesday, January 8 at 5:30 p.m. Kathie Foster has been serving as acting/interim superintendent since November 2023, following former Superintendent Carol Kelley’s resignation after just over two years at the helm. Foster will continue to lead the PPS until July 1, when LaSusa will take over to serve a term of a minimum of three and a maximum of five years. An Ad Hoc Superintendent Search Committee launched the superintendent search in August, held numerous forums, and conducted a community survey in collaboration with a search firm in the following months, and has been reading applications and confidentially interviewing candidates over the past two months. LaSusa, who has led the Chathams district for the past 13 years, taught middle school Spanish in North Philadelphia at the start of his career in public education, then taught Spanish and social studies at Chatham High School starting in
2001, and went on to serve as high school principal and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction. As superintendent in the Chathams, his achievements include development of a program to support students’ mental health and well-being, implementation of a later high school start time, creation of a mandatory Holocaust and Genocide Studies course at Chatham Middle School, expansion of special education programming, introduction of Chinese (simplified) and American Sign Language
in grades 6-12, and investments in programs and facilities for the arts and athletics. LaSusa was named Region One New Jersey Superintendent of the Year in 2019. LaSusa earned his B.A. in Spanish from Gettysburg College, a M.S. in secondary education from Saint Joseph’s University, and an Ed.D. from Rutgers University in social and philosophical foundations of education. He currently lives in Morris County with his wife and children.
During his first run for a seat on Princeton Council in 2021, Leighton Newlin spent a lot of time walking through every neighborhood in town, talking with people about issues that were on their minds. He was halfway into his first term on the governing body when it struck him that few of those people were showing up at Council meetings to ask questions or air their concerns. “I realized that some people felt intimidated by Council meetings,” he said. “And I thought, if people have questions but
are reluctant to ask them, maybe I’ll go out and try to talk to them at a different place every week, and see what the response is.” That was in April 2023 — the official debut of “Leighton Listens.” On almost every Wednesday since, Newlin has visited a local gathering spot to do just that — listen. Since the first session at Hinds Plaza, at which five people showed up, Newlin has been hearing about issues of concern from a range of people,
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After Nearly Two Years of Chats, Leighton Newlin is Still Listening
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FIRE AWAY: More than 50 reenactor regiments participated in the 2025 Experience the Battle of Princeton event on Sunday morning at Princeton Battlefield State Park on Mercer Road. Attendees share what brought them to the reenactment in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo)
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