Volume LXXVI, Number 48
“Seldom Told Stories of The Delaware River” 40-Mile Tour . . . . . . . . 5 Homelessness and Poverty In Mercer Are Focus of Panel Discussion . . . . . . 8 Local Ballet Teacher Reflects on Her Role In Rodeo . . . . . . . . . . 12 A November Farewell With Twain, Vonnegut, And Lake . . . . . . . . . 20 Pozaric Comes Up Big as PU Men’s Water Polo Advances In NCAA Tourney . . . . . 31 PDS Cross Country Star McCann, Hun Football QB Lainez Get the Nod as Top Fall Performers . . .34-35
Award-Winning Architect Barbara A. Hillier, AIA, Dies at 71 . . . . . . . . . 39 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 26-27 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 28 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 41 Holiday Magic . . . . . . 17 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 18 New To Us . . . . . . . 29-30 Nonprofit Spotlight . . 21-22 Obituaries . . . . . . . 39-40 Perfect Gift . . . . . . . . . 2 Performing Arts . . . 24-25 Police Blotter . . . . . . . 12 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 41 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Outdoor Dining Extended; Bikes, Skateboards Banned On Some Local Sidewalks Princeton’s sidewalks were the focus of two ordinances given public hearings at a meeting of Princeton Council Monday night, November 28. One ordinance extends outdoor dining for two more years, and the other amends the rules banning bicycles, roller skates, and skateboards from certain downtown sidewalks. Both were voted in unanimously. Council also heard progress reports on the Princeton Business Partnership (PBP), an open house for the town’s Master Plan, and the Climate Action Plan that was adopted in 2019. Before passing the outdoor dining ordinance, there was some discussion about whether some of the restaurants that began serving diners along sidewalks during the pandemic are encroaching too far into the public walkways. The ordinance requires “no less than five feet” of space for pedestrians to pass. Municipal attorney Trishka Cecil said that the fivefoot measurement could be seen as a minimum, but additional space can be required. Mayor Mark Freda stressed that the rule needs to be enforced. The ordinance related to bicycles, skateboards, and roller skates is an amendment to the current regulation, regarding exactly where the prohibition is to be. Staff is working on a future ordinance “to make sure we cover not only them [bikes, skateboards, roller skates] but any vehicle we might be able to imagine in the future,” said Land Use Engineer Jim Purcell. The amended ordinance also includes scooters, he said. Councilwoman Eve Niedergang asked if these vehicles are allowed on sidewalks outside the downtown streets specified in the amended ordinance. “There is no prohibition against riding on sidewalks outside of this district,” Purcell said. Mayor Freda commented that there is a big difference between a bicycle and a motorized vehicle traveling up to 20 miles per hour along the sidewalk. “It’s not a good experience for a child or an elderly person to have one of those zip up on them,” he said. “Those are just accidents waiting to happen and we need to pay attention to this all over town.” In his brief update on the PBP, Executive Director Isaac Kremer told Council that the group has been working on logo selection, and recently assisted with the Continued on Page 10
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Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Results Are Official, Winners Look Ahead Election 2022 local results are official, following Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri’s investigation into an Election Day scanner failure and County Clerk Paula Sollami Covello’s certification of the vote tally ahead of the state’s November 26 deadline. Onofri announced last week that his investigation determined that there was no criminal intent or vote tampering during the election. The problem, the investigation concluded, was a human error made in the programming of the voting machines by an employee of Dominion Voting Systems. The error prevented the machines from scanning. “Despite this setback, on Election Day, all ballots were securely transferred to the Board of Elections office, where they were counted by a bipartisan group of commissioners on high-capacity scanners,” according to a press release from the county clerk’s office. “Every ballot that was cast on Election Day was counted, and the integrity of the election remained intact throughout the process.” Sollami Covello expressed her appreciation to the prosecutor’s office, as well as the Board of Elections Commissioners and the Office of the Superintendent of Elections for their work to ensure the
reliability of the election process. “I am pleased there was no intentional criminal action that created this problem,” she said. “Election integrity is something I have worked hard to ensure and have taken great pride in over the past 17 years serving as Mercer County clerk.” In a November 12 statement, Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes called for a “thorough public review of what went wrong with the voting and a “comprehensive overhaul of the elections process in
Mercer County.” He added, “We’ve got too many people in control and the quality of our elections has suffered as a result, undermining people’s faith in the democratic process.” Princeton voters re-elected Democrats Michelle Pirone Lambros and Mia Sacks, running unopposed, to Princeton Council, and, in the race for three seats on the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE), supported the three incumbents Susan Kanter, Dafna Kendal, Continued on Page 16
Bear Hunt in NJ to Resume December 5; No Princeton Bear Sightings Since August For six days, from Monday, December 5 through Saturday, December, 10, New Jersey, for the first time since 2020, will allow hunters to shoot bears on private and state-owned land in northwestern parts of the state — unless the Animal Protection League of New Jersey (APLNJ) and other opposition groups have their way. On November 15, 2022, the New Jersey Fish and Game Council voted unanimously to approve emergency regulations amending the Game Code and adopting a new comprehensive black bear management plan “to control the black bear population and reduce the threat of dangerous
encounters between bears and humans through regulated hunting and non-lethal management measures.” The Fish and Game Council vote was followed on the same day by approval by New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) commissioner Shawn LaTourette and action by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to rescind his 2018 executive order that banned bear hunts on state property. “The facts on the ground have shown that we cannot rely on nonlethal methods alone to protect New Jersey residents Continued on Page 14
LIGHTING UP THE NIGHT: A large crowd was on hand for the Annual Palmer Square Tree Lighting on Friday evening. The event also featured musical performances and a visit from Santa Claus. Attendees share what they are looking forward to this holiday season in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Charles R. Plohn)