Volume LXXVIII, Number 51
Plenty of Patriots Week Activities December 2631 in Trenton . . . . . . . 5 Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Ban Back in Effect . . . . 9 High School Juniors Are Making a Difference With Music . . . . . . . . 11 McCarter Theatre Presents A Christmas Carol . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 With Junior Amanze Displaying Her Potential, Tiger Women’s Hoops Defeats Rhode Island . . 24 Smiegocki Bringing Emphasis on Preparation In Debut Season Coaching PHS Girls’ Hoops . . . . 27
Jane Austen Stars with Mark Twain in This Week’s Game of “Authors” Book Review . . . . . . . 14 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . 20, 21 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 22 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 33 Gift Certificates . . . . . 18 Hometown Holiday. . . . 19 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 12, 13 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 23 Obituaries . . . . . . . 31, 32 Performing Arts . . . . .16, 17 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . . 8 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 33 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
New Electric Buses Will Be Transporting PPS Students Soon Two new electric school buses will be traveling the roads of Princeton, possibly as early as the summer of 2025, following the award of up to $620,000 from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) as part of a $15 million statewide program to help school districts transition to electric transportation. The Princeton Public Schools (PPS) announced that the grant will also help to fund a fast-charging station for the electric vehicles. The station requires about six hours to fully charge both vehicles simultaneously, and each will be capable of traveling about 110 miles per charge. Once New Jersey has a program in place, this station will be able to send energy back to the grid during high-demand periods. PPS Business Administrator Matthew Bouldin applauded the state’s contribution to the district’s sustainability efforts. “We believe governmental entities can and should take the lead in modeling sustainable practices, especially when we can achieve this within our fairly strict budgetary framework,” he said. “Programs like the NJDEP grant make sustainable choices attainable.” On its Electric School Bus Grant Program web page the NJDEP notes, “Of the 21,700 school buses registered in New Jersey, over 99 percent run on fossil fuels. While providing vital transportation services, these buses negatively impact the health of students and residents of the communities in which they operate.” Electric school buses reduce or eliminate exhaust emissions, which are linked to asthma and other health risks. “This initiative is a significant step toward reducing our community’s carbon footprint and improving air quality for Princeton,” said Jenny Ludmer, program manager for Sustainable Princeton, which works with the district on its sustainability efforts and partnered with PPS in developing the grant application. “These two buses will provide a quieter ride for students to and from school, and some cleaner air, thanks to the lack of tailpipe emissions.” She went on to highlight the progress in electric transportation and to express optimism for future expansion. “Sustainable Princeton is proud to support the school district in seeking grants and Continued on Page 8
75¢ at newsstands
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Princeton Deer Management Plan Is Stalled As Municipal Attorney Trishka Cecil reported to Princeton Council at last week’s meeting, the town’s plans for deer management, using both lethal and non-lethal means, are at an impasse. “I am very disappointed,” Cecil told Council members. “Your constituents, your Council, and White Buffalo [the town’s deer management contractor] all want to include non-lethal means. They want you, as scientists, as people committed to responsible deer management — they want you to be able to use every tool that is available in your toolbox, and you are being confronted with a division that for reasons I cannot understand seems dead set against it.” Princeton’s deer management program has been in place since 2000, and the existing sharpshooting initiative carried out by White Buffalo Inc., which operates nationwide and specializes in population control of white-tailed deer, has helped to reduce the town’s deer population, with some assistance from recreational bow hunters. For the last two years the town has tried to include non-lethal as well as lethal components in its application for licensing by the Fish and Wildlife Division (F&W) of
the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. This year’s deer management resolution, approved on July 8, 2024, called for “surgical sterilization — in those areas of the municipality in which other deer management methods have proven infeasible.” Cecil described submitting voluminous application materials and repeatedly being met with long delays followed by more questions and demands for more details and more information. “Where we are at the end of the day,
they’ve made it pretty blatant that they’re going to continue to stonewall,” she said. “For three years we’ve been asking to meet with them, with representatives of White Buffalo, and members of the community to make sure we’re addressing all of their concerns. They’ve never so much as acknowledged our request to meet.” Cecil went on to cite communities in other parts of the country that had received rapid approval for non-lethal deer management plans. Princeton is looking
Beth Archer Brombert, widow of esteemed Princeton University professor, author, and war hero Victor Brombert, who died on November 26 at 101 years old, went out to get the newspaper in the driveway of their Princeton home on the morning of November 30, four days after her husband’s death. She described what happened next. “On returning to the house, I glanced at the dry, brown clematis on the brick wall to the left of our front door. To my astonishment, on the very top of the
desiccated vine, on a stem well above the dead leaves, standing like a star on a Christmas tree, I saw a single purple flower — fully open.” Beth Brombert, herself an acclaimed writer of both fiction and nonfiction, continued, “In the 20 plus years since I planted it, I have watched it grow and seen its delicate purple flowers increase in size and profusion. It has never, ever bloomed in November.” The clematis flower, blooming from a
Continued on Page 9
Renowned Professor and World War II Hero Victor Brombert Leaves Enduring Legacy
Continued on Page 10
A VISIT FROM SANTA: Santa Claus made a stop in jaZams toy store on Saturday afternoon as he strolled around Palmer Square. His visits, and entertainment, continue every Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 2 p.m. on the Square through December 22. (Photo by Thomas Hedges)