Volume LXXVII, Number 21
PSO Program Encourages Students to “Listen Up!” . . . . . . 5 Princeton Community Pride Picnic Coming to Palmer Square . . . . . . 7 Watson Coleman, Parsi Headline CFPA Event . .10 PHS Boys’ Track Overcomes Rain, Adversity To Win Mercer County Outdoor Meet . . . . . . 29 PDS Boys’ Tennis Rolls to Second Straight Prep B State Title . . . . . . . . . 30
Getting to Know Gordon Lightfoot on Bob Dylan’s Birthday . . . . . . . . . . 19 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23, 24 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 25 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 36 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . 15-17 New To Us . . . . . . . . . 26 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 35 Performing Arts . . . . . 22 Police Blotter . . . . . . . . 8 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 36 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6 Welcome Back . . . . . . 20
www.towntopics.com
Residents Air Grievances At Special Work Session On Cell Phone Service Anyone who lives in Princeton or drives through the area knows the frustrations of trying to make and receive cell phone calls. Weak service is an ongoing problem that results in dropped calls, calls that don’t ring and jump to voice mail, or an inability to make calls at all. At a special work session held Monday evening, Princeton Council addressed the issue by inviting local carriers to make presentations on their services and plans to accommodate 5G technology, the planned successor to existing 4G networks. Representatives of Verizon Wireless and Crown Castle (which is a third-party facilities provider to carriers but doesn’t provide service itself) attended the session; AT&T was invited but declined. The meeting was also an opportunity for residents to voice their concerns. Calling local services “abysmal,” “horrendous,” and “a matter of life and death” when emergency services cannot be reached, several people aired their frustrations. “Princeton is a town where there is a lot of dependence on cell phones,” said Snowden Lane resident Peter Madison. “If you can’t get cell service, you might as well move somewhere else.” Madison said he doesn’t blame the carriers; rather he blames Council, the Planning Board, and the Zoning Board. “Because [you] are holding back and restricting towers from being built,” he said. “That’s what we need.” The town’s Assistant Municipal Engineer Jim Purcell said the engineering department has been working with the providers to enhance the existing 4G service while preparing for 5G. “5G, however, is targeted for strategic locations in high traffic areas and will not solve the problems Princeton currently experiences,” he wrote in a memo to mayor and Council before the work session. Some residents were particularly perturbed after viewing a map of Verizon’s coverage area during a presentation by Jennifer P. Young, the company’s state government affairs representative. “The map is fiction, a complete and utter fiction,” said a resident of the Littlebrook neighborhood. “The company’s customer service is abysmal. I’ve been on the phone with them for hours. Plans are impossible to compare, and you can’t Continued on Page 12
75¢ at newsstands
Wednesday, May 24, 2023
Controversy Continues in Wake of Chmiel Decision Rather than resolving the issue, the five-hour, standing-room-only Donaldson hearing on May 15, at which the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE) voted 8-2 to support the superintendent’s dismissal of Princeton High School (PHS) Principal Frank Chmiel, has set off a flurry of angry responses — from parents and students, from community supporters of Chmiel and of the BOE and superintendent, and from Chmiel himself. “I have not given up the fight,” Chmiel wrote in a May 18 letter to the PHS Parents Discussion Group, and he accused Superintendent Carol Kelley of committing actions that were “illegal and criminal.” Chmiel thanked the parents’ group for their strong support and went on to claim that faculty and staff had been “silenced” by the superintendent and discouraged or reprimanded for speaking in his behalf. He also blamed the BOE for not taking the time to investigate the evidence brought up in his defense and his allegations of illegal activity by Kelley. Chmiel also denounced the teachers’ union leaders for misleading and acting against the wishes of their constituents in regards to a proposed vote of no confidence against Chmiel.
Later on the same day, May 18, BOE attorney Vittorio LaPira issued a response “to various allegations and statements by Mr. Chmiel, his representatives, and members of the community.” LaPira denied any wrongdoing by the Board and emphasized the Board’s support for First Amendment rights to freedom of speech. “The Board strongly denies any wrongdoing by any of its employees, including, but not limited to allegations of reprisals against students or employees who spoke
at Mr. Chmiel’s informal appearance, as well as any allegations of criminal, fraudulent, or tortious actions,” LaPira wrote. “The Board recognizes that everyone has a First Amendment right to express themselves without fear of reprisal. The Board does not and will not tolerate any actions by its employees to the contrary.” Meanwhile, parent groups have been planning their next steps to support Chmiel and respond to the perceived injustice at the hands of Kelley and the Continued on Page 14
PU Alumni Take Time Out from Reunions Revelry to Support Local Nonprofits
Princeton University Reunions, which will get underway later this week, call to mind images of colorful, high-spirited gatherings — eating, drinking, dancing, and marching in the P-rade. Less conspicuous perhaps, but an increasingly significant component of the reunions experience for many Princeton alumni are community service projects, and this year returning alumni will be partnering with five local nonprofits on an unprecedented scale. The projects will take place at the Rise
Thrift Store in Hightstown from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 25; at the Princeton YMCA on Thursday from 1:30 to 4 p.m. with the Princeton Kindness Food Project; and on Friday at the Lewis Center for the Arts, 122 Alexander Street on the Princeton University campus, where hundreds of returning alumni and guests are expected to be working with Womanspace, HomeWorks, and Kids Against Hunger. Returning for his 40th reunion, Gene Chollett, a 1983 Princeton University Continued on Page 8
JUMPING FOR JOY: Players on the Hun School boys’ lacrosse team celebrate after they defeated Allentown 5-3 in the Mercer County Tournament championship game last Thursday evening at Hopewell Valley High. The win gave Hun its second straight MCT title and left it with a final record of 12-4. For more details on the game, see page 31. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)