Volume LXXVIII, Number 32
Two Sourland Region Nonprofits are Partners in Preservation . . . . . . . . 5 After Years in the Making, Memoir is Set for Release . . . . . 7 PPS Ramps Up Energy Efficiency, Implementing Multiple Green Initiatives . . . . . . . 10 Motivated by Snub, PU Women’s Lax Star MacDonald Primed to Make Debut for Canada Squad in U20 Worlds . .19 Princeton Supply Sweeps Lob City in Summer Hoops Championship Series to Win Second Straight Title . . . . . . . 22
Liv Lisa Fries Stars in This Week’s Review of Babylon Berlin . . . . . 12 Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Books . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . 18 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . 25 Enrichment & Enrollment . . 3 Mailbox . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 24 Performing Arts . . . 13, 14 Real Estate . . . . . . . . 25 Religion . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Topics of the Town . . . . 5 Town Talk . . . . . . . . . . 6
www.towntopics.com
Five New Candidates, One Incumbent Compete In PPS School Board Race In just three months, on November 5, Princeton voters will select three names from a slate of six —five new candidates and one incumbent — to represent them for three-year terms on the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE). BOE members Brian McDonald, who is running unopposed for a seat on Princeton Council, and Betsy Baglio will finish out their terms on the Board on January 1, 2025 and are not running for reelection. Mara Franceschi is the one incumbent running for reelection. New candidates, all with children in PPS, include local business leaders Ari Meisel, Chris Santarpio, Lisa Potter, and Shenwei Zhao and nursery school director Erica Snyder. Franceschi, who serves as co-chair of the BOE Personnel Committee and a member of the Board’s Operations and Long Term Planning committees, has worked in the financial services and asset management industries and as a chartered financial analyst. Her daughter will be a ninth grader at Princeton High School (PHS) this year, one son a rising senior at PHS, and her oldest son will be entering Georgetown University. “I am running for a second term because I believe experience matters to ensure continued future success, especially with upcoming district challenges,” Franceschi wrote in an email. “Chief among those challenges is balancing our aging facilities against a backdrop of the rapidly increasing growth in town, leading to increased student enrollment.” Franceschi alluded to the referendum vote coming up early next year, stating, “My experience and breadth of knowledge make me the best candidate to help lead us through this process.” She went on to emphasize the value of her financial background “in the everpresent and significant challenge of managing the structural deficit inherent in our budget and the regular budget stressors faced by the district.” She added, “My experience allows me to balance critical, necessary investments in our schools while keeping tax increases to a minimum, which is always at the forefront of my decision-making.” Franceschi also mentioned the upcoming BOE search for a new permanent Continued on Page 8
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Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Princeton Celebrates Evan Gershkovich’s Release Evan Gershkovich, a Wall Street Journal reporter who was brought up in Princeton and graduated from Princeton High School (PHS) in 2010, returned to the U.S. late last Thursday night, freed in a 24-person prisoner swap after 16 months in a Russian prison. Michael Van Itallie, who also grew up in Princeton and has been a best friend of Gershkovich since they first met when they were 8 years old playing Princeton Youth Soccer, described watching the rapid sequence of events unfold last Thursday. “I felt relief and joy,” said Van Itallie. “I was so happy for him and his family. It was incredible. Something that we had looked for for so long, but we had hardened ourselves to the reality that it might not come for a long time.” Van Itallie, 32, who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., and works as a city administrator, watched the television coverage on Thursday and celebrated with friends. ““That night was amazing,” he said, “seeing reports about the plane and the
exchange on the tarmac in Turkey, and then tracking his flight home and seeing pictures of him aboard the flight. When the flight landed [at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland] and he walked off and greeted Kamala and Biden and embraced his family — That was incredible. I’ll never forget that. The culmination of everything was so emotional.” Meanwhile in Princeton, the joy was no less heartfelt. “We are relieved and delighted by the news that Evan Gershkovich
has been released from a Russian prison as part of a prisoner exchange with the United States and other countries,” said Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Acting Superintendent Kathie Foster. The PHS boys soccer team, of which Gershkovich was the co-captain 15 years ago, along with PHS teacher and soccer coach Wayne Sutcliffe and PHS graduates from 2010, have been working to support Gershkovich’s family in their efforts to secure their son’s release. Continued on Page 9
South Brunswick Holds Second Reading on Redevelopment of Princeton Nurseries Site
A redevelopment plan for the former Princeton Nurseries site that runs along Route 1, Ridge Road, and Mapleton Road is scheduled for a second reading at a meeting of South Brunswick Township Council on Wednesday, August 7 at 6 p.m. The ordinance will be considered as part of a work session.
The ordinance, which is for 119 Mapleton Road, 987-1001 Ridge Road, and 4405 Route 1, was unanimously approved by the Township Council on its first reading three weeks ago. It creates three separate districts, each with its own permitted use, on approximately 160 acres. The proposed development is Continued on Page 7
BUTTERFLY DAY: Children rush to the next activity at The Watershed Institute’s 24th Annual Butterfly Festival on Saturday. Attendees share what they learned at the event in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Grace Roberts)
SUMMER WEEKDAY ACTIVITIES & PLANETARIUM SHOWS Now – August 30
Details at statemuseum.nj.gov