Town Topics — Princeton's Weekly Community Newspaper Since 1946.
Vol. LXII, No. 10
 
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
(Photo by George Vogel)
EURYDICE IN THE RAIN: PU student Jessica Harrop ’08 plays the title role in the Senior Thesis Production of “Eurydice,” Sarah Ruhl’s retelling of the Orpheus myth. Directed by Douglas Lavanture ’09 with original music by Michael McMillan ’09, the play will be performed at the Berlind Theatre Friday and Saturday, March 7 and 8, and Wednesday through Friday, March 12 to 14. All performances are at 8 p.m.

Front Page

Council Eyes 2008 Municipal Budget

Matthew Hersh

Princeton Borough Council could be faced with legislating significant cuts in future operating budgets, according to a municipal staff report delivered to the governing body Tuesday, previewing the 2008 budget cycle.

Princeton Democrats Give Nod to Koontz as More Vacancies Loom

Matthew Hersh

Princeton Democrats roundly endorsed Borough Councilman Andrew Koontz to fill a vacancy on the Mercer County Board of Chosen Freeholders Saturday, keeping alive the possibility of four available seats on Borough Council come the November elections.

Tentative PRS Budget Amended as State Increases Charter Funds

Ellen Gilbert

As a result of an unanticipated increase in state aid to the Princeton Charter School announced last Friday, the Princeton Regional School district’s tentative budget for 2008-09 was “tweaked,” according to Superintendent Judy Wilson, before it was voted on at Tuesday’s evening Board of Education meeting (which was held after Town Topics went to press).


Other News

NPR Reporter Liasson Looks Forward to a “Fabulous, Fabulous” Campaign

Ellen Gilbert

The room was packed and the speaker was late. Organizers of National Public Radio (NPR) reporter Mara Liasson’s talk on the 2008 Presidential race at the Woodrow Wilson School last week solved the first problem by relocating the unexpected throng to a larger auditorium. Ms. Liasson, who arrived a short while later, had an eminently appropriate excuse for being late: she was so engrossed in reading William F. Buckley’s obituary that she missed the Princeton Junction stop.

County, Chamber Gear Up for Third Economic Summit

Matthew Hersh

The Mercer County Office of Economic Opportunity and Sustainability and the Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce are once again slated to host the third annual Mercer County Economic Summit this month, and amid statewide and national concerns of a shaky economy, county representatives were out in force last week, saying that the county’s fundamental economic core was intact.

Proposed Jewish Campus Project Becoming an Eighty-Acre Reality

Ellen Gilbert

“Between 16,000 and 20,000 Jewish people live in the Princeton-Mercer-Bucks area,” notes the website for the area Jewish Community Campus (JCC) that will open, if all goes as planned, in West Windsor by the end of 2009.


More of the Other News…


Sports

With Grabowski Setting Example of Toughness, PU Women’s Squash Wins National Title Again

Bill Alden

Carly Grabowski harbored plenty of doubts as she headed into her senior season with the Princeton University women’s squash team.

Cowher Struggles Offensively on Senior Night; Leads Cheers as PU Women’s Hoops Tops Yale

Bill Alden

It looked like last Saturday was destined to be Meg Cowher’s night.

PHS Boys’ Hoops Falls in State Tournament but Ettin Sees Loss as Growing Experience

Bill Alden

It was the opportunity that Skye Ettin and his teammates on the Princeton High boys’ basketball team had worked for all year.


More Sports…


Record Review

“Listen to My Heartbeat”: Ray Davies Gets Close

Stuart Mitchner

Nobody knew who I was,” rock legend Ray Davies says in a YouTube interview about his new album Working Man’s Café (New West/Ammal Records). He was referring to his experience in the intensive care unit of the New Orleans hospital he was taken to after being shot; he’d been chasing two men who had snatched his companion’s purse. “Just another body off the street…. They put me in the emergency room, hooked me up to the machines, and I was thinking, ‘How do I stop myself panicking myself. I was really terrified. So I started writing lyrics. I wrote the first draft of ‘Morphine Song’ on a LSU notepad.”


Music/Theater

McCarter IN-Festival‘s “The Mad 7” Takes a Spiritual Journey; Solo Performance Piece Features Dance, Religion and Mysticism

Donald Gilpin

You should be exactly as I am,” says each of the physically disabled, culturally diverse storytellers who lead Elliott Green on his mystical quest in The Mad 7, currently playing in The Room at the Berlind Theatre as the featured production of McCarter’s second annual IN-Festival. Handicapped in different ways — sightless, hearing impaired, speech-impaired, twisted-necked, hunchbacked, handless, footless — each of the tellers emphasizes the unimportance of the physical in a world where mind, imagination and spirit rule.


New to Us

Unique Floral/Botanical Design Offered By New Florist, Spruce

An eye for color, texture, form, and space, and ultimately for the totality of the look. This is what Jennifer Shue, owner of Spruce Floral/Botanical Design, brings to the floral displays and arrangements she creates.

Ten Years of Quality Service Marked By Montgomery Eye Care

Full-service quality eye care and the latest in state-of-the-art eye wear are the priorities at Montgomery Eye Care in the Montgomery Center.

Owners optometric physician Dr. Mary E. Boname and dispensing optician Ben Fazio are proud to be celebrating their tenth anniversary at this location.