By Donald Gilpin

Starting in September and lasting into mid-October, Hispanic Heritage Month will celebrate the histories, cultures, and contributions of Americans whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

The Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) will be hosting a joint Heritage Month celebration and health fair event at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 151 Warren Street in Trenton, on September 9 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. LALDEF will offer free food, prizes, COVID-19 vaccines, flu and other back-to-school vaccines, and breast cancer screenings, as well as information on resources such as WIC (women, infants, children) services, health insurance enrollment, mental health services, and family support services.

“We invite all residents of Mercer County to join us on September 9 for this wonderful celebration, where our community comes first,” said LALDEF Executive Director Cecy Jimenez-Weaast. “We hope that you will join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month.” more

By Donald Gilpin

With September fast approaching, new heads are preparing to lead Princeton Day School (PDS) and the Hun School into the coming school year, while the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) continues its search for a new principal for Princeton High School (PHS).

Kelley Nicholson-Flynn

On July 1, Kelley Nicholson-Flynn officially took over as head of PDS, succeeding Paul Stellato, who stepped down after 15 years at the helm.

“Each August, I still feel the familiar twinge that comes with a new school year — a mix of eagerness, hopefulness, and a dash of nervous excitement,” she wrote in an email.  “So much is unknown at every beginning, but I believe in embracing those uncertainties. This sense of being ‘all in’ is how I approached my new role, immersing myself in the culture of Princeton Day School and  focusing on creating an experience for our students that puts them at the center of every decision made. In doing so, even just in these two short months, my belief in the work taking place at PDS has been deeply reinforced.”

Before coming to PDS Nicholson-Flynn was the assistant head of school for operations at Riverdale Country School in the Bronx, N.Y. Before that she was head of the upper school at Riverdale. She began her teaching career at the Lawrenceville School in 1998, where she worked for 14 years in various roles, including science department chair, interdisciplinary program chair, and teaching and learning programs coordinator. more

UNDER CONSTRUCTION: The Graduate Hotel at Nassau and Chambers streets, seen under construction in the background here, is just one of a number of construction projects underway in Princeton, many causing road closures, detours, and delays. (Mueller Communications)

By Donald Gilpin

The Princeton Municipal Engineering Department and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) have recently provided updates on eight different construction projects taking place around town.

The NJDOT has reported that its Washington Road Bridge over the D&R Canal replacement project is progressing on schedule according to plan, and is expected to be completed in October.

There has been an increase in congestion on Route 1 since the project began on July 26, particularly, as expected, during the morning commute. Also, during the middle of the day, the NJDOT notes, there has been an increase in traffic on Harrison Street and Alexander Road, which are being used for the detour. more

By Donald Gilpin

COVID-19 case numbers and hospitalizations are up, and the new subvariant EG.5 now accounts for the largest proportion of COVID-19 cases in the country, but the experts are not expecting the kind of surges that Princeton and the rest of the world have experienced in recent years.

“Living with COVID-19 means getting used to the highs and lows of its viral activity,” wrote Dr. Syra Madad, infectious disease epidemiologist in the New York City Hospital system and at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in an August 8 email. “While we are seeing an uptick in COVID activity detected in wastewater and people seeking care for COVID-19 at emergency rooms, numbers are still the lowest we’ve seen in the last three summers. It’s all about shifting baselines — meaning despite its relative perception of seeing a 10 percent increase in hospitalizations, which may seem like a lot, it’s still a small increase in numbers.”

In Mercer County, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the last week of July saw seven new hospital admissions of confirmed COVID-19, a 75 percent increase, but still considered a “low” level of admissions. Nationwide the CDC reported a 12.5 percent increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions. more

By Donald Gilpin

Following up on an action-packed opening week of discussions, reflections, celebrations, and recognitions, Joint Effort Safe Streets will wrap up its 2023 program with an array of Jim Floyd and Romus Broadway Day events on Wednesday, August 9 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Arts Council of Princeton (ACP); Paul Bustill Robeson Day on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. with discussion of several hot topics and a candidate forum at the First Baptist Church of Princeton; a Community Block Festival at the YMCA Field on Saturday afternoon; and basketball for all ages on the Community Park basketball courts, with a clinic on Saturday morning and games throughout the day on Pete Young Sr. Day on Sunday, August 13.

“It’s been thought-provoking and inspiring, and the ancestors are telling me I’m moving in the right direction,” said Safe Streets Founder and Event Coordinator John Bailey as he reflected on the opening weekend and looked ahead to upcoming events.

Expanding on the theme of “Reflections on Princeton’s Black Community — Growing Up in the Witherspoon-Jackson Community,” the August 9 evening gathering at the ACP will branch out from “I remember when…,” with discussion and reflection from a variety of men and women who grew up in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood including Grace Kimbrough, Sharon Campbell, Evelyn Turner Counts, Shirley Satterfield, Leighton Newlin, Joyce Gillette Johnson, Earl McQueen, Peter Young Jr., and John Thompson.  more

READY FOR SCHOOL: HomeFront’s Back to School Drive is aiming to provide backpacks, school supplies, and necessary clothing items for more than 1,000 area children. The start of the school year is approaching, and HomeFront needs sponsors to contribute and donate supplies by August 18. (Photo courtesy of HomeFront)

By Donald Gilpin

Many Mercer County children need school supplies, clothing, and shoes to start the new school year, and HomeFront’s Back to School Drive is calling for widespread community support to ensure that those students are well prepared for the opening day.

“Feeling and looking their best is really important to most kids, especially on that first day of school,” said Chris Marchetti, director of HomeFront’s Joy, Hopes, and Dreams program. “The Back to School Drive aims to help our parents provide youngsters with new clothes, shoes, book bags, and supplies, so they can feel on top of their game, ready to learn and prepared for the year ahead.”

The HomeFront Back to School Drive, which is now in its 30th year, will run through August 18 with a goal of meeting the needs of 1,500 students. Last year’s drive successfully outfitted more than 1,350 local children, while helping to foster a sense of enthusiasm for learning and empowering the next generation to thrive on their educational journey, according to HomeFront.  more

By Donald Gilpin

Beth Behrend and Michele Tuck-Ponder will be running for reelection in the November 7 election, and Adam Bierman, Eleanor Hubbard, and Rene Obregon Jr., will be competing with them for three seats on the Princeton Public Schools (PPS) Board of Education (BOE).

BOE member Jean Durbin, the third incumbent whose term is up at the end of the year, had not filed for reelection by the July 31 deadline and could not be reached for comment. more

By Donald Gilpin

Joint Effort Safe Streets 2023, a 10-day celebration of Princeton’s Black community, will be opening on a festive note on Friday, August 4 from 5 to 7:30 p.m. at Studio Hillier on Witherspoon Street.

Featured events in Friday’s kick-off program will include a special salute to Mamie Oldham and the late Barbara Hillier, recipients of the Jim Floyd Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award; presentation of the Mildred Trotman Community Service Award to Princeton Public Schools Superintendent Carol Kelley; and recognition of Witherspoon Jackson resident and four-time recipient of a Joint Effort Book Scholarship Hailey Young, who graduated from Brown University in May and will be traveling to Botswana in January on a Fulbright Program grant. There will also be remarks by Princeton Mayor Mark Freda and other local officials; acknowledgements of the ancestors and angels by Princeton Councilman Leighton Newlin and Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural  Society President Shirley Satterfield; and a vision for the future of Witherspoon Street presented by architect and Studio Hillier principal Bob Hillier (a Town Topics shareholder). more

COLLECTING LOGS: Ridgeview Turtles Trail Stewards collect logs to line the trails at the Ridgeview Conservancy. Area students meet in the forest every Sunday with Conservancy Director of Stewardship Patricia Shanley and work to restore the woods and foster connections with nature for all.  (Photo courtesy of Ridgeview Conservancy)

By Donald Gilpin

Conserving Princeton’s forests and wetlands, fostering connections with nature — especially for youth — and providing equitable access to nature for all were the themes last week, as Ridgeview Conservancy Founder, Board Member, and Director of Stewardship Patricia Shanley spoke to the Princeton Council.

In a 30-minute presentation accompanied by 16 illustrative slides and joined at the end by two young Ridgeview Conservancy volunteers (Ridgeview Turtles Trail Stewards), Shanley urged Princeton to embrace the health and community benefits of green space.

Describing Shanley as “an inspiration,” Councilwoman Michelle Pirone Lambros applauded Shanley’s presentation. “Of all the things we’re doing on Council, I would say nothing that we’ve done is more important than conserving those acres,” she said. “There’s no going back, and we couldn’t do it without your inspiration and leadership.” more

By Donald Gilpin

Helping veterans to sharpen their study skills and prepare to transition to an academic environment, Princeton University is currently partnering with the Warrior-Scholar Project (WSP) for a Humanities and STEM Academic Boot Camp on campus July 16-28.

Thirteen veterans are participating in this year’s WSP at Princeton, making a total of more than 80 participants since Princeton first hosted the program in the summer of 2017. WSP’s first boot camp took place at Yale University in 2012, and since then the program has expanded to 23 of the country’s top schools, giving more than 2,100 veterans a boost on their way to higher education. more

Paul Chapin

By Donald Gilpin

Paul Chapin, longtime music teacher, then acting principal at Riverside Elementary School in Princeton, and then head of the Newark Boys Chorus School for the past four years, took the reins last week as president and CEO of Capital Harmony Works (CHW), a music education nonprofit that provides instruction and performance opportunities for young people of Trenton.

Chapin emphasized the importance of youth development through music. “Putting kids together to work together, to grow together, to live together towards a noble end, creating art for the community through music, is an essential component of our work,” he said.

 more

By Donald Gilpin

“Reflections on Princeton’s Black Community” is the theme of this year’s Joint Effort Safe Streets program, which on August 4 will kick off 10 days of celebrations, salutes, community discussions, and sports activities centered in the Witherspoon-Jackson neighborhood. more

ITCHY BITES!: Mosquitoes might seem more aggressive than ever this summer, but there are strategies that can help you to avoid them and protect yourself against them.

By Donald Gilpin

It’s mosquito season, and the rains this summer, along with the warm weather, have increased the population of this already-prolific creature that torments New Jerseyans who like to spend time outdoors.

Mercer County sent out a warning bulletin on Facebook last week. “While our crews can help mitigate the nuisance, mosquitoes are a backyard problem, and community involvement is crucial for success in controlling them, “ said Mercer County Executive Brian M. Hughes. “I urge our residents to take some simple measures, such as eliminating standing water in and around their homes, to protect themselves and their families from mosquitoes.” more

CAMINOS PRINCETON: Fourteen middle school students and two adult leaders, Alessandra Clemens-Lores (left) and Queta Alban (in Caminos Princeton tee shirts in front row center), gathered in Princeton Sunday before heading off to Quito, Ecuador for a 10-day immersion experience with the language, culture and people of the country.

By Donald Gilpin

Early last fall Alessandra Clemens-Lores, an architect, born and raised in Peru, who has worked for the past seven years as an aide in the dual language immersion (DLI) program at Community Park Elementary School (CP), received a phone call from a friend, the mother of a CP student Clemens had taught many years before.

The woman was sad that her eighth grade son missed participating in DLI and was finding nothing exciting to look forward to in the coming school year.  more

By Donald Gilpin

Princeton Public Schools (PPS) has embarked on an accelerated search for a permanent principal for Princeton High School (PHS), “in an effort to move forward and provide stability for the high school community,” according to a July 7 press release.

Eager to put the Frank Chmiel controversy behind them, PPS is focusing on a comprehensive search process with the hope of hiring a new principal by the end of August. Kathie Foster, who has been serving as interim principal at PHS since April, shortly after Chmiel’s dismissal from the position, will remain in the interim role through August 31.

 more

By Donald Gilpin

On June 29, the U.S. Supreme Court, in two historic decisions, ruled against affirmative action, prohibiting colleges and universities from taking race into account in the admissions process.

Proponents of affirmative action have vowed to find and pursue other means to promote diversity and equity on college campuses, but the impact of the June 29 decisions will be significant, on higher education and the society as a whole.

“While today’s decision will make our work more difficult, we will work vigorously to preserve —and, indeed, grow — the diversity of our community while fully respecting the law as announced today,” Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber wrote in an email to the University community just hours after the decisions were announced.

 more

By Donald Gilpin

Elizabeth Tsurkov

Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton University graduate student who is an Israeli-Russian dual citizen, has been missing in Iraq for several months and is being held by the Iran-backed Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah, according to an announcement last Wednesday from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

A Ph.D. candidate in the Princeton Department of Politics, Tsurkov was in Iraq conducting research for her dissertation when she was abducted in Baghdad in March.

“Elizabeth Tsurkov is still alive and we hold Iraq responsible for her safety and well-being,” the Israeli prime minister’s announcement stated. Her whereabouts remain unknown, but the announcement added that she visited Iraq “on her Russian passport, at her own initiative pursuant to work on her doctorate and academic research on behalf of Princeton University.”

The Iraq government reported on July 7 that it had initiated an investigation into the kidnapping and was awaiting the results of that investigation. more

By Donald Gilpin

After a brief pause, when enrollment dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, Princeton Public Schools (PPS) is facing a growing population and the need to make important decisions about where all those students will be going to school.

On Monday evening, June 5, PPS Superintendent Carol Kelley, along with a cohort of Board of Education (BOE) members and school administrators, presented several options for the future of the town’s elementary schools to a gathering of about 100 parents and community members assembled in the Princeton High School cafeteria.

As the district continues to gather information and input from stakeholders throughout the community, the possible scenarios under discussion include: 1) no changes — the status quo; 2) redistricting and rebalancing, with four pre-K to fifth grade buildings, about 370 students in each building; 3) building where the growth is, with four pre-K to fifth grade buildings, with larger populations at Littlebrook and Community Park, and smaller at Riverside and Johnson Park; 4) a “sister school” concept, with two sets of schools paired pre-K-2 and 3-5; and 5) a new upper elementary (or lower middle) grades 5-6 school. more

SCHOLARS AND LEADERS: At Homeworks Trenton, founded by a 2018 Princeton University graduate, young women from marginalized communities engage in activities focused on academics and leadership skills in a free residential program. (Photo courtesy of HomeWorks)

By Donald Gilpin

HomeWorks Trenton has been helping marginalized teenaged girls in a free after-school residential program established in 2016, and is now looking to quadruple its student population and move into a recently-purchased three-story house at 1212 Edgewood Avenue in Trenton.

HomeWorks has seen impressive growth in support and its impact on its students, academically and personally, over the past seven years, and its Executive Director Natalie Tung sees no limits to its future possibilities. more

EINSTEIN, ANOTHER VIEW: An exhibit on the renowned scientist’s relationships with residents of Princeton’s traditionally Black neighborhood and with many Black leaders of the mid 20th century will be on display in the Princeton Public Library from June 15 to August 1, a collaborative project by the Princeton Einstein Museum of Science and the Witherspoon-Jackson Historical and Cultural Society. (Photo courtesy of the Princeton Einstein Museum)

By Donald Gilpin

Two stories embedded deeply in the history of Princeton and the world are Albert Einstein as the great scientist developing his theory of relativity and contributing to the theory of quantum mechanics, and Einstein as one of the first members of the Institute for Advanced Study, serving there and paying frequent visits to Princeton University from 1933 until his death in 1955.

But Einstein and his involvement with the African American community is a little-known facet of the man’s life that will be on display from June 15 through August 1 in an exhibit in the second floor Reading Room at Princeton Public Library (PPL). more

By Donald Gilpin

In his commencement address at Princeton Stadium on Tuesday, Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber put out an urgent plea for graduating seniors and grad students to stand up for equality, diversity, freedom, justice, and love.

Claiming “the best weather for commencement in the history of Princeton University — and after what you’ve been through in the past four years you deserve it,” Eisgruber awarded degrees to 1,263 undergraduates in the Class of 2023, plus two from previous classes, and 679 graduate students. Thousands more families, friends, and guests in the stadium cheered on the graduating seniors and advanced degree recipients at Princeton’s 276th commencement.

In his words to the graduates, Eisgruber noted “a movement afoot in this country right now to drive a wedge between the constitutional ideals of equality and free speech,” as he emphasized the necessity of caring simultaneously about equality and open debate on public issues. He condemned “educational gag orders” recently introduced by state legislatures restricting the teaching of information about inequalities within American society. more

By Donald Gilpin

Princeton voters will go to the polls on June 6 — or June 2, 3, or 4 for early voting—to select Democratic or Republican candidates to run in the November general election. On the primary ballot are candidates for state Senate, New Jersey General Assembly, Mercer County executive, county sheriff, Board of County Commissioners, and Princeton Council.

Though the primary races in Princeton this year are all uncontested, the fall election promises several highly competitive contests — not including the Council positions, where only Democrat incumbents David Cohen and Leticia Fraga, and no Republicans, have filed for two open spots. Democrats have run unopposed in Princeton Council elections since 2018.

There is an early voting site at the Princeton Shopping Center, one of seven in the county, open Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Voters who wish to vote by mail and have not yet applied can go in person to the county clerk’s office in Trenton before 3 p.m. on June 5. Voted ballots may be returned to any drop box location within Mercer County by 8 p.m., June 6,  returned to the Mercer County Board Elections at 930 Spruce Street in Lawrence, or mailed in by the same deadline. more

By Donald Gilpin

With a recent grant from the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Regional Innovations Engines program, Princeton University will be leading a consortium researching economic and technological advancements in the field of photonics. Also known as lightwave technology, the field includes lasers, optical fibers, and light-based innovations. 

The collaboration, co-led by Rowan University, includes universities and community colleges, photonics companies, statewide workforce development programs, and technology accelerators and incubators — all advancing research and translating that research into startup companies and economic opportunities.  more