Sunday, April 30, 2000
NO BURGER KINGS EN ROUTE TO MARS
GREENHOUSE PREPARING 'MENU' FOR MANNED MISSION

You can't take a trip to Mars without packing lots of food. Unfortunately, researchers on the first manned mission to Mars will have limited space to store it. That's where the Burlington County Research and Demonstration Greenhouse comes in.  Story

Sunday, April 30, 2000
PRINCETON MAN SEEKS GREEN PARTY SENATE BID
AFRAN NOMINATION TO BE VOTED ON AT CONVENTION

Bruce Afran, a Princeton attorney, is seeking the Green Party nomination for the U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey being vacated by retiring Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  Story

Sunday, April 30, 2000
NEW CHURCH PREACHES 'PRACTICAL' CHRISTIANITY
CROSSROADS CONGREGATION REACHES OUT TO DISAFFECTED

They don't sing hymns. The pastor reads from a Bible without a single "thou" in it. They don't even have a proper building of their own with pews in it. What kind of church is this, anyway?  Story

Sunday, April 30, 2000
RESPITE IN THE KITCHEN
STUDENTS COOK UP RECIPE FOR COPING WITH STUDIES

One night a week, about 50 Princeton University students trade slide rules for Tupperware measuring cups, laptop computers for electric mixers and research papers for recipe cards.  Story

Saturday, April 29, 2000
IN JEFFERSON-HEMINGS DNA TEST, MEDIA FOUND FAILING
'BIGGEST SCIENCE STORY' SEEN AS WIDELY MISINTERPRETED

If David Murray were still a college professor, he would be telling students why he gives the media poor grades for its coverage of the DNA study that supposedly confirmed President Thomas Jefferson fathered at least one child by his mulatto slave Sally Hemings.  Story

Saturday, April 29, 2000
MORE HELP NEEDED FOR MINORITY PUPILS
OFFICIALS DISCUSS STUDENTS' SCHOOL AND POLICE COMPLAINTS

Some minority students say they don't feel like they belong at Princeton High School. Some say the curriculum there is not representative of their experiences and culture. And some claim they have been mistreated by local police.  Story
School panel urges more minority funding

Saturday, April 29, 2000
PHYSICIST ROCKS FIELD WITH UNIVERSE THEORY
PRINCETON PROFESSOR'S FIVE DIMENSIONS MAKE BIG SPLASH IN PHYSICS

While other mortals live in a three-dimensional world — four if you count time as a dimension — Princeton University physics professor Lisa Randall dreams of five dimensions. Dr. Randall believes this can explain how gravity is related to the other forces of nature.  Story

Saturday, April 29, 2000
FIVE TOWNSHIP TRACTS EYED FOR OPEN SPACE
MASTER PLAN CHANGES WOULD PRESERVE PRINCETON'S PURCHASE RIGHTS

Several tracts of land in Princeton Township may soon be designated for open space in the township's Master Plan. Such a designation would allow the township to exercise its right of eminent domain if the properties are sold and development plans are approved.  Story

Friday, April 28, 2000
BAIL SET IN PRINCETON SHOOTING CASE
ALLEGED ATTACKER ORDERED HELD ON $400,000 CASH BAIL

The man charged with shooting his wife outside a Princeton Borough nursing home last fall was ordered held on $400,000 bail this week. Errol Thompson, 50, of Ewing, was arrested in St. Petersburg and extradited to New Jersey last week.  Story

Friday, April 28, 2000
NEW SITE LURES LIBRARY FRIENDS
PRINCETON OFFERED OPTION OF VALLEY ROAD LIBRARY LOCATION

Frustrated over lack of action on a new Princeton Public Library, the leadership of the Friends of the Princeton Public Library has expressed interest in moving the location from the current downtown site to the Valley Road building in Princeton Township.  Story

Friday, April 28, 2000
WW-P DEFENDS FOURTH-GRADER'S SUSPENSION
PUPIL THREATENED TO SHOOT PAPER WAD AT CLASSMATE

A fourth-grader at Upper Elementary School in West Windsor was suspended for a day earlier this month after allegedly threatening to shoot another student with a rubber band and a wad of paper, a district spokeswoman confirmed Thursday.  Story

Friday, April 28, 2000
EASTER BLAZE LEAVES TWO FAMILIES HOMELESS
UTILITY SERVICE DISRUPTED AT EAST WINDSOR APARTMENTS

Two families lost their homes and residents of four apartment buildings suffered significant disruptions of utility service following a fire at the Windsor Regency Apartments on North Main Street.  Story
Fire at Windsor Regency disrupts residents' lives

Friday, April 28, 2000
SMALLER TAX HIKE SEEN FOR PRINCETON BOROUGH
TAXPAYERS' INCREASE REDUCED BY FINDING OF ADDITIONAL REVENUE

A revised Princeton Borough budget is expected to be introduced May 9 that would carry a 3-cent increase in the tax rate, down from the 5-cent increase originally proposed. After finding more anticipated revenue, the borough will need to raise about $200,000 less.  Story

Friday, April 28, 2000
SUPERMARKET'S FROZEN FOOD COOLERS VANDALIZED
SUPERVISOR SAYS SOMEONE MAY BE 'OUT TO GET' COMPANY

Doyle's Thriftway supermarket in Twin Rivers suffered more than $50,000 worth of damage when the screen to a control panel was pried open and the wires to the cooling fan were torn away.  Story

Thursday, April 27, 2000
TEENS GET WAKEUP CALL FROM SMOKE DETECTOR
BROTHER RESCUES SISTER IN MONROE HOUSE FIRE

When David Jensen's smoke detector went off, he thought it was malfunctioning again. "Then I looked out and saw that my sister's was going off too. When I looked down the stairs I saw flames and smoke."  Story

Thursday, April 27, 2000
LAWRENCE SEEKS AIRPORT STUDY EXPANSION
COUNCIL REQUESTS DETAILED ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT

Lawrence Township Council has added its collective two-cents worth to the debate over the proposed expansion of the Mercer County Airport, which is located almost entirely in neighboring Ewing Township.  Story

Thursday, April 27, 2000
12-YEAR-OLDS CHARGED WITH 'OFFENSIVE TOUCHING'
SCHOOL OFFICIALS PROBING ALLEGATIONS OF WIDESPREAD HARASSMENT

Police have filed charges against two 12-year-old Burlington County boys for "offensive touching" of female classmates and school administrators are responding to allegations that some boys sexually harassed numerous girls in their sixth-grade class.  Story

Thursday, April 27, 2000
MOTORIST SOUGHT 'SUICIDE BY COP'
PENNSYLVANIA MAN DELIBERATELY SMASHED POLICE, PRIVATE CARS

A Pennsylvania man went on a car-smashing spree in Bordentown Township this week, apparently trying to provoke police into taking his life. Police said 35-year-old Michael Kurpat of Jonas, Pa., tried to get police involved in a "suicide by cop" scenario.  Story

Thursday, April 27, 2000
BLACK BEAR SIGHTED IN HOPEWELL
OFFICIALS HOPING BEAR WILL JUST WANDER AWAY

Hopewell Township residents saw a black bear cavorting in a back yard, trudging on the towpath and frolicking in Washington Crossing Park. No one reported any injuries or property damage caused by the bear, police said.  Story

Thursday, April 27, 2000
BENEFITS PLANNED FOR INJURED TEEN-AGER
BRAIN-DAMAGED SOLEBURY TEEN NOW WITHOUT INSURANCE

May 24 will mark one year since Tucker Mahoney's life changed forever. The Solebury Township, Pa. teen-ager was shot in the head with a BB-pellet gun. The projectile penetrated the left side of the boy's skull and severed a vein, causing severe neurological damage.  Story

Wednesday, April 26, 2000
MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE
THE SKY'S NOT THE LIMIT FOR ASTROPHYSICIST TYSON

Neil De Grasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium and a visiting professor at Princeton University, may not have the world on a string, but he has a pretty good grip on the cosmos.  Story

Wednesday, April 26, 2000
GIVING STUDENTS A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
MONTGOMERY EDUCATOR TAKES HELM AT RUTGERS CULTURAL CENTER

Longtime Montgomery resident To-Thi Bosacchi, a state education specialist with vast multicultural experience, has been named founding director of the newly established Asian American Cultural Center at Rutgers University.  Story

Wednesday, April 26, 2000
PACKET EDITORIAL: AIN'T PROGRESS WONDERFUL
OUR VISIONS FOR PRINCETON HAVE STAYING POWER

We recently ran across a copy of an editorial that appeared in The Packet in January 1990, offering a "wish list" for the decade that would close out the second millennium. If nothing else, it offered a jarring reminder that the more things change, the more they remain the same.  Story

Tuesday, April 25, 2000
BYPASS OPPONENTS TO PRESS CANAL PANEL
GROUP WANTS TO KNOW IF COMMISSION HAS JUMPED GUN WITH DOT

A group opposing the Millstone Bypass is concerned that the Delaware & Raritan Canal Commission has begun discussions with the state about mitigating the road's impact before an environmental assessment has been issued.  Story

Tuesday, April 25, 2000
CCRC FOES SEEK TO REFILL COFFERS
LETTER URGES RESIDENTS TO KICK IN $5,000 APIECE

Opponents of the proposed Regent's Mead retirement community in Princeton Township have spent $100,000 fighting the project and are extending a hand for further contributions — of at least $5,000 per household.  Story

Tuesday, April 25, 2000
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP BACKS MUNICIPAL CAMPUS
SECTION OF VALLEY ROAD WOULD BE CLOSED UNDER PLAN

The Princeton Township Committee unanimously agreed Monday night to pursue the closing of Valley Road, between Route 206 and Witherspoon Street, to create a municipal campus.  Story

Tuesday, April 25, 2000
PRINCETON ASSISTED LIVING CODE DRAWS FIRE
PROPOSED ORDINANCE CALLED DISCRIMINATORY TO MENTALLY ILL

A proposed Princeton Borough ordinance that establishes the definition of an assisted-living facility has raised concerns about whether it would discriminate against the mentally ill.  Story

Monday, April 24, 2000
THE UGLY SCRAWLS OF ANGER
HATE CRIMES STAND OUT, BUT TRENDS UNCLEAR

Racist and homophobic graffiti at Montgomery High School targeting a teacher and other students. A swastika drawn with dog feces on the front door of a Plainsboro residence. Two more incidents of Nazi and Ku Klux Klan graffiti in Plainsboro. The first two occurred in March. The last two happened within the past six months.  Story

Monday, April 24, 2000
LOCAL PROSTHETIST AIDS INJURED SOLDIER
HIGHTSTOWN MAN FITS NEW LEGS FOR KOSOVO AMPUTEE

Haxhi Dervisholli came to the United States, worked as a roofer to earn money for his family and returned to Kosovo to fight with his countrymen. Little did he know the roofing company made repairs for the Hightstown prosthetist who would later change his life.  Story

Monday, April 24, 2000
EARNING THEIR WINGS
CIVIL AIR PATROL HELPS YOUNG PEOPLE SOAR

Saving lives is the commonly recognized and admirable work of firemen, doctors and EMTs. A rarely acknowledged organization that also has a strong history in saving lives continues its commitment today — the New Jersey 22nd Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.  Story

Sunday, April 23, 2000
NEW PASTOR 'SAVES' FALTERING CHURCH
LAMBERTVILLE METHODIST CONGREGATION RENEWS ITS SPIRIT

To the members of Lambertville's Centenary United Methodist Church, the Rev. David Wilson is their savior. When he came on the scene last year, membership was faltering. But in just a few months, the Rev. Wilson has doubled the community.  Story

Sunday, April 23, 2000
WARNING GIVEN ON MOSQUITO-BORNE VIRUS
WARM WEATHER RETURN RAISES RISKS, NEED FOR PRECAUTIONS

After last summer's outbreak in New York and the fall discovery of an infected dead crow in Princeton Township, the Regional Health Department wants to alert and educate residents about the potential health problem posed by the West Nile-like encephalitis virus.  Story

Sunday, April 23, 2000
OFFICIALS: ENTIRE 206 SHOULD BE ON HISTORIC LISTS
LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP LOBBIES FOR INCLUSION OF ENTIRE KING'S HIGHWAY

History and the historic King's Highway — also known as Route 206 — do not stop at Franklin Corner Road, according to two Lawrence Township Council members who are upset the southern portion of the road wasn't included in the Historic Places nomination.  Story