The Times of Trenton News

NJ government, politics, crime & local news

• Gasoline prices take a tumble
Just because you want to travel to a certain destination doesn't mean you actually have to.

• Catholic school uninvites Whitman
As a New Jersey governor and national Republican figure, Christie Whitman won votes and political acclaim by supporting abortion rights.

• Chemist is charged after car blast probe
CRANBURY -- Finally breaking their silence about the investigation into a mysterious explosion that destroyed a car nearly two weeks ago, authorities announced yesterday that the vehicle's owner was arrested after experts determined the blast was caused by volatile chemicals smuggled home from the corporation where the suspect works as a chemist.

• Trenton is abuzz about its future police director
TRENTON -- Mayor Douglas H. Palmer said he will make an "imminent" announcement on his choice to be the city's next police director.

• "This is a community service building. You hurt this community." JOSE A. HERNANDEZ, chief executive at YWCA, speaking to those responsible for the vandalism and burglary
TRENTON -- Thieves who stole thousands of dollars worth of computers and inflicted serious damage in nearly every room of the YWCA on East Hanover Street didn't just commit a burglary and vandalize property.

• Ewing a step closer to luring Lowe's
EWING -- Developers looking to build a Lowe's home improvement store in West Trenton cleared a major hurdle last week when the township planning board endorsed zoning changes that allow big-box development in certain parts of town.

• His love of running comes at a high price
It was a pleasure to run.

• End of sanctuary darkens celebration
EWING -- For Scudder Stevens and Scott Scudder, yesterday's festival marking the 300th anniversary of Ewing Presbyterian Church was a bittersweet tribute to their heritage.

• Princeton building designed for big ideas to happen
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Princeton University is celebrating the completion of Sherrerd Hall, a glass building designed to reflect its desire to host small chats that lead to big ideas.

• Playwrights discuss Thornton Wilder's underappreciated genius
EWING -- Thornton Wilder was a playwright's playwright, though his most famous work, "Our Town," which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1938, is often misinterpreted as warm and sentimental.

• Pipeline accident causes oil leak
HAMILTON -- A subcontractor working on the New Jersey Turnpike expansion accidentally drilled into a pipeline carrying diesel fuel from Houston to Linden, causing an undetermined amount of oil to spill.

• Area lawmakers stand firm
After billions of dollars in tax breaks and other items were added to the federal bailout bill, the end result for three area legislators was the same: Two voted for it while one voted against it.

• Police nab letter-writing suspect
A 68-year-old Ewing man has been arrested on charges of harassment, stalking and making terroris tic threats for allegedly sending disturbing letters to area residents who had written letters to The Times' editorial pages, authorities said yesterday.

• Neighborhood is still puzzling over explosion
CRANBURY -- An explosion and fire that destroyed a vehicle parked in the driveway of an upscale home has neighbors whispering and wondering why federal agents have been poring over the blast site.

• 6th guilty plea made in alleged bribe plot
A sixth person has pleaded guilty in federal court to bribing a private construction manager in connection with building the Lewis Science Library at Princeton University, court documents show.

• Hospital projects remain on track
New hospitals planned to open in 2011 in Plainsboro and Hopewell Township at a combined tab of almost $1 billion remain on track despite the national financial turmoil, according to officials for those facilities.

• Schools fill gap in library services
TRENTON -- It's a little after 7:30 in the morning.

• Traffic control wins support
Municipalities and counties will have the right to put up stop signs, install speed humps, and set speed limits without state approval under a proposal moving through the Statehouse with widespread support.

• Autopsy: Trenton man's death was accidental
TRENTON -- Ronald "Brick" Wilson died from drug use and a heart attack he had during a struggle with Trenton cops last March, an autopsy has revealed.

• Rutgers adds sports-spending sentinel
Amid growing questions over millions of dollars in sports spend ing, Rutgers University has added a financial supervisor to the athletics department.

• Senate panel advances two bills
TRENTON -- The Senate Education Committee advanced a bill yesterday sponsored by Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Lawrence, that would greatly reduce the amount of notice school boards must give superintendents when their contracts will not be renewed.

• City mourns death of respected policewoman
When Emily Martus joined the Trenton Police Department in the summer of 1942 she held the title of policewoman and was assigned mainly clerical duties.

• Furor raised over derogatory remark
ROBBINSVILLE -- A school board member promised to apologize and attend a gay-rights forum to make amends for using a derogatory term for homosexuals during a public meeting even though he said his comment was taken out of context.

• Woman's disappearance baffles family and police
TRENTON -- Investigators spent yesterday gathering evidence from the South Broad Street apartment of a 31-year-old woman who disappeared early last month, leaving behind her job, her dog and her family who fear the worst.

• Developer may buy W. Windsor strip mall
WEST WINDSOR -- A developer is weighing whether to buy the Acme Shopping Center on Route 571.

• High court censures city judge
The state Supreme Court censured a retired Trenton Municipal Court judge for his behavior and ordered that he never be appointed to judicial office again.

• Parking shortage for courthouse staff
TRENTON -- Foreboding stalks the halls of the Mercer County criminal courthouse.

• Lifeline for homeowners
TRENTON -- While lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are wrestling with how to help the financial titans of Wall Street, others are working at a grass-roots level to try and rescue the residents of Main Street who are in danger of foreclosure.

• Hamilton stung by string of break-ins
HAMILTON -- In September alone, valuables from 70 homes across the township were stolen in daytime break-ins, police revealed yesterday.

• Bondurant retires from police chief post
PLAINSBORO -- New Jersey now has one less female police chief.

• Medical center receives grant of $7M for cardiology care
Princeton HealthCare System has received a $7 million infusion for cardiology and pulmonary care at its planned $441 million hospital at the former FMC Corp. site on Route 1 north in Plainsboro.

• Wachovia falls victim to crisis
The nameplate on the Wachovia Bank branches remained the same, but behind the scenes everything was changing yesterday as turmoil continued to roil the nation's banking industry.

• Zeitz puts focus on economy
Josh Zeitz has a tall task in front of him, a task at which 13 other Democrats have not succeeded: unseating Rep. Chris Smith.

• Smith, Holt diverge on bailout package
Mercer County's congressional delegation split its vote yesterday on the failed $700 billion emergency bailout of Wall Street, as U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-Hamilton, helped scuttle the bill that had support from Rep. Rush Holt, D-Hopewell Township.

• Child's cry saves family from their burning home
HAMILTON -- A child's cry in the night is a sound that often wakes parents, but in Hamilton early yesterday morning it may have saved lives.

• Feuding gangsters on display at trial
Lawyers painted opposing portraits of Jose "Boom Bat" Negrete during opening arguments in his murder trial yesterday.

• Smith cultivates longtime loyalties
When U.S. Rep. Chris Smith's campaign took him to an Acme supermarket in Hamilton and then a beefsteak dinner with the local building trade union council, he was in his element.

• Towns struggle to meet deadline
WEST WINDSOR -- With a Dec. 31 affordable housing plan deadline looming, New Jersey municipalities are scurrying to find solutions that meet the demands both of the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) legislation and residents who don't want more housing in their back yards.

• Ex-library director speaks out
TRENTON -- As branch closures and layoffs at city libraries loom, a former library director says poor oversight and lax fundraising have put the system in a precarious position.

• Six exonerated men rejoice in Princeton Twp.
PRINCETON TOWNSHIP -- Johnny Briscoe was close to doing what he swore to his family he'd never do.

• A wet Mercer County Italian Festival still offers good food and fun
WEST WINDSOR -- It takes a lot more than rain to keep Mercer County residents from sausage sandwiches, as evidenced yesterday by the umbrella-clad stream of visitors to the ninth annual Mercer County Italian Festival.

• A Peace Corps mission cut short by conflict
EWING -- An emergency evacuation from one former Soviet republic to another in the face of war this summer was not what Gretchen Shaub had in mind when she signed up for the Peace Corps.

• Aid worker meets Bush
Deanna Gordon spent the last 2 1/2 years in Afghanistan as part of a U.S. government program designed to help the people there.

• IMAX now at theater near you
HAMILTON -- The future is here. In fact, you can practically be surrounded by it.

• Election board flooded with voter registrations
As the clock ticks down to the Oct. 15 registration deadline for what some are calling the election of the century, Mercer County election officials are scrambling to process the thousands of registration forms and absentee ballot requests streaming into their offices from across the county and around the globe.

• Razing a storm of discontent
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Drawing objections from the local historical review board, the Princeton Theological Seminary has unveiled plans to demolish its 51-year-old Speer Library to make room for a bigger library with better organization and energy-saving technology.

• County worker accused of misconduct
A Mercer County computer administrator faces criminal charges after he allegedly disclosed information about a former colleague to a prospective employer.

• Trenton men accused of draining bank accounts
A 27-year-old Trenton man has been charged with stealing more than $200,000 from Commerce Bank in two fraudulent transactions that he then used to pay for a home and two vehicles, the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office alleged.

• Big sale at Savoy's is off the menu
HAMILTON -- Matt Savoy pointed this way and that as he strolled around the empty restau rant, and it was nearly impossible for him to extend his arm without indicating something for sale.

• Holt pushes anthrax review
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt introduced a bill late yesterday to establish a national commission that would scrutinize the 2001 anthrax attacks, probe their investigation by the FBI and make recommendations to prevent and handle bioterrorism in the future.

• Church sees immigration concern wane
PLAINSBORO -- With the economy teetering on the brink of a disaster, and the two candidates for president focusing on a rescue package, members of the Catholic Church fear that their drive to improve conditions for immigrants is losing the national attention it needs for success.

• Golf center, town cross putters
HAMILTON -- A financial dispute over a golf center once hailed as a revitalization project threatens to have the township and the business owners teeing off in court.

• Fit for feasting on Route 130
HAMILTON -- Talk about being a gateway to Mercer County.

• Pushing to save old church in Ewing
EWING -- The township historic commission last night hosted a community brainstorming ses sion to find ways to save the 141-year-old Ewing Presbyterian Church from demolition.

• Church facing demolition
EWING -- As Ewing Presbyterian Church moves forward with plans to raze its 141-year-old stone sanctuary on Scotch Road, the demolition project is being lambasted by critics who say church leaders didn't make enough of an effort to save the township's oldest house of worship from the wrecking ball.

• Council leery of library closings Trenton residents plea to keep branches open
TRENTON -- City council members took the opportunity last night to question why the library board hasn't done more fundraising before its recent decision to close four neighborhood branches.

• Panel urges careful scrutiny
PRINCETON BOROUGH -- Despite the severity of the Wall Street meltdown, the federal government's proposed solution -- a $700 billion bailout -- is so far-reaching that it requires careful scrutiny and should not be rushed into action.

• Check issued for disputed land purchase
HAMILTON -- After years spent trying to wriggle out of the much-debated Klockner Woods land deal, Hamilton's GOP leadership has finally cut a hefty check to preserve the 51-acre tract.

• High court hears arguments on sign ordinance
Judging by the tenor of questions posed by some of the state Supreme Court justices yesterday, Lawrence Township may soon be revising its sign ordinance to allow for inflatable rats.