Trenton's Canal Plaza

2012-07-25T11:14:00.001-07:00

500 Dollars

2012-07-03T09:27:00.001-07:00

Duke lacrosse accuser indicted on murder charge

2011-04-18T17:22:00.000-07:00

Duke lacrosse accuser indicted on murder charge: "RALEIGH, N.C. - The woman who falsely accused three Duke lacrosse players of raping her in 2006 was charged Monday with murder in the death of her boyfriend."

Daily Ebony Pics

2011-02-26T04:35:00.000-08:00

Daily Ebony Pics

Check out Check Out Kids Checking Out Old Tech!!!!

2011-02-05T16:38:00.001-08:00

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TVB | Japan Pledges 3D Holography for 2022 World Cup

2011-01-28T10:04:00.000-08:00

TVB Japan Pledges 3D Holography for 2022 World Cup

TOKYO: Japan is betting it will have holographic TV technology ready in time to host the 2022 World Cup soccer event. The Japan Times said the country unveiled its bid for the 2022 World Cup on Monday. Japan and South Korea would co-organize the event and employ 3D, holographic display technology into the coverage. “The high-tech projects include images being beamed onto giant 3-D hologram-style flatbed screens, translation earpieces for fans of different nations to converse with each other, and devices to instantly capture information by pointing at players on the pitch,” The Times said.

Keio University’s Jun Murai is assisting in the development of the proposed technology He said there were challenges to achieving full holography in 12 years, but that the research phase was completed. Functioning equipment is expected as soon as 2016.Indeed, Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technologies demonstrated crude electronic holography at the NAB show last year. Here is what video expert Mark Schubin noted of that demo:“On the reproduction end, it appears to be true wavefront reconstruction. Laser beams are used just as they were in original holograms to reproduce the wavefronts captured in the interference patterns of the holograms.

Three lasers were used for the three primary colors. The resulting hologram appeared to float in space. It was tiny and had a limited viewing angle. It also suffered not only from laser speckle but also from other noise. “On the capture end, the system is not holographic. It uses something called an ‘integral camera.’ It is an ultra-high-definition camera--sometimes referred to as 8K--shooting a normally lit scene through a ‘fly’s-eye’ planar array of small lenses. A computer then processes the image into an interference-pattern type hologram, using the wavefront information captured from the fly’s-eye lens array. The interference patterns are then sent electronically, live except for the processing latency, to three small liquid-crystal displays, which are illuminated by the reproduction lasers.”

The Japan Broadcasting Corp. also showed a similar 8K integral camera at the same trade show, he said. “But this time the image was projected directly through another lens array onto a screen. Viewers needed no 3D glasses and could move their heads to see around objects. “Both NICT’s and NHK’s integral-camera demonstrations resulted in very crude images. There is no technological reason, however, preventing future improvements.”

Deborah D. McAdamsSee...“Technology fuels Japan’s 2022 Bid,” in The Japan Times.April 20, 2009: “Holography Update”“This is the most exciting thing I’ve seen at NAB in my 37 years of doing NAB. It was beyond anything I could have expected…they have actual electronic holography.”

Haiti dictator: Baby Doc's return to Haiti revives old ghosts - chicagotribune.com

2011-01-26T11:06:00.000-08:00

Haiti dictator: Baby Doc's return to Haiti revives old ghosts - chicagotribune.com

CTI Records 40th Anniversary

2011-01-23T11:34:00.000-08:00

In 1970, visionary jazz producer Creed Taylor went independent with CTI. Its style and discriminating quality transformed contemporary jazz. Taylor assembled and developed a historic roster of artists and the albums they created set new standards in their look as well as sound. The success of CTI's recordings has echoed across the decades in a profound influence on jazz, pop, R&B and hip-hop.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?docId=1000601131

Exile in France Takes Toll On Ex-Tyrant 'Baby Doc'

2011-01-18T16:36:00.000-08:00

PARIS - Haiti's Ex-Dictator Duvalier Lost Wife, Chateau, Millions in Embezzled Funds -- Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, a dictator who fled Haiti in 1986 with millions of dollars, came to France to live in high style. Home was a villa in Mougins in the hills above Cannes. He and his family drove through the French Riviera in a BMW and a Ferrari Testarossa and shopped at expensive boutiques. They owned a chateau outside Paris and two apartments in the city.

Today, the former "President for Life" is broke, his lawyers and friends say. He lives in a borrowed apartment with a girlfriend. He is divorced, and French attorneys once retained by the Haitian government believe his ex-wife made off with what remained of the Duvalier riches. Mr. Duvalier says he lives off donations. He bums rides from friends. Wives of die-hard supporters cook him meals. He pines for Haiti.

"I didn't come to France to live indefinitely," Mr. Duvalier, 51, says in an interview in the lobby of the Paris building where he lives. In meetings with supporters here, he is mounting a quixotic campaign to rule his homeland again. "The whole time I've been here, my heart and my spirit have been in Haiti," he says.

In 1971, the tyrannical Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier was ill and dying, so he anointed his only son, then 19, to succeed him. After 15 years, a popular uprising and U.S. pressure forced Baby Doc to flee the impoverished Caribbean nation of eight million. As he was driven to the airport, Haitians heckled him. In Paris, more Haitian protesters greeted him. The French government said he could stay for no more than six days. But after denying his asylum requests several times, the French let him stay.

Human-rights groups say 40,000 to 60,000 political opponents were killed during the 29-year reign of the father and son. Mr. Duvalier, along with family and political cronies, also embezzled at least $500 million during his last decade of rule, according to Haitian government officials and lawyers and American officials. Successive Haitian governments -- there have been nearly a dozen since Mr. Duvalier was deposed -- retained lawyers in France and the U.S. to help recover the money.
Mr. Duvalier denies having opponents jailed or killed, or that he was a dictator. "If I were dictator, I would have done everything in my power to stay in power," he says. He also denies stealing. He says he arrived in France with a modest inheritance and some savings, though he won't say how much. "I laugh when I hear the amounts: $400 million, $800 million. It's a lot of blah, blah, blah," he says, adding that he has spent what he had. "There were the children to care for, school expenses, other bills. People said I always paid for others' meals at restaurants. But many times it was friends who invited us out and they paid the bill."

As part of an investigation into the looting allegations, authorities raided the villa Mr. Duvalier and his wife rented in Mougins shortly after they arrived in France. The authorities say they caught Mrs. Duvalier trying to flush a notebook down the toilet. It logged recent spending -- $168,780 for clothes at Givenchy, $270,200 for jewelry at Boucheron, $9,752 for two children's horse saddles at Hermes, $68,500 for a clock, $13,000 for a week in a Paris hotel.

Gilles August, one of the French lawyers retained by Haiti at time, says he and another attorney working on the case tracked down about $20 million in a Duvalier bank account in London, but the money was transferred before they could seize it. They traced the money to accounts in New Jersey and Luxembourg before losing the trail. Another large bank account was located in the south of France, but a Duvalier relative got word of a court order to freeze the account and emptied it, Mr. August says.

TELL ME A STORY
The lawyer says he suspected that friendly parties in the Haitian government tipped off the Duvaliers. During the 1980s, Haitian governments came and went, and eventually the authorities lost interest in the money chase. "It was like calling your client and your client doesn't exist," Mr. August says.

Haiti's current government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says the pursuit of the Duvaliers was abandoned for many years, but Haiti issued an indictment in 2000 against Mr. Duvalier and several members of his government. "If Duvalier came back here, he would be arrested for theft of government monies," says government spokeswoman Michele Karshan.

In 1993, the Duvaliers divorced. The next year they sold their chateau outside Paris. Mr. Duvalier says he and his former wife split part of the proceeds, but used most of the money to pay French back taxes. By this point, Mr. August believes, Mrs. Duvalier controlled the couple's remaining savings. "Given the control Duvalier's wife had over him, it's very possible that she took the money, and he is broke," he says.

Mr. Duvalier's former wife, Michele Bennett, 53, who now uses her family name, declined to respond to written questions posed to her through Sauveur Vaisse, a longtime Duvalier attorney in France. After years of extravagant living, Mr. Duvalier began to appear short of cash. On Aug. 22, 1995, a couple identifying themselves as Mr. and Mrs. Valere checked into two rooms at L'Eden Bleu, a $78-a-night hotel in Mougins, says manager Patrick Budail. After the pair stayed weeks without paying, Mr. Budail called the police, and the gendarmes took the couple into custody. At the police station, someone recognized them as Mr. Duvalier and his mother.

The police released them when Mr. Duvalier's girlfriend, Veronique Roy, came to settle the bill. The hotel let Mr. Duvalier and his mother return, but Mr. Budail says they paid only part of the subsequent bills. So Mr. Budail moved son and mother to a single room. Later, he says, he stopped serving them meals. Ms. Roy picked the pair up very early on the morning of Nov. 3, by which time they had run up a bill that Mr. Budail places at $18,000, including late fees, and says is still unpaid. (Ms. Roy says she paid in full, adding that the hotel was trying to profit off the Duvalier name.)

In 17 years of exile, Mr. Duvalier never tried to find a job, write books or otherwise earn money. He says he once took university classes to improve his leadership skills. "All I know is politics," he says. Among Haitians, Baby Doc remains a deeply polarizing figure. Many at home and abroad continue to seek his expulsion from France and want him to be tried for crimes against humanity. "He accepted the title of President for Life, the money, the power," says activist Gerald Bloncourt, a 76-year-old artist expelled from Haiti in 1946 for his part in a communist uprising. "He should accept the blame."

A small but growing minority of Haitians remain nostalgic for Mr. Duvalier. In Paris, his few supporters include Haitian taxi drivers, real-estate brokers and factory workers, as well as some entrepreneurs whose fathers were ardent "Duvalierists." Mr. Duvalier and Ms. Roy live in a one-bedroom apartment that belongs to a friend who pays the $1,000-a-month rent, he says. Ms. Roy, a Frenchwoman who resembles Angelina Jolie, says she met Mr. Duvalier at a party the day Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990. Now she serves as his chief adviser and public-relations representative, and helps him maintain a pair of Web sites that include an open letter to compatriots and news articles about Haiti's deteriorating social, political and economic conditions.

Ms. Roy says she has gone to Boston, Miami, New York and the Dominican Republic to meet with Haitian supporters, including former government members, old allies and their children. During Mr. Duvalier's rule, Haiti was Latin America's poorest nation, and it remains so. Since 1980, according to the U.N.'s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, it has had the region's highest infant mortality and illiteracy rates. Life expectancy, currently 51 years, is consistently the region's lowest. The highest is Barbados at 74 years.

Chain-smoking Dunhill cigarettes in the Paris lobby, Mr. Duvalier says Haiti was better off under his rule. "Look at the condition I left the country in," he says. "And look at the condition it is in now." Asked what mistakes he made, Mr. Duvalier struggles. "We were not perfect," he finally allows. "Perhaps I was too tolerant."

Originally posted in the Wall Street Journal on March 16, 2003

Haiti urged to arrest "Baby Doc" amid unrest fears

2011-01-18T07:53:00.000-08:00

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Rights groups demanded on Monday that Haiti arrest former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier for crimes against humanity after his surprise return from 25 years in exile, which strained an edgy political atmosphere in the volatile Caribbean state.

Analysts said the arrival in Port-au-Prince on Sunday of "Baby Doc" Duvalier, who fled his homeland in 1986 to escape a popular revolt, could only complicate the climate of nervous uncertainty in earthquake-battered Haiti. Tensions in the impoverished nation are running high after chaotic and inconclusive November 28 elections.

"Duvalier's return to Haiti should be for one purpose only: to face justice," Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International said Duvalier, 59, should be brought to trial for the killings and torture of thousands of opponents at the hands of the thuggish Tonton Macoutes militia during his 15 years in power. Amnesty called those acts "crimes against humanity."

Responding to the demands for Duvalier's arrest, Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said the government was "not at ease" with the former dictator's return. But he added that since Haiti's constitution bans exile, Duvalier had the right to return to his homeland, even though his diplomatic passport issued in 2005 had expired. "If there are judicial procedures against him, the justice system will have to do what it has to do," Bellerive said. He told reporters there were "ongoing judicial issues" between the government and Duvalier. Haitian authorities in the past have accused Duvalier and his clan of plundering state coffers of several hundred million dollars and hiding the money abroad. There have been moves in Swiss courts to recover some of the money.

The return of Duvalier was a cause of concern for Caribbean Community ministers meeting in Georgetown, Guyana. "The return of Baby Doc could be an unwelcome distraction in the current volatile situation and just when the international community is trying desperately to sustain the fragile security gains in recent years," Grenada's minister of state for foreign affairs, Deneth Modeste, said.

Reactions in Haiti ranged from delight among old Duvalierists, anger from victims of his rule and speculation his visit was some kind of distraction tactic in the current political crisis. "It is sad to see people cheering 'Long live Duvalier!' ... It was a fierce dictatorship. Duvalier must pay for all those crimes," said Pierre Esperance, a local human rights activist.

'Baby Doc' Duvalier returns to Haiti in surprise move

2011-01-18T07:40:00.000-08:00

Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, Haiti's former dictator seen here in March 1982, returned unexpectedly Sunday.Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, Haiti's former dictator, returned unexpectedly Sunday to the country after some 25 years in exile, adding uncertainty into an already turbulent situation.

He arrived in the Haitian capital as the nation is grappling with a political crisis, sparked by fraud allegations in a presidential election. It was not immediately clear why the former leader returned.

Duvalier, wearing a dark suit and tie, greeted supporters at the busy Port-au-Prince airport. He was traveling with his wife.

The Duvalier family ruled Haiti for three decades starting in 1957, when Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier was elected president. He later declared himself president for life. When he died in 1971, he was succeeded by his 19-year-old son, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.

The younger Duvalier held onto power for 15 years before a revolt forced him to flee the country. Widely accused of corruption, Duvalier has been living in France.
Upon arriving in Haiti, the former dictator and his wife went to the Karibe Hotel, according to Ryan Flaherty, head of security for Project Medishare. Duvalier's wife was swarmed by people as she approached the hotel and said that her husband had decided to return to Haiti some time ago, Flaherty reported.
"There's definite energy in the air right now," he said, as he stood with a small crowd of Duvalier supporters outside of the hotel. "Right now, people don't know what he's back here for. People don't know if he is just visiting, or if he's here to talk about the earthquake and relief ... or is he going to make a political move," said Flaherty. "It's just going to be interesting to hear what he has to say."

Duvalier is expected to speak to reporters on Monday. The United Nations restricted the movement of its staff in Port-au-Prince until further notice, or until the impact of the former leader's arrival becomes clear, said Patrick Hanson, a security officer for the United Nations in Haiti.

While groups of people have gathered in various parts of the city, they are calm and no violence has been reported, he said. Last week, Haiti marked the first anniversary of a devastating earthquake that left more than 200,000 people dead.

The January 12 anniversary of the catastrophe, as Haitians call it, comes as the Caribbean nation faces new crises: a cholera epidemic that has killed more than 3,700 people and a political impasse sparked by allegations of election fraud in the nation's presidential balloting.

Haiti Quake: 1 Year LaterWhat Progress Has Been Made? Read stories of Hope & Progress ProgressInHaiti.org

Students Continue King’s Legacy through a Semester of Service

2011-01-15T05:00:00.000-08:00

Last fall, about 360,000 youth, educators, and community partners began a year-long campaign to demonstrate the potential of education powered by service. Through the Learn and Serve Challenge, they pledged to engage in service-learning activities to help more young people understand how their education is relevant in the real world.

Youth of all ages will use the knowledge and skills learned in school or a community-based program to create and implement innovative solutions to our nation’s toughest problems. This month, thousands of K-12 students and college age youth will kick-off a Semester of Service to honor and continue Dr. King’s legacy by joining the frontlines to help rebuild and renew their communities.

Semester of Service 2011 launches on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service (January 17, 2011). Thousands of students, educators, and community leaders from schools and organizations will plan and implement high-impact service and service-learning projects throughout the semester leading up to Global Youth Service Day (April 15-17, 2011).

In the spirit of Dr. King’s legacy, students will use their Semester of Service projects to tackle the root causes of meaningful community problems, such as childhood obesity, hunger & homelessness, illiteracy, natural disasters, and environmental degradation.

For example, students at Abington Senior High School in Abington, PA will host the 2nd Annual Water Summit on Martin Luther King Day. They will teach participants from ten area high schools about water challenges around the world, how to save water in their own community, and how to preserve the quality of water we enjoy in the USA. Participants in the summit will form an action plan for the ensuing Semester of Service, culminating in a big event centering on water on Global Youth Service Day.

There’s still time to join us. Accept the Challenge today and begin by planning your own Semester of Service. You can access resources from Youth Service America (YSA), a Learn and Serve America grantee, to gear up to launch a Semester of Service in your school or community.

YSA is an organizing partner of the Learn and Serve Challenge and provides a variety of grants, planning tools, training, and technical assistance to help Semester of Service participants plan, lead, and implement high-impact service-learning programs.

Karen Daniels is Vice President of Engagement for Youth Service America. Semester of Service is a signature program of Youth Service America.

Nelda Brown is the Director of the National Service-Learning Partnership at the Academy for Educational Development. The National Learn & Serve Challenge is a signature program of the National Service-Learning Partnership.

Ed Note: This is the second post in a year-long monthly series highlighting the stories of service that emerge from this 2010-2011 Learn & Serve Challenge. You can read last month's here.

2011-01-14T09:06:00.001-08:00

Earth-Shakin' Glorious Sensation...!!!

2011-01-05T10:58:00.000-08:00

KenyaMJ Music

A singer, songwriter, pianist, musician....a mother, a wife, a woman...a soul who is simply sharing her passion and gift of music with all who wish to experience innovative music.

Kenya is a soulful singer/songwriter who delivers soothing vocals accompanied by music that embodies a contemporary groove. Inspired by American singer/songwriters such as Stevie Wonder, Lalah Hathaway, John Mayer & Norah Jones and international groups like Incognito, Brand New Heavies and Jazzanova, Kenya admits that "Music = air"...without it, she simply doesn't breathe. Kenya (whose full name is Kenya McGuire Johnson)has been singing since the age of 8- raised in Denver, CO during adolescence she was active in citywide choirs, jazz bands, show choirs, and musical theater. In college she was a member of the renowned Howard Gospel Choir at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and after college did background vocals for various independent artists including the former group Hue, Maritri, Nick Cassarino, Shana Tucker Williams, and The Soulfolk Experience. As an adolescent and during college while performing in combos and groups, she opened for such artists as Art Blakey, Bebe & CeCe Winans, and Yolanda Adams.

Her debut EP titled "Starting Over", produced by Grammy Award winning producer Maurice Joshua (best remix for "Crazy Love" by Beyonce), is a testimony to Kenya's journey- she is returning to the gift of music after being away from the craft (having a family and career as a physical therapist and educator). Kenya truly feels blessed to have this remarkable rebirth.

Thisnis 50

2010-12-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

2010-12-22T07:32:00.000-08:00

2010-12-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

True-Grit_Jeff-Bridges_hat_Image-Credit-Paramount-Pictures

The full trailer for Joel and Ethan Coen’s adaptation of True Grit starring Jeff Bridges as Marshal Reuben J. Cogburn has moseyed onto the internet. If this turns out terrible we will eat our oversized cowboy hat.

For the uninitiated, True Grit is the story a drunken marshal, Ruuben ‘Rooster’ Cogburn, and his blood quest to find Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the killer of 14 year old Mattie Ross’ (Hailee Steinfeld) father. Hot on their trail is Texas Ranger LeBoeuf (Matt Damon), in pursuit of Cogburn for the slaying of another man.

Costume design for True Grit 2010 is by the masterful Mary Zophres. Having worked with the Coen brothers on most of their films, she is perhaps best known for creating The Dude’s hippie loafer look in The Big Lebowski (1998). Her memorable creations for Dumb & Dumber (1994), Catch Me If You Can (2002) and A Serious Man (2009) should not be overlooked too. Mary Zophres is one of the best in the business.

In True Grit, Jeff Bridges wears a long duster coat and similar high crown, wide brim cowboy hat to John Wayne in the original film (a role that won The Duke an Academy Award). The colour of the hat is notably different, however. Now a lived in tan, probably made from fur felt. The black eye-patch remains as possibly the most recognisable feature of Cogburn’s ensemble. Note the tall crown bowler in there as well? Generally only worn for formal occasions.

It is clear from the Johnny Cash enveloped trailer that this will be a vastly different experience from Wayne’s 1969 version – itself an adaptation by director Henry Hathaway of Charles Portis’ ’68 novel. Although to ensure the Cogburn character remains symbolic, certain costume facets had to remain – the battered wide brim hat and eye-patch most of all.

True Grit is released in the U.S. on Christmas Day and in the UK on 14th January. For some of us the holiday season is going to seriously drag.

Carol Riddick ~ Jaguar Wright

2010-10-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

The Brownshirt Sheriff of Mercer County, NJ

2010-10-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

Like many others in the fraternity of armed tax-feeders, Mercer County, New Jersey Sheriff Kevin Larkin is “douple-dipping”: He is drawing a salary and a pension for the same job, sucking down money earned by productive people to the tune of $215,000 a year.
Recently Larkin removed his snout from the public trough long enough to engage in Brownshirt-style classroom intimidation of a professor who dared to speak his name in a tone other than that of chastened reverence.

During a February 1 political science class, Michael Glass, an associate professor at Mercer County Community College, “was conducting a discussion of what changes students would propose to the state budget to avoid the expected $2 billion shortfall,” reported Dmirty Gurvits in the college newspaper. “Some students suggested cutting the salaries of what they felt were overpayed [sic] state administrators.”
After Glass mentioneded officials who “double-dip,” the students asked for an example. He cited “several law enforcement officers, including Sheriff Larkin, who collects a Police and Fire Retirement System Pension as well as a government salary” — an $85,000 annual “retirement” pay-out, as well as a $129,634 salary.
When one of his students commented that he didn’t know what he would do with that much money, Glass reportedly commented: “In the case of the Sheriff, it’s not that much. He has [to pay] child support and alimonies.” (Of course, many people in the productive sector deal with similar problems without getting more than 200K in money plundered from others at gunpoint.)
Glass wasn’t aware that one of his students, a Mercer County Clerk named 26-year-old Brooke Seidl, had — in the fashion of a secret police informant — relayed the Sheriff of Glass’s comments via text message.
Shortly thereafter, campus security received a message from Larkin saying that he needed “to reach Prof. Michael Glass.” When the note was delivered to the instructor during class break, he dismissed it as a joke and returned to his lecture.
About a half-hour before the class ended, “Sheriff Kevin C. Larkin, dressed in a trenchcoat, opened the door to Prof. Glass’s classroom,” continues Gurvits’s account. The Sheriff, accompanied by a female aide, summoned the teacher to a brief conversation outside the classroom.
When they returned to the room, the professor — with the Sheriff looming no more than “six inches from him,” according to one eyewitness — apologized for “making disparaging comments” about the stainless public servant who had barged into his class.
“This isn’t over,” growled Larkin as his swagged from the classroom, leaving the choking stench of bullying arrogance in his wake. Just before the doors shut, the sheriff fired off a parting contemptuous salvo: “You’re a terrible teacher, you should get your facts from a book.”
Not content to pollute Glass’s classroom, Larkin on the following day made a phone call to Jose Fernandez, executive director of the college’s Human Resources department, to complain about Glass’s “conduct.”
Dr. Robin Schire, Dean of the Liberal Arts Division at Mercer Community College, offered an apt summary of the episode: “The idea of having a police presence challenging a professor and taking him out of class is something seen in a police state.”
It is also a likely harbinger of what we can expect from the coercive caste as it protects its perquisites amid an accelerating economic collapse.

The Brownshirt Sheriff of Mercer County, NJ

Indian Summer Weekend

2010-10-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

Indian Summer Weekend

Block Party - Saturday, October 9th, 9am-5pm

Fireworks - Saturday, October 9th, 9:30pm

Boardwalk Entertainment, Saturday, October 9th, 7pm

Downtown Merchant Sales, Sunday, October 10th

Boardwalk Merchant Sales, October 8th-11th

Seafood Center, Music Pier, October 9th-11th

Mercer County Emergency Management Notification

2010-10-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

PRECAUTIONARY BOIL WATER ADVISORY FOR CUSTOMERS OF TRENTON WATER WORKS

Trenton Water Works is providing notification that due to a treatment plant shutdown on Sunday, October 3, 2010, customers in the City of Trenton, Ewing Township and Lawrence Township have experienced water outages and/or a significant loss of pressure.

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has determined that a potential or actual threat to the quality of water being provided to you currently exists. As a precaution, the following Boil Water Advisory is required until testing of the water supply is deemed satisfactory.

Effective immediately and until further notice, bring tap water to a rolling boil for one minute and allow the tap water to cool before using for:

 drinking,

 preparing foods, washing vegetables and fruit,

 cooking,

 making ice cubes,

 taking medications,

 brushing teeth, and

 mixing baby formula, food, juices or drinks.

Please continue to boil your water or use bottled water until you are notified that the water quality is acceptable.

The following measures are also recommended:

• Throw away uncooked food or beverages or ice cubes if made with tap water during the day of the advisory;

• Keep boiled water in the refrigerator for drinking;

• Do not swallow water while showering or bathing;

• Rinse hand-washed dishes with a diluted bleach solution (one tablespoon of household bleach per gallon of tap water) or clean your dishes in a dishwasher using the hot wash cycle and dry cycle;

• Do not use home filtering devices in place of boiling or using bottled water; most home water filters will not provide adequate protection from microorganisms;

• Use only boiled water to treat minor injuries;

• Provide pets with drinking water that has been boiled (and cooled).

Please be advised that Trenton Water Works has restored operation of the treatment plant and activated emergency interconnections with neighboring water systems to supplement our demand.

This advisory will remain in effect until repairs are completed and testing shows the water quality to be safe. You will be notified when the boil water advisory is lifted.

Thank you for your patience. If customers have any questions please contact Trenton Water Works at (609) 989-3055.

Mercer County Office of Emergency Management
350 Lawrence Station Road
Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648
Phone 609-799-8868
Fax 609-799-7067

From: Emergency Management [mailto:emergencymanagement@mercercounty.org]
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 10:48 AM

Death of Trenton Water Works deal may revive lawsuit

2010-10-05T07:45:00.000-07:00

As Trenton prepares to evaluate the future of its water utility, the city is also dealing with the fallout from a failed proposal to sell the utility’s outlying infrastructure to a private company.

Earlier this month, talks were revived over a lawsuit that Ewing, Hamilton, Hope-well and Lawrence townships filed against Trenton in 2008, after the city hiked water rates for its suburban and city customers 40 percent. A settlement of the suit was contingent on the infrastructure sale going through, but it could be revived now that the sale is off.

“The pending litigation is being discussed between all the parties,” Lawrence Township manager Richard Krawczun said. “The conversations that have taken place thus far have been productive.”

The city-owned Trenton Water Works has customers in the four townships in addition to its customers in Trenton. The townships had asked the Trenton City Council to put off the rate hike, but they later focused their suit on the city’s practice of generating water revenue surpluses.

The townships argue that because Trenton planned to use money collected from water customers to balance Trenton’s general budget, the rate increase represents an unconstitutional tax on suburban water customers.

“They were actually budgeting for a surplus and billing the township residents for that,” said Steve Goodell, an attorney for Hopewell Township. “In effect, the township residents were subsidizing the municipal budget, and that’s inappropriate.”

The city subsequently announced plans to sell Trenton Water Works’ pipes and tanks in the townships to a private company — New Jersey American Water Co. That would make the township residents customers of the new owner. The two sides agreed to settle the case whenever the sale concluded.

However, a group of city residents successfully petitioned to put the sale to NJ American to a vote, and city voters overwhelming rejected the deal in June. That left the lawsuit in limbo.

The suit could still be settled, perhaps by the city agreeing to reduce the rate increase or to limit the amount of surplus it transfers to its general budget.

Trenton has transferred $3 million from the utility in most years, but in 2007 it transferred $6.2 million. The Board of Public Utilities had previously limited the transfers to 5 percent of Trenton Water Works’ revenues, but the utility was exempted from board oversight in 2006, when water rates for city and suburban customers were equalized.

The townships argue there are still limits to the amount Trenton can transfer to its budget. But as they decide whether to head back into court, Krawczun said the townships are willing to work with the new city administration elected in June.

“We respect the fact that the representatives of the city administration, including Mayor Tony Mack, are just coming online on this issue, among the many challenges the city faces,” he said. “We are being patient in working through this problem.”

Trenton is also having to address maintenance issues at the water utility now that the infrastructure sale would have taken care of, such as a high rate of water leakage. The administration has proposed hiring an outside contractor to evaluate Trenton Water Works and propose ways to improve its operations and management. City council has expressed skepticism about the need for such a contract.

Trenton residents advised to boil drinking water

2010-10-05T07:32:00.000-07:00

TRENTON - Residents of Trenton and four suburbs are being advised to boil water before drinking it, because Trenton's water plant is having problems treating water because of the high level of the Delaware River.

In addition to Trenton, residents of Ewing, Lawrence, Hopewell, and Hamilton are being advised to boil water. Officials said the heavy flow in the Delaware forced them to draw from a reserve. That reduced the volume of treated water to only one-quarter of the normal 28 million gallons per day as of Monday afternoon.

Officials said they did not know when the advisory would be lifted. The Delaware is running higher than normal following last week's torrential rains. - AP

Trenton scores back-to-back wins - Trentonian.com :Sports :Serving Trenton Local News, Central New Jersey, Bucks County, Pa

2010-08-25T11:36:00.000-07:00

Trenton scores back-to-back wins - Trentonian.com :Sports :Serving Trenton Local News, Central New Jersey, Bucks County, Pa

Civic leader Howard Fitzgerald dies at 72

2010-08-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

August 22, 2010

Former City Council and school board member Howard Fitzgerald died Saturday. He was 72. His sons Howard Jr., 48, and Kydhir, 47, said their father, who recently served as president of the Friends of the Trenton Public Library, died of complications from pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

"I'm going to miss his laugh -- it was a healthy, jovial laugh. Very infectious," said Howard, of Willingboro. "Every little thing made him laugh, but he was serious when he needed to be." He said his father was not happy to see people suffering or watch the deterioration of the city and the education system, so he served on both the council and the school board.

"He was not one to complain to other people; he was a man of action," Howard said. Mr. Fitzgerald lived the last few years in Willingboro, and his sons would frequently go to breakfast and lunches with him. "He was the happiest when he was with us and vice versa," the younger Howard said. "He was not only a father to us, he was also our buddy." Kydhir Fitzgerald recalled how important education was to his father.

"He cared about access to resources for the youth," Kydhir, of Burlington Township, said, "Ever since I could remember, he always had an interest in what was going on with youth." The elder Fitzgerald served as president of We Inc., a local organization established in 1965 to promote a positive image and motivating force within the minority community. Mr. Fitzgerald worked as an education program development specialist for the New Jersey Department of Labor from September 2001 until February 2009, according to spokesman Kevin Smith.