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Fifteen locations throughout town hosted more than 80 musicians, including RPG Jazz Project, shown here on a porch on Jefferson Road, for the Arts Council of Princeton’s third annual music festival on Saturday. Attendees discuss their favorite styles of music in this week’s Town Talk on page 6. (Photo by Sarah Teo ..read more

By Donald Gilpin At its meeting on Tuesday night, April 30, which took place after press time, the Princeton Board of Education (BOE) was expected to approve a proposal for a $85 to $89.5 million facilities referendum, planned for December 2024 or January 2025, and also a 2024-25 budget of $119.2 million. The referendum proposal, for new construction and renovation at Community Park Elementary (CP), Littlebrook Elementary (LB), Princeton Middle School (PMS), and Princeton High School (PHS), is anticipated to be submitted to the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE). The specific dollar am ..read more

GAZA SOLIDARITY ENCAMPMENT: Pro-Palestine demonstrators at Princeton University moved into the sixth day of their “encampment,” moving the demonstration from McCosh Courtyard to Cannon Green between Nassau Hall and the Whig and Clio halls. Thirteen protesters were arrested on Monday evening during a takeover and sit-in in the Clio administration building. By Donald Gilpin The Gaza Solidarity Encampment pro-Palestine demonstration at Princeton University entered its sixth day on Tuesday, April 30 after a tense Monday evening during which protesters marched from their previous base in McCosh Co ..read more

By Anne Levin At its meeting on Monday night, April 29, Princeton Council was given a progress report on the town’s Climate Action Plan (CAP), which was adopted in 2019 to reduce carbon emissions and help the community become more climate-resilient. Sustainable Princeton, which has been leading the effort, delivered the presentation. Among other items on the agenda was the adoption of a resolution appointing nine members to the Princeton Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing, Human Services, and Racial, Social and Economic Equity. The committee was formed after the controversial consolidati ..read more

INNOVATION CENTER: The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will be holding a groundbreaking ceremony on May 9 for its new $109.7 million Princeton Plasma Innovation Center (PPIC), as Fusion Energy Week features a number of engaging activities, in-person and virtual, for the general public. The above rendering of the PPIC building, scheduled for completion by 2027, shows the three-story North Wing with the roof garden to the left, and the South Wing laboratory building. (Rendering courtesy of SmithGroup) By Donald Gilpin The first-ever Fusion Energy Week, a worldwide initiative to inform and e ..read more

NEVER TOO LATE: Residents of Maplewood at Princeton have been taking piano lessons from 15-year-old high school sophomore Pranayaa Jeyaraman, who was among those honored last week for their volunteer work. By Anne Levin Pranayaa Jeyaraman has been taking piano lessons since she was in first grade. Since February, the Woodbridge Academy Magnet School sophomore has been spending some of her time at the keyboard with enthusiastic students who happen to be decades her senior. They are residents of the senior living community Maplewood at Princeton, and they study with the Monroe Township resident ..read more

“BEYOND THE SPECTRUM”: Members of the Princeton Police Department were among those on hand to help out at this special Autism Awareness Alliance event on Saturday, April 27 at the Dinky Bar & Kitchen. By Anne Levin According to a March 2023 report by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the rate of children identified with autism spectrum disorder is one in 36 children nationally. Here in New Jersey, it is one in 35. This and other statistics related to the developmental disorder inspired Sean (Shenyao) Xu, a sophomore at the Hun School, to help families — especially Chinese families ..read more

By Stuart Mitchner The adolescence of a whole American generation was mediated by Dylan’s songs… —Helen Vendler (1933-2024) The last week of National Poetry Month began on Tuesday, April 23, William Shakespeare’s 460th birthday. Right now a whole generation of listeners is being “mediated” by Taylor Swift, whose latest album The Tortured Poets Department opened at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, “with historic numbers,” according to the New York Times. It’s hard to ignore an album with that title in a month celebrating poetry, not to mention the fact that Swift’s work is the subject of cours ..read more

By Nancy Plum Members of professional orchestras often have successful performing careers on their own, both individually and as part of chamber ensembles. Princeton Symphony Orchestra principal cellist Alistair MacRae maintains a bi-coastal performing life, with faculty and principal appointments on the West Coast in addition to New Jersey. One of his affiliations is as a member of the Puget Sound Piano Trio, ensemble-in-residence at the University of the Puget Sound School of Music in Tacoma, Washington. Princeton Symphony Orchestra presented MacRae and his colleagues in the Trio, violinist ..read more