Monday, March 13, 2006

TW3: March 6 - 12, 2006

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Mondays, CLIPPINGS is a digest of Plainfield-only news from the past week: That Was The Week That Was -- or TW3 -- with links to the online stories.

PLAINFIELD TODAY

NEW THIS WEEK

Legal Notices: Go here, and click on 'New Search' You can search by County, Newspaper
or keyword [such as 'Plainfield' or 'Sheriff']


GOVERNMENT

'S' seems the most popular letter in Plainfield's alphabet this week: Santiago, Senior Center, sex harassment [on this last, see H.I.T.S. under the ETC. heading]. . .

SANTIAGO IMBROGLIO: Does Superior Court Judge John Pisansky know something the rest of us don't, or is he signalling his decision? The Ledger story quotes the judge as referring to Chief Santiago's suspension. Now you should know that the Administration has taken every opportunity to state that the Chief is on administrative leave, and not suspension. Is His Honor just being imprecise? Maybe you need to give your tea leaves another swirl. . . Meanwhile, the Courier story mentions the Chief's contention that the leave is political and based on his questioning of the promotion of PBA president Andre Crawford's wife to a position he says she is not qualified for. The hearing was postponed to March 30 at the request of the City. Whether the postponement was a tactic or simply the result of the failure of the city's hired lawyer to be timely, it guarantees the matter will stay before the public for a while longer. Meanwhile, Santiago's supporters, led by Flor Gonzalez and the Latin American Coalition, continue a signature drive and have had two rallies of support.


SENIOR CENTER: Far from calming the Seniors over the fate of their proposed Center, Mayor Robinson-Briggs' monthly visit wwith the Seniors last Tuesday left them frustrated and fuming, as reported by the Plain Talker, the Courier and the Ledger. The Mayor made it clear that the City was definitely considering other options than the East Front Street property which had been assembled at the insistence of the Seniors by the administration of former mayor Al McWilliams. Mayor Robinson-Briggs and city administrator Carlton McGee, though they have backed away from earlier statements that there was no money, now say they need to 'understand the history of the project' and whether the Armory -- which may be offered for next to nothing -- is more desirable as a location from the administration's point of view. [I will be reporting on several of the issues raised in further posts this week. -- Dan]

City Council meeting date changes: "Meeting Days: Must citizens choose between Church and Council?"

Proposed Youth Commission and youth liaisons to boards and commissions: "City Council Wants Youth Input" [At great idea at first blush, but has anyone checked out the difficulty the Council and Mayor have in getting people to serve on boards?]

The Courier reports that the Council will take up a discussion of granting benefits to domestic partners, as has been done by many other towns and some counties. Activist Joan Hervey points out that this is a far cry from the gay marriage that she has been pushing for and hopes the city's legislative delegation [Jerry Green, Linda Stender and Nick Scutari] will support. Hervey hopes this time around there will not be the acrimony that erupted when the Council previously considered endorsing gay marriage.

Lastly, as we enter the silly primary season, the Democrats announced that Council hopefuls may submit their resumes to City Committee chairperson Jerry Green in care of his home address: 1460 Prospect Avenue, Plainfield. As the papers previously noted, Green alone will make the choice of candidates for the Democratic primary. Seats up this year are Ward 1 and Wards 2 and 3 at-large. There is a lot of speculation that the incumbents Rayland Van Blake and Rashid Burney may be dumped. I, for one, am not convinced.



CRIME













(Click on image to enlarge.)

ROBBERY: Both the Courier and the Ledger reported on multiple robberies of the Burger King on West 7th Street, see police sketch of robber above

BURGLARS ARRESTED: Four young men were arrested this week for burglaries in the East End. Could this also be the crew that was hitting
Prospect and Putnam Aves? Apparent M.O.: Daytime. Make sure no one is home and alarm is not on nor dogs present. Break and enter unseen from street. Grab. Vamoose.

DRUG BUST: "Woman accused of selling drugs"
..... - [last]: "Woman charged with drug possession"

SENTENCING: "Plainfield man gets 19 years for little girl's rape"
..... -"Man sentenced for sexual assault"


CONNECTIONS?
Stories with lessons for Plainfield

..... - Abbott School Funding - Editorial, CN: "School funding not just about the children"
..... - After-school violence: "Newark kids too afraid on way home to stay for programs"
..... - Architecture Interns: "South Amboy gets tips from future architects"
..... - Budget Overrun: "Cop salaries, insurance hikes put Paterson budget in 'crisis' mode"
..... - Crime Reduction: "Newark's Baraka questions whether more cops reduce violent crime"
..... - Developer strategy: "Developer rethinks Sayreville proposal; Housing reduced"
..... - Development: "Old Garwood bolt plant to house luxury townhouses, retail space"
..... - Eminent Domain: "Bloomfield plan depending on condemnation for private purpose"
..... - Eminent Domain: "Battle of Bloomfield: Can town condemn building to build condos?"
..... - Film as Fundraiser: "Revolutionary War film highlights woman's historic defiance of British"
..... - Flood Insurance: "Flood insurance: Higher rates and other options on table"
..... - Government decision-making: Fran Wood: "Government must never be above question"
..... - Mentally Ill: "Bridgeway, Trinitas, Prosecutor team for new approach to crime and mentally ill"
..... - Politics: "The Politics of Shoe Leather"
..... - Project Management Fees: "SCC CEO quits; Audit questions 'high' fees"
..... - Regulating Multifamily Dwellings: "Kenilworth landlords fight proposed law"
..... - Scenic byway: "Hearing scheduled to discuss scenic byway along Millstone River"
..... - Schools: Tom Moran: "Sciarra says time is ripe for poorer districts to contribute"
..... - Streetscapes: "Irvington in line for 'new' downtown"
..... - Successful Downtowns: "Avoid negatives: Involve locals, plan long-range, hang tough"
..... - Tax Revaluations: "Towns discover property reval can conceal a 'stealth' tax hike"
..... - Trader Joe's: "For Trader Joe's, a New York Taste Test"
..... - Vital Records - Editorial, SL: "Overreach on vital records"


COMMUNITY

Spelman College Scholarship Benefit:

..... -"Nancy Wilson with the Spelman Jazz Ensemble in PHS benefit concert"
Women's History Month:
..... -"Film on Shirley Chisholm, first Black Congresswoman, screens March 16"
Union County College: "College receives largest bequest in college history"
PHS Boys Basketball: "Linden finally solves Plainfield in title tilt"


ET CETERA

H.I.T.S. [Heard In The Street]: "Primary candidates?... Real estate buzz.... Sex harassment and the City... Double-dipping at the public trough?..."

Women's History Month: Plainfielder Ethel Washington curates exhibit, "Florence Spearing Randolph: Unsung Black Heroine of the Cloth",at Wallace Chapel AMEZ Church, Summmit. Ethel will also be honored at the Freeholders' annual Women of Excellence Awards on March 24th at the Westwood.

Letter to Editor, CN: Broderick Fleming: "Political agenda behind Iraq war"
Letter to Editor, CN: Muriel D. Northover: "Grandparents lose in closed adoptions"
OpEd, CN: The Rev. Rick Taylor: "Dear Mr. President: Help this disabled veteran"

Last week's TW3 is at: "TW3: February 27 - March 5, 2006"

-- Dan Damon
Keywords: TW3

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