This is the first in a series of four articles looking at events from 2002 as reported in the Windsor-Hights Herald.
By: Mark Moffa
The following dates reflect the issue in which the story was published.
Democrats Dan Buriak and Rick Pratt joined the Hightstown Borough Council at the council’s reorganization meeting. Republicans Sherry Whitman and Bob Patten relinquished seats.
Outgoing Township Councilman Barry Clark wrapped up his career in political service.
Newly elected East Windsor Councilman Al Rosenberg was sworn in, as well as re-elected members Hector Duke and Perry M. Shapiro. Janice Mironov was appointed mayor for the seventh consecutive year.
The school board voted 8-1 in favor of renovations and additions for all district schools at a cost of $48 million.
W. Palmer Dennis, co-owner and co-publisher of The Hightstown Gazette, died at the age of 83.
Parents complained that a school bus stop on an area of Dutch Neck Road without sidewalks near Oakmont Terrace was dangerous.
The East Windsor Fire Volunteer Fire Company No. 2 elected Carl Dye Jr. its new chief. Chief George McLaughlin stepped down for health reasons.
The East Windsor Education Association formed a committee to address concerns about the district’s basic skills program.
The school district’s Elementary School Proficiency Assessment and Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment results showed East Windsor behind neighboring districts. Parents called the results "atrocious" and "horrendous."
The Peddie School’s These Mortalsby Players celebrated its 10-year anniversary.
The school district announced its budget would include a request for seven additional teachers at the high school and three more teachers at the middle school.
East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov formed a committee to propose a solution to an out-dated rent-control ordinance that would have allowed landlords to raise rents 11 percent.
East Windsor Volunteer Fire Company No. 2 marked its 25th anniversary with a video, "Volunteers for 25 years."
The Chabad of the Windsors hosted a talk by Harry Fuld, a West Windsor man who fled Nazi Germany on a ship the St. Louis just before World War II in 1938.
Christopher Michael Lennon entered the Exeter Road home of his estranged wife and stabbed her two or three times with a large kitchen knife, according to police. The woman survived, spending only one night in the hospital, and Mr. Lennon was facing attempted murder charges.
Hightstown police arrested former East Windsor resident Jose Patino on charges stemming from a December 2000 armed robbery of L&G Travel on Main Street. Police said Mr. Patino fled to Ecuador. He was found in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
The school district announced the bus stop on Dutch Neck Road at Oakmont Terrace would be relocated. Although some parents were pleased, Oakmont Terrace and Dutch Neck Road residents worried the brandishing of their area as dangerous would lead to more parking restrictions or lower property values.
The Herald launched a four-part series examining the English as a second language program in the East Windsor Regional School District at various grade levels.
Asbestos was found and removed from the Grace N. Rogers School.
School district officials proposed bringing in a company known as the Geese Police to scare away a growing Canada geese population at the Ethel McKnight School.
Gloria Daniels, wife of Township Councilman Walter Daniels, died. She taught for more than 30 years and volunteered in the community.
A seventh-grade class at the Melvin H. Kreps Middle School planned to develop a magazine focusing on teen consumer-related issues.
The Bethany Chapel and Missionary Home on Stockton Street was struck with a fire, leaving the home’s six residents without a home.
The Twin Rogers Community Trust announced its intentions to amend the trust’s bylaws with a tort immunity clause in an effort to stem skyrocketing insurance premiums. The clause would eliminate many slip-and-fall lawsuits suits that had caused an increase in premiums from $4,700 in 2000 to $47,000 in 2001.
A drug prevention program implemented by the Melvin H. Kreps School, Kids Intervention With Kids in Schools, was recognized by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention as a state-of-the-art and exemplary prevention program.
The Township Council requested from Mercer County a speed limit reduction on Old York Road from 50 mph to 40 mph in order to ease the transition into Hightstown’s 25-mph South Main Street.
The East Windsor Regional School District released its 2002-2003 budget, a $59.5 million proposal requiring tax increases of 17.5 cents per $100 of property value in East Windsor and 20.8 cents in Hightstown.
The Township Council proposed a 2002 municipal operating budget of almost $16 million that would keep municipal taxes stable.
Seven people turned in applications for three seats on the East Windsor Regional Board of Education.
The Borough Council discussed solutions to the "five-points" intersection of Dutch Neck Road, Stockton Street, Herron Avenue and Oak Lane. Residents were concerned about vehicles speeding through the area, which is home to two elementary schools.
Latinos at Hightstown High School formed a group called Adelante! to unify Latinos and enhance their high school experience.
School board officials revised its budget to include 3.5 additional elementary school teachers as opposed to the 10.5 originally requested.
The school district’s proposed budget was revised to reflect state aid. Taxpayers now were looking at increases of 10 cents per $100 of assessed property value in East Windsor and 13 cents in Hightstown.
The state Department of Education released its annual School Report Card, showing the East Windsor Regional School District behind other schools in the same socio-economic class.
The state Department of Environmental Protection ordered water restrictions due to severe drought restrictions.
The East Windsor Health Department cited Twin Rivers and the East Windsor Regional School District for having an excessive amount of geese droppings on their properties. Both bodies called on The Geese Police, a group that uses border collies to scare Canada geese.
East Windsor police nabbed two men and a teen-ager in connection with the theft of more than $25,000 worth of motorcycles from Central Jersey Cycles on Route 130.
The township Planning Board recommended 56 acres of industrial office land on Monmouth Street be rezoned for age-restricted housing.
The state Department of Transportation granted the borough permission to reconstruct portions of the parking lot on Stockton Street between Railroad Avenue and Main Street and the Main Street lot between Peddie Lake and Theo’s Restaurant.
The borough’s zoning officer and building and housing inspector asked for an ordinance to give the borough greater authority over property owners who do not maintain standards of repair, safety or cleanliness.
Hightstown’s Borough Council introduced a $4.5 million budget that would raise municipal taxes 7.7 cents per $100 of assessed property value.
School board candidates prepared for an April 9 debate and shared their views with the Herald.
Borough Public Works Superintendent Larry Blake expressed anger at the borough’s proposed budget, which he said unfairly slashed the Public Works budget.
The father of Stephanie Berman a Hightstown High School student killed in a Millstone car accident in 2000 sued DaimlerChrysler, saying the company knew of a fatal defect in the 1997 Dodge Caravan that Stephanie was driving.
The school board unanimously approved the district’s $58.3 million budget, meaning voters in April would vote on a tax increase of 10 cents per $100 of property value in East Windsor and 13 cents in Hightstown.
Uliano Construction Inc. of Warminster, Pa., was awarded the job of constructing a new senior center on Lanning Boulevard Extension. The township agreed to pay $1.6 million for the project.

