Corzine's big ideas

Gov. Corzine says his drastic budget cuts may not be enough. The decline in retail sales for February has got him running a bit scared.

So what do you think?

Corzine was the head of an investment firm for a number of years, and has a strong finance background, so do you think that means he is the man that can bring down the NJ budget beast?

There is no question that NJ is in a bad way when it comes to balancing the budget. Years of borrowing and poor planning have led to huge deficits.

If we think on this issue on a small scale, as in one household, it makes it easier to wrap our heads around.

Image that you were in so much credit card and loan debt that you couldn't keep your head above water (and for many of us, this isn't a big stretch). Every month you have to decide what gets paid and what doesn't. After a couple of months, you start owing double payments and your debt is growing because of interest and late payment fees. Things are only getting worse.

So, what do you do?

You certainly don't plan on spending more money next month than you did last month.

You look for a better job (more revenue), tighten your belt (budget cuts) and stop using credit cards and loans (borrowing restrictions).

This might be very inconvenient, and even present you with great hardships (giving up your car to walk or bike places), but it is a necessary evil.

Now, back to the state....

It seems logical to me, that if you want to reduce your deficit, you have to make hard changes. I am not, however, an economist. I am not even that good at keeping my personal finances straight. Because of this, I am in no way saying that I think Corzine's plan will save us all, I am just saying that it sounds like it is at least moving in the right direction.

That being said...tell me what you think about it.

I am, as they say, all ears!

Co. Exec Hughes....Terribly un-photogenic

I was recently at the graduation for Mercer County's second class of cadets from the Police Academy and yet again I found myself on a mission to take a decent picture of County Executive Brian Hughes.

I like Brian Hughes, he is a genuinely nice man who I have met at several events over the last year, but the man just cannot take a good picture.

I used to think that it was the fault of his press people. I would get random press releases from them, mainly regarding things of interest in Trenton, with blurry and weird looking pictures attached. I just figured that they either 1, can not take a good picture or 2, did not look at which picture they were attaching to the release.

Then, when I got the chance to actually meet Hughes at a Hopewell event, I thought, this is my chance to get a decent picture of him....wrong.

Every single picture was bad. Either his mouth was open or his eyes were closed, in some he was looking down or had his head tilted in an awkward position.

It was really a very funny thing to experience.

Ever since then it has become sort of a game to me. Lets see if I can get a good picture this time.

So far, Hughes is kicking my but.

Bussing...a NON issue?

At the Hopewell Valley Regional school board meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 22 school board members Aaron Tellier and James Wulf pushed to have hazardous busing service reinstated.

But members opposed to hazardous busing said that they had not heard enough negative feedback from residents about the cancellation.

I seem to remember that parents were in an uproar over the cancellation of hazardous busing. The Pennington Police even agreed to place an officer at Route 31 and Delaware Avenue during school start and end times to protect the children who are now forced to cross the potentially dangerous intersection.

What do you think about this?

Are Mr. Tellier and Mr. Wulf on to something here, or are Hopewell Valley residents OK with the way busing was handled this year?

Another youngster down...

If you saw the front page of the Post this week, you know that Hopewell Township Police arrested an 18-year-old Pennington man for the theft of two cars and breaking in to and burglarizing a third car.

This is the third young person to grace the front page of my paper in the last few weeks for being arrested.

What is going on here? Has everyone got cabin fever, or the winter blues? What's the deal with the spike in teenager crime?

None of the crimes have been violent, yet! No one has been hurt, so far, but can an escalation to violence be too far off?

I know some of you may be thinking that I am reading too much in to a few coincidentally close together crimes, but I have seen this pattern before.

When I graduated high school in the 90s, we had kids getting in fights, being busted for small amounts of drugs (usually marijuana) and other relatively small offenses. Then, on my graduation day, a student was found to be in the possession of a gun, with the intent to shot a teacher who had failed him.

Today, things are much worse in my old high school. I am not saying that things will get that bad here in Pennington, but it is something to watch out for.

Know your kids, know their friends and know what they are getting in to when you are not around.

I am sure that these 18-year-old boys did not suddenly start to act out after they turned 18; chances are that they built up to this.

High school hijinks

An 18year-old and a 17-year-old have been arrested for the sprinkler incident at Central High School. Read the whole story here.

The elder student, being 18-years-old and an adult, was set a bail. His bail was set at $60,000, which he made. The young man was released on bail almost immediately.

The boys prank is costing the school district over $30,000, between the water damage to the gym floor and the cost of renting gym space for winter sports.

My question is, what do you think....

Is the bail fair?
Do you think that the 17-year-old should be tried as an adult?

Let me know what you think.
Send letters to the editor to:
pennpost@ingnews.com

Gone for the Holidays

It seems like Pennington is an empty town during the week between Christmas and New Years. I guess a lot of people travel during the week since the kids have off from school.
But, where does every one go?
I'll have to ask around.

At any rate, welcome back.

Senseless...

Senseless.

That word is used a lot and by many people. But, in my opinion, there is no way for a person to know, to truly understand, the meaning of the word. That is, until they lose a loved one to a violent crime.

It was one year ago in October when I learned the meaning of the word senseless. That is when a small group of teenaged boys shot and killed my 29-year-old cousin in a robbery.

Jerry Eure, Jr. understands that word as well. His father, Jerry Sr., was taken from him about a month ago in a truly senseless crime.

Yesterday, the police announced the arrest of two 17-year-old boys in connection with the murder. The boys had done odd jobs for Jerry Sr.

What the hell is going on in the world? How can we, a nation so rich in so many ways, have done so wrong by our youth?

The truth is, there is no simple answer to America's growing problem of youth violence. We can not blame it on video games or music, they are merely scapegoats. The real problem is us, society as a whole. We have lost focus. We no longer value the family dynamic over all else.

So, the question then becomes, how do we fix it?

How do we give a single mother (or father), who is working two jobs just to keep up with the rent, the time and energy to sit down to a family meal every night. For that matter, how do we make sure they have enough food for a meal every night.

We have tried a welfare system, and it failed. We have tried a reformed welfare, and that too has failed. We are raising the minimum wage, but economists warn us that we are again dooming ourselves to failure.

I don't have the answers, but I pray that someone else, someone smarter than I, can come up with some.

I can only hope that the death of an icon, like Jerry Eure Sr., is enough to shine some light on the issue of teen violence, and spur those with the power to do something about it.

A little outside of Pennington...

Ok, so I have been reading up on this case of an alleged sexual assault by several NJ State Troopers on the Trentonian website.

You can read the latest on the story here.

But the gist of it is, seven off duty troopers went to the KatManDu night club and met a couple of young ladies.

Now, according to one of the trooper's lawyer, the men and the ladies left the club separately and met up again at the Ewing home of one of the troopers.

Now, according to the trooper's lawyer, five of the mostly married troopers had some form of sex with one of the women, consensually.

The woman, on the other hand, claims she was assaulted by the officers.

Now, my point here is this....

Do you think the officers, even if there was no assault, were still wrong?

Obviously, the adultery is wrong, but I am talking about something different.

For the most part, police officers, EMTs and firefighters are like living heroes to the young boys of this country. They are positive role models, who parents generally feel compelled to push their kids toward.

Now, I am not saying that consenting adults can not and should not do what they want behind closed doors. But, doesn't it seem a bit dumb in this case.

Maybe it is unfair of me, but I tend to hold police officers and other public servants to a higher moral standard than the average Joe. These men and women are supposed to be, in my eyes, examples to the rest of us.

My other point is this...

As a married state trooper, if you participate in this type of activity, it seems to me like you are just setting yourself up for a major incident.

I will not make judgement as to whether or not an assault occurred, because I do not have all the facts. But what I will say is this, to someone looking for a settlement or just looking to make waves, cops are targets.

Why, oh why, would you put yourself in this situation?

Can it really be the death of a small town....

I have been working in Pennington for about eight months now, and up until a week or so ago, it has been fairly uneventful in the way of "BAD" news.

Last week, it was two armed robberies in two days, today it is a bomb threat at the high school.

What the heck is going on?
What has changed?

I am not really sure. I guess it could be that the holidays are stressing people out and they are reaching their breaking point?

What ever it is, I hope, for the sake of the town's residents, that the trend comes to an end.

Some Holiday Cheer

Just a couple of homes here in Pennington

that are helping to spread the holiday cheer!

I do have a favorite house.

It is on Main Street near where the Penninton Post office is. I just have not been able to get a picture of it all lit up yet. But when I do, you will see why it is my favorite!!!

Holiday Spirit

I was born and raised just a stone's throw from the Philadelphia city limits, and for a good portion of my life I lived in the city. So, I am not really too familiar with the small town atmosphere of Pennington.
That being said...
Where I grew up there were a lot of cul-de-sacs, and every year all the neighbors for each cul-de-sac would get together and help decorate for the holidays. Some would get out of hand, to be sure. It would be as bright as daylight on those streets. But, most would be very nice.
I have a sister who is 12 years older than I am and she used to take me around the different neighborhoods in her car. It was amazing to see as a child.
Last year, I visited all those same streets to see the lights.
This year, I am hoping to do something different.
Since I spend a great deal of my time in Pennington I have come to enjoy the festiveness of the town. So, this year, I hope to get my fill of holiday lights here!
I will be taking pictures of my favorites, so check back often.

Coming soon

Stay tuned to www.buckslocalnews.com for this new blog about Pennington.