Ed, this is for the crazy people who want to tear down Trenton High and then rebuild it for $150 million dollars. Trenton is a dilapidated town. You have a lot of low-income people and a lot of people aren’t working at all. There ain’t much money coming into town. You can fix that school and clean it up. Use the money for programs for the kids instead. Do what you got to do.

Don’t Build It

It’s not that simple. You might be able to secure funding for a new school. But if you don’t build it, it doesn’t mean that $150 million will magically be kicking around for other uses. —Ed. Note

Ed, can anyone help me? My mom who is 80 suffered a massive stroke. I need to bring her from a nursing home to my apartment to live with me. I am in need of a few things: a clean electric-powered hospital bed with a good mattress. I would need delivery, too, as I am a single lady. We are living on Social Security and unemployment so I can’t afford to buy it. If I had left mom in the nursing home, Medicare would step in and take her monthly Social Security check, in which case, would leave me unable to continue to rent this apartment that her and I shared.

Asking

Anybody got an extra electric bed? Give BackTalk a call and we’ll connect you to this caller. —Ed. Note

Ed, I was at the Italian Festival this past weekend. I went with friends and a relative who comes down every year just to go to the festival. It was so great. Tell Jeff Edelstein to stop at Pete’s stand next year to get one of the roast pork with broccoli rabe. I know he will be the happiest man in the world if he does.

Lip Smacking

We don’t want Jeff to be that happy. Gotta keep his edge. —Ed. Note

Ed, about the people who wrote in to BackTalk blasting the parents of the college student who died in the drinking incident. Let’s remember that someone in the fraternity provided him with the alcohol; they are responsible as well. When you send your kid off to college, they are living under college rules and regulations, so the college is also partly responsible.

Faulty

There’s enough blame to go around. —Ed. Note

Ed, I read about the doctor who was carjacked in the parking lot at St. Francis Medical Center. I am glad he is OK. I was amazed that the police were able to track down the thief because the car was equipped with OnStar; what a lucky break. Too bad the chase ended when the thief crashed the doctor’s Buick into a tree on Nassau Street.

What A. Story

Tell me you’re not an OnStar salesperson.—Ed. Note

Ed, I just received a note at my front door from Mayor Bencivengo in Hamilton telling me I need to clean up the weeds in my yard and fix up the potholes. I pay $6,300 a year in taxes. We need a new mayor and council desperately.

Overgrown

So you’d like your taxes to pay for your lawn care?—Ed. Note

Ed, I saw on TV the other day that flotilla of sailing ships from the Netherlands that were sailing up the Hudson River to dock in Albany to celebrate the 400th anniversary of that first exploratory sail by Henry Hudson. We had the tall ship A.J. Meerwald here recently for a sail on the Delaware River. Easy boat access to Trenton’s waterfront would be a big plus for the city. If you take a walk and look at the river from the Calhoun Street bridge you can see more and more kayaks and canoes out there.

Seaman

I don’t know about encouraging a bunch of kayakers to visit. Rough lot, those kayakers.—Ed. Note

Ed, I took the Cadwalader Heights self-guided house tour the other day. It is reassuring to know that those owners are keeping those homes in such wonderful condition. When you can get a chance to go inside and see the detailed work up close like that it makes you wonder how many families have lived in those homes and walked those halls in the past.

Guide

I love old houses. Except for the ghosts. Even friendly ghosts freak me out.—Ed. Note

Ed, I read the article “NJ taxes horrible,” in which they said that “New Jersey has lost more than $9 billion in net household income in the last five years as residents leave the state.” You really didn’t need to take a survey; just ask a CPA from Pennsylvania, they will tell you that their Jersey counterparts are leaving like lemmings rushing into the sea, or in this case, the river.

Accounted For

New Jersey Lemmings. Great name for an expansion team.—Ed. Note

Ed, with today’s economy it is frequently necessary for both parents to work in order to survive. Therefore the grandparents frequently pick up the children at dismissal time from school. Many older people have disabilities. Morgan Elementary School blocks the entrance to the parking lot at dismissal time. There is only one handicapped parking space on the property and this is already taken up by a school employee. This is the only school in the district that blocks parking lot access.

Let Me In

Dear people in charge of parking at Morgan, Please do something about the access. Thank you. —Ed. Note

Ed, regarding L.A. Paker’s recent article. I am a white baby boomer who considers L.A. Parker to be the best columnist in the Trenton area. Some of his columns about personal and parental responsibility in the African-American community have been classic, right out of the Bill Cosby playbook. I agree with him that a sense of growing racism apparently presents a very real threat to our society. The problem is ignorance spawned by a deteriorating educational system that is far inferior to other first world nations, particularly European. I read recently that 46 percent of Americans believe the Earth is less than 10,000 years old. There is a growing lunatic fringe of right-wing extremists in this country. I fear daily that some Southern redneck with a deer rifle will actually consider he is doing his nation a service by eliminating this wonderful man who he considers to be an illegitimate socialist president. If this occurs the race riots of the ’60s will seem like a minor urban dust-up.

Watch Out

I contend that of those 46 percent who believe the Earth is younger than 10,000, only half feel that way based on religious teachings. That half I can respect. The other half of the 46 don’t know that Toronto is in Canada or that the Pacific is an ocean, and they probably had a 50/50 or chance of picking the “10,000 years” option on the multiple choice phone survey came up with that statistic. —Ed. Note

Ed, I saw the BackTalk item on how Mr. Capadanno was dressed at a recent meeting. I really don’t think that has anything to do with his performance on the council. As long as he can do the job it really doesn’t matter how a person is dressed. It’s the job performance that counts.

As U.R.

To a point. What if he’s wearing a mesh shirt, a Speedo and platform clogs? —Ed. Note

Ed, I am a Bordentown resident. We were talked into allowing low-income housing in what is called the “Point.” All that area is involved in crime now. It is severely bad over there. We had to hire more teachers, and special needs teachers, for the new kids coming into our schools. It is killing our community.

Dying

Well now it IS your community, so y’all need to find a way to life each other up. —Ed. Note

Ed, Manny Segura was up in the pulpit the other day trying to convince New Brunswick voters that they could adopt the same system in New Brunswick that Trenton has. He referred to Trenton’s “successful” schools and neighborhoods. He can keep that kind of “improvement” for New Brunswick. Why don’t you tell Manny to stay down in Trenton and worry about his neighborhoods and the gangs that he should be dealing with?

Manny Happy Returns

Let’s let Manny be Manny.—Ed. Note

Ed, Italian fest has raised its prices to $3 as the entrance fee. It is held at a public park, I don’t know what they think they are doing. I have four kids that like to go every night. I am going to be broke by the end of this fest.

Fested

You can probably work out some kind of scholarship.—Ed. Note

Ed, I want to comment on the article about the guards finding all the cell phones in the prison. How did the cell phones get in the prisons? Did they walk in there by themselves? The guards and the employees are bringing in the phones and then they are finding them themselves. I wonder how many phones are in there that they refuse to find? Internal affairs better step it up.

Ringaling

Some of the phones apparently were smuggled deep inside of prisoners, hence the need for the new BOSS, the Bodily Orifice Security Scanner. That’s not my joke. That’s a real machine.—Ed. Note

Ed, hey, L.A., don’t worry about those crackheads who stole your basil plant; they probably thought it was pot. Wait until they try to smoke that!

Bone Appetite

I like to roll me up a fat pesto blunt. Serve it with linguini, gin and juice.—Ed. Note

Ed, about the BackTalk item “Basketball Breeds Gangs.” It is attitudes like this that continue the perpetuation of gangs and violence. You take down basketball courts rather than take care of the issue at hand, whether it be more communication and interaction with individuals at a younger age or calling the police if need be. You should not take down basketball courts. That’s why society is the way it is. This is a problem of all of us not just individuals and the problem isn’t basketball.

Reverse Jam

Amen. You remove opportunities for recreation and wonder why kids turn to mischief. —Ed. Note

Ed, yes, there is an entire set of anti-Obama Americans who are against him because he is black, and another whole group against him because they think he has a socialist agenda. But, he is our president. Thank goodness for electronic voting.

Check Mark

Thank goodness for electronic music. Love techno. —Ed. Note

Ed, I have to comment on what I just saw on CNN. There were 30,000 people protesting against Obama’s health care plan. I wonder how many of those people who were protesting had no health insurance, or were on Medicare or Medicaid. You would probably be really stunned at the answer you get. They have so much anger in their hearts that they don’t even know they are racist. They have no idea why they are protesting other than someone told them that it would be a good idea to protest against Obama. We have to stop being stupid and start really caring about each other whether we are rich or poor, black or white. We have to come together.

Togetherness

You’re probably right about some percentage of those protesters. But you don’t know them. You don’t know who’s done what research or read which analyses. And calling everyone who disagrees with you “stupid” is not starting a dialogue. —Ed. Note

Ed, I give five stars to Jeff Edelstein’s article in last Friday’s paper that talked about the positive aspects of President Obama’s health care plan. I totally agree with everything he said. People are just being totally ridiculous. There are many many issues among those who are protesting the plan that are aside from true issues. There are racist issues in there. The Republicans are just an angry group that can’t get over the fact that Barak Obama is President of the United States.

Jeffer

I’m glad that liberal Jeff crap made someone happy. LOL. —Ed. Note

Ed, on Sept. 10 L.A. Parker made some sweeping generalizations that are almost unbelieveable in 2009. Parker said that every Obama opinion is met with derision and disrespect. I guess he wasn’t paying attention for the last eight years when everything Bush did was met with derision and disrespect. Then he says that it was because a large segment of the population could never imagine following a black man. That is a sweeping generalization that L.A. Parker would never accept if it were pointed at him. He has set Mr. Obama up to never to be challenged on anything. This constant playing of the race card needs to be challenged, this needs to go away. I would like to see some evidence of people who reject Obama just because he is black.

Generalized

I can’t tell you exactly what percentage of Obama’s critics have a problem with the color of his skin. But there are indeed many people, millions, in this country who do have a problem with a black man in the White House. It’s naive of you to think otherwise. Even in 2009. —Ed. Note

Ed, after Obama’s speech on education I went on the computer and there was a little article about Obama giving the kids going to school $2,500. When I tried to get more information about it there was no information to be had. I have a child in school and I could use the help if I can get it. I am a parent who is trying to find out a Web site or phone number that I could call. Please respond to BackTalk. I buy the newspaper every day so I will be able to see it.

Parent

Has anyone out there had luck getting this free money? —Ed. Note

Ed, on Saturday I was at a local liquor store in Hamilton Township. When I came outside there was a father and his kid out there collecting for the local township Little League. I would really like to know why they are collecting now since the season has been over for more than three weeks. When my kid was involved in Little League we collected well before the start of the season started and there were usually a bunch of dads and kids out there. I ain’t trying to be smart, I just really want to know. I gave them a dollar. I don’t mind them collecting; the Little League does good work. I just really want to know, are they going to be collecting up until Christmas or what?

Donor

Don’t think of it as postseason collection. They’re starting early for next year. Or they’re scamming you and that kid doesn’t even play Little League. —Ed. Note

A BackTalker asked for suggestions on the area’s best cheesecake. Following are some of your responses.—Ed. Note

A great place to go for cheesecakes is Angelo’s Cheesecakes in Hamilton Township on White Horse Mercerville Road. Great cakes, great Italian cookies, and a small cafe so you can come in and have a cup of coffee and a slice of cheesecake.

Looking for a good cheesecake? Pat’s Diner has the best cheesecake and food in Trenton. Come on down. This is from a waitress at Pat’s.

I wanted to tell you that Mother’s Cheesecake is a really nice cheesecake factory, and they have have an outlet store to the left just before you go over the Burlington Bristol Bridge. You can also get some cheesecakes there at very reasonable prices because of a small imperfection; I have seen some for as low as $3.

Ed, this is M. from Hamilton in regard to the adult bookstore on Route 33. What the mayor did was wrong. The mayor trampled on all the Constitutional rights of the people inside that store. Does he want to go back to the 18th- century way of living?

Rights

Hmmm. The “M” wouldn’t stand for “masturbator”? —Ed. Note

Ed, recently I was driving down Brunswick Avenue and I saw this kid in front of a house with his pants hanging down. Tears came down from my eyes. He has no idea how pathetic that looks. Some of these young boys have the mentality of an infant. One could conclude just from seeing him with his pants hanging down that if someone doesn’t intervene in his house there are only going to be two people willing to employ him, prison and the graveyard.

Pull Ups

Why is it that most fashions have their day and move on, but this freaking droopy-pants show-me-your-butt thing just won’t go away? I saw a kid the other day trying to put his wallet in his back pocket, and he couldn’t reach! —Ed. Note

Ed, I hate to disappoint “Granny,” but it is illegal to drive five to 15 mph below the speed limit, particularly on I-95. I know people who have gotten tickets for doing it.

Quicker

Going slow on a fast highway is indeed dangerous. It’s like dropping a couch in the road.—Ed. Note

Ed, I want to thank the Trentonian for keeping up to date on stories about Ewing Township. I have lived here since 1986. I have a question that maybe you can answer. The new Capital Health hospital that is being built off of I- 95, is that located in the township of Ewing or is that in Hopewell?

Location

Hopewell.—Ed. Note

Ed, this is for Mayor Bencivengo. I live in Hamilton Township and I work out in Veterans Park four or five times a week. It’s a beautiful park. I am just curious as to why they don’t have basketball courts out there. Is it because they don’t want the inner city people to come out there and play sports?

Free Throw

I’m sure that’s not the answer. We’ll wait to hear from Benci on this one.—Ed. Note

Ed, this is an urgent plea to Julie of K & R Hair Design. I see your place of business is closed; so where are you now? Please call Helen and let me know. Please call soon; I really need you.

Uncut

Sounds like someone loves the way you snip, Julie. Sharpen those scissors and show yourself!—Ed. Note

Ed, I just completed my master’s degree. Do you want to know what I got for it? A handshake from my employer. Tell me why it is that these teachers go online and get these “fake” master’s degrees and all of a sudden they get these $5,000 raises handed to them. Things like that have got to stop. The taxpayers are broke.

Mastered

Well, it’s easier to set up a pay scale based on degree of education than it is to actually figure out which teachers are any good — which, if they did, would still be easier than battling the union to pay according to that assessment.—Ed. Note

Ed, about the recent BackTalk item on the wisdom of teaching underage kids to drink. I was taught at a young age to drink moderately and turned out to be a full-blown alcoholic. Whether it was my fault, I don’t know. But I don’t think it is a good idea to teach young kids to drink.

Drying Out

Is there a right answer in this debate? Teach kids alcohol is forbidden, and they’ll sneak it and binge drink. But allow them a taste of it, and they’ll develop a taste for it. Damned if you do ...—Ed. Note

Ed, cash for clunkers was a farce. A lot of the clunkers people turned in were really not clunkers. The good reliable cars should have been resold to the public and not junked.

Junked

May those cars rest in peace. They sacrificed themselves in the name of artificially stimulating the economy. Brings a tear to the eye.—Ed. Note

Ed, I am a Trenton taxpayer living on Deklan Avenue. There is this woman from Hamilton Township who owns a Jetta and parks it right out in front of my door every day. I have to park all the way around the corner when I could have parked in front of my own home. I have left a note on her car window saying “you pay taxes in Hamilton, why don’t you park your car in Hamilton?” Isn’t there a law of some kind in New Jersey against this?

My Spot

As much as this is a pain in the butt for you, I hope there is not a law against parking in the next town. However, lawmakers are always looking for ways to amend liberty, so you’ll probably have luck if you pitch your plight to the right one.—Ed. Note

Ed, This is for the “Wild America” doubter in New Jersey. I have hunted and hiked from the Pine Barrens to the Delaware Water Gap. I have seen very large, long, thick copperheads and water moccasins reaching six to eight feet. Through the years in the Pinelands I have seen pine snakes reaching eight feet long, easy. I am not an expert myself, but I know what I have seen in the wilds of New Jersey. By the way, there are timber rattlers and scorpions in the Pines. People don’t even believe it. Tell the doubter to check the Internet.

Slither

Or we could just send “the doubter” into the wilds of New Jersey with a machete and a bag of trail mix. Come back in a week and tell us if you believe in snakes.—Ed. Note

Ed, Ever since Michelle Lorie Cheesecakes left town I haven’t been able to find a good piece of cheesecake. Please ask your readers to let me know where I can go to find good cheesecake.

Cheesy

Cairo Cakes in Ewing is a great bet for all things cake, including cheesecake. If you’re looking more for a diner or someplace to order a slice, I’m sure our BackTalkers can help you out. BackTalkers?—Ed. Note

Ed, I am calling about the Public Service “Worry Free” contract. They had me take off two days of work so far in the last three weeks to wait at home for them. They never showed up and never called. Finally they came out and put used parts in my appliances that broke down one day later. I have been without an oven for 21 days, and without a dryer for two weeks.

Raw and wet

Good thing you don’t have anything to worry about.—Ed. Note

Ed, why does everybody feel the need to be armed in order to visit Trenton? Sure, it has its share of crime, but so does every other city! Especially, the well-known ones like New York or Los Angeles. We need to open our eyes to a great city and start appreciating Trenton’s culture, communities and attractions. After all, it’s the most important one in New Jersey!

Proud Trentonian

Trenton gets a bad rap. Most of the people bad-mouthing the city haven’t taken the time to appreciate the attributes you mention. And the city is an easy target for classist criticism because it’s surrounded by affluent suburbs like Princeton and Lawrence. —Ed. Note

Ed, I am an alcoholic. I know that alcohol kills in many ways. I drank two fifths of vodka and a water chaser every day for four years. I belong to a fellowship of men and women whose primary purpose is to help other alcoholics achieve sobriety. Keep coming back. It works if you work it.

Recovering

Good for you. Stay strong.—Ed. Note

Ed, you said, “Don’t give kids booze. That’s pretty straightforward.” However, in regards to the issue of the firehouse party, it is not nearly that straightforward. In New Jersey it is legal for a parent to furnish alcohol to his or her child. And to consider a 17-year-old a “kid” is questionable. If the father believed his son was mature enough to drink, then it is actually a responsible decision for him to allow his child to become accustomed to alcohol in a supervised, responsible setting. Perhaps if young people learned their limits at their parents’ parties instead of frat parties, there wouldn’t be 1,500 college students dying from alcohol-related incidents every year.

Young Buzz

Well, that sounds sensible. But this isn’t Europe. —Ed. note

Ed, here is the difference between a civil union and a marriage: A civil union is a legal union performed by a judge. A marriage is performed in the eyes of God as well as being legal. I believe that gays should be allowed to have civil unions and all their legal rights, but for them to get married in the sight of God is like slapping God in the face. I just don’t think that is a good thing to do.

Affront

Why not let God deal with it if he feels he’s being slapped in the face?—Ed. Note

Ed, I am so glad that money was given to Womanspace in Lawrenceville. It is a shame that it has taken so long to get this money to that organization. I hope that women and men who need help will come forward and use the services offered by Womanspace. Somewhere the violence has to stop, and not just at the grave site. The 24-hour hotline for Womanspace is (609) 394-9000.

Help

If you’re in an abusive situation, call this number. Do it.—Ed. Note

Ed, this is for Waterworld. The drains in Trenton have been cleaned out twice and they were working pretty well. You can’t dump three inches of rain on one town and expect it to go away in 10 minutes. As for people driving fast through the flood water and splashing waves of water into her basement, there is no cure for stupid people, and Trenton has not cornered the market on that.

Ripple

You sound like a man with inside knowledge of drains. Thanks for the insight.—Ed. Note

Ed, since when did the Hamilton mayor become a police officer? I wonder. I was riding down Lalor Street the other day and I saw him and his press aide getting out of a dark-colored undercover Ford with all its emergency lights flashing. On top of that the car was on the wrong side of the street. If he can tool around town like that with flashing lights, I want to also.

Flashy

First of all, the mayor in Hamilton is also the public safety director, and he is outfitted with a vehicle that has emergency lights. Gilmore had the same thing. As for the case in question, Mayor Bencivengo was not “tooling around” with the emergency lights activated. He arrived at the scene of a housing code violation and only activated the lights upon arrival, for safety, because of the location where he had to park. —Ed. Note

Ed, wow, what a surprise, Robbinsville schools are short on space. When you keep building houses, condos and places to live in a small town like Robbinsville, where do you expect all the students are going to end up? Everybody who moves in has got kids. Quit building. You are ruining what used to be a nice little rural township. It is not Hamilton Township, this is Robbinsville. You guys in charge in Robbinsville, wake up and smell the coffee.

Breakfast Blend

Before it was a “nice little rural township,” it was a nicer, littler, more rural township. But you got your piece of heaven; now if you can just keep everyone else out ....—Ed. Note

Ed, I am calling to comment on Mr. Norman Molis the Mercerville Fire Company volunteer. I don’t know what I find more disturbing. The fact that Mr. Molis, as an adult and a father, pouring a drink for his son, a minor, didn’t seem to think he was breaking the law; or his fellow firefighters egging him on and begging his teenage son to drink. What is the fire company doing hosting an afterhours party? Who is minding the store? Mr. Molis has broken the law; his fellow firefighters should also be investigated.

Firing Squad

Don’t give kids booze. That’s pretty straightforward. But don’t get down on firefighters for holding a party “afterhours.” Would it be better in the middle of the day? Fires don’t care what time it is. These are volunteers who deserve to let loose once in a while. —Ed. Note

What kind of twisted logic is Ms. Rossi using in trying to make the First Amendment support her position of imposing her religious beliefs on others? The First Amendment not only allows freedom of religion, but freedom from religion also. No one is forcing her to marry someone of the same sex, so I fail to see how such a law would prohibit her from practicing whatever religion she wishes, in whatever way she wishes, as long as no harm comes to others. Please, save us from the zealots who think that their way is the only right way and wants to enforce that belief on those who think differently.

Free to Be

Live and let live, right? Some people will never grasp that one. —Ed. Note

Ed, I was driving on I-295 south. Will someone tell me why they have closed down the rest areas on this highway and many other highways in New Jersey? For safety? You go to any other state and you can pull off the road, have a snack or take a nap. Are they too cheap to pay someone to clean up the bathrooms?

Unrested

The rest stops were out of control. Too much sex in the bathrooms and parking lots. Now everyone else has to suffer. —Ed. Note