Where Plainfield turns for news.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

VISIONING Workshop today.. Olddoc on Thursday's Town Hall.. Maria: One Super's transparent budget address..



PLAINFIELD TODAY:
Festival of Organists: "Six organists in festival Sunday" -- At Crescent Presbyterian Church.
Golden Jewelers: "Last week for Golden, Plainfield jewelers since 1942"
North Avenue Demolition: "Historic Plainfield building demolished" -- Courier picture gallery.
North Plainfield: "Home in danger of collapse into Green Brook" -- Includes razing of North Avenue building.
North Plainfield: "Schools adopt $55M budget, with cuts"
Union County: "Personnel director, assistant County counsel 'sunlighting'" -- Working another day job while on County payroll as full-time employees? -- from CountyWatchers.

Gov. Christie: "Christie: Students are pawns in teachers' unions hands"
Contract Settlement: "Ex-schools super settles $550K severance dispute" -- The cost of saying 'goodbye'.
Food Banks: "'Kindred Souls' rock band tour raises food bank funds" -- 20 Diners in 48 hours.
Hospital Errors: "Report: Top errors include falls, surgical objects left in patients"
Public Records: "NJ mayor proposes limits to OPRA requests"

Plainfield observers (click on name to go to post): Bernice has been busy with pix of the demolition cleanup, another possible candidate, an endangered North Plainfield house and Spring blooms. Olddoc reports on the Town Hall meeting, ponders the future of doctor-patient relationships. Maria cites a super's (South Orange) budget address that is concise, clear and informative; can we expect the same?

SCHOOL BOARD CAMPAIGN BLOGS
There are three teams of candidates running for three 3-year seats and 1 one-year seat. Each has a campaign blog, listed below in alphabetical order by team name/designation. Incumbents are designated by an asterisk (*). There are two independent candidates who are not blogging as far as I know.
CHANGE OUR SCHOOLS - CHANGE OUR CITY
3-year term: Jaclynne (Jackie) Callands, Dani Fletcher, Mahogany Hendricks; 1-year term: Clayton Tucker, Sr.
COALITION FOR BETTER SCHOOLS
3-year term: Mary Burgwinkle, Martin Cox*, Christian Estevez*; 1-year term: Carmencita Pile
ELECT A GRAND S.L.A.M.
(SCHOOL LEADERSHIP ADVOCACY MOVEMENT)
3-year term: Rasheed Abdul-Haqq, Wilma Campbell*, Renata Hernandez; 1-year term: Keisha Edwards
Don't miss these personal blogs by Plainfielders, each with a point of view: Rebecca Williams' Confessions of a Bathrobe Blogger; Renata Hernandez' PEPTalk: Revisited, reports her good conversation with Councilor Annie McWilliams; Jackie Schnoop's The (TV) Show Must Go On; and Dottie Gutenkauf's Dottie G Sez.

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WHAT'S HAPPENING


  • Today through April 9. During Library hours. Library Spring Book Sale. The Plainfield Public Library's mini Spring Book Sale features fiction, African-American history, cookbooks, women's history, religion and more -- all at $1 each. Located in the pool courtyard, the sale is continuous during Library hours (Mon-Wed: 9 am - 8 pm; Thu-Fri: 9 am - 5 pm; Sat: 9 am - 1 pm). The Plainfield Public Library is at Park Avenue and West 8th Street. Info: Mary Ellen Rogan, (908) 757-1111 x132.

  • Today - March 27. 9 AM - 2 PM (Rain or shine). Electronics Recycling. Items accepted include: Monitors, keyboards, CPUs, TVs, phones, VCRs, printers and more. (See full list, including conditions and exclusions at www.ucnj.org/recycle/electronics.html.) Sponsored by Union County. At Alcatel-Lucent, 600 Mountain Avenue, New Providence. Pre-registration NOT required, but proof of Union County residence is. Info: (908) 654-9889.

  • Today - March 27. 9 AM - 3 PM. Plainfield Visioning Workshop. Residents and business owners are invited to join with local officials and a team of Rutgers and NJIT faculty and students in re-imagining Plainfield's future with a focus on the Main and Netherwood Stations and the Western rail corridor. At Washington Community School, 427 Darrow Avenue. (Parking available in the Spooner Avenue lot.) Lunch will be served. Free, but please confirm your attendance with Jacques or Jeanette at (908) 226-2513.

  • Today - March 27. 9 AM - 3 PM. Passport Fair. The Union County Clerk's Westfield office will be open to provide passport information and to accept passport applications. The $10 photo fee will be waived for applications made at the event. Applications can be found online at ucnj.org/ctyclerk/passport.html. More information is available at travel.state.gov/ or (877) 487-2778. The County Clerk's annex is at 300 North Avenue East, Westfield.

  • (NEW LISTING) Today - March 27. 11 AM - 2 PM. 10 Commandments Brunch. At Rose of Sharon Community Church, 825 West 7th Street. Donation: $15. Info: (908) 561-9070.

  • (NEW LISTING) Today - March 27. 5 PM. BOE Campaign Event: Grand SLAM's N.C. Style Chicken & Fish Fry. Join S.L.A.M. candidates Rasheed Abdul-Haqq, Wilma Campbell, Renata Hernandez and Keisha Edwards for a down-home style chicken and fish fry. At 34 Randolph Road. FREE.

  • Today - March 27. 7 PM. Help Haiti Smile: A Benefit for Haiti Relief. Beginning with a concert by the Good News Community Gospel Choir under the direction of Mark Miller (at 7 PM), the evening includes a reception and art show featuring the works of Darlene Foster, Ivan Lo and Jeremy Langdon. Admission: $10. Proceeds will be shared between the Clinton/Bush Haiti Fund and the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund's Haiti relief effort. At Grace Episcopal Church, East 7th Street and Cleveland Avenue. Parking in public lot across street. Info: (908) 756-1520 or visit www.graceplainfield.org/.

  • Tomorrow - March 28. 3 PM. Crescent Concerts: Festival of Organists. Prominent area organists will perform beloved as well as little-known works on Crescent Avenue's G.F. Adams organ. Featuring Samuel Chapin, Richard Frey, Se-Enn Lim, James Little and Thomas Rodgers. Tickets: $20/general admission, Seniors $15, Students $5. Info: (908) 756-2468 or crescentconcerts.org/. At Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church, East 7th Street and Watchung Avenue (parking in lot on First Place or at Swain Galleries).

  • Wednesday - March 31. 5:30 - 7:30 PM. PEA: Board of Ed Candidate Forum. All 14 Board of Ed candidates have been invited to the Plainfield Education Association's candidate forum. Questions can be submitted by email to debate2010@peapower.org. Info: Odessa Atkins, (908) 561-0664. At Plainfield High School Auditorium, Park and Stelle Avenues.

  • Wednesday - March 31. 7 PM. Union County Citizens Budget Review Forum. The Westfield Leader/Scotch Plains Times editorial staff will moderate a panel discussion reviewing the proposed Union County budget, as well as questions from the audience. County and state officials have been invited to participate. The forum will be taped by Cranford's public access cable station and distributed to all community access cable stations in Union County (including Plainfield). At the Cranford Municipal Building, Council Chambers, 8 Springfield Avenue. For more details, see CountyWatchers here, which includes links to budget review summaries and full report.
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