Brainy Boro Blog

Love this outcome:

Almost one year after the authorities raided The Marion County Record, a Kansas weekly newspaper, a former reporter has reached a $235,000 settlement as part of a lawsuit she filed over the search, which set off a national discussion about press freedoms.

The settlement, dated June 25, brought an end to a lawsuit filed by the former reporter, Deb Gruver, against Gideon Cody, who resigned as the Marion city police chief in October in the face of mounting pressure.

$235,000 Settlement Is Reached in Police Raid of a Kansas Newspaper A former reporter of The Marion County Record has settled a lawsuit following a raid on the weekly newspaper last year that garnered widespread attention.

Legal w**d to keep people in their homes, what a concept! Council approves retail, wholesale cannabis business uses in the borough that could prove to be big revenue generators. With restrictions:

Council approves retail cannabis businesses in Metuchen, sets restrictions Nov. 1, 2022: The w**d store will be coming to Metuchen. But don’t expect stoners hanging out getting high on every corner, and long lines of crazed hippies lining Main Street.  Borough Counc…

Our public officials should remember that asking about personal connections to development projects is not slander or disgusting or off-limits; in fact, it's a vital part of the democratic process:

Opinion: Public officials’ personal connections to development projects are fair game Oct. 4, 2021: There seems to be some confusion on the part of elected officials about the nature of their jobs. Recently, I’ve seen a lot of pushback against the at-times aggressive language …

Should part of New St be permanently closed in favor of some form of a pedestrian center? The borough will decide over the next couple months, so make your voice heard:

Make your voice heard: Boro solicits comments about perma-closing part of New Street Sept. 22, 2021: The borough will be deciding over the next few months whether to permanently close a portion of New Street and turn it into some form of a pedestrian center. This is a huge decision…

Looks like Metuchen Schools wants to start all-remote. From Superintendent's note today:

The Board of Education has authorized me to submit an application to begin the year remotely for students.

We do not take this decision lightly. We know many of our families have struggled since the spring. We understand the benefits of fully-open public schools. The Governor’s office pivoted last week. Previously, school districts were directed to develop reentry plans that had to include in-person instruction from day one of the new school year. We submitted our plan to the county superintendent on July 31. Then on August 3, we shared our plan with all of you. You can review the plan and other related summary documents on our website. On August 5, we invited you to participate in a survey so we could find out how many parents would choose the all-remote option for students that the Governor had offered. We recognize and appreciate the confidence you have in us, as evidenced by more than half of the parents voting to send their children in-person. The survey results made this decision extremely difficult.

Here is the text of my email to the county superintendent, asking for permission for students to start the year remotely:

Our district wishes to delay the start of in-person instruction for students and switch to full-time remote instruction. As required, I am providing the following to the Department of Education at least 7 days prior to the first day of expected fully remote instruction:

A list of school buildings and grade levels within the district that will being receiving full-time remote instruction:
All preK-12 students and 18 to 21 year-old special education students in Metuchen will begin the school year with all-remote instruction.
This applies to Moss School, Campbell School, Edgar School, and Metuchen High School.
The specific health and or safety standard which the district believes that it is unable to satisfy:
We have limited air conditioning in all four of our buildings and believe that it would be very difficult for students to learn in the hot environment with masks all day.
The district is in process of upgrading our building management system and needs time to ensure it is operating in all rooms across all buildings.
Anticipated efforts the district will undertake to satisfy the identified health and safety standard:
The month of October will bring cooler temperatures, reducing the heat burden on teachers and students, allowing them to more easily wear masks full-time. This will improve the teaching and learning process.
Once the building management system upgrade is complete, we will make every effort to ensure its proper operation. The new system will help us ensure that we are meeting recommendations regarding outside air intake in all rooms.
A date by which the district anticipates resuming in-person instruction:
We anticipate students returning to in-person instruction, according to our previously-shared hybrid model, on October 1, 2020.
We are considering bringing back our most needy students in phases throughout the month of September, prior to the return of all students. If this is feasible, it will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
All teachers will be required to report in-person beginning September 1, 2020.
Here are some important details:

The first day of school for students will still be Thursday, September 3.
While staff will be teaching from their classroom, all students will be learning remotely for the month of September.
Each school day will follow the regular full-day building schedules. (This is a change from what we had discussed earlier this summer.)
We are committed beginning the hybrid model of Roomers and Zoomers on Thursday, October 1.


The full Board will meet on Tuesday, August 25, where we will further discuss details of the 2020-21 school year and take questions from the public. You will also receive more details from your building principals in the coming weeks.

Feel free to reach out to me with any feedback or questions.

Rev. Ronald Owens, sr pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, who is leading Metuchen's police review commission impaneled by the mayor, stressed in an interview the mission of the group was not to find dirt on the police department, but simply to make it more "user-friendly to the community."

“There’s not much that Metuchen’s police department has to reform, if anything,” Owens said.

Rev. Owens on police review commission: ‘We’re not here to find dirt on police department’ Aug. 13, 2020: Rev. Ronald Owens traces his history in Metuchen back to 1900, when his great-grandfather moved to the borough from Virginia to work as caretaker of the cemetery at the First Presbyt…

We obtained the engineering summary about the issues that led to the closure of Kahn's Crossing bridge. Water infiltrated into support structures under Kahn's Crossing platform in areas lacking closure plates, the report said:

Here’s details of why Kahn’s Crossing bridge needs replacement July 28, 2020: The terminal condition of Kahn’s Crossing pedestrian bridge stems from deterioration along one of the support beams from water infiltration, according to May 2018 report from b…

Curious as to what happened to this bridge that allowed it to rust so badly it needs to be totally replaced:

Boro applies for grant to fix Kahn’s Crossing pedestrian bridge Metuchen government has proven its dedication over the years to making the borough a more pedestrian friendly place. Officials have long sought and received money through grants and other funding s…

Metuchen plans to form commission led by Rev. Owens of New Hope Baptist Church to review police use of force policies: https://brainyboroblog.com/2020/06/23/metuchen-to-review-police-use-of-force-policies/

Metuchen to review police use of force policies June 23, 2020: Metuchen is forming a commission to study the police department’s use of force policies as part of a broader, national push to push back against law enforcement violence and ra…

NJ ranked worst in the US in spending more $$ than it brings in:

NJ revenue/expense gap worst in US Nov. 26, 2018: New Jersey’s finances are deplorable, as has been the case for many years — even worse than Illinois, which is saying something. According to fresh recent from Pew Charit…

ruh roh:

Chipotle Falls on Report of Possible Outbreak at L.A. Restaurant Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. suffered its worst stock decline in more than a month on a report of a possible illness outbreak in Los Angeles, renewing fears about the burrito chain’s food-safety crisis.

UPDATED WITH STATEMENT FROM PARKING AUTHORITY: Drama in the borough:

Parking Authority board fires employee for alleged theft Dec. 13, 2017: Metuchen Parking Authority Commissioners on Tuesday terminated the job of employee Arthur Mohr for alleged theft, Vice Chairman Ed O’Brien said. The parking authority held an e…