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  • In Memoriam: Harvey Brudner

    On September 15, 2009, Highland Park lost yet another of our most active citizen volunteers--Harvey Brudner, former chair of the Highland Park Centennial Committee and for me and many, a valued personal friend.

    Harvey had a PhD in theoretical physics and during his life, was president of Medical Development, [...]
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    Posted: December 06, 2009, 3:12pm EST

  • New Meeting Needed for Master Plan Revision

    How many borough residents are aware that a revision of our Master Plan, which outlines a vision for how and where to develop, has been discussed and set for a final vote on Thursday, December 17? How many are aware that the revision was discussed at a November 19 Planning [...]
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    Posted: December 01, 2009, 6:40pm EST

  • The Mayor's "Three Legs" Fallacy

    Back around 2004, at the height of Mayor Frank's push for redevelopment, she repeatedly emphasized what she called her "three legs" of downtown revitalization--Main Street, the Business Improvement District (BID), and redevelopment. Redevelopment is long dead, and it is time for the BID, which never should have been created in [...]
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    Posted: November 22, 2009, 9:44pm EST

  • So Wrong on So Many Levels

    Highland Park residents should be ashamed of the tripe their tax dollars are supporting in the form of the Highland Park Quarterly, which reaches an all-time low in its Fall 2009 issue.

    So much in this publication is wrong on so many levels, it is hard to know where [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2009, 7:47pm EDT

  • Rite Aid Is Perfect Example of Why We DON'T Need Redevelopment

    While the recession continues along with job losses and foreclosures, the borough continues to spend taxpayer dollars on disseminating its propaganda and lining the pockets of Mayor Frank's good friend and political supporter Jonathan Jaffe. Too bad that for all this money, the Fall 2009 Quarterly gets it all wrong' [...]
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    Posted: October 28, 2009, 6:46pm EDT

  • Eminent Domain Victory: It's Not Just for Long Branch

    Property owners in the Marine Terrace, Ocean Terrace, and Seaview Avenue area (MTOTSA neighborhood) in Long Branch, NJ, where a major rally against eminent domain abuse was held in June 2006, are free at last. In a decisive and final victory, they have won the right to keep their homes [...]
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    Posted: October 01, 2009, 9:48pm EDT

  • Long Live Vickie White

    "True Leadership. True Vision." This was the slogan that Vickie White created for my 2002 Borough Council race. For her, these words were a way of life.

    On July 1, 2009, I and many others in Highland Park, in New Jersey, and beyond, even to New Orleans' ninth ward,' [...]
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    Posted: August 01, 2009, 9:37pm EDT

  • June, July, August, or September???

    When Mayor Frank first announced in March of this year that she was going to resign to take a job as US representative to the UN Commission on the Status of Women, she did not set a date for her resignation even though she began the latter job on March [...]
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    Posted: June 16, 2009, 1:21pm EDT

  • NJ Democrats: Vote Carl Bergmanson for Governor

    How many New Jersey Democrats realize we have a choice for governor in the June 2 primary? The mainstream media certainly has not conveyed this vital piece of information. That is hardly surprising since Carl Bergmanson, the Democrat challenging Governor Jon Corzine for the gubernatorial nomination, is a reform-minded independent [...]
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    Posted: May 25, 2009, 3:16pm EDT

  • Election? What Election?: The Star Ledger's Path to Mediocre Journalism

    In today's article, "Highland Park's Path to A New Mayor," Star Ledger reporter Ryan Hutchins continues his once-excellent newspaper's downhill slide to mediocrity, sacrificing the traditional watchdog role and instead choosing to be little more than a venue for politicians' self promotion.

    Today's article reaches a new low. Hutchins' [...]
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    Posted: May 13, 2009, 7:26pm EDT

  • Housing Project for Veterans Deserves Community Support

    A proposal by the Reformed Church of Highland Park's Affordable Housing Corporation to convert the vacant All Saints Episcopal Church on South Third Avenue to 11 housing units for struggling veterans deserves the full support of our town, its government, and its residents.

    Yet the plan currently before the' [...]
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    Posted: March 08, 2009, 11:28pm EDT

  • Journalism Involves Telling Both Sides

    It is common knowledge that journalists are supposed to be objective when covering politics and controversial situations. That is why an article by Tom Hayden about Mayor Frank that appeared in The Star Ledger on February 28, 2009 comes off as so strikingly inappropriate. From reading the article, one would [...]
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    Posted: March 01, 2009, 8:40pm EST

  • Ticket to Ride

    Remember how when she first took office, Mayor Frank kept emphasizing that Highland Park cannot go running to Trenton with our hand out for assistance, how we need our borough to become economically self-sufficient?

    Well, not only has that not happened; now, the state is coming up empty-handed, and [...]
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    Posted: February 14, 2009, 8:18pm EST

  • Meet Susette Kelo in New York this Wednesday

    This message is from the Institute for Justice, which has been in the forefront of the fight against eminent domain abuse for years. Susette Kelo, whose case resulted in the infamous Kelo vs. New London Supreme Court decision permitting the use of eminent domain for redevelopment, will be holding a [...]
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    Posted: January 26, 2009, 11:53pm EST

  • Wally's Whoppers: A Heads Up to All 2008 Candidates

    Anyone who ran for any office here in New Jersey during this past year is hereby forewarned: you and/or your campaign might very well be spun, distorted, or portrayed in outright lies in the annual New Year's wrap up of state, county, and local political campaigns by the online web' [...]
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    Posted: December 26, 2008, 3:40pm EST

  • The "December Dilemma": A Non-Issue

    This article, with a few minor revisions, is a reprint of a column I originally published in the New Brunswick-based Business and Entertainment Journal in December 2000.

    During the waning days of autumn and of the calendar year, an emotionally charged debate has for years become as much [...]
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    Posted: December 12, 2008, 12:28am EST

  • Feed the People, Not the Propaganda Machine

    Our country is in the midst of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, but you would never know it from the spending habits of the mayor and council. While Highland Park, like all New Jersey municipalities, faces potentially staggering losses in state aid next year, the administration continues [...]
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    Posted: November 26, 2008, 10:18pm EST

  • Hope Still Trumps Cynicism

    Regardless of which candidate any of us voted for today, our country has made history, has done something many said could never be done. We have taken a giant leap toward conquering the dark specter of bigotry and racism that has haunted our nation since its first days. No matter [...]
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    Posted: November 05, 2008, 12:45am EST

  • The Greening of Highland Park: Myths and Facts

    Is Highland Park really New Jersey’s “first green community,” and if so, who designated it as such? The answer may surprise you. The reality is that no one bestowed this distinction on our borough other than Meryl Frank herself. It is not an award we won, a title we were [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2008, 11:38pm EDT

  • Help Me Fundraise for Obama Environment Event

    Following the example of John Edwards, my first choice in the upcoming presidential election, I am supporting the Obama/Biden ticket as this country's best choice for real change in economic policy, health care, foreign policy, and environmental issues.

    Having spent two decades as an environmental activist, I am especially' [...]
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    Posted: September 15, 2008, 11:45pm EDT

  • Demolition Double Standard

    Last week, the YM-YWHA building at 2 South Adelaide Avenue, a partially-historic site and one with which many borough and regional residents have had long ties, was demolished by the developer who purchased the property from the Y.

    The Y's demolition constitutes a tremendously personal loss to me. That' [...]
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    Posted: September 10, 2008, 7:33pm EDT

  • Meryl Frank, Stop Lying!

    My goal in starting this blog three years ago was and today remains presenting an alternative perspective from that of the current administration on the political scene and public policy in Highland Park. I really want to stick to the issues and not get personal, but when the mayor and [...]
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    Posted: September 01, 2008, 11:38pm EDT

  • Help Fight Eminent Domain Abuse Again

    The Institute for Justice, a national organization dedicated to ending eminent domain abuse, needs volunteers to help a Vietnamese-American business owner in Atlantic City keep his jewelry store now that a wealthy developer wants to take his land and build yet another casino.

    On Wednesday, September 3, the City [...]
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    Posted: August 31, 2008, 8:44pm EDT

  • A Great Debate

    I'm going to go off topic in this post and recommend that anyone reading this take the opportunity to follow a fascinating conference occurring this week from Thursday to Saturday, a conference I am honored to have been invited to take part in--the Great Planet Debate at the Johns Hopkins' [...]
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    Posted: August 12, 2008, 7:07pm EDT

  • A Victory for NJ Property Owners

    Residential and commercial property owners in New Jersey have yet another victory to celebrate in the fight against eminent domain abuse. On Thursday, August 7, a three-judge panel of the New Jersey Appellate Division unanimously reversed the June 2006 decision of Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson, which allowed the city [...]
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    Posted: August 09, 2008, 11:57am EDT

  • Redevelopment Falters

    From the time the idea was first unveiled, the redevelopment vision has been wrong for Highland Park. It called for rents of commercial properties on Raritan Avenue to skyrocket, for upscale boutiques to replace longstanding blue collar businesses, and for increased density that would destroy the character of our town [...]
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    Posted: August 03, 2008, 10:19pm EDT

  • Support the "Rutgers 3" and the Right to Peaceful Protest

    The right to peacefully protest government policies we believe are wrong is inherent in the very foundation of this country. That includes the right to voice opinions that might be unpopular and/or not politically correct and to peacefully assemble in groups for this purpose, even when doing so may be [...]
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    Posted: July 14, 2008, 7:17pm EDT

  • We Never Walked Alone

    “When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high,
    and don’t be afraid of the dark…”

    Three years ago on this day, June 6, 2005, a lot of campaign workers in this town and this state walked through a wild storm doing last minute literature drops in [...]
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    Posted: June 06, 2008, 4:05pm EDT

  • More Meryl Lies

    The infamous Highland Park rumor mill continues to circulate lies that almost certainly originate with Meryl Frank. While I prefer this blog focus on our town and not on myself, the latest untruth demands a response.

    That lie, apparently circulating around town for several months, is that I have [...]
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    Posted: June 03, 2008, 5:27pm EDT

  • Film Tomorrow Night Depicts Reality of Eminent Domain Abuse

    Tomorrow night, Saturday, May 31, at 7 PM, the Rutgers International Film Festival will show "Greetings from Asbury Park," a 90-minute 2007 film directed by Christina Eliopolous, at Scott Hall, Room 123, College Avenue Campus, 43 College Avenue, New Brunswick. The film centers on the story of Angie, a 91-year-old [...]
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    Posted: May 30, 2008, 4:31pm EDT

  • Avalon Bay Application: More Questions than Answers

    After five months of hearings on the Avalon Bay application to build 119 townhouses on the former Illuminating Experiences factory site on Cleveland Avenue, the Zoning Board is now uncertain as to whether it has jurisdiction over the application, which was first filed last September.

    This means Cleveland Avenue [...]
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    Posted: May 22, 2008, 6:08pm EDT

  • A Letter to American Jewish Congress--Meryl Frank is Unfit to Lead Women's Division

    Talk about hearing only one side of an issue. Although Meryl Frank has consistently acted as one of the most divisive forces in the Highland Park Jewish community, the American Jewish Congress apparently is unaware of her shenanigans and has appointed her as President of its Women's Division. Below is' [...]
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    Posted: April 29, 2008, 12:37am EDT

  • Budget Calls from Mayor's Firm Inappropriate

    Municipalities such as Highland Park that have elected rather than appointed Boards of Education do so for a reason. That reason is to maintain a healthy separation between the political establishment in the town and the running of the town's school system. This separation allows a balance of power between' [...]
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    Posted: April 12, 2008, 2:55pm EDT

  • Delivering Nothing

    [...]
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    Posted: January 31, 2008, 8:37pm EST

  • Delivering Nothing

    When a US president delivers the annual State of the Union address, it has become part of the process for the party in opposition to present a response. Democracy thrives only when voice is given to all points of view, when the fact that there is more than one way [...]
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    Posted: January 31, 2008, 8:37pm EST

  • Rules? What Rules?

    In their latest move to fill a Borough Council vacancy earlier this month, the leadership of the Highland Park Democratic Municipal Committee has once again shown their utter contempt for the rules and procedures that are supposed to govern party operations.

    Fern Goodhart, who won a three-year council term [...]
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    Posted: January 29, 2008, 1:55pm EST

  • John Edwards for President

    With the New Jersey presidential primary little more than a month away, I want to urge readers not just in Highland Park but across the state and beyond to give their support and votes to Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

    Why Edwards? The answer is actually quite simple. Edwards [...]
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    Posted: December 27, 2007, 6:01pm EST

  • So Much for Openness and Transparency

    Does this sound legal? Main Street Highland Park, which is funded through a tax on commercial property and business owners as well as $35,000 from the Borough of Highland Park, claims it is not subject to the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). Below, in a quote from The Highland Park [...]
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    Posted: December 07, 2007, 4:29pm EST

  • A Wonderful Gift

    On this eve of Thanksgiving, I am going to depart from the usual Highland Park political commentary to share what I believe would make a beautiful holiday gift for your friends and family members.

    About one month ago, I had the good fortune to receive an email from an [...]
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    Posted: November 21, 2007, 10:30pm EST

  • A Vote of No Confidence

    The embarrassingly low number of votes received by Mayor Frank in the November 6 election, both in comparison with the total voter turnout in town and in comparison with the total number of registered voters cannot be read as anything other than a clear vote of no confidence in this [...]
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    Posted: November 20, 2007, 3:52pm EST

  • Write In Protest for Mayor

    An election that offers the choice of only one candidate is never representative of true democracy. Unfortunately, that is the "choice" Highland Park voters face in this year's mayoral race on Tuesday, November 6.

    Instead of staying home out of apathy, many in town are choosing to voice their [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2007, 6:50pm EST

  • Show Us the Data

    At a recent Borough Council meeting, Brian Taxman, chair of Main Street Highland Park's Board of Directors, made a startling claim when he stated that the last three to five years have been the most successful ones in the history of Highland Park's business district.

    When one makes such [...]
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    Posted: October 24, 2007, 7:13pm EDT

  • In Memoriam: David Rebovich

    New Jersey politics lost one of its few good guys with the sudden death of political commentator David Rebovich, Director of the Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. For those who have not yet heard, Rebovich died of a sudden heart attack at age 58 on Friday, October [...]
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    Posted: October 18, 2007, 1:39pm EDT

  • Borrowing Big, Spending Bigger

    The October 6, 2007 edition of The Mirror, a local newspaper, states on its front page that Main Street Highland Park plans to borrow big in 2008. The program will receive a loan of $500,000 from the State Department of Community Affairs , which will go toward the Business Improvement [...]
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    Posted: October 08, 2007, 3:52pm EDT

  • Time to Go Carbon Neutral

    By now, almost everyone is aware of the growing danger of global climate change. Citizens of Highland Park and Middlesex County have a long, proud history of being in the vanguard of fighting for conservation and working hard to restore the healthy ecosystems our planet needs to survive.

    Now, [...]
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    Posted: September 19, 2007, 1:11pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Shooting the Messenger

    In the fifth Harry Potter book, Harry and his mentor Professor Dumbledore try to warn the wizarding world that its nemesis Lord Voldemort is back, but unfortunately, the powers that be in that world choose not to believe them. Instead, they demonize Harry and Dumbledore, portraying them as liars, unstable, [...]
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    Posted: August 20, 2007, 11:20pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Eminent Domain on the Retreat

    A funny thing has been happening on the way to redevelopment here in New Jersey. In just a few months this summer, government's use of eminent domain to seize property and hand it over to private developers in the name of "redevelopment" and higher ratables has sustained one defeat after [...]
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    Posted: August 14, 2007, 1:15pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • A Worthy Endeavor

    One year ago, as our country celebrated the Fourth of July, a Piscataway family faced the travesty of having their family farm of 84 years being taken from them forcefully by eminent domain. In the time that has passed, they have still not received any compensation whatsoever for their property.
    [...]
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    Posted: July 05, 2007, 12:05am EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • The Next Steps

    First, I want to give a huge thank you to everyone who worked hard for our Team for Smart Change in this year's Democratic primary, giving their precious time, money, and moral support. And I want to thank the 1200 plus people who came out and voted for smart change [...]
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    Posted: June 19, 2007, 2:48pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • It's Time

    "One day more. Another day, another destiny..." So begins the song sung by brave revolutionaries in the musical "Les Miserables" who put their all on the line to fight tyranny and inequality, to give their all for a better world.

    One day more. For Highland Park, it's time. It's [...]
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    Posted: June 05, 2007, 2:02am EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Citizen Action Endorsement Inappropriate

    New Jersey Citizen Action is an advocacy group that does wonderful work on behalf of consumers and our most vulnerable people. They advocate for national health care, affordable utility rates, campaign finance reform, and other very needed policy changes. However, they have made a very serious mistake in involving themselves [...]
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    Posted: June 02, 2007, 8:59pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Addendum on Jaffe Spending

    Mayor Frank insists that the HP Quarterly costs taxpayers not one cent. How is that possible when the taxpayers are paying to produce copy for the product? Plus, this work was not put out to bid. And, Jaffe has a no-bid contract, which grants him an exclusive business franchise, the [...]
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    Posted: May 29, 2007, 2:03pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Is This Responsible Spending of Taxpayer Dollars?

    Is This Responsible Spending?

    From December 2004 to the present, the Frank administration has paid a grand total of $30,863.33 to the politically connected public relations firm Jaffe Communications for work on the borough newsletter, press releases from the mayor’s office, and other promotional materials centered around Mayor [...]
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    Posted: May 28, 2007, 3:57pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • An Open Letter to Democrats in HP's 10th Election District

    Dear Neighbors in the 10th District,

    I am writing to ask for your support for the 10th District Democratic Municipal Committee seat, which I am seeking in the June 5 primary. For those who may be unfamiliar with district boundaries, the 10th district ranges from the eastern side of [...]
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    Posted: May 22, 2007, 12:32am EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Mayor Speaks with Forked Tongue

    "I don't take money from developers."

    Over and over again, Mayor Frank has reiterated this statement, emphasizing it as part of her "good government" stance.

    Of course, the reality has always been a bit murkier. Frank and the Democratic Municipal Committee have never hesitated to accept funding from [...]
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    Posted: May 18, 2007, 5:20pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Highland Park: Suburban or Urban?

    Four years ago, at the April 2003 groundbreaking for the Environmental Education Center, Mayor Frank stated regarding Highland Park: "We're not suburban. We're urban." This statement should be viewed not as descriptive of our borough now, but as proscriptive, as a very telling statement of Frank's vision for the borough's [...]
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    Posted: May 18, 2007, 1:00am EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Mayor's Lunch or Campaign Brunch???

    Mayor Frank has been holding a monthly Mayor's Lunch at the Senior Center for several years now. In 2007, the event has regularly been scheduled for the second Monday of each month. However, for June, the event was moved up to the first Monday, June 4, which happens to be [...]
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    Posted: May 09, 2007, 12:21pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Always "I, I, I"

    Can Meryl Frank ever turn over the spotlight to anyone other than herself? At a public reading of excerpts from The Ditchdigger's Daughters, part of the Library's and Arts Commission's jointly sponsored "One Book, One Highland Park program," Frank once again snagged the spotlight from author Dr. Yvonne Thornton when [...]
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    Posted: April 26, 2007, 11:41am EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • It Begins...

    At long last, the fight to restore accountability, fiscal responsibility, open government, and genuine participatory democracy to Highland Park has begun.

    I am proud to announce our outstanding slate of candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for Mayor, Borough Council, and Democratic Municipal Committee in the June 5 Democratic primary.
    [...]
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    Posted: April 24, 2007, 4:39pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • The Fruit of A Poisoned Tree

    Tonight, the Democratic Municipal Committee held its interviews of mayoral and council candidates, commonly known as screening, for endorsement in the June Democratic primary. As usual, there was no actual contest. No one bothered to come out and express interest in the positions--except the incumbents.

    The party leadership will [...]
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    Posted: March 22, 2007, 12:42am EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • NOT Part of the Solution

    A favorite and timeless quote from the sixties states, "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem."

    Unfortunately, a compromise bill crafted by State Senator Ronald Rice on eminent domain reform, which attempts to combine A-3257 and S-1975, the respective Assembly and Senate bills on [...]
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    Posted: March 17, 2007, 1:52pm EDT
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • First Aid Squad Should Get First Priority

    Getting priorities straight seems to be a genuine difficulty for the current borough administration. The First Aid Squad, a group of dedicated volunteers who give of their own time, often answering calls at all hours of the night, have been repeatedly ignored and disrespected by Mayor Frank. For months, she [...]
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    Posted: February 25, 2007, 9:27pm EST
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • Ready to Run Non-Partisan? NOT!

    On March 17, Rutgers Center for the American Woman and Politics is offering its ninth "Ready to Run" campaign training for women interested in running for elective office. The training is billed as "non-partisan," but one look at its agenda shatters any such illusion.

    Why? One of the speakers [...]
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    Posted: January 31, 2007, 12:53am EST
    by Laurel Kornfeld

  • 2007!!!

    It seems almost impossible to believe, but the time draws near for a year that holds the potential to transform both Highland Park and the larger world beyond. Changes in control of the US House and Senate, legislation by states providing health care to all citizens, laws restricting the use [...]
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    Posted: December 30, 2006, 1:35pm EST
    by Laurel Kornfeld
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