Author: hankkalet

Hank Kalet is a poet and freelance journalist. He is the economic needs reporter for NJ Spotlight, teaches journalism at Rutgers University and writing at Middlesex County College and Brookdale Community College. He writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. He is a lifelong fan of the New York Mets and New York Knicks, drinks too much coffee and attends as many Bruce Springsteen concerts as his meager finances will allow. He lives in South Brunswick with his wife Annie.

What I did on my summer vacation

OK. I lied about posting during the week — I was busier than I expected, a good thing when one is on vacation. We spent some time at the beach — a weird rainy day on Friday in LBI during which the rain would come whenever we would head outside and stop when we settled in my brother-in-law’s house, and a pleasant day on Tuesday at — yes — Point Pleasant, topped off with a night watching the Trenton Thunder eek out an extra-inning victory (see photos — above is the game, below is my nephew Joey at the game — more photos to come).

Also did some errands, installed molding, went to the Somerset County Fair — but that is more than most of the readers of this blog probably need to know. I am back and will be blogging regularly now. Sorry for the hiatus.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Gene Glazer

Gene Glazer, a former resident of Kendall Park and fellow-traveler politically, died earlier this week. His son Barry, a friend from college, said he continued the political fight until the end.

Here is a snippet of his e-mail to me:

He published his last letter to the editor last month and was planning on attending the National Veterans For Peace conference in St.Louis next week. He continued to write to local media expressing his concerns about the war in Iraq and a myriad of other social issues. He was certainly a man of conscience, of conviction, and most importantly of action. He passed peacefully in the company of family with an Impeach Bush/Cheney button on his hospital gown.

That certainly sounds like Gene. We need to keep up the good fight in his honor.

I’ll have a column in Thursday’s South Brunswick Post on Gene and I’ll try to pass along an obit and information on memorial services when I get it.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Runner’s diary, Friday

I’ve been otherwise occupied today trying to keep my head above water before leaving the office on vacation for the week, so the posts are a bit late.

In any case, today’s run — inside on the treadmill — was hardcore. I pushed four miles in 34:36, pushing my pace faster and faster until I hit the three-mile mark and began the slowdown.

Music: A mix.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Village of the crammed

The Richardson Properties Corporation is still pushing its misguided plan to cram 240 apartments, retail space and a clubhouse ontoa 25-acre parcel in Dayton.

The alternative, says Russ Richardson, is a 350,000-square-foot, four-story office building, with 1,200 parking spaces. That, he says, is what the property is zoned for.

The council wasn’t so enamored with the plan — nor should it have been.

My sense is that Mr. Richardson is overstating what can be done with the property — once you factor in buffers and other issues, the office building is likely to be smaller than he says. Plus there are questions about the market for that kind of facility.

He says the best use is a village. He’s probably right — if by best use he means best use for him.

South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick

E-mail me by clicking here.

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.