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.

Bad idea becomes law

The Record may think county “super” superintendents are a good idea, but I have to disagree.

Here is the editorial we ran on the topic in November — our opinion hasn’t changed, even though the governor has signed legislation creating the newly empowered bureaucrats.

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

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Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Recommended poem

The Borzoi Reader Poem-a-Day newsletter today features Laurie Sheck’s piece “The White Unswaying Place.” Sheck is a former professor of mine — she used to teach at Rutgers but is now at the New School — and a fine poet. I highly recommend her books.

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

E-mail me by clicking here

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Full slate

It appears we now have a full slate of candidates in the 14th District.

Republican Bill Baroni and Democrat Seema Singh for state Senate, and Democrats Linda Greenstein and Wayne D’Angelo and Republicans Adam Bushman and Tom Goodwin for Assembly.

And, if things break right, the 14th will be a clean elections district, meaning public financing to level the playing field some.

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

E-mail me by clicking here

Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.

Have to stay calm, it is still early…

But how can I not get a bit giddy about the first four games of the Mets season: A sweep of the world champs and a rout of the hated Braves. Consider these pitching lines:

  1. Tom Glavine — 6 innings, 6 hits, an earned run, 2 strikeouts and a walk in a 6-1 win over the Cards.
  2. Orlando Hernandez — 7 innings, 5 hits, an earned run (Scott Rolen’s homer) and a walk in a 4-1 win over the Cards.
  3. John Maine — 7 innings, a hit, 6 Ks and two walks in a 10-0 win over the Cards.
  4. Oliver Perez — 7 innings, five hits, an earned run (Jeff Franceour’s homer) and six Ks in an 11-1 win over the Braves.

That’s four walks and none by Oliver Perez, whose main problem has been tossing strikes.

Add in crisp fielding and a killer instinct that has the team taking advantage of every mistake and you have a winning formula. It is early, but things are looking good so far.

E-mail me by clicking here
Email me at grassroots at comcast dot net.