Week in Review: Black Bear Roams Through Town and More

Strong wind, thunderstorms and heavy rain on Saturday night left trees and limbs down throughout Princeton and power outages continued into Sunday night.Downed power lines left some customers without power, especially in the eastern part of town, Borough Police Lt. Robert Currier said. Two downed trees hit homes in the Township- one on Magnolia and one on Woodside- but no one was injured and the homes were not structurally damaged, Township Police Sgt. Mike Cifelli said.

Long before high-end shops opened in Princeton, Joseph Caplan opened the doors to the Princeton Army & Navy Store on Witherspoon Street. The store, which opened in the late 1940s, sold surplus gear from WWII, said Caplan’s grandson, Michael Bonin, the third generation of the family owned-business now located next to Small World Coffee. The store has been good to the Bonin family over the years. But there have also been challenges. Facing rising property taxes and competition from malls, catalogs and the internet, Bonin said he isn’t sure what the future holds for the store. “I guess maybe I’m disappointed that as time goes on, most businesses you would hope would steadily go up and I think the way times are and the competition, we’re going downward, but I don’t think it’s exclusively here,” Bonin said. 

The five-year Aspire campaign, which ended June 30, exceeded its $1.75 billion goal by raising $1.88 billion — more than any campaign in Princeton's history — to support the University's programs of teaching and research and efforts to prepare students for leadership in a complex world.

Winthrop Seeley Pike, former mayor of Princeton Township and long-time resident of Princeton and Montgomery Townships, died July 6 at Brandywine Senior Living at Princeton. He was 92. He was born on February 9, 1920 and died on July 7, 2012.  He was elected to the Princeton Regional School Board in 1967, and served for 14 years, including several years as President. In 1981, he was elected to the Princeton Township Committee, and as a member of the Committee, was elected to the position of Mayor the following five years.

Lou Carnevale hopes to bring a TD Bank to east Nassau Street.

Carnevale revealed his plans to Princeton Borough Council on Tuesday during discussion of a draft ordinance that would change zoning for eight Nassau Street properties, including Carnevale’s 255 Nassau St., which formerly housed Davidsons and Wild Oats. “I want to put a bank office there,” Carnevale said, adding that he hopes to have a variety of businesses occupy the building, but he cannot get financing with only mom-and-pop tenants. “I need an anchor,” Carnevale said. “I need a AAA tenant.”

A juvenile black bear was spotted multiple times in Princeton on Tuesday night and was last seen at the east end of Nassau Street around 10:45 p.m., according to Princeton Borough Police. "I saw the bear myself, I saw him in several locations on Linden Lane, just north of Nassau Street," Borough Police Lt. Robert Currier told Patch. "You can tell he's scared and he's looking to find a place where it's safe." He estimates the bear to be about 150 lbs. 

The juvenile black bear continued its trip around town on Wednesday and was last seen about 3:30 p.m., when it was spotted on Province Line Road heading west out of town, according to Princeton Township Police.

, one woman kept residents entertained as she chronicled the bear's escapades via Twitter.  Linda Hill has charmed locals and armed@PrincetonBear with a quick wit and a winning personality through a serious of snappy one-liners online.  "Bears' night out!" she wrote to the Princeton Township Police as officers were responding to bear sightings around town. "You still open?" she tweeted to local ice cream shop . When the bear was spotted at the east end of Nassau Street, @PrincetonBear sent a message to  that read, "I'll have a whole eggplant parm to go, pronto."