In a story related to one we published in February, former Road Middle School Teacher Dan Corvino was indicted yesterday. Corvino, 31, of Theresa Street in Ewing, was indicted on one count of official misconduct, one count of aggravated criminal sexual contact and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Corvino allegedly used a web camera linked to his computer to send the images of him touching his private parts to a 14-year-old female student via the internet. He was later fired from his position at Pond Road Middle School.

If convicted, Corvino could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. Assistant Prosecutor Robin Scheiner presented the case to the grand jury. Corvino is free on $100,000 bail.

Source nj.com

Citing family needs and responsibilities at his new job, Tim McGough will resign from township council effective August 30, 2008. McGough’s term was set to expire on June 30, 2011. Anyone interested in running for the vacancy can fill out a petition at the Township Clerk’s office, 1 Washington Blvd., 2nd Floor, Suite 6. The petition deadline is September 11, 2008 at 4 p.m. The election will be held on November 4, 2008 from 6 am to 8 pm. Information packets and petitions will be available on Friday, August 15th . In order to obtain petitions, you must call the Township Clerk’s Office at 918-0002 and give your full name, home address, and phone number.

If you hear the sounds of sirens and helicopters next Friday, don’t panic! Robbinsville High School will be hosting a mass casualty drill beginning at 8am. The drill, similar to one run in Ewing back in May, will involve over 100 participants from local, county, state, and private agencies as they simulate a plane crash near the high school with a debris field, a high number of injuries, some fatalities, as well as the elements of collecting and distributing accurate information. According to Mayor Fried, “Since we are home to the Trenton-Robbinsville Airport, this is a scenario that could happen, and we will be ready. I’m proud of our first responders for taking the initiative to organize this.”

A multitude of agencies will be participating in the drill including State Police helicopters, canine units from Robbinsville Police, Fire and EMS, Hightstown EMS, Mercer County’s Office of Emergency Management, the Mercer County Sheriff’s Office, and Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) from Robbinsville and West Windsor and Hamilton.

The drill will also enable Mercer County to test its Mobile Communications Vehicle which is outfitted with a roof-mounted video camera and permits all responders to operate on one frequency, known as interoperability. The vehicle which was acquired in March of this year.

Students from the high schools drama club and other township employees will participle as accident victims.

After working for over a year without a contract, Robbinsville and the firefighter’s union have approved a new five year contract which will go into effect on August 4th. The new contract brings back the 24 hours “on” and 72 hours “off” work schedule in addition to longevity raises. As tax saving measures, firefighters will now contribute 1% of their salary toward health care beginning in 2010 and new firefighters will not be eligible for post-retirement health care benefits. The town council is expected to pass the contract at their August 14 meeting because two council members are out of town this week.

“When the Township assumed control of the Fire District in January 2007, firefighters received a 10 percent pay raise to compensate them for the increase in hours from a 24/72 schedule to one of 24 hours on, 48 hours off.  (Firefighters automatically earned 3 hours at an overtime rate under this schedule, under federal labor rules.)

Under the new contract and schedule, the base salary will remain in effect through the end of 2008, while the automatic overtime ceases. Firefighters will receive a 2 percent raise in 2009, and 3.5 percent raises in 2010 and 2011. Starting in 2010, firefighters will contribute 1 percent of salary toward their health care costs.

The contract includes certain longevity provisions that existed under the former Fire District, but also contains new overtime control measures. For example, a firefighter who calls out sick cannot have that shift count toward overtime during that pay period.”

Robbinsville and Hamilton townships scored a victory against a proposed increase in water rates by Aqua New Jersey Friday when a settlement was reached that will allow the water company to only increase rates by 16.4% versus the original plan’s proposed 28%. Under the original rate increase proposal, the average consumer’s bill would have increased from a yearly $394 to $519, however under the new terms the exact rate was not established.

Robbinsville used a $7500 “contribution” from Matrix Development Corp to hire a lawyer to battle the water company. Matrix Development is the owner of several large warehouses in Robbinsville near the Turnpike, and has a large sprinkler system which would have been greatly impacted by any rate increases.

The settlement also eliminated a proposed distribution system improvement charge that would have permitted the water company to increase rates by up to 5% without having to first get state approval. The offical approval for the rate change was supposed to go before the NJ Board of Public Utilities yesterday.

Source: nj.com

Since Robbinsville doesn’t yet have its own fireworks display for the fourth of July, here’s a list of all the local Independence Day celebrations and a schedule of fireworks shows. Have a safe holiday!

Ewing - July 3 @ 7 p.m.
Armstrong Park: Concert and Fireworks

Ewing - July 4 @ 10 a.m.
Moody Park: Parade (runs from Moody Park to Parkway Ave.)

Hamilton - July 3 @ 7 p.m.
Veterans Park: Musical Performance by the “Fabulous Greaseband” and Fireworks

Trenton - July 3 @ 7:05 p.m.
Waterfront Park: Trenton Thunder vs. Portland Seadogs with Post-Game Fireworks and Auction (for more information, go to trentonthunder.com. Tickets start at $6.)

Princeton - July 4 @ 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Morven Museum and Garden: Exhibition (for more information, go to revolutionaryprinceton.org or historicmorven.org)

Lawrence - July 4 @ 7 p.m.
Rider University: Concert and Fireworks

Mercer County - July 5 @ 3 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Mercer County Park: 5th Annual Mercer County Freedom Festival, with performances by The Nerds, The Fabulous Soul Cruisers, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and The Dawgs
http://nj.gov/counties/mercer/commissions/pdfs/park_freedomfest.pdf

A black bear cub was reportedly spotted around 6pm yesterday behind Sharon Elementary School walking through Princeton Memorial Park. “Township police said last night the bear had retreated into the woods separating the elementary school and the cemetery near the intersection of Sharon and Gordon roads. Police were patrolling the area as a precaution, but they said the animal did not seem threatening and did not pose any immediate danger to residents.” New Jersey’s bear policy is to leave the bear alone unless is poses a nuisance or threat to public safety. The state Division of Fish and Wildlife has detailed information about black bears, including information for children, on its website at state.nj.us/dep/fgw/bearfacts.htm.

Source: nj.com

Police officers executed a search warrant today at Mercer Professional Health Services located on Corporate Boulevard in Robbinsville, alleging that acts of prostitution had occurred on the premises. During the raid, police interrupted an alleged act of prostitution and made several arrests. Apparently there was a two month investigation into the suspected prostitution which started after police received reports that the business was offering “massages along with other sexual favors.”

Source: nj.com

The town council will hold a public hearing tonight regarding a $1.6 million bond ordinance to aid in buying the 52-acre Van Cleef farm property at the intersection of Robbinsville-Allentown Road and Circle Drive. If approved, the property will be kept undeveloped to help preserve the township’s rural feel. The total cost of purchase will helped by an additional $846,000 in grant money that will come from the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Acres program, and the township’s Open Space Tax Trust Fund, the levy collected from residents who pay 5 cents per $100 of assessed property value for acquiring, developing and maintaining open space.

Source: nj.com

On Saturday, June 14th from 2pm~9:30pm, Robbinsville Township will be holding it’s annual Community Festival at the community park on. Admission is free and there will activities for the whole family to enjoy.

• Kids Play Zone and Amusements
• Games & Contests
• Pony Rides
• Clowns
• Inflatable Rock Climbing Wall
• Temporary Tattoo Booth
• Spin Art
• Trackless Train
• Ice Cream Eating Contests
• Food Court
• Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce Business Fair
• And much more!

At 6pm the The Acoustaholics perform (Classic Rock) and from 7pm-9pm 2U (The World’s 2nd Best U2 Show) performs.

Fireworks begin at 9pm so be sure to get a good seat early.

Note that the rain date is Sunday, June 15th.