Week in Review: New Bobby Flay Restaurant Opens, Record High Enrollment at PHS and More

Princeton High School is moving down in the ranks, according to New Jersey Monthly Magazine. The school was listed in 59th place —down from the 44th spot in 2010—on the just-released biennial ranking of 328 public high schools in the state.

U.S. Sens Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) announced more than $3 million in federal funding to support the Cooperative Institute for Climate Science at Princeton University.  “Despite claims from misguided politicians, climate change is a real threat and addressing it is one of the most important challenges that confronts our nation,” said Lautenberg, a member of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee, which funds NOAA. 

A Kendall Park woman was transported the University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro on Monday afternoon she lost control of the McCaffrey's van she was driving on Harrison Street, drove up over the curb and struck a utility pole, according to Princeton Borough Police. Patricia Nicol, 38, of Kendall Park, suffered back and arm injuries, Police Lt. Robert Currier said. 

The Princeton Regional Chamber of Commerce plans to open the region’s first visitors' center in the Princeton University Store, located at 114 Nassau Street. PRCC officials are also working to transform the kiosks (typically plastered with multiple layers of disorganized flyers) at the corners of Vandeventer and Witherspoon Streets into interactive information centers, hopefully with touch screen, multilingual technology to help visitors find the best attractions and local events.

Ricardo Jack, 40, of Leigh Ave, Princeton, was arrested on Aug. 17 and charged with criminal sexual conduct and six counts of endangering the welfare of a child after he allegedly provided marijuana and alcohol and committed an act of criminal sexual conduct on a minor. NJ.com reported that Jack's bail was lowered from $150,000 to $100,000 on Tuesday. 

The community gathered on Tuesday to remember and honor Michael Kenwood, the volunteer EMT and rescue technician who died exactly one year ago, on Aug. 28, 2011, while attempting a swift water rescue during Hurricane Irene.  “The squad wanted to do something a little more in-depth, to do something that marks the one-year anniversary of Michael's death," PFARS President Peter Simon told Patch recently. "We lost a hero, a really fantastic person who volunteered his time to make this community better, so people can have a level of comfort in their time of need.”

Celebrity chef Bobby Flay was at MarketFair Mall on Tuesday to personally open his fourth New Jersey location of Bobby’s Burger Palace. The restaurant centers on a simple concept: offering burgers, French fries and milkshakes. The burgers are made from Angus beef and cooked to order on a griddle. 

‘Bachelorette’ star Ashley Hebert and her fiancé J.P. Rosenbaum are now living in a one-bedroom apartment in Princeton, the couple has said in interviews. "It's quieter, we hear birds chirping now," he told Access Hollywood. "It's kind of new for me."

Princeton High School will open on Thursday with record high enrollment- 1,444 students. “We will open with at least 375 freshman,” Superintendent Judy Wilson said. We thought 340 was our peak last year and only seven years ago we were at 300.”