1ft •o raa Serving Westfieid, Scotch Plains and Fanwood Friday, February 3, 2006 50 cents Cops collar suspect after high-speed pursuit officers continued following THE RECORD-PRESS Plainfield man allegedly drove directly at officer Idowu at a slower speed. Police had a minor break WESTFIELD — A Nigerian The chase began around 1 ing towards Scotch Plains. By trol car. Idowu again almost hit a when slow traffic at the intersec- immigrant led officers on a high- p.m. at the intersection of South this time police had realized tractor trailer as he sped onto tion of New Providence Road speed chase through several local Avenue and Crossway Place, Idowu's license plate was not reg- Route 22 eastbound, with police caused Idowu to turn into the towns Friday afternoon, causing according to Sgt. Scott Rodger, istered to his car, but to a blue right behind. parking lot of the Mountainside several accidents in the process whose brother, Officer Jason Mercedes-Benz. As he continued "He was violently changing municipal building. Officer Jason but fortunately avoiding cata- Rodger, attempted to stop Idowu racing past cars — and past lanes and passing cars by strad- Rodger immediately blocked off strophic damage. after he saw the driver almost hit Brunner Elementary School on dling the lanes and driving in the exit, Idowu's only path of Adewale Idowu, 61, of another car. But when the brown Westfieid Road — Idowu nearly between them," said Rodger. escape. Mountainside police got Plainfield was arrested after he Mercedes-Benz did not stop or collided with a Fed Ex truck and Mountainside police were con- out and began walking towards crashed into two cars at slow down, Rodger began pur- was "erratically driving in the tacted and immediately joined Idowu's car after he crashed into Crossway Place. When police suit. middle of the road in excess of 50 the chase. Idowu caused numer- an SUV while trying to get out of finally collared him after a pur- Idowu began racing through miles per hour," said Rodger. ous rear-end accidents on Route the lot. But Idowu did not stop. Moll suit that stretched through stop signs and red lights, cross- A large amount of black smoke 22, but no serious injuries were "He looked right at (Officer Jason With power points for the playoffs Westfieid, Scotch Plains and ing double yellow lines and nar- began to appear from Idowu's reported. At that point Westfieid Rodger) and accelerated towards on the line, the Cranford Cougars Mountainside, Idowu, whose rowly missing oncoming traffic, exhaust pipe, said Rodger. police discontinued their high- his car," said Sgt. Rodger — a and Westfietd Blue Devils met on license had previously been sus- said Sgt. Rodger. He turned onto Vehicles on the other side of the speed pursuit and slowed down decision that would lead to a the matin Westfieid last week. After pended, was served 44 summons- North Avenue, accelerated road were forced to pull over to "because it had become a risk for jetting out to a fast start, the es. through traffic and began head- avoid being hit by the out-of-con- public safety," said Rodger. But (Continued from page A-1) Cougars had struggled of late, while Westfieid had wrestled unevenly throughout the season. With both squads eyeing prime postseason County positions, the outcome wasn't decided until the last match. For A fiesta more mat madness, see Sports. Page C-1. at Franklin begins Donning handmade vests and sombreros, kinder- garteners in Mrs. Surace's limited class at Franklin Elementary School in Westfietd recently concluded their study of deer hunt Mexico with a fiesta. In addi- tion to learning to count and sing in Spanish and explor- Measure seen as ing the culture and geogra- phy of Mexico, students also stopgap until deal worked with art teacher Marie Coveney to create with state is reached authentic Mexican sunbursts SCOTCH PLAINS — Union from punched tin as well as County has taken a stopgap "papel picado" (pierced measure to help the township paper) designs. During the remedy its longstanding deer overpopulation problems. Trailside Nature and Science Center fiesta, they enjoyed tortilla is hosting a series of winter activi- chips and sombrero cookies, While the township awaits ties for adults and children over the as well as the traditional state approval for a comprehen- next two months, including the breaking of a pinata. sive deer management effort in perennial favorite "From Sap to Pictured here are kinder- the Ash Brook Reservation, the Syrup." For more on the center's garteners Isaiah Reese and county has allowed a wildlife offerings, see Community Life, Hayley Luerssen showing off management company to begin PageB-1. the vests they created dur- culling deer from the county ing the fiesta. parkland. As of Tuesday after- noon 19 deer had been killed, according to county spokesman Sebastian D'Elia. Beginning Saturday, marks- men working for Wildlife Management Services of Mountainside began shooting SPF school spending may rise 5.5 percent the animals. The program will elementary class sizes as low as continue under normal hunting New teachers needed to maintain class sizes "We are turning over parents have requested, class regulations until the end of the expense portion of the budg- size has been a top priority in hunting season, Feb. 11. every rock just to main- The county and township are THE RECORD-PRESS et, said Del Sordi. He added that preliminary budget discussions. "the final budget figures are usu- tain the class sizes as Of the new staff members, Del sharing the cost of the program. SCOTCH PLAINS — School ally less" due to various consider- Sordi said, "certainly a substan- After working for years to get officials heard an estimate for ations including state spending they are." tial amount will be (elementary the county's consent, the town- the spending side of the proposed caps. — Linda Nelson school teachers)." ship has been in limbo after the 2006-2007 budget at the Board of The board is expecting an school board president At the Jan. 26 meeting, Scotch state last year granted approval Education's Jan. 26 meeting, but announcement on state aid some- Plains resident Cheryl Kriney for a hunt — with the controver- must wait for the arrival of state time around the end of February, spoke to the board again about sial stipulation of using recre- aid fibres and other information said Del Sordi. With a freeze on es will go to hiring the 10 to 14 lowering elementary school class ational hunters, perhaps includ- before they can arrive at a pro- aid over the past few years and new staff members called for in a sizes. "In kindergarten through ing bow-hunters, before any pro- Sauss on stage jected tax increase. the state's continuing financial draft of the spending plan, said third grade, smaller class sizes fessional deer management An increase of about 5.48 per- troubles, board members said Del Sordi. The issue of growing can have a life-altering benefit," teams come in. Both county and at Union Catholic cent in spending over the budget they are skeptical about what class sizes in the elementary said Kriney, who noted an article township officials have argued for the current school year is that announcement will bring. grades has been raised by con- written about a Jefferson recreational hunting would cre- The accomplished student actors at Township school that recently ate a safety issue for nearby res- Union Catholic High School are likely, in part due to a continuing "I do not believe we'll see any cerned parents repeatedly in need for more staff, said board state increases," said Del Sordi, recent months. Board members lowered maximum class sizes in idents of the reservation, among already preparing for their spring its elementary grades. other concerns. production, Seussical the Musical, secretary and business adminis- "As a matter of fact, I hope to stressed that although the board trator Anthony Del Sordi. That hold on to what we received in cannot come up with the half- Kriney said the school in Township Manager Tom which opens March 31. For more on Atkins said while the wait for a the upcoming performances, turn to number does not represent an 2005-2006." million dollars to hire the num- actual tax increase, but is just Part of the increase in expens- ber of teachers required to keep {Continued on page A-2) comprehensive deer manage- PageA-6. ment plan has been frustrating, the county's recent action is a step in the right direction. "I think one reason (the county) did Speaker urges kids: it is because they were con- cerned for the public's safety and wanted to see a dent put into the Seo premiere population," he said. Make a difference "We hope that as a result of of TWo Units' out of our homes. They said we this, now the stute will allow a The film Two Lords and a Lady, THE RECORD-PRESS couldn't take any clothes or community-based deer manage- which tells the tale of Revolutionary food... my mom and I left with ment plan," said Atkins. War hero and Scotch Plains resi- SCOTCH PLAINS — The next only the clothes on our backs." "No one wants to shoot deer," dent Aunt Betty Frazee, premieres time students at Union Catholic Weeks was at the camp for six he added, "but there is such an 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Fanwood High School see an item about months, but conditions became abundance" of the animals. Memorial Library. There will be a Paris Hilton's pet Chihuahua on unbearable as soon as he and his The weekend's hunt is unlike second free showing 2 p.m.