Author: atwiford

Cherry Hill Township Council’s meeting addressed concerns of several residents as well as handled routine business on Sept. 8.

Councilwoman Carole Roskoph started off the meeting issuing a public apology for comments she had made during the public participation portion of the Aug. 26 Board of Education meeting, where she compared immigration detention facilities to concentration camps run by Nazis during World War II.

“The comparison… was inappropriate, factually and historically inaccurate,” Roskoph said. “I recognize the harm my words caused, and I deeply regret making the statement… I am committed to listening, learning… thank you for sharing your perspective and giving me the chance to reflect and do better.”

The council then approved an ordinance to amend the Alcohol Beverage Control portion of the township’s general ordinances to provide the issuance of an additional distribution license and up to two shopping mall special licenses.

The township received correspondence regarding temporary use permits for the Silver Diner’s Alzheimer’s Awareness car show on Sept. 21, the Jewish Federation of South Jersey’s planned 5K on Oct. 12 and the Glass Garden’s glass blowing demonstrations scheduled for Oct. 12 to 14. 

In addition, the council also received three block party applications. All of the applications had already been reviewed by the relevant departments and were approved as recommended.  

During the public participation section of the meeting, the first person to speak was Sabrina Spector, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, who took the opportunity to commend Roskoph for her apology.

“She recognized her mistake and apologized,” Spector acknowledged. “In today’s environment, when words do have an impact, leaders who take ownership of their mistakes and show a genuine desire to learn should be recognized.”

Nicole Nance, a resident who was attending virtually, echoed Spector’s sentiment before also asking if there were any plans for what could be done with two boarded up homes on Mercer Street.

“We see sidewalk,” she noted. “They’re working on the sidewalks. That’s great, but those homes have been there. I think people have asked about them in the past. Are there any plans… to do something with those two boarded up homes next to each other?”

Another resident, Anne Iver raised concerns over minors allegedly threatening and harassing citizens in the community.

She also raised concerns over the traffic light patterns between Abington Road and Route 70. 

“The light allowed seven cars from the Barclay Exit to exit, and the Kingston side got three and a half,” Iver explained. “I was the half as the yellow light went bright red before I crossed the full intersection. Something is wrong with the timing.”

This issue was later addressed by the council, who said that they are actively pursuing improvements to that intersection, receiving some concessions from the state to improve the timing by a few seconds and are trying to have a dedicated right turn installed. 

The next township council meeting will be held on Sept. 28 in the N. John Amato Council Chambers and via Zoom.

For the first time in more than a decade, a Cherry Hill Atlantic team has won the 10U district title. 

The girls softball team – made up of players 8 to 10 years old – not only had a successful season, but won enough games to make it to the District 13 championship, where it won all four of its games.

“Effectively, it’s an all-star team of our little league,” said Nick Pacatti, a team coach who has worked with the girls for several years. “A lot of these girls have been playing together for close to four years, most of the team, not all of them.”

The District 13 victory took the team to the Section Four Tournament, where its record was 4-0, advancing the players to the state tournament for their age bracket in Pequannock. The Section Four contest marked the first time any Cherry Hill Atlantic softball team had taken home that title, a major achievement for the players. 

“It’s a fun experience,” noted Pacatti, “very cool for the kids. It’s something that they won’t forget … They worked really hard to get there, so if anything, it goes to show you if you work hard at something, good things do happen.” 

While the girls did not advance past their two games against District Seven’s Elmora and District One’s Hanover teams at the state tournament, they still appreciated the opportunity to represent their section.

“We didn’t win up there, unfortunately,” Pacatti acknowledged, “but it was just a great experience for the girls.”

Since the team has competed in the district for the last three years, the 10U district win was its last opportunity to secure titles for the players’ age division.

“This is our third go-round in the district,” Pacatti explained. “So we started, we kind of went in one year early, when we had the girls, just to give it a shot. And then this was our last chance at the 10U age group.”

Pacatti emphasized that the sense of closeness the girls had with their teammates was another major factor in making their achievement possible.

“I’ve been with these girls for so long, it was cool to just get that front-row seat and watch them develop into softball players, leaders and (see) the bond that they forged together, even welcoming in new girls,” he said.

That bond meant it was hard to tell the difference between the girls who had played together for four years and the ones who had just joined the team.

Though Cherry Hill Atlantic is best known as a baseball organization – with 80% of registrants playing the sport – Pacatti said the 10U league has been supportive of his softball team throughout the season.

“They were having watch parties for us when we were up there, watching our games, coming to our sectional games, district games,” he recalled. “So it was cool to see their classmates that are boys support these girls, too.”

Since softball is a growing sport in the township, Pacatti hopes his team’s efforts will increase its visibility.

“We’re primarily a baseball organization, and no baseball team got close to going to states,” he pointed out. “It was the girls … I’m very excited that these girls could set that blueprint and be that example for the younger girls in our league – and hopefully the surrounding leagues in Cherry Hill.”

The Cherry Hill library’s many offerings include sessions that teach people how to use technology and software and protect their electronic devices.

“Back up Your PC: Protect Your Information,” taught by Peter Mokover on Sept. 3, explained to the 12 people in attendance their options for copying data outside of a computer to protect against a device getting lost, damaged or broken. 

Mokover – who routinely addresses the topic at the library – began by asking how attendees would feel if their computer was to suddently stop working. He explained that there are generally two ways a computer can be backed up, either by copying all of the data to an external solid-state drive (SSD) or hard drive, or by backing information up to the cloud. 

Creating a backup with an SSD requires the user to plug in the external drive and export the data onto it themselves, then store the SSD in a safe location.

“Most people have at least one bed in their house,” Mokover said. “You can put it (the SSD) between the box spring and mattress, or put it as far away from the computer as you can get. Or give it to a friend. But lock it before you do that,” he added, noting some of the possible safety locations.

Backing up to a cloud service is an option that allows the user to save information to a computer that is not in their own home, with the backup completed online after the user subscribes to an available service.

“The single biggest advantage of cloud-based backups is that it is located somewhere else,” Mokover noted. “If your house literally caught on fire and burned down to a pile of dust, your computer that’s in the house probably didn’t survive, but at least all your data is backed up somewhere else.”

He acknowledged the advantages and disadvantages of each backup type, including the difficulty in finding a secure place for a physical hard drive and the risks of having personal information stored on a computer owned and operated by a stranger, as happens with cloud backups.

Mokover also acknowledged that no method is a complete guarantee of computer protection, backing up a device is still a better idea than not. 

“I like to go to these classes,” said resident Audrey Giza. “It’s being taught right, it’s being taught professionally. We have outlines, we have something to go on instead of just winging it. And I think he (Mokover) is excellent.”

After his presentation, Mokover answered questions and addressed other concerns from the class, such as the best places to store passwords for cloud services or external drives, including with friends or in a safety deposit box.

“I think the class went well,” he noted, “and I think if nothing else they got, they understand how important it is to back up their computers.”