50 years ago this month a deadly gas main explosion in the vicinity of Church and North Franklin Streets in Lambertville destroyed 4 homes and killed 8 people. There was an explosion months earlier on Church Street.   

What was it like that day? How did it affect those in the city? How did it change things?   

Joining TAPinto You are John Hencheck, a resident of Lambertville since 1969, and a member of the Lambertville Historical Society and Historic Preservation Commission and Jim Walker, an army veteran and former employee of Texas Eastern Gas Pipeline who now resides in Ringoes.

This is a new segment called, Take Me to Your Leader.  

Guest is, Jeff Doshna, a professional planner, economist, former councilman and is currently the chair of the Flemington Planning Board.

With increasing acceptance of LGBTQ people in North America, what relevance do historically LGBTQ towns have today? Dr. Karen Christel Krahulik a graduate of Princeton University and a current Associate Dean of Academic Faculty Affairs at NYU's School of Professional Studies spoke with TAPinto back in December of 2020.

Dr. Krahulik is a resident of Princeton and graduate of the university there. She discusses the history of Provincetown and New Hope/ Lambertville and discusses how communities change and evolve.

Book: Provincetown: From Pilgrim Landing to Gay Resort

Episode Recorded on: Dec. 15, 2020

In 2013, residents in Lambertville, Stockton and West Amwell voted to combine into one single Pre-K  to 12 school district, South Hunterdon Regional.   Since that time the state of the district’s elementary buildings has come to the forefront. 

The Stockton School closed its doors in 2018 and ownership of the building was recently transferred from the district to the borough. The spotlight is now on upgrading the elementary buildings in both Lambertville and West Amwell which has caused debate ever since it was proposed a handful of years ago. It has resurfaced now that the district has a new superintendent.   

There has been community disagreement on where any new buildings should be and possible divisions exist that mirror municipal boundaries.   After some contentious February Board of Education meetings and the social media fallout that came afterward, TapintoYou gathered four parents from the district, two from Lambertville, two from West Amwell. We were unable to find a Stockton borough parent by recording time.   

Episode recorded: Wednesday Feb. 10, 2021.

The pandemic has changed the way businesses operate and the shifts could be permanent. Industries like landscapers, spa and pool installers and HVAC experts are busy and backlogged, while hotels, tourism and dine-in restaurants have suffered greatly.  This episode examines how a local business that started operations in 2020 has handled the quarantine. Odd Bird Brewing began in Stockton, New Jersey in January of 2020. Only one month into opening, the pandemic altered co-owner, Adam Juncosa’s plans. In this episode of Tapinto You, taped on December 22, 2020, Adam discusses how his business had to evolve, including adapting to and taking advantage of changes in regulations from the state.

The COVID19 pandemic, a hotly contested presidential election, and a very adversarial national political environment combined to create multiple obstacles in the 2020 election cycle.   

In Hunterdon County, County Clerk Mary Melfi, and Board of Elections Administrator, Beth Thompson, were called upon in a short time frame to address challenges. Despite all these obstacles, their teamwork resulted in an 86% voter turn out, a record for the state of New Jersey this year.

Episode recorded: Jan. 28, 2021.

Worldwide protests triggered by the murder of George Floyd put renewed attention on anti-racism activists and their work in 2020. Some groups had formed years ago, some more recently. In this episode of TapInto You, we examine the work of some activists on the local level, in both Hunterdon and Bucks counties.   Tapinto guests were:  Kevin E. Leven, co-founder of the Bucks County Anti-Racism Coalition. He’s originally from Wilmington, Delaware and is an artist and technologist turned activist.   Filomena Hengst is a steering committee member of the Hunterdon County Anti-Racism Coalition, a public-school teacher, vice-president of her local school board, and doctoral candidate in curriculum and teaching.    The host is TapInto contributor, Steve Chernoski.

Episode recorded: Dec. 29, 2020

Tapinto.net Flemington-Raritan is hosting a new podcast called, "Tapinto You."   Season 1, Episode 1: Minor League sports had a resurgence from the mid-1990s into the 2000s across the state of New Jersey. The capital city, Trenton, had two minor league teams during this time. The hockey team no longer exists and the other, the Thunder, just lost their professional affiliation with the New York Yankees who moved their Double AA team to TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, where the Somerset Patriots play. Mike Ashmore, a local sports writer who has covered all three teams, discusses this recent change and goes over a brief history of minor league sports in Trenton. The host is TapInto contributor, Steve Chernoski.  

Episode Recorded on: Mon. Dec. 28, 2020