The Planing Board on Oct. 4 sent a Piscataway resident back to the drawing board after refusing to act on her application to build a new house on Wilson Road. To say some board members felt the planned 3,500-square-foot house was a bad fit for the neighborhood would be an understatement.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment on Oct. 5 heard details of two more mixed-use developments targeted for the Hamilton Street Business District zone. No action was taken on either application because both needed what planners and the attorney called tweaking of the architectural plans. Both applications are expected to be voted upon at the board’s Oct. 19 meeting.

Franklin police deployed to several sites in the township on Oct. 4, but not for emergencies. The officers were participating in the national “Coffee With A Cop” program, in which police officers were stationed at various businesses in towns to meet and talk with residents.

A plan to cluster 32 homes at the corner of Cedar Grove Lane and Amwell Road received an endorsement from the Planning Board Oct. 4. In giving its endorsement, the board also recommended that about 11 acres of planned open space be kept where originally targeted at the southern end of the roughly 39-acre property, and that the township not …

Unity Bank is encouraging the public to “Pay It Forward” by sharing stories about their personal heroes with the incentive of $20,000 given to participants and their heroes in random drawings. “We wanted to give people a chance to honor their personal heroes and tell their story,”  Unity Bank president and CEO James A. Hughes said in a press release …

Pat Colligan knew something was up when he saw a security guard and police officer in a traffic vest running full-speed through the crowded casino at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Spa in Las Vegas late in the evening of Oct. 1. Colligan, a Franklin Township Police detective and president of the New Jersey Policeman’s Benevolent Association, had just finished …

The sixth annual Snyder’s Farm Fall Festival is underway. Running 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends through Oct. 29, the festival offers food, games, activities for the kids and special appearances by Captain America.

Franklin High School tennis teams may have their real home court to play on come this spring. The Board of Education on Sept. 29 awarded an $847,917 contract to Halecon, Inc. of Bridgewater to reconstruct the school’s tennis courts, which haven’t been used in years.

The dream of three long-time friends finally came to fruition Sept. 29 at the grand opening of BAM Desserts, 873b Hamilton St. After a shiny blue ribbon in the new bakery’s doorway was cut, co-owner Ari Fowlkes invited those in attendance to sample the sweets inside.

Township parents with children in the district’s Pre-K program are getting an unexpected surprise: a refund of the nearly $6,000 tuition. District officials announced Sept. 28 that the state has approved a $1.1 million Preschool Education Expansion Aid grant for the 2017-18 school year.