The school district is looking to return some students to temporary classroom trailers, such as these at Franklin Middle School – Sampson G. Smith campus, to deal with issues caused by its growing pre-Kindergarten population. The Board of Education at its January 26 meeting agreed to submit a request to the state Department of Education to use trailers at five …

Another six state Cannabis Regulatory Commission applications for potential businesses in the township received resolutions of support at the January 24 Township Council meeting. Four of the applications will be for retail establishments while two will be for either cultivator, manufacturer, wholesaler or distributor licenses.

Deputy Mayor Ram Anbarasan is given the Oath of Office by Shanel Robinson, the Somerset County Board of Commissioners Director and a former Township Councilwoman. The ceremony was delayed by several weeks, but Deputy Mayor Ram Anbarasan was finally sworn in at the January 24 Township Council meeting. Anbarasan was out of the country during the January 3 reorganization meeting …

Environmental Commissioner Arnold Schmidt was credited with doing the “heavy lifting” in getting the proposed anti-idling ordinance ready for review. Environmental Commission members were given a final look January 23 at the anti-idling ordinance they will propose to the Township Council. The ordinance, now being sent for attorney review, is based on the statewide anti-idling law, but adds a few …

Daequan Jones of Somerset passed away suddenly on January 11. He was 27.Born in New Brunswick on January 4, 1996 to Cynthia Johnson and the late Willie Jones, he was raised in New Brunswick before moving to Somerset. He graduated from Franklin High School on June 27, 2014 and worked at Rutgers University, for a transportation company and various factories …

The Tour de Franklin is the Franklin Food Bank’s largest fundraiser. (Photo: Franklin Food Bank.) The 34th annual Tour de Franklin Charity Bike Ride, the largest fundraiser for the Franklin Food Bank, will be held on April 30 at Franklin High School.  The Tour de Franklin consists of seven events including 62-, 40-, 25-, 10-, and 5-mile rides through Somerset …

Zoning Board of Adjustment attorney Francis Regan reads off the list of conditions attached to the approval of the Saharose bus company’s application. The Zoning Board of Adjustment was forced on January 19 to approve a bus company’s application to park 15 buses in the rear lot at JFK Plaza on John F. Kennedy Boulevard. The application for a Use …

Mark Healey, the Township’s principal planner, describes the Master Plan changes to the Planning Board at the January 18 meeting. The ban on warehouse development in the township came a step closer to reality on January 18 with two actions taken by the Planning Board. The Board approved amendments to the Master Plan that excised any mention of warehouses from …

Tara Kenyon, the township’s Open Space Consultant, describes the grant to Open Space Advisory Committee members at the January 17 meeting. Township officials are preparing a grant application targeted to fix up the trail and make other enhancements at Naaman Williams Park. Plans are to apply for a grant offered by Sustainable Jersey, a statewide organization whose mission is to …

The ballroom at the Double Tree Hotel on Davidson Avenue was packed for the 25th annual Franklin Community Breakfast. More than 300 people were encouraged to keep Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of racial equality and equity alive January 18 at the 25th annual Franklin Township Community Breakfast, sponsored by the Franklin Township Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community …