TRAFFIC GARDENS EXPLAINED – Hannah Younes, of the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University, talks to Advisory Recreation Board members about traffic gardens at the Board’s September 2 meeting. The Franklin Township Recreation Advisory Board on Sept. 2 endorsed a plan to study whether an unused slab of asphalt at Middlebush Park, left behind when the township’s skate park was …

The 27 Flock Safety automatic license plate readers now mounted on poles around Franklin Township were bought with good intentions. A $339,000 state technology grant was available. A four-year contract was signed in October 2025. The Township Council did what more than 6,000 communities across the country have done, and accepted a public safety tool that appeared to cost taxpayers …

The Franklin Reporter & Advocate recently spoke with Public Safety Director Lloyd Fredericks about the extent of official surveillance cameras located in the township and their capabilities. Following is the essence of that conversation: Franklin Township operates 27 Flock Safety license plate reader cameras and 17 additional surveillance cameras that cannot read plates at all, and the system does not …

08/02/2026 An Ellicott City, MD resident was the victim of porch piracy on 07/28/26 in the area Hamilton St. A female was observed on surveillance stealing the victim’s delivered package. The contents were valued at $128. Patrol identified the suspect as a 20-year-old Somerset woman. She was issued a summons for package theft, and the item was returned to the …

By Bill Connell. This missive is a going to be a little more spiritual than usual. It’s the start of the school year and there are many young parents freaking out sending their kids to school for the first time or to a new building.  You want your kids to have a positive experience, but I don’t think many of you …

WORK DELAYED – A new water main installed in MacAfee Road can’t be activated until all bacteria tests are passed. Parents who drive their children to MacAfee Road Elementary School will have to park on Berger Street and walk their children the rest of the way on the first days of school, because work on the road’s new water main …

Hydrants throughout the township will be flushed from September 8 through October 30. The flushing will occur between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., according to a notice from the township Public Works Water Division.

Franklin Township Board of Education committees moved a mandated student cellphone policy toward final adoption, endorsed nine new high school courses and set the date for a stadium tribute to the late football Coach Len Rivers during a round of August meetings, according to committee reports. The reports also disclosed that the District paid $3,823,866 in charter school tuition in …

The Franklin Township Board of Education approved more than $446,000 in contracts, purchases and service agreements at its August 27 meeting, including a $75,000 award for an online elementary Spanish program and nearly $44,000 for phone lock pouches. The spending was spread across three agenda items: a 20-part contract approval list totaling about $371,354, the award of a technology recycling …

RALLY MODERATOR – Bill Davis, the host of the August 27 Community Rally commemorating the 1963 March on Washington, speaks during the rally. Speakers at an August 27 community rally commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the March on Washington urged ralliers to vote in the coming midterm elections and to deepen their activism, warning that the nation is facing what …