A FEW QUESTIONS – School Board member Bill Grippo had some questions about the proposed Board goals at the August 27 meeting. The Board of Education voted Aug. 27 to adopt six goals for the 2026-27 school year, reworking the language of one goal, keeping a disputed word in another and taking on a certification effort that schools Superintendent Jamil …

EXPLAINING CHAIN OF COMMAND – Schools Superintendent Jamil Maroun, sitting at his first Board of Education meeting, explains the draft “chain of command” document soon to be released to the public. Schools Superintendent Jamil Maroun previewed a draft “chain of command” document at the Aug. 27 Board of Education meeting, a step-by-step guide that tells parents, students and staff whom …

Please note due to extreme heat and weather conditions these dates are subject to change  Pierce St (Cedar Grove to Davidson) -Paved 

EXPLAINING THE PROGRAM – Nicholas Solomon, the District’s Director of School Management, describes the use of “phone pouches” under the new school policy at the August 27 school board meeting. The Board of Education voted Aug. 27 to spend $43,950 on 2,400 locking phone pouches, part of a district plan to enforce New Jersey’s new “bell-to-bell” ban on student use …

Here’s what’s happening in and around Franklin over the weekend: Friday, Aug. 28

Two township residents were swindled out of about $9,000 each in separate incidents at the end of July, police said. In the first incident, which occurred on July 22 but was reported on July 27, the resident told police that he was told by an alleged Microsoft employee that his accounts had been compromised.

07/26/2026 A Somerset resident was the victim of a theft on 07/23/26 in the area of JFK Blvd. A female acquaintance failed to return the victim’s motor vehicle after she borrowed it. The vehicle was entered stolen into a national database. The vehicle was located several days later in an outside jurisdiction. The locating agency arrested two individuals who were …

FOOD INSECURITY ROUNDTABLE – U.S. Senator Cory Booker participated in a roundtable on the nation’s deepening food crisis on August 24 at the Franklin Food bank. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) told food bank leaders from across New Jersey on August 24 that he intends to keep the U.S. Farm Bill bottled up in the Senate Agriculture Committee unless Republicans agree …

Dr. Samir Kumar Dutta passed away peacefully on August 22, 2026, at The Bristal Assisted Living Home in Somerset. He was 89 years old, just one day shy of his 90th birthday. Samir was born in 1936 in Burma (now Myanmar) while his father, Susanta Dutta, was serving on deployment with the Indian military. When he was five years old, …

BACK-TO-SCHOOL GIVEAWAY – Parents and students line up at the Franklin Youth Center on Lewis Street for the annual backpack and supply giveaway August 22. The Franklin Youth Center handed out backpacks, school supplies and health resources August 22 at its annual Ready, Set, School event, an effort to send Franklin Township students into the new academic year prepared and …