CHAMBER HONOREE – Damiano Orsillo, owner of Piazza Orsillo on Cedar Grove Lane, at the April 29 Franklin Township Chamber of Commerce gala. The Franklin Township Chamber of Commerce celebrated its annual gala April 29 at the Marigold on Hamilton Street, recognizing a broad slate of community leaders, local businesses, educators and volunteers who have shaped the character of one …

NEW SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR – James Overton speaks to the Board of Education April 28 after he was named the new vice-principal at Franklin Middle School – Hamilton Street campus. An educational veteran was appointed as the new vice-principal at Franklin Middle School — Hamilton Street campus at the Board of Education’s April 28 meeting.

By Sadaf Jaffer and Minister Elorm Ocansey. On the eve of his death, Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. stood in Memphis as a witness. The speech we remember as “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” was a warning. Dr. King spoke of wages withheld, of labor exploited, of systems that consumed Black bodies and called it order. He spoke of …

EXPLAINING THE PROCESS – Schools Superintendent John Ravally tells the Board of Education about the challenges faced by District officials in creating the FY 2027 budget at the April 28 meeting. School taxes for the average Franklin Township homeowner will rise $481 this year under a $246.6 million school budget approved April 28 by the Board of Education.

BY THE NUMBERS – Township Manager Robert Vornlocker reviews the proposed 2026 municipal budget at the April 28 Township Council meeting. The average Franklin Township homeowner will pay $74.26 more in municipal taxes this year under a $75.3 million budget introduced by the Township Council on April 28.

By Stephanie Sprague. Dear Franklin 250 Chairman LaCorte and committee members, 

PUPPY THERAPY – Kristeen Kohrs, a volunteer with Creature Comfort Pet Therapy, and Kevin presented a talk on pet therapy during the TEECS Wellness Fair on April 25. Strategies to improve physical and metal well-being were highlighted April 25 at the fifth annual Wellness Fair at Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School.

IN THE HEIGHTS – The Franklin High School production earned a number of nominations in the 2026 Carteret PAC Central Jersey Marquee Awards. (File photo.) Eight Franklin High School students and staff members are among the nominees for the 2026 Carteret PAC Central Jersey Marquee Awards, celebrating outstanding achievement in high school musical theatre across Middlesex, Somerset, and Mercer Counties. …

A 5th Grade team from Elizabeth Avenue School won the elementary level of the district’s annual inventors’ competition. The team won with Project T.I.T.A.N., an invention designed to clean up ocean garbage, based on the plankton-eating basking shark.

Franklin High School held its fourth annual Green Fair on April 25, with an added historical element. In honor of FHS’s 20th anniversary, a time capsule holding a number of present-day items depicting what life is like at FHS was buried in the school’s courtyard, with the idea being that it will be dug up in 2046.