Masala Bay, an Indian-Fusion restaurant on Easton Avenue, celebrated its second anniversary Feb. 5 with an in-restaurant party. The Franklin Reporter & Advocate was there to live stream some of the celebration, including a peek in the kitchen of chef/owner Anita Amin and her special naan bread recipe.

About 160 people attended a “Mayors’ Climate Summit” at Rutgers University Feb. 3, an event that was the brainchild of Mayor Phil Kramer. The summit was held at Rutgers’ Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick and was attended mainly by mayors and other elected officials from throughout the state.

Mayor Phil Kramer is hoping to turn the municipal building into “Wedding Central” on Valentine’s Day. The mayor announced that he will be holding a “wedding clinic” in the building at 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., and hopes to marry at least a dozen couples in that time.

ShopRite of Somerset on Elizabeth Avenue has a new Registered Dietician. Marisa Wagner offers her services at no charge at the store, and joins more than 100 other dieticians at ShopRite stores in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Delaware and Maryland.

Two men were arrested and a third is still at large in connection with a Jan. 27 incident that began with a robbery in Green Brook and ended with an attempted carjacking and an abandoned getaway vehicle in the township. Antwon Barksdale, 19, of Irvington, and Mario Cumberbatch, 32, of Brooklyn, N.Y. were arrested on various charges, including armed robbery, …

More than 500 people – including a contingent from the township – gathered at a Metuchen church Jan. 28 for a rally in support of the two Indonesian men arrested last week by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of the men, Gunawan Liem, 54, lives with his family in Franklin Park.

The Franklin Reporter & Advocate had a rare chance on Jan. 28 to tour a vacant historic home in Middlebush, and get a little history lesson along the way. Township historian Bob Mettler was on hand to talk about Middlebush as well as the house, which dates back to the late 1800s.

State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) is one of three state legislators spending the weekend in Cuba, at the invitation of the Cuban government. Danielsen is joined on the trip by state Assemblyman Gordon Johnson and state Senator Loretta Weinberg, both (D-37). Also on the trip is Somerset County Democratic Party chair Peg Schaeffer and former state Assemblyman Joe Roberts.

Starting in the fall, Central Jersey College Prep Charter School will begin participation in a program designed to help students succeed in college. CJCP will be one of approximately 1,500 schools worldwide to implement the AP Capstone diploma program, a program that allows students to develop skills that matter most for college success, such as research, collaboration, and communication, according …

The Board of Education dipped into the district’s “farm team” Jan. 25 to pick principals for Franklin High School and Franklin Park School. Frank Chmiel, a vice principal at Franklin Middle School, was named to take the helm at FHS, and Purvi Shah, a Franklin Park School vice principal, was named to be that school’s new principal.