The New Jersey Buddhist Vihara Meditation Center on Route 27 held a day-long “birthday party” of sorts on Aug. 20. The “birthday boy” was the center’s 30-foot-tall Buddha statue, and the party was to commemorate the seventh anniversary of its installation.

The first installment of about 400 backpacks filled with school supplies, destined for area schoolchildren, was distributed Aug. 20 at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens on Route 27. The backpacks were collected and distributed by the Zakee Bowser Enrichment Foundation, an 18-year-old charity founded in memory of a New Brunswick teenager killed in 1997.

Bridgeport, CT – The Somerset Patriots (24-19, 62-51) blanked the Bridgeport Bluefish (22-20, 52-60) 3-0 Saturday evening at Harbor Yard. The Patriots have taken the first two in the pivotal three game series between these Liberty Division foes. Somerset has won nine of its last 11 games.  

Saying “enough is enough,” officials from the township and surrounding towns went public the morning of Aug. 19 in their effort to restore funding for the replacement of the Route 518 bridge at Canal Road. But that rush-hour protest, as well as other bridge-related lobbying efforts directed at Gov. Chris Christie’s administration, has so far been fruitless.

A 45-year-old township man faces charges that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old in June. Felipe Dasilva was arrested Aug. 17 after an investigation by the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Unit and the Franklin Township Police Department, according to a press release from the prosecutor’s office.

A Perth Amboy woman was arrested Aug. 17 on a charge that she cheated a township business out of more than $89,000. Veronica Cardozo-Cabrera, 37, was charged with 2nd Degree Theft by Deception in the scheme, in which authorities said she fraudulently credited the credit cards of relatives and friends while working at Forever Collectibles on Cottontail Lane.

Bridgeport, CT – The Somerset Patriots (23-19, 61-51) tripled up the Bridgeport Bluefish (22-19, 52-59) 9-3 in the first game of a pivotal three game weekend series at Harbor Yard. Somerset has won eight of its last 10 games. For the 14th time in the last 15 games the offense registered at least five runs and they added 21 base …

The annual Renaissance Cyclists Defeating Cancer United bike-a-thon fundraiser to promote prostate cancer awareness is set to kick off Sept. 17 at Franklin Middle School, 415 Francis St. On-site registration for the event starts at 8 a.m. Registration is also available online at www.rcdcubike.com.

Bridgewater, NJ – The York Revolution (22-18, 62-48) defeated the Somerset Patriots (22-19, 60-51) 2-0 to avoid the series sweep on Thursday evening at TD Bank Ballpark  

8/10 Sometime in the overnight hours an unknown actor entered an unlocked vehicle on Runyon Ave and took an iPod valued at $125.