Bids for the planned sound system in Middlebush Park were rejected Jan. 12 by the Township Council because the volume level specifications were found to be too low. Township Manager Robert Vornlocker said that he brought concerns about the volume, raised by Mayor Phillip Kramer, to Eric Zwerling of Rutgers University, a nationally known sound expert. Zwerling, Vornlocker said, agreed …

Three men, including one from the township, were arrested Jan 12 on drug-related charges in separate incidents, according to authorities. All the arrests were as the result of tips to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force. The arrests netted drugs with a combined street value of more than $5,000, according to police.

The Township Council Jan. 12 picked a leader in the West African community as their newest colleague. Charles Onyejiaka, a 14-year township resident, was chosen from a field of three to fill the Ward 3 seat vacated when Philip Kramer was sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1.

The Township Council started the new year by awarding commendations to a number of people and groups. The first to receive a commendation was township Police Lt. Darrin Russo, the Franklin Reporter & Advocate “Man of the Year” for 2015. Russo was commended for being named MOY, which recognized the restraint he showed when a suspected car thief he stopped …

The 27th annual Tour de Franklin is set for April 24, with the tour moving to a new location. The tour, which is the Franklin Township Food Bank’s largest fund raiser, will this year start from Franklin High School, 500 Elizabeth Avenue.

The Somerset County Park Commission has announced that an HDGolf simulator is now available at the Neshanic Valley Golf Course Learning Center, 2301 South Branch Road in Neshanic Station, New Jersey. The High Definition Golf™ simulator sets the standard for indoor golf accuracy and realism. Revolutionary image processing software combines high resolution digital images, satellite data, and geophysical data into 3D …

Several hundred members of the township’s West African community gathered Jan. 9 to celebrate their impact in the November 2015 elections. Special guests at the event, held at the Holiday Inn on Davidson Avenue, were the local winners in the election: State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, (D-17), Mayor Phil Kramer and At-Large Township Council members Shanel Robinson, Kimberly Francois and Rajiv Prasad.

About 125 competitors from around the region converged on Franklin High School Jan. 9 for the second Rubic’s Cube competition hosted by the school’s Red Cross Club. The club uses the event as a fundraiser, and, according to club co-president Ashwin Pozath, has seen participation grow from the inaugural event held in late 2014.

Township police detectives are investigating two shootings that occurred within two weeks of each other late last month. No one was reported injured in either of the shootings, which left bullets in two homes.

The Board of Education on Jan. 7 voted to reduce the number of public meetings it holds in 2016, a move the school board president said  would streamline the decision-making process and allow staff to focus on things other than meetings. But one board member objected to the change, saying it may not allow for thorough discussions of policy issues.