Central Islip, NY- The Somerset Patriots, powered by right fielder Michael Burgess and a strong start by Roy Merritt, defeated the Long Island Ducks 5-3 in Game 1 of the Liberty Division Championship Series at Bethpage Ballpark.  

The township is included in a wide swath of New Jersey that has been placed under a water supply drought watch by the state Department of Environmental Protection. The DEP is asking residents in the area affected by the watch – all or parts of Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, Somerset and Union counties – …

A longtime Somerset resident has been chosen to attend the quadrennial World Zionist Congress in Israel in October. Gary Rosenthal, a resident of the Renaissance at Raritan Valley active adult development, will attend the meeting as one of 25 delegates representing MERCAZ USA, which is the “voice of Conservative Jewry within the World Zionist Organization,” according to its Web site.

County health officials are warning residents to be cautious after a rabid raccoon was found in the township. The raccoon was captured on Sept. 19 in the area of Hamilton Street/Amwell Road, according to a press release from the Somerset County Department of Health.

One of the founders of the township’s Masjid-e-Ali mosque will be an invited guest at the Sept. 25 multireligious gathering hosted by Pope Francis at the Sept. 11 Memorial in New York City. Dr. Mansoor Rizvi received an invitation to the event last month from Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, the Archbishop of New York.

By Mark Grieco The events surrounding Catalpa Park, especially the behavior of Democratic Township Councilman Rajiv Prasad, have taken their toll on the township. The haggard looks of some of the council members at the last council meeting, and what I take to be their sincere calls for healing, tell the story. This has been one of the ugliest episodes …

Sefa Kploanyi, a third-year Touro College of Pharmacy student, recently won first place in the 2015 Student National Pharmaceutical Association Conference in Orlando, Fl. Kploanyi, a township resident, won the prize in the Kroger Clinical Skills Competition with teammate Justice Kwansa. The two competed against students from 20 other pharmaceutical schools.

York, PA – The York Revolution (40-29, 64-75) defeated the Somerset Patriots (39-30, 89-50) 7-3 Sunday afternoon at Santander Stadium to conclude the 2015 regular season. In the bottom of the first inning designated hitter Andres Perez pounded a RBI double to give York a 1-0 advantage.

Update: Township fire officials cannot state a cause for the fire, but say that it is not suspicious, according to township police Sgt. Philip Rizzo. Rizzo said that it is possible a lit candle was left unattended, but, he said, the homeowner believes that they were all extinguished before they left.

The second annual Franklin Day Festival on Sept. 19 offered something for just about everyone: food, music, performances and a wide variety of vendors. Thousands of visitors wound their way among the more than 100 booths set up near Colonial Park’s Parking Lot C. AMong those exhibiting were crafters, real estate agents, township organizations and the township itself.