The cast of “Annie Jr.”, running at Franklin Middle School through April 19, is using the performances as fundraisers for the Franklin Township Food Bank. The idea for the fundraiser was spurred by the Franklin High School cast of “Jekyll & Hyde,” which raised $3,000 for the food bank over five performances earlier this year.

Hundreds of members of the Jain Center of New Jersey paraded down Cedar Grove Lane April 18 top honor some of their fellow members who have participated in a year-long fast. Jainism is an ancient Indian religion that stresses nonviolence and vegetarianism. There are about 1,800 members of the Jain Center, which opened in 2008.

The Franklin Township PBA Local 154 held its first wine tasting fundraiser April 17 at the Imperia on Easton Avenue. Lt. Darrin Russo, one of the event’s organizers, said it was created as a way to raise more money that the PBA local would then give to township organizations.

To the rest of the world, they’re police officers, but to Maria Ducos, they’re more than that. “They’re not officers, they’re my angels,” Ducos said in speaking about township police officers Nicholas Gambino and Deyo Swartz.

One man was suffered smoke inhalation April 17 in an early-morning fire in a Reler Lane apartment. The unidentified 35-year-old man was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment, police said.

The Zoning Board of Adjustment on April 16 denied an application by an owner of a Kingston yoga studio to move her business from the Kingston Mall to a residential area. Following a four-hour hearing – the last of four on the matter since January – board members voted 5-2 to deny the application of Nagisa Manabe of Bay Head, co-owner of Simply …

Update: There are no plans for United States Postal Service officials to meet with township representatives about the Franklin Boulevard post office on April 22, according to a USPS spokesman. Township Councilman Rajiv Prasad (D-At Large) has said such a meeting was taking place from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the church, and some community leaders also expected there …

Click the files above to hear radio transmissions from the Spruce Street fire. Files courtesy Franklin Township Police Department. Township police rescued a 78-year-old woman from a burning Spruce Street home April 15, suffering minor injuries in the process.

A variety showcase to benefit the Week of the People Committee is set for 7 p.m. April 24 at Franklin Middle School, 415 Francis St. The donation is $5.

The Hamilton Street Improvement District’s amended $72,000 budget for 2015 was approved April 14 by the Township Council. There was some dissent expressed by business owners, who said they were frustrated over 10 years of contributing to the SID without any tangible returns.