POET LAUREATE – Princess Dumbuya, Franklin High School’s first Poet Laureate, reads from her book at the June 10 publishing party. Princess Dumbuya, Franklin High School’s first Poet Laureate, was all smiles June 10 in the high school library. Dumbuya, a Senior, welcomed guests to the publishing party of her book, “A Bouquet of Verses,” an anthology of poems written …

READY TO COUNT – Ballot tabulations being dropped off to the municipal building on June 10. Local incumbent candidates appear to be leading in their races for their party’s nominations, according to unofficial results from the 2025 primary election on June 10. Township Councilman Carl Wright (D-Ward 4) and state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) were the only candidates facing primary …

05/25/2025 A Somerset resident was the victim of a robbery in the area of Home St. during the overnight hours. The victim was assaulted by four unknown Black males while walking home. The suspects took the victim’s ID, debit card and $680. They fled in a gray vehicle.

JoAnn Zavodnick, of Somerset, passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family. She was 71. Born in Newark, NJ to the late Dominick Lopizzo and Maria “Teddy” Conway, née Gaber, she spent her youth in Metuchen. She moved to Somerset in the late 1970s before moving to Waretown, then back to Somerset in 2019. JoAnn loved reading, baking …

Central Jersey College Prep (CJCP) announced that for the fifteenth straight school year, 100 percent of its senior class will be graduating on time this Spring and that every member of the Class of ‘25 has also been accepted to a college or university next fall, continuing an unprecedented senior class streak for CJCP which began in 2011.   This …

SPECIAL RECOGNITION – Franklin Food Bank Executive Director with U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at the Congressional Hunger Center’s annual Hunger Leadership Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Franklin Food Bank.) The Franklin Food Bank was recently recognized nationally with the 2025 Community Champion Hunger Leadership Award at the Congressional Hunger Center’s annual Hunger Leadership Awards Dinner. Food Bank Executive Director Derek Smith accepted the award on behalf …

5/18/2025 A Somerset resident was the victim of a fraud. The victim invested $56,000 into a crypto currency app called Idea Pro. The victim attempted to withdraw almost $10,000,000 from the app, however, the funds never made it to his bank account. The victim contacted Idea Pro, and they requested $183,00,00 for technical assistance. At this point, the victim realized …

The Franklin High School Class of 2025’s Salutatorian and Valedictorian were named June 6 at the annual Senior Awards Night ceremony. During the evening, thousands of dollars in scholarships were announced, as were the winners of various academic honors.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER – Schiro Withanachchi, the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs at Rutgers University – Camden, speaks to the TEECS Class of 2025 at their June 5 graduation. The world needs scientists, but it also needs leaders who care, the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School Class of 2025 was told at its graduation ceremony on June 5. Speaking to the …

HONORING EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS – Rebekah Solomon, principal at Franklin Middle School – Sampson G. Smith Campus speaks about her school’s educators being honored. Twenty teachers and teachers’ aides were honored June 5 as the best in the district at the annual Educators of the Year Breakfast, held at the Imperia by Dhaba on Easton Avenue. Each of the District’s 10 …