Bridgewater, NJ- The Somerset Patriots have announced the signing of second baseman/utility player Nate Spears and utility player Steve Nikorak. Spears has Major League experience with the Boston Red Sox in 2011 and 2012, where he played in seven games.

More than $5,000 worth of damage was done to two soda vending machines at Quail Brook Golf Course, New Brunswick Road, police said. A golf course employee told police that sometime between April 1 and 2, two machines were damaged and soda and cash were stolen.

March 29 A 2007 Dodge Caravan owned by Amigo Medical Transport of North Brunswick was stolen and later recovered. Police said the victim, who was not identified, said the van was parked on Somerset Street shortly after midnight. The victim did not know the van was stolen until he was contacted by North Brunswick police, telling him the van had …

An information session on and eligibility screening for Somerset County’s Homelessness Trust Fund is set for 6:30-8 p.m. April 10 at the Somerville Library, 35 West End Ave., Somerville. The program offers up to 15 months of rental assistance to working families.

The township police department is one of 10 Somerset County departments to receive a $5,000 grant to aid in its participation in the “U Drive. U Text. U Pay” crackdown on distracted driving. The effort, which was developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, runs through April 21. Statewide, 60 police departments received $300,000, according to a press release …

Township police played an unspecified but “integral” role in the April 1 arrest of an Edison man who authorities said burglarized homes in Middlesex and Bergen counties. Somerset County Prosecutor Geoffrey D. Soriano said in a release that Herbbie Sheffield, 46, was arrested in Old Bridge by members of the Somerset County Burglary Task Force after he was found in …

The township’s watchdog of historic sites gave its stamp of approval to a handful of proposals at its April 1 meeting. In addition to granting certificates of appropriateness for new facade plans for the former Unclaimed Freight building on Easton Avenue, commissioners did likewise for the construction of new homes on Williams Street and Neuville Drive, the replacement of a …

Changes are underway at the former Unclaimed Freight building on Easton Avenue. Once the home of mainly a discount furniture store, the structure soon will house a gym and will get a completely new facade.

Activities designed to bolster reading and writing skills were offered to Franklin Park School students at the school’s annual Family Literacy Night April 1. The Pre-K to 4th Grade students spent about a half-hour in each of three activities during the night which tested their skills in in things such as creating stories on-the-fly to writing persuasive essays.

An 18-year-old Franklin High School senior who was “violently assaulted” early in the morning of April 26 remains in critical condition, officials said. A $2,500 reward is being offered by Crime Stoppers of Somerset County for information leading to the arrest and indictment of the person responsible for the attack on the 18-year-old woman, according to a release from the Somerset …