By Rob Trautmann, Somerset Tonight (Feb. 20) was a first for me, I walked out of a Board of Education meeting before it ended.  I am deeply saddened by what some people believe to be appropriate behavior in public meetings.  Tonight was an absolute disgrace.  A member of the Franklin school family was listed for an interim position that required …

By Mark Fitzgerald, Somerset. After attending the “Emergency” Franklin Board of Education meeting on Feb. 17, it appears the administration is very unprepared with accurate financial information for both para and sub outsourcing.  Until there is a real proposal to review with adequate time (even a pro-forma proposal) from a qualified vendor, the board should not be asked to vote …

Maria Delvillar of Perth Amboy was cited for careless driving after the bus she was driving struck a car driven by Ashley Robinson of Somerset. Robinson said she was stopped at Layne Road and Leupp Lane when Delvillar’s bus turned left onto Layne and struck her car. §

School district teachers’ aides showed up in force at the Feb. 17 Board of Education meeting to tell the board just what they thought of yet another proposal to outsource their jobs. In a nutshell: Not much.

The Township Council is now the body in charge of the Hamilton Street business district Special Improvement Zone. Thanks to a last-minute amendment to the ordinance making that so, the council’s status as the SID’s “district management corporation” is limited to two years.

Collected snow from multiple storms last week was blamed for the collapse of two structures in the township, police said. On Feb. 13, a 100 x 75-foot portion of a roof at 65 Clyde Rd. collapsed due to the weight of collected snow, police said.

Feb. 14, 2014 A car driven by Russell Potts Jr. of Hillsborough was stopped in the left-turn lane on John F. Kennedy Boulevard at Easton Avenue when it was struck in the rear by a car driven by Lynnea Wesley-Dickson of Pine Island, NY. Wesley-Dickson said she could not stop in time because of the icy road.

A number of local and state dignitaries visited the Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School, Cortelyous Lane, on Feb. 11. Among the visitors were Aaron Ford, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Newark office, Somerset County Sheriff Frank Provenzano, Mayor Brian Levine and Township Council members Rozalyn Sherman, Carl R.A. Wright, Ted Chase and James Vassanella.

Privatization of some positions and the search process for an interim schools Superintendent are among the topics to be discussed at a special meeting of the Board of Education set for 7:30 p.m. Feb. 17 at Franklin Middle School. The school board will discuss privatization of the district’s paraprofessionals and substitute teachers, and the interim superintendent’s search process, according to …

Professional contracts worth $273,000 were awarded at the Feb. 11 Township Council meeting. The largest, $200,000, was for township attorney Louis Rainone, a member of the DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick and Cole law firm.