Karthikey Palamalai of Dayton was cited Oct. 16 for careless driving after the car he was driving rear-ended one driven by Karen Pecorella of Somerset on Elizabeth Avenue. Palamalai told police his foot slipped off the brake pedal. §

A plan to provide for tractor-trailer parking at a Clyde Road warehouse – including the removal of about 900 trees from the property – won Planning Board approval at its Oct. 16 meeting. The 40-year-old warehouse at 60 Clyde Road needs tractor-trailer parking to remain competitive, the applicant’s attorney, Peter Lanfrit, told the board.

A proposal to build a two-story, 22,000-square-foot medical office building on Veronica Avenue won Planning Board approval at the Oct. 16 meeting. The proposal, submitted by Dr. Didier Demesmin of University Pain Medicine Center, sparked some conversation by the board members over the proposed number of parking spaces before it won approval.

Following is a statement by U.S. Rep. Rush Holt, D-NJ 12, released after his vote to end the government shutdown: “This bill ends an unnecessary, self-induced crisis.  It fails to end sequestration’s painful cuts in government services.  It fails to invest in creating new jobs.  It follows costly weeks of government shutdown and unnerving the financial world.  It sets up …

There may be a new park in the township’s future. Preliminary plans for a new township park on the Catalpa farm property were presented Oct. 15 to the Open Space Advisory Committee.

Seasonal agricultural signs would be allowed on township open space under a proposal approved by the open Space Advisory Committee. The committee at its Oct. 15 meeting voted to recommend that the Township Council amend the ordinance banning such signs to allow the temporary seasonal signs.

More than $800 worth of power tools were stolen from a Cedar Grove Lane landscaping company sometime over the past week, police said. Cedar Hill Landscaping’s John Jahno told police that a weed whacker and two attachments – a pole saw and a hedge trimmer – were stolen from the business.

William Anderson of Bound Brook was cited Oct. 15 for careless driving after he backed his car into a parked car, owned by Ruth Walkoviak of Manville, at Mandell’s Plaza on Cedar Grove Lane. §

A proposal to limit smoking in the township’s larger parks – and ban it outright in the smaller ones – is on its way to the Township Council. The township Open Space Advisory Committee at its Oct. 15 meeting endorsed a proposal brought by Alice Osipowitz, director of parks and recreation, to create the smoke free zones.

Cars driven by Gregory Oman of Hillsborough and Clara Santana of Somerset collided Oct. 14 on Hamilton Street, near Franklin Boulevard. Oman told police that Santana signaled she was turning left, so he tried to pass her on the right when her car made a right turn into his. Santana initially told police that she had signaled left, then made …