General News

The public has been invited to the first 2016 meeting of the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition at 8:30 a.m.  Jan. 25 at 25 Grove St., Somerville. The meeting is being held in the Somerset County Administration Building in the third-floor freeholders’ meeting room. Parking is available in the adjacent Bernie Field Parking Deck; the entrance is located on East High …

More than 400 people gathered at the Doubletree Hotel on Atrium Drive Jan. 18 for the township’s annual celebration of the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Franklin Township Community Breakfast is also a fund raiser for a scholarship program targeting graduating Franklin High School seniors. To date, the event has raised more than $146,000, which has been …

A 1997 Franklin High School graduate will be honored next month by a national organization for her work in the intelligence community. Zalenda Cyrille has won the 2016 Edwin H. Land Industry Award from the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a “a non-profit, non-partisan, public-private organization that works to promote and recognize the highest standards within the national security and …

Several hundred members of the township’s West African community gathered Jan. 9 to celebrate their impact in the November 2015 elections. Special guests at the event, held at the Holiday Inn on Davidson Avenue, were the local winners in the election: State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen, (D-17), Mayor Phil Kramer and At-Large Township Council members Shanel Robinson, Kimberly Francois and Rajiv Prasad. …

Editor’s Note: Starting with this honor, the Franklin Reporter & Advocate will annually recognize one person who, in our opinion, has made the greatest impact on Franklin Township in the preceding year. Our inaugural award goes to Franklin Township Police Lieutenant Darrin Russo. On Dec. 2, 2015, Franklin Township Police Lt. Darrin Russo had a split second to make a decision …

Random thoughts on Christmas to think about today: “Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.” – Janice Maeditere “Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.” – Calvin Coolidge. “Christmas gift …

The Somerset County Park Commission will be accepting natural Christmas trees for recycling from Saturday, December 26, 2015 through Sunday, January 31, 2016 at Colonial Park parking lot F, 156 Mettlers Road. The facility will accept trees from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., seven days a week. Each family is limited to only one tree that must be free of all …

Ways to keep your home safe – especially during the holidays – were the focus of a forum hosted Dec. 15 by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen at the township municipal building. The Home Safety Forum, the second Danielsen, (D-17) has held since joining the Assembly, featured Charles Maria, the township’s fire prevention inspector, and township police Sgt. Phil Rizzo. Maria …

Sights and sounds of the holidays were in abundance in the township Dec. 11. The township held the annual tree lighting and holiday celebration at the municipal complex, and Middlebush Reformed Church presented its annual Living Nativity on the green at Amwell and South Middlebush roads. The Living Nativity will be repeated 6-9 p.m. on Dec. 12. Following the tree …

There was dancing, there was singing, there were goodies. They all marked the annual appearance of Sinterklaas at the Hageman House barn on South Middlebush Road Dec. 6. Visitors to the event were treated to an exhibition of Klompen Dancing, a Dutch tradition in which dancers wear wooden shoes, and a selection of Christmas carols by the Franklin High School Madrigal …