News-pourri

The township’s presiding Municipal Court Judge denies that a comment he made to a defendant in December 2017 was sexual in nature and violated any judicial ethics rules that would require formal discipline. Judge Hector Rodriguez in December 2018 was hit with charges that he violated three tenets of the state Judicial Canon of Ethics. The charges stem from a …

The Township Council picked a Deputy Mayor for 2019 at its Jan. 7 reorganization meeting, but did not choose to fill the seat vacated by the person who held the position last year. The Council also filled a number of positions on the various township boards and commissions, named a municipal court judge, prosecutors and public defenders, and the other …

SOMERVILLE – Two township residents were part of history at the Jan. 4 Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders meeting. Former township Deputy Mayor Shanel Robinson took the oath of office for her first Freeholder term, and former township Mayor and current Freeholder Brian Levine was elected as the Freeholder Director for 2019. The history revolved around Robinson and her …

An incumbent and two returning Board of Education members were sworn in Jan. 3 at the board’s annual reorganization meeting. Also at the meeting, Nancy LaCorte was re-elected by board members as their president, and Ardaman Singh won re-election as board vice-president. Sworn in for new three-year terms were incumbent Lauri Merris and returning board members Ed Potosnak and Pat …

By PJ Parker. Franklin’s Native Son Kevin Apuzzio was only 21 years old when he lost his life, trapped in a basement during a structural fire. Jan. 3, nearly 13 years later, East Franklin Volunteer Fire Department, the fire department Apuzzio called home, was honored in his memory with the donation of a FAST Board by FAST Rescue Solutions, a …

The notion of “paying it forward” can be traced back to the ancient Greeks; it is the idea that one does not repay a kindness one was granted back to the benefactor, but, rather, finds someone else in the same situation and lends a similar helping hand. “Paying it forward” has been explored in plays, books and movies through the …

The Board of Education wants to hear from former township students. The board at its Dec. 20 meeting approved the release of two surveys, one targeted to Franklin High School graduates in the classes of 2016, 2017 and 2018, and a second aimed at students from all Franklin schools. The surveys will help the district “develop a base of former …

The Board of Education Dec. 20 used the last meeting of the year to say thank-you and goodbye to two members who will not return next year. Bord members Margaret Steele and Rich Seamon decided not to run for re-election in November. Steele has served one four-year term, while Seamon has served more than 10 years, on and off, since …

A pledge to create a “men’s coalition” to deal with the problems confronting young black men in the township was the outcome Dec. 18 of a “Community Town Hall” held at the Parkside community room. The event, moderated by members of the Nation of Islam’s Muhammad Mosque No. 85, headquartered on Hamilton Street, consisted of comments from a panel and …

This week’s podcast features news about the Township Council’s decision to censure Councilman Rajiv Prasad, news about our presiding Municipal Court Judge and the start of the Franklin High School Lady Warriors’ basketball team’s promising season start. Music is “Winter Sunshine” by pianist Evgeny Grinko.