News-pourri

The inaugural Empty Bowls fundraiser raised at least $19,000 March 10 for the Franklin Food Bank. Participants chose hand-made pottery bowls and then visited a number of food stations  set up by local restaurants, who donated the food. The event was held at the DoubleTree Hotel on Atrium Drive. More than 300 tickets were sold prior to the event, and …

Elementary school parents will see new report cards beginning with the 2019-20 school year. The new report cards are designed to be easier to read and present more information, said Dan Loughran, the Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction. The new school year will also usher in longer marking periods for the elementary schools, Loughren told the Board of Education …

FTP Sgts. Ken Daly, Ariel Almora and Kevin Fitzharris, left to right, were sworn in at the Council meeting. The three newest Franklin Police Department Sergeants were formally sworn in at the Township Council’s Feb. 26 meeting. Ken Daly, Ariel Almora and Kevin Fitzharris were sworn in to their new positions in front of friends, family, and police officers and …

Township Councilman Rajiv Prasad asked for a review of area Municipal Court Judge salaries in early 2018, including that of presiding municipal court judge Hector Rodriguez, barely a year into Rodriguez’s current term. The review, requested several months after Prasad steered a township landlord to Rodriguez for help with a tenant issue in 2017, came around the time budget appropriations …

Several township figures are considered among the state’s African-American power elite by a statewide political publication. InsiderNJ.com‘s “2019 African American Political Power List” includes people as varied as state Education Commissioner Lamont Repollet, former Township Councilwoman and current Somerset County Freeholder Shanel Robinson, longtime Councilwoman Kimberly Francois, entrepreneur Randall Pinkett and the Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries of First Baptist Church …

Exhibitions of black culture, calls for continued social justice activism and an appearance by the state’s Lieutenant Governor highlighted the annual Black History Month celebration Feb. 16 at the township Community/Senior Center. Sponsored by the Somerset County Democratic Black Caucus, the day also featured a number of speakers, including state Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, Mayor Phil Kramer, Somerset County Freeholder …

The Franklin Township Cultural Arts Commission performance gazebo was officially gifted to the township at the Feb. 12 Township Council meeting. The gazebo, located in the municipal complex, next to the township library’s main branch, was the brainchild of Bill Grippo, the MacAfee Road School principal and former township politician known for his fundraising prowess. Grippo partnered with CAC members …

The Township Council on Feb. 12 honored one of their own who died in late January. John Clyde, a former Councilman and Mayor, died Jan. 24 at the University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. A Council member for 16 years, Clyde served as Deputy Mayor in 2000 and Mayor in 2001. Clyde was also active on the township’s Environmental Commission, …

Rejecting repeated calls for his resignation, Township Councilman Rajiv Prasad on Feb. 12 vowed to fill out his term, and accused those who oppose him with “political grandstanding.” Prasad (D-At Large) has been enmeshed in controversy at various times over the last three years, most recently over his handling of the approval process for the now-defunct plan for a “Peace …

Organizers of the upcoming “Empty Bowls Franklin Township” fundraiser have high hopes for their inaugural event. The founding executive team members – Susan Winston Seamon and Bob and Ceil Cheril – say they wanted to do something to help ease the concerns of people with food insecurity. The fundraiser is set for 1-5 p.m. March 10 at the DoubleTree Hotel …