News-pourri

Mayor Phil Kramer, upper left, said he would like to see 500 township residents receive COVID-19 vaccinations each day. The vaccination rate in Franklin Township would have to be about 500 shots a day to reach “herd immunity” against COVID-19 by Labor Day, Mayor Phil Kramer said on January 13. Kramer made the estimation during a virtual Town Hall meeting …

Schools Superintendent John Ravally told parents in a January 12 letter that low vaccine supply has scuttled a plan to have school districts serve as COVID-19 vaccine distribution centers. (File photo). The plan for the school district to host a COVID-19 vaccine dispensing site for district employees has been put on hold by the state due to a lack of …

Morgan Hewitt, as pictured in her GoFundMe account. An online fundraising account has been established for a former township resident suffering from leukemia. The campaign is targeted to raise money to help offset the costs faced by the family of 15-year-old Morgan Hewitt, who is suffering from T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Bill Grippo, right, was sworn in to the Board of Education on January 7. (Photo: Bill Grippo.) The Board of Education kept its top leadership, and two returning members and one new member were sworn in at the January 7 reorganization meeting. Board Member Nancy LaCorte was once again voted in as board president, and Board Member Ardaman Singh was …

SOMERVILLE – The Interfaith Hospitality Network of Somerset County will be known by a new name now that the year has turned: HOME of Somerset County, Inc., according to a press release from the organization. The new name reflects the nonprofit agency’s four core components: housing, outreach, multifaith, and empowerment, according to the release.

Township Councilman James Vassanella was sworn in as Deputy Mayor during the Council’s January 5 virtual meeting. The spinning wheel’s arrow landed on Township Councilman James Vassanella this year, making him the Deputy Mayor for 2021. Vassanella was elevated into the position during the Council’s January 5 virtual meeting.

Mayor Phil Kramer receives the first of two Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations from Hackensack Meridian Health Raritan Bay Medical Center R.N. Catherine Urban. Mayor Phil Kramer is not a big fan of receiving inoculations … until now. The Mayor, himself a physician, said he was eagerly anticipating his chance to begin the vaccination process for COVID-19.

Brian Levine. Saying New Jersey needs a leader with new ideas, former township Mayor Brian Levine announced on January 1 that he is forming an exploratory committee to study a run for the Republican nomination for Governor. Levine, who has just completed a term as what used to be called a Somerset County Freeholder, served as a Township Councilman from …

In response to a question from a resident posed at the December 21 Board of Education meeting, schools Superintendent John Ravally announced that the district would be distributing COVID-19 vaccines. The school district’s faculty and staff could receive a COVID-19 vaccine by late February or March, a district official said on December 22. That’s because the school district’s application to …

More than 500 pieces of winter apparel will be donated to local children in need, thanks to a clothing drive sponsored by state Assemblyman Joe Danielsen. Danielsen (D-17) is working with the township-based Zakee Bowser Enrichment Foundation to distribute the clothing collected during his “Head to Toe” clothing drive.