News-pourri

Township residents spent Jan. 24 digging out of or playing in the average 24 inches of snow that Winter Storm Jonas dumped on the Eight Villages. One lingering effect of the storm, which began Friday evening and didn’t stop until about 24 hours later, was the cancellation of school for Jan. 25. Board of Education president Ed Potosnak said that …

There were no reported injuries in 14 automobile crashes reported Jan. 23, during the Blizzard of 2016. The storm, which began late in the evening of Jan. 22, was expected to drop between 25 and 30 inches of snow on the township. As of about 9 p.m. Jan. 23, the storm had dropped an average of 17 inches of snow …

Calling it a move toward more transparent government, the Planning Board chairman Jan. 20 convinced his fellow board members to resume allowing general public comments at board meetings. The comment period will last 30 minutes, and will occur before the board begins its hearings each meeting. Board chairman Michael Orsini said that in addition to the public comment and question …

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 …

The Township Council Jan. 12 picked a leader in the West African community as their newest colleague. Charles Onyejiaka, a 14-year township resident, was chosen from a field of three to fill the Ward 3 seat vacated when Philip Kramer was sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1. The other two candidates, presented to the council by township Democrats, were Alex Kharazi and …

The Township Council started the new year by awarding commendations to a number of people and groups. The first to receive a commendation was township Police Lt. Darrin Russo, the Franklin Reporter & Advocate “Man of the Year” for 2015. Russo was commended for being named MOY, which recognized the restraint he showed when a suspected car thief he stopped …

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. …

The Board of Education on Jan. 7 voted to reduce the number of public meetings it holds in 2016, a move the school board president said  would streamline the decision-making process and allow staff to focus on things other than meetings. But one board member objected to the change, saying it may not allow for thorough discussions of policy issues. Starting …