News-pourri

Township students in grades 8 through 12 have until May 15 to apply for the next Youth Leadership Somerset program. The 9-month program will begin in September. Sessions are held one Saturday each month for between four and six hours. Class members from throughout Somerset County will meet community leaders from all aspects of county life, who will speak on …

Six candidates for an unexpired term will be interviewed April 25 during a special Board of Education meeting. The candidates hope to fill the seat of Robert Trautmann, who left in February midway through his first term. The candidates who filed for the position are: Alex Kharazi of Margaret Drive. Kharazi is founder and president of Educational Excellence, which provides tutoring for …

As it has for the past several years, the Township Council has declared April 27 as “Sierra Leone Day” in Franklin. The proclamation designating the day was approved at the council’s April 22 meeting. April 27 is the African nation’s independence day. Mayor Brian Levine (R) noted that the township has one of the largest Sierra Leonean communities in the …

A township military couple wed by Mayor Brian Levine in 2011 surprised the Mayor at the April 22 Township Council meeting with a commemorative plaque from Afghanistan. Army Sgt. Santos Avilez and his wife, Air Force Sgt. Grisselle Avilez, presented Levine with the plaque during the meeting’s public portion. The plaque includes a flag flown in a combat mission over …

The culmination of a 13-year effort to protect the historic and scenic Millstone Valley area from development was celebrated April 19 with the opening of the restored Griggstown Bridgetender’s House and Muletenders’ Barracks. The house, which was once home to the Griggstown causeway bridgetender and his family when mule barges plied the Delaware River canal, will serve as the visitor’s …

Gov. Chris Christie called for an end to realty transfer fees and limits on campaign spending in a town hall meeting held April 15 at the N.J. National Guard Armory on Hamilton Street. This was the third time Christie has visited the township during his two terms as governor. Christie spoke to the several hundred people gathered at the armory …

A 3-story hotel, a car care center and a nursing home are just a few of the construction projects planned or underway in the township. Also on tap: a medical office building and the second half of a retail center. Perhaps the most controversial project of the five is the hotel, targeted for 20 Cedar Grove Lane. Developer Rukh Cedar …

The township will be flushing fire hydrants from now until April 25, according to a notice from the Department of Public Works. The flushing will occur between 8 p.m. and midnight. Residents may notice that their tap water is discolored the morning after a flush, but that will soon dissipate, the department said. Residents with questions can call (732) 249-7800.

James E. Fair, the first black member of the Millstone Valley Fire Department, was remembered April 5 as a man of great integrity and love for his community. Fair eventually rose to become chief of the department which refused him when he first applied in the 1970s. Fair, 67, died Christmas Day 2013 at The Villages Hospital in The Villages, …

An information session on and eligibility screening for Somerset County’s Homelessness Trust Fund is set for 6:30-8 p.m. April 10 at the Somerville Library, 35 West End Ave., Somerville. The program offers up to 15 months of rental assistance to working families. “The results speak for themselves,” Freeholder Patricia Walsh, program liaison, said in a release about the event. “Of …