News-pourri

The committee chaired by State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) will in March begin a series of hearings on the topic of cannabis products. Danielsen’s committee, Regulatory Oversight/Federal Regulation Committee, will begin the hearings on March 5. Danielsen said he will seek to hold hearings in other parts of the state as well.

A major renovation is planned for the McDonald’s fast-food restaurant in the Village Plaza on Easton Avenue. Perhaps renovation is an understatement; plans call for the demolition of the current restaurant and the construction of a new building.

More than 500 people – including a contingent from the township – gathered at a Metuchen church Jan. 28 for a rally in support of the two Indonesian men arrested last week by agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement. One of the men, Gunawan Liem, 54, lives with his family in Franklin Park.

The Franklin Reporter & Advocate had a rare chance on Jan. 28 to tour a vacant historic home in Middlebush, and get a little history lesson along the way. Township historian Bob Mettler was on hand to talk about Middlebush as well as the house, which dates back to the late 1800s.

State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) is one of three state legislators spending the weekend in Cuba, at the invitation of the Cuban government. Danielsen is joined on the trip by state Assemblyman Gordon Johnson and state Senator Loretta Weinberg, both (D-37). Also on the trip is Somerset County Democratic Party chair Peg Schaeffer and former state Assemblyman Joe Roberts.

Township resident Daryl Kipnis has announced that he is running to be the Republican candidate for the U.S. Congress from the 12th District. Kipnis, an attorney by trade, unsuccessfully ran in 2017 for the seat held by state Sen. Bob Smith (D-17).

The proposed gazebo for the municipal complex on DeMott Lane is 70 percent funded, organizers told the Township Council on Jan. 23. Fundraisers have collected $35,000 of the $50,000 target, the council was told.

Update: The Board of Education adopted the proposed 2018-19 schedule that sets September 20 as the first day of school. Two parents spoke against the late start, saying it would be an inconvenience for parents, and that it would interfere with fall sports practices.

It’s a sign of the times that an event honoring the late civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would of necessity include thinly veiled references to the current president of the United States. That was the case Jan. 15 during the 21st annual Franklin Township Community Breakfast honoring King.

President Donald Trump is “vying for the most racist person I’ve ever met,” a township resident who was the 2005 winner of Trump’s “The Apprentice” television program said on a national news program on Jan. 12. Randall Pinkett, co-founder of a Newark-based consultancy, said on the “All In With Chris Hayes” program on MSNBC that Trump once defended against charges …