News-pourri

The Franklin Township Police Department officially has three new police officers and one new sergeant. The four were sworn in to their positions at the Jan. 28 Township Council meeting by Township Clerk Ann McCarthy. The force’s newest Sergeant is Robert Ellis, a 10-year veteran. Police Chief Lawrence Roberts said Ellis is “very professional, very thorough.” Prior to his promotion, …

Public Service Electric & Gas is still investigating the cause of a substation failure in Somerset Jan. 24 that knocked out power to thousands of township residents. In a release, the company said that about 5,900 customers in the township lost power shortly after 11 a.m. when a substation malfunctioned. The problem also caused outages in New Brunswick and North …

Franklin Township is the launching ground for a new training tool to educate food service workers about food defense. The tool is a set of cartoons used to illustrate what food service workers should do in four common scenarios: Being presented with an unknown food source, dealing with symptoms of illness, preventing employee contamination of food and dealing with suspicious …

Franklin got an average of 9 inches of snow on Jan. 21, according to the National Weather Service. Streets were pretty drivable by about 9 a.m., as crews were out all night plowing and salting. Now we have a few days of bitterly cold weather to get through, with wind chills expected to be in the double-digit negatives. On the …

The forecasters had the snow starting after 10 a.m., but Mother Nature had other plans. Small flakes began falling several hours before that, and by 8:30 a.m., there was already the beginnings of a coating on the streets. The snow just intensified after that, and by mid-afternoon was falling heavy and fast. The initial forecast for our area called for …

More than 160 telephone lines owned by Verizon were damaged June 14 by water, causing phone service outages to homes, businesses, the Board of Education and the police department. Phone service at Hillcrest Elementary School was restored by late in the afternoon of Jan. 15, said district spokeswoman Mary Clark. Also affected was the district’s buildings and grounds department. Verizon …

The state Assembly on Jan. 13 gave final approval for a new vanity license plate for the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, which suits Township Councilman Carl R.A. Wright (D-Ward 4) just fine. “I love the idea,” Wright said. Wright makes no secret of his affection for his college fraternal organization. At the Jan. 1, 2014 council reorganization, Wright sported a …

Measures co-sponsored by state Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, D-17, that support granting Filipino nationals Temporary Protected Status in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan and would allow for pediatric respite facilities in the state saw action recently. The Assembly on Jan. 6 passed a resolution that would urge the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security to grant the TPS status to …

The Family Dollar Store on Hamilton Street will sport a new, larger sign when it reopens. The Zoning Board on Jan. 9 approved the placement of a new sign on the store that is about 13 square feet larger than the previous sign. The increase is due to a change in the corporate logo, said Ira Weiner, the store franchisee’s …

It was known last year as “Bike Without Fear” day, but this year the popular Canal Road event will be called “Canal Road Walk and Roll.” And, it will be held twice: the first time on May 18, with a rain date of June 8, and teh second time on Sept. 7, with a rain date of Sept. 14. Township …