News-pourri

State Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-17) has been named chairman of the Assembly’s Regulatory Oversight/Federal Regulation Committee. Danielsen, who was recently sworn in to his second full term as an Assemblyman, was named to the post by Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin (D-19).

Nancy LaCorte was voted president and Ardaman Singh vice president at the Board of Education’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 9. The winners of the 2017 election – newcomers Michele Shelton, Michael Smith and Nishita Desai – were also sworn in during the meeting.

Franklin Township Chief of Police Richard Grammar was formally sworn in to the position on Jan. 9 before an audience comprised of fellow officers, his family and visiting la enforcement dignitaries. Grammar, a 30-year FTPD veteran, is the township’s seventh police chief.

A 30-year veteran of the Franklin Township Police Department has been picked to head the agency. Richard Grammar, who for the past six years has served as Deputy Police Chief, will be formally sworn in to the position at the Jan. 9 Township Council meeting. Grammar was officially sworn in on Jan. 5.

Winners of the November 2018 Township Council election were sworn in Jan. 1 at the annual reorganization meeting. Newest council member William Galtieri (D-Ward 2) was sworn in, as were returning council members Ted Chase (D-Ward 1), Charles Onyejiaka (D-Ward 3), Carl R.A. Wright (D-Ward 4) and James Vassanella (D-Ward 5).

Some people move into a new town and are happy to fade into the background and live their lives in relative anonymity. Others choose to become a little more involved, joining a civic organization or two, but nothing that will raise their public profile too much.

Some recycling pickups scheduled for the week of Jan. 1 will be delayed, according to a release from the Somerset County Recycling Division. The Christmas and New Years’ holiday result in a high volume of recyclables, leading to the delays, the release said.

Nearly a dozen members of a local women’s group brought some Christmas Eve cheer to residents at the Willow Creek Rehab & Care Center on Easton Avenue, even though the women don’t celebrate Christmas. The visitors were from the Somerset-Highland Park chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, a national organization comprised of Jewish and Muslim women.

SOMERVILLE –Two township residents are among the 21 members of the Leadership Somerset Class of 2017. Terrene Collins and Tanya Kaplan were among those participating in the Dec. 5 graduation ceremony held at the Somerset County Administration Building on Grove Street, here.

Nearly 170 boxes of food were donated by Stop & Shop in Rutgers Plaza to the Franklin Food Bank Dec. 22, courtesy of the store’s customers. The food was donated through Stop & Shop’s “Food for Friends” program, through which customers donated $10 for each box, which was in turn donated to the food bank.