News-pourri

Central Jersey College Prep Charter School received approval to move into a Mettlers Road building, but it had to temporarily give up a new gym to do so. The charter school received Zoning Board of Adjustment approval for the site at 101 Mettlers Road at the Jan. 5 meeting, This was the second consecutive meeting during which the board entertained …

The Long Island-based company that transports the school district’s children received approval Jan. 5 to store its buses on two Route 27 lots. Montauk Transit Service – which became the school district’s largest bus contractor just about three years ago when the previous contractor suddenly closed up shop – will be able to base at least 130 buses on the …

Weddings officiated this year by Mayor Phillip Kramer have been a boon to the Franklin Township Animal Shelter and the organization that funds it, Second Chance for Animals. That’s because the wedding fee – $50 each – goes to the group through a trust fund established by the township.

Five township Eagle Scouts were acknowledged by the Township Council at the Jan. 3 reorganization meeting. The scouts, all members of Troop 154, received their Eagle classification over the past two years.

Fourth Ward Councilman Carl Wright, a 7-year veteran of the governing body, was chosen Jan. 3 to be the township’s Deputy Mayor for 2017. The council also voted on a number of other positions, including township attorney, municipal court judge, and township prosecutors and public defender at its annual reorganization meeting.

The idea of the peacemaker – those who seek to build bridges rather than walls – is extolled in every religious tradition and is celebrated in just about every culture. Sadly, the actual peacemakers are often overlooked because much of what they do is behind the scenes, out of the public eye.

A group of parents and students seemed to have made an impression on the Board of Education Dec. 22 when they asked members to rejuvenate an ailing district orchestral band program. The program has not recovered from budget cuts it suffered in 2010 and, most recently, from schedule changes at Franklin Middle School, according to parents and school officials.

The Franklin Food Bank recently received an $810 donation from the Somerset County Adopt-A-Family program. In all, $18,434 was raised and donated to needy Somerset County families, according to a press release about the program.

Board of Education member Julia Presley said good-bye to her colleagues Dec. 22, as she prepared to leave the seat she’s held for the past six years. Presley, a former school board vice president and president, declined to seek re-election this year. Her seat was won by newcomer Ardaman Singh.

The company wishing to build a gas compressor station in Franklin initially eyed six potential locations in the township and South Brunswick, a federal filing shows. The Williams Companies’ Transco affiliate is planning to build the 32,000-horsepower natural gas-powered station on a 52-acre parcel near the intersection of Routes 27 and 518. The controversial application has run into opposition from …