News-pourri

A township resident won Planning Board approval June 18 for her plan to split a Vanderbilt Avenue lot into two to allow her to build a home close to her family. Margaret DeGeorge told the board that she currently lives in a townhouse on the other side of town, and she wants to be closer to her mother and brother …

Schedule changes that would result in more homework and added – albeit shorter – lunch periods for Franklin High School students and longer science and social studies classes for Sampson G. Smith 6th graders will be up for votes at the Board of Education’s June 26 meeting. Details of the changes were discussed at the board’s June 19 meeting.

A proposed Franklin High School schedule change for the 2014-15 school year would create more, shorter periods and would cut the amount of time for lunch periods for the second consecutive year.

Hometown favorite state Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula enjoyed strong support in the township in his bid for the Democratic nomination for the 12th Congressional District seat on June 3, but could not overcome the eventual winner’s lead in Mercer County, voting results show. With a total of 7,824 votes in the Democratic primary, Chivukula placed third in the four-candidate Democratic field. …

A former teacher at Sampson G. Smith School who allegedly said a group of African-Amercian students were “acting like a bunch of monkeys” has lost an appeal of her 2012 dismissal on charges that her conduct toward her students was “unbecoming and violated the standards required by public school teachers.” A 3-judge panel of the state Appellate Court found that the …

The five candidates vying to replace U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) tried to show why they should do just that at a candidates’ forum May 29 sponsored by the Somerset Run Civics Club. Holt, an 8-term Congressman, decided earlier this year to not seek re-election.

“Tripod” is a three-legged cat who had been missing since May 23. He’s mainly white, but has dark spots on his tail and face, and two round dark spots on one side.

Florine Magee, a resident at Parkside Senior Housing, got a shock one recent morning when she went to ride the elevator. “It was about 5:20 in the morning, and I was going to the gym to work out,” she said. “The elevator door opened, and there was a young man in the elevator. I said, ‘Do you live here?’ and he …

A grand opening celebration was held May 21 for Voorhees Station, the first redevelopment project targeted for Route 27. The mixed income, mixed-use project was built by RPM Development, and represents the latest in the township’s efforts to transform the area from industrial to residential and retail.

Township residents are invited to give their input on how the Al’s Brook bridge on New Brunswick Road should be repaired in a public information session from 5-8 p.m. May 29 at the municipal building, 475 DeMott Lane. The bridge, officially known as Bridge K0607,is located between Cedar Grove Lane and Willow Avenue.