News-pourri

An artist’s rendering of the proposed Trimandir temple, targeted for a 16-acre tract on South Middlebush Road. An application for a 21,000-square-foot temple on South Middlebush Road, adjacent to Snyder’s Farm, is set to be heard at the September 17 Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting. The temple has been in the works for at least the past five years. A …

Elizabeth Avenue School vice-principal Greg Romero, Canal Walk Mask Makers Joan Klimpl, Kathy Caragher, Susan Hoffman and Art Hoffman, and EAS principal John Haney after the Canal Walk group donated face masks to the school’s students and staff. Students and staff of Elizabeth Avenue School will have a surprise waiting for them when (if?) they return to school for in-person …

The township’s annual “Patriots’ Day” observance of the September 11 terrorist attacks will be held virtually this year. (File photo.) The official township observance of the September 11 terrorist attacks will be held virtually this year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The announcement was made by Township Manager Robert Vornlocker during the Township Council’s September 8 meeting. In …

The Franklin Township Police department started a three-day celebration of its new Hamilton Street Community Relations Bureau on September 1. Helping out with the celebration was FTPD PBA Local 145 and the Week of The People organization, which partnered to give local students school supplies in backpacks. The new bureau is located at 935 Hamilton Street, which at its opening …

More than 160 school district employees were furloughed as a result of the district’s change to an all-remote school opening next month. The employees fell into four categories: 36 duty aides, 27 food service workers, 87 paraprofessionals, and 18 safety officers. The Board of Education approved the furloughs without comment at its August 27 meeting. “The furloughed support staff hold …

Natalia Minkovsky, Carla Ulbrich and Mary Mcginley, left to right, at the DeMott Lane Post Office during the “Save The Postal Service” day of action. Three area women stationed themselves in front of the U.S. Post Office on DeMott Lane August 25 as part of a national effort to show support for the embattled Postal Service. The “Save the Postal …

Somerset County Freeholder Director Shanel Robinson said she welcomes the board’s name change to County Commissioners. (File photo.) Somerset County’s top elected officials will get a name change come next year, a change that some say is a long time coming. Gov. Phil Murphy on August 21 signed into law a bill officially changing the name of the state’s County …

One of the classic cars that participated in Somerset Woods’ Classic Car Parade. Residents at the Somerset Woods Rehabilitation and Nursing Center and Canal Walk development received a treat on August 21: a rolling classic car show. Owners of more than two dozen classic cars – including a few from the 1920s – participated in the car parade which started …

The 13th annual RCDCU ride to fight prostate cancer will be virtual this year. (File photo.) The annual Renaissance Cyclists Defeating Cancer United “Bike to Fight Prostate Cancer” will be held virtually on September 19 and 20. Money raised by the ride, which offers cyclists 10-, 30- and 50-mile routes through the township and its environs, will be donated to …

Schools Superintendent John Ravally explained the reasons for the district temporarily scrapping its in-person instruction plan for this Fall. The prospect of having more than 125 of the district’s roughly 800 certificated teachers not show up in the classrooms on a daily basis this Fall forced school officials’ hands in deciding against the planned in-person option for most of Franklin …