News-pourri

Pfizer booster shots are being administered starting September 25 at Somerset County Department of Health vaccination clinics. The booster shots are available to certain people, based on recent recommendations of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Eligible recipients must have completed their Pfizer-BioNTech primary series six or more months previously and meet one of the following conditions: People …

Schools Superintendent John Ravally said that about 1,100 staff members had returned surveys about their vaccination status. School district officials estimate that about 150 of its staff members have not been vaccinated against Covid-19. Those teachers and staff members have until October 18 to get vaccinated, under an executive order issued by Governor Phil Murphy. If they do not get …

The Planning Board approved this 100,000-square-foot warehouse on Cottontail Lane in May. (File photo). The Planning Board in the next few months will brainstorm over where warehouses are being built in the township. The discussion was the suggestion of Board member Robert Thomas, who is also Chairman of the Zoning Board of Adjustment. Thomas said he was concerned about the …

Artist’s rendering of the three-story, 1-4,000-square-foot self storage facility approved by the Planning Board on September 22. A three-story, 104,700-square-foot self-storage facility targeted for Elizabeth Avenue won Planning Board approval on September 22. The building, which will operate under the “Cube Smart” brand, is situated on about 4.8 acres near the Somerset Run adult community. The site is currently used …

Route 518 resident Lisa Kapsokefalos says she does not feel safe with the thought of hunters passing so close to her property. A decision by the Township Council to suspend hunting for this year on a newly acquired tract of land on Route 518 was supported September 21 by the Open Space Advisory Committee. The move was made as a …

The access trail to the Route 518 hunting parcel is located right behind an area homeowner Lisa Kapsokefalos uses to relax, she said. A Route 518 resident’s complaint about the access point to the township’s newest hunting spot has officials reconsidering its placement. The resident, Lisa Kapsokefalos, is upset that the tract’s access road is just about 12 feet from …

Township Manager Robert Vornlocker detailed the effect of Tropical Storm Ida on Franklin for the Township Council. Tropical Storm Ida was one for the record books, the Township Manager told the Township Council on September 14. Record flood levels of the Raritan and Millstone rivers, more water rescues than remembered in past storms and more streets flooded out than in …

Somerset County Sheriff Darrin Russo reached back to his Italian roots September 14 in helping to bring some comfort to Manville’s first responders. The Sheriff, his top brass and some Sheriff’s Officers teamed up with members of the Italian-American police Society of New Jersey to do what Italians do by nature: they brought food. The benefactors of their largess were …

The 20th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York, Arlington, Va. and Shanksville, Pa. – and the six Franklin residents who lost their lives that day – was commemorated in two separate ceremonies. Among the 2,977 people killed in the attacks were township natives John Collins, Stephen Joseph, Ganesh K. Ladkat, Vanesha O. Richards, Jeffrey Robinson …

Household items destroyed by Tropical Storm Ida could be picked up starting as early as September 13. Update: The cost for the pickup will be more than $290,000. The Township Council on September 13 will vote on an emergency resolution allocating $223,350 to AshBritt for the pickup, and $69,622.68 to Tetra Tech for the monitoring. Curbside pickup of household items …