SCOTCH PLAINS — The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education is future and finance focused following the recent vote to purchase the La Grande School, along with development of the 2025-2026 annual budget. District Superintendent Joan Mast, Ed.D., started Thursday night’s regular board meeting with ...

AREA — Documented homelessness rates have more than doubled in Union County over the course of the past five years. And while county officials and local social- services groups are working to combat the issue through outreach programs and other initiatives, the already overburdened system is struggl...

CRANFORD — After several months of financial debates and conversations with concerned residents, the Cranford Township Committee announced this week that it plans to keep both of the municipality’s public pools open for the upcoming summer season. The announcement came Saturday morning during the co...

WESTFIELD — An ordinance that would have added a new stop sign to the intersection of Benson Place and Lenox Avenue was deferred back to the town’s Public Safety Committee on Tuesday after several residents asked the council to reconsider the amendment. Lenox Avenue resident Lisa Wendel said replaci...

AREA — Local commuters were left stranded at the station on Tuesday morning after a Conrail freight train derailed near Union Township.Passenger train services, which operate on the same tracks as Conrail, were shut down in both directions between Cranford and Newark Penn Station for several hours, ...

SCOTCH PLAINS — In a rare reversal, the township council on Tuesday unanimously voted to not approve a parking ordinance it had introduced last month. The ordinance would have instituted permit parking on the 400 block of Union Avenue on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Mayor Joshua Losardo said t...

FANWOOD — Budget discussions will begin in earnest over the course of the coming weeks as Fanwood officials work to prioritize spending needs for 2025.“We don’t have full control over the budget even though some people think we do,” Councilman Anthony Carter said. “We have little to no control over ...

GARWOOD — The Garwood Borough Council voted Thursday to approve new paid parking areas for North Avenue, the John F. Kennedy Parking Plaza, Center Street and Willow Avenue.The new ordinance (25-01) adds new paid parking zones to the plaza and creates five additional 15minute parking spots throughout...

SCOTCH PLAINS — In a rare reversal, the township council on Tuesday unanimously voted to not approve a parking ordinance it had introduced last month.The ordinance would have instituted permit parking on the 400 block of Union Avenue on weekdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Mayor Joshua Losardo said th...

WESTFIELD — After several years of waiting and wondering, Westfield residents got their first looks earlier this week at the Westfield Art Collective’s (WAC) plan to convert the Rialto Theatre into a new, stateof- the-art entertainment venue.“We’re here tonight to answer the question that everyone h...