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Now, on to this week's lineup.

🎉 South Plainfield Labor Day Parade | Fri, Sept. 4 | 10 AM–1 PM | Maple Ave & Plainfield Ave, South Plainfield | Free
One of Central Jersey's largest and longest-running Labor Day parades rolls through South Plainfield with marching bands, floats, and civic groups, followed by food vendors and family activities.

🎨 Zimmerli Art Museum Afternoon Tour | Thurs, Sept. 3 | 11:30 AM–2:30 PM | Rutgers University, New Brunswick | Free
Explore fine art and rotating contemporary exhibitions during open gallery hours at one of the region's best university museums. A quiet, indoor pick if you need a break from the concert circuit.

🎸 Woodbridge Summer Concert Series: Soul & Blues Double-Header | Wed, Sept. 2 | 7–9 PM | Woodbridge High School Concert Field | Free
The Larry Mitchell Trio and Soul Project NOLA share the bill for one of the season's richer musical lineups, blending soul and blues.

🎉 Janmashtami Cultural Celebration | Sat, Sept. 5 | 5–7:15 PM | BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Edison | Free
A community cultural gathering featuring traditional devotional prayers, live music, and festive displays.

🏀 The Mayor's Cup | Sat, Sept. 5 | Madden Field, Rahway | Free
Rahway's annual late-summer community sports tournament brings a competitive, family-friendly close to the season.

As always, you can check out our full events page for more on what’s happening around Central Jersey, and reach out if you have a community event you’d like listed.

It was a busy week across Central Jersey. Here's what The Central Jerseyan covered.

Rahway's political consultant kept polling residents on the water utility sale even after the city paused the process.
New records show MAD Global Strategy continued survey work on the water utility well past the March vote to cancel the bid process, and helped shape the mayor's public remarks along the way. A "Water Survey Discussion" meeting was held at City Hall weeks after the pause, and the consultant approved the city's own press release announcing the cancellation before it went out. None of this work was ever authorized as a standalone city contract.
Read the full story →

Linden's mayor said a fiber deal would benefit residents. Records tell a different story.
Mayor Derek Armstead compared a new fiber agreement to Optimum's recent expansion, but records show the company at the center of the deal, Pilot Fiber, primarily serves data centers and financial exchanges. The mayor also claimed Edison had already granted the same company consent, but Edison's council actually rejected that agreement in June, citing the same data center concerns now surfacing in Linden.
Read the full story →

Edison promised laid-off teachers they'd be first in line for rehire. The union says that's not what happened.
Teachers Association President Matt Hrevnak told the school board that non-renewed teachers who reapplied for open positions never got interviews, despite assurances they'd be considered first. The district says all 26 current vacancies stem from retirements and resignations, not new positions, but Hrevnak says some teachers turned down other job offers while waiting on a callback that never came.
Read the full story →

A water leak ran for months in a private Edison community. Now there's talk of a lawsuit.
Victoria Park residents packed a council meeting to argue Edison's water utility bears responsibility for an unrepaired leak, while township officials say the development's internal pipes are private property. One resident who's pushed the issue since 2023 says decades-old records show the township has maintained those lines before.
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🎷 Middlesex County Labor Day Weekend Concert | Tues, Sept. 1 | Gates 3 PM, Show 4 PM | Plays-in-the-Park, Roosevelt Park, Edison | Free

Middlesex County closes out its summer concert season in style Tuesday night at Plays-in-the-Park. The Annual Labor Day Weekend Concert brings high-energy live entertainment to the Stephen J. Capestro Theater in Roosevelt Park, with gates opening at 3 PM and the show starting at 4. It's free, but organizers ask attendees to bring a non-perishable food item while they're at it. Feeding Middlesex County will be on site collecting donations to support residents in need. Bring a lawn chair, enjoy the show, and help stock the pantry on your way in.

This past week was heavy on accountability journalism. We got another look at Rahway's push to sell its water utility, with records showing the city's paid political consultant kept surveying residents and shaping the mayor's public remarks even after the council voted to pause the sale in March. That work was never authorized as its own city contract. It was buried inside a law firm invoice as a "Consultant Fee."

We also found that $183,600 of this year's Mayor's Summer Concert Series budget came from a broader $226,925 contract with UCPAC. Next door in Linden, we fact-checked the mayor's claim that a proposed fiber deal was no different than Optimum's recent expansion in town. Records show otherwise. And in Edison, we covered a teachers’ union raising alarm over laid-off staff who say they never got a fair shot at rehire, plus a growing dispute in the private Victoria Park development over who's responsible for a leak that's gone unrepaired for months.

Five stories in one week, all built on records, transcripts, and follow-up questions officials didn't always want to answer. That kind of reporting takes time, and it only happens because readers support it directly.

If you're not already a Citizen Supporter, please consider upgrading your subscription. Every contribution helps keep this kind of accountability journalism going.

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This week's trivia: South Plainfield, home to Friday's Labor Day Parade, wasn't always called that. Before adopting its current name around 1887, the town's post office briefly went by another name entirely tied to a New York borough. What was that original name?

Last week’s trivia:  Kenilworth was originally called New Orange when it was developed in the 1890s. Residents kept confusing it with the Essex County Oranges, so when the borough incorporated in 1907, founders renamed it Kenilworth after a local book club, itself named for the 1821 Sir Walter Scott novel Kenilworth, set at the real Kenilworth Castle in England.

Here’s the weather for the upcoming week:

☀️ Monday, August 31: Sunny throughout the day with light winds — temperatures range from 66°F to 84°F.

⛅ Tuesday, September 1: Mostly sunny with passing clouds — temperatures range from 65°F to 82°F.

⛈️ Wednesday, September 2: Partly cloudy with a chance of scattered afternoon thunderstorms — temperatures range from 67°F to 85°F.

🌦️ Thursday, September 3: Mostly cloudy with morning showers — temperatures range from 63°F to 80°F.

☀️ Friday, September 4: Clear skies with low humidity — temperatures range from 62°F to 81°F.

☀️ Saturday, September 5: Sunny and comfortable for the start of the holiday weekend — temperatures range from 64°F to 83°F.

⛅ Sunday, September 6: Mostly sunny with a gentle afternoon breeze — temperatures range from 65°F to 84°F.

☀️ Monday, September 7: Warm and sunny throughout Labor Day — temperatures range from 66°F to 86°F.

Have a great week!