The calendar is shifting from April into May this week, and Central Jersey is leaning into spring with a mix of art, music, nature, and neighborhood gatherings. The biggest draw might be Tuesday night's My Lord, What a Night at New Brunswick's Arthur Laurents Theatre (7:30 PM, tickets from $35). The play is based on the real-life friendship that formed between Albert Einstein and contralto Marian Anderson in 1937 in Princeton, after Anderson was turned away from a hotel because of her race. And on Friday, the Abilities Expo lands at the NJ Expo Center in Edison (May 1, 11 AM–5 PM), with adaptive sports demos, accessibility tech, hands-on workshops, and even loaner scooters and minor wheelchair repairs on site.

On the weekday front, Monday brings a free virtual tour from Edison Library and Untapped New York, "Underground Art Deco" (6–7 PM), exploring the hidden corners of the Chrysler Building, the General Electric Building façade, and the sleek spaces beneath Rockefeller Center. Tuesday morning is for the birds — literally — with a free Casual Birder walk at Clayton Park in Upper Freehold at 9 AM, led by a Park System naturalist (binoculars available to borrow).

Wednesday is stacked: Edison Library marks International Dance Day with a Kuchipudi lecture-demonstration by NJ State Heritage Fellow Neelima Raju (6 PM), Monroe Township Library hosts a free State Opera of New Jersey lecture-recital (1 PM), and over at Butch Kowals in Rahway, Open Mic Night returns to the beer garden from 7–10 PM. Thursday evening, bestselling author Jason Reynolds joins Edison Library virtually at 7 PM to talk about Coach, the final book in his Track series. And Rahway's Block Party on St. George rolls through St. Georges Center from 5:30–7:30 PM with a DJ, carnival games, face painting, a 360 photo booth, and food.

For the weekend, Friday's Senior Silver Screens series at Rahway Public Library shows Hitchcock's 1954 classic Dial M for Murder at 12 PM, while the Tomoko Ohno Trio brings live jazz to Woodbridge's historic Barron Arts Center that evening. Saturday, the 4-H Touch a Truck & Food Truck Fundraiser fills the Ted Blum 4-H Center in Bridgewater from 11 AM–3 PM ($5 admission) with food trucks and big rigs to climb on, and Edison's Human Relations Commission hosts its first annual Family Kite Day at 11 AM (check the township website for park location). Crafters and collectors over 18 can swing by the Rahway Public Library at 2 PM for a Trinket Trade — bring bookmarks, charms, cards, or handmade jewelry to swap. And on Sunday, head to Carnevale Farm in Hillsborough for Spring Fling with Kids (1–4 PM, $10 registration), where the 4-H Just Kidding Goat Club hands you over to a flock of baby goats for an afternoon of cuddles and chaos.

As always, you can check out our full events calendar for everything happening around Central Jersey, and if you have a community event you’d like listed, don’t hesitate to reach out.

Several Central Jersey school districts hold their final budget hearings on the same Tuesday night this week, and the same statewide crisis is going to land very differently depending on where you live. Rahway homeowners are looking at about $171 more next year. Metuchen, $330. Edison hasn't released an official per-household number, but the business administrator has confirmed an 11.9% jump in the operating budget. One Edison resident estimated the hit to her family would top $2,000.

The pressures are identical: federal COVID relief is gone, New Jersey's public school health plan raised premiums nearly 30% for 2026, and a state cap limits annual local tax increases to roughly 2% even as costs grow up to four times faster.

What separates the three towns is the state’s school funding formula, which sends the most aid to the poorest districts. Rahway, with 40% of its students low-income, receives more than $54 million in state aid and switched out of the state health plan, a move its business administrator says avoided a $3 million premium hike. Metuchen, where only 6% of students are low-income, gets just $3.6 million and is absorbing the increases on its own. Edison sits in the middle in terms of income but is by far the largest district at 17,000 students, and its state aid has dropped two years in a row.

Edison is also where the politics have gotten loudest. For five years, the school board held the line at 0% tax increases, drawing down savings to cover rising costs until reserves ran out. The result is a preliminary $372 million budget that raises local tax collection by about $28 million in a single year. Residents at the March 24 meeting accused the board of approving the preliminary budget before telling homeowners what it would cost them, and Mayor Sam Joshi called the proposal "reckless and irresponsible."

The date to watch is Tuesday, April 28, when Edison, Metuchen, and Rahway all hold their final hearings. Edison's is where residents will finally learn the per-household tax impact. Read the full report, "Same Storm, Different Boats," at The Central Jerseyan for the underlying numbers.

Just before dawn on April 17, a fire tore through Building 23 at Woodbridge Center Plaza, destroying most of a three-story apartment building and leaving 15 families — roughly 50 people, including a one-month-old infant — with little more than what they'd worn to bed. Police went door to door, kicking some in to clear the building, while a neighbor threw pebbles at windows to wake residents. Eight of Woodbridge's nine fire districts responded with mutual aid from five surrounding towns. No one was injured. At Thursday's Municipal Council meeting — the first public session since the fire — Council President Sharon McAuliffe opened with a moment of silence for the displaced families, and Mayor John McCormac called it "an absolute miracle that nobody died."

By that evening, every family had a place to sleep — and not by luck. A Woodbridge ordinance passed in October 2024 requires landlords to rehouse tenants displaced through no fault of their own, at the same rent, in another unit the landlord owns in town. "If you're the landlord, you're responsible for finding them another unit in your complex first, if there are any, and then in any other complex you own in town," McCormac told the council. Atlantic Realty, which owns Building 23 and roughly a dozen other Woodbridge complexes, complied, and all 15 families were relocated. It's a legal framework with no parallel in surrounding municipalities — under New Jersey's default casualty statute, a lease terminates when a building is destroyed.

Readers who want to help can donate clothing, toiletries, and household goods at the complex's management office, or send checks payable to the Woodbridge Community Charity Fund to the Mayor's Office, third floor, One Main Street, Woodbridge. The mayor's office (732-602-6015, [email protected]) can also direct gift card donations. Watch The Central Jerseyan this week for our full report on the fire and the local law that kept 50 neighbors from spending a single night without a roof.

This Saturday, May 2, the Somerset County 4-H is throwing open the gates at the Ted Blum 4-H Center in Bridgewater for its annual Touch a Truck & Food Truck Fundraiser — and it's exactly the kind of low-key, high-charm afternoon that families plan their whole weekend around. From 11 AM to 3 PM, kids can climb into the cabs of fire engines, dump trucks, tractors, and emergency vehicles (the long-running rule of these events: every horn must be honked at least once), while a rotating lineup of food trucks handles lunch for the grown-ups. Admission is just $5 per person at 310 Milltown Road, Bridgewater.

Your $5 goes to the Somerset County 4-H, which is part of a national youth development network run through Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and the Ted Blum 4-H Center is the home base for dozens of local clubs — everything from livestock and gardening to robotics, public speaking, and community service. Fundraisers like Touch a Truck are how the county chapter keeps programming affordable and the lights on at the center itself. So a Saturday afternoon of climbing on a backhoe and eating questionable amounts of funnel cake also helps fund a year's worth of leadership and STEM programs for Central Jersey kids.

Full event details and directions are on the 4-H Is Tops website at 4histops.org. Bring small bills, hearing protection for the under-fives, and an appetite.

Local decisions are often made in the dark, but The Central Jerseyan is proving that clear, independent reporting can fundamentally change a community’s trajectory. From Edison, where public scrutiny delayed proposed council salary raises, to Rahway, where the city canceled a water privatization bid after residents were given the facts, our coverage ensures your voice is heard before decisions are "locked in." We don’t just record history; we provide the transparency required for neighbors to take action and hold local leaders accountable.

This level of impact is only possible because of our Citizen Supporters. Unlike corporate media, our work is fueled directly by the community, allowing us to stay present at town halls and school board meetings in towns like Toms River and beyond. By joining our Patreon today, you aren’t just subscribing to a news feed—you’re investing in the local democracy that keeps our towns transparent and responsive. Help us keep showing up by becoming a member today.

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This week's trivia:  In late April 1778, General George Washington's Continental Army was preparing to break winter camp and march east across New Jersey, a journey that would culminate in a major June battle on Central Jersey soil. What was that battle? (Hint: The battle is best remembered for the legend of "Molly Pitcher," who reportedly took her fallen husband's place at a cannon during the fighting.)

Last week’s trivia:  The answer is 1777. The Battle of Bound Brook was a British surprise raid on the Continental Army outpost at Bound Brook on April 13, 1777, led by Lord Cornwallis. American forces under General Benjamin Lincoln were caught off guard before dawn but managed an organized retreat into the Watchung Mountains, avoiding what could have been a complete rout.

Here’s the weather for the upcoming week:

☀️ Monday, April 27: A bright and sunny day with clear skies — temperatures range from 42°F to 63°F.

☁️ Tuesday, April 28: Mostly cloudy throughout the day and evening — temperatures range from 45°F to 65°F.

🌧️ Wednesday, April 29: Cloudy with light rain during the day and heavier rain overnight — temperatures range from 48°F to 63°F.

🌧️ Thursday, April 30: Rain likely with breezy conditions from the northwest — temperatures range from 43°F to 56°F.

🌥️ Friday, May 1: Mostly cloudy and cool with steady winds — temperatures range from 41°F to 57°F.

🌥️ Saturday, May 2: A mostly cloudy day with some breaks of sun — temperatures range from 41°F to 56°F.

⛅ Sunday, May 3: Partly sunny skies to close out the week — temperatures range from 42°F to 56°F.

As always, you can see even more events on The Central Jerseyan website. See the full events calendar ➝ 

Have an event you’d like included in this newsletter or a tip for a local news story? You can reply to this newsletter or contact me here ➝ 

Have a great week!