Hello! Welcome back to The Central Jerseyan Newsletter.

Let’s take a moment to appreciate a good throwback. First, Elvis is coming to Woodbridge this week, followed by a Journey cover band the next day. Both shows are at Woodbridge High School, making them good options regardless of the weather. The township also holds its second Downtown Cruise of the summer, featuring classic cars for a good cause.

Hopefully, everyone has dried out by now after a week that started and ended with damaging thunderstorms. There were the storms that knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers during a deadly heatwave. Then, a few days later, the area was inundated with heavy rain and flooding.

The current forecast shows a new heatwave heading our way this week. So try to stay cool while going out. Wear light and loose clothes and drink lots of water.

Here are some fun events coming up this week.

🎤 Jesse Garron: A Tribute to Elvis | Mon, July 13 | 7:30–9:30 PM | Joseph R. Lewis Concert Field, Woodbridge High School | Free
Woodbridge's Golden Oldies Monday series brings the King back to Central Jersey with Jesse Garron, one of the most acclaimed Elvis tribute acts in the country. Bring a lawn chair and settle in for the jumpsuit, the hits, and plenty of swagger under the summer sky.

🎸 Frontiers: A Tribute to Journey | Tue, July 14 | 7:30–9:30 PM | Woodbridge High School Concert Field | Free
Tribute Tuesdays continues with Frontiers, delivering "Don't Stop Believin'," "Faithfully," and every arena anthem in between. Beer, wine, and food vendors keep the festival atmosphere going.

🎈 Middlesex County Children's Concert | Wed, July 15 | 5–6:30 PM | Spring Lake Park, South Plainfield | Free
The county's Music-in-the-Park children's series stops in South Plainfield with an early-evening show built for the youngest music fans, timed to still make bedtime.

🥬 Metuchen Farmers Market | Sat, July 18 | 9 AM–2 PM | Metuchen Town Plaza, corner of New St. & Pearl St. | Free admission
Metuchen's long-running Saturday market fills the town plaza with local produce, prepared foods, and crafts, plus live music from noon to 2 PM. It's dog-friendly, with vendors selling natural treats for pups, too.

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

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

A PR firm was advising Rahway on its water utility before the council ever approved the study.
New records obtained through OPRA show MAD Global Strategy, a public affairs firm specializing in shaping public opinion, emailed the mayor's confidential aide about the water system on March 24, 2025, seven weeks before the City Council authorized the engineering study officials later cited to justify exploring a sale. City officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and additional records requests are pending.
Read the full story →

Late week heavy rain caused flash flooding across Central Jersey, including on Route 1 in Edison.
Heavy thunderstorms dumped several inches of rain across Central Jersey Thursday afternoon, flooding Route 1 in Edison, forcing a high-water rescue in East Brunswick, and prompting two separate flash flood warnings from the National Weather Service within a few hours.
Read the full story →

Woodbridge's council formally approved its agreement with the YMCA for Sunrise Village.
The township council signed off Tuesday on a memorandum of understanding with the Raritan Bay Area YMCA, formalizing the organization's role in providing services like financial help, transportation, and employment support to residents of the planned 28-unit supportive housing project in Hopelawn. Mayor John McCormac also addressed concerns over lost tax revenue, saying the township sets its levy independently each year and the impact of one property is "minuscule" against more than $3 billion in total township value.
Read the full story →

🚗 Woodbridge Downtown Cruise | Wed, July 15 | 6–9 PM | Main Street, Woodbridge | Free (canned food or pet food donation requested)
Downtown Woodbridge turns into a rolling car show on Wednesday night for the second Downtown Cruise of the summer, hosted by the Woodbridge Downtown Merchants Association. Main Street fills with classic cars from 6 to 9 PM, with trophies up for grabs and DJ Chuck Leonard keeping the night moving. It's free and built for the whole family, but organizers ask everyone to bring a canned food item or pet food donation for the local food pantry on their way in. It’s a simple way to spend a summer evening and help a neighbor at the same time.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what it means to hold power accountable in a town where everyone knows everyone. When I published this week's story on the PR firm quietly advising Rahway's water utility plans, I wasn't naive about what it might cost me socially. I'll probably run into someone from City Hall at the grocery store this week. That's the trade-off of doing this work in a small city instead of a big one.

But that's exactly why it matters. National outlets aren't going to spend weeks filing records requests to figure out when a consulting firm first started shaping the messaging on a local water utility. That digging only happens if someone local decides it's worth doing, and it only keeps happening if readers decide it's worth funding.

I don't have a newsroom behind me. I have OPRA requests, a lot of patience, and readers like you. If you've valued this kind of reporting, becoming a Citizen Supporter for $5 a month is the most direct way to keep it coming. It's not a lot of money, but it adds up to the difference between a hobby and a publication that can keep asking hard questions.

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And if this newsletter helps you stay informed, forward it to someone who should be reading it too. Every new subscriber strengthens independent local reporting and keeps more neighbors in the loop. The bigger this community grows, the stronger our coverage becomes.

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This week's trivia: Woodbridge Township holds a notable distinction among New Jersey municipalities. What is that distinction, and in what year did Woodbridge receive its royal charter from King Charles II of England?

Last week’s trivia:  Rahway shares its name with a Lenape tribal chief. Tradition holds that the city was named after Rahwack, also recorded as Ra-wa-rah, a local Lenni Lenape chief who lived along the Rahway River. The Lenape called themselves the "Original People," and their presence lives on today in the city's name, along with arrowheads, axe heads, and grinding stones still occasionally unearthed around town.

Here’s the weather for the upcoming week:

☀️ Monday, July 13: Sunny and pleasant to kick off the workweek, with warm afternoon sunshine and clear evening skies — temperatures range from 68°F to 87°F.

☀️ Tuesday, July 14: Bright, sunny, and heating fast as hot summer weather builds across the region — temperatures range from 71°F to 93°F.

🌤️ Wednesday, July 15: Mostly sunny and scorching hot, marking the peak of the mid-week heat — temperatures range from 72°F to 97°F.

⛅ Thursday, July 16: Partly sunny and still very warm, with clouds beginning to gather ahead of an approaching weather system — temperatures range from 71°F to 91°F.

🌧️ Friday, July 17: Cloudy with rain expected throughout the day, bringing relief from the severe heat just in time for the weekend — temperatures range from 72°F to 88°F.

🌦️ Saturday, July 18: Lingering light rain and humid conditions under mostly cloudy skies — temperatures range from 72°F to 82°F.

🌦️ Sunday, July 19: A chance of light showers continuing, but turning cooler and more comfortable to close out the weekend — temperatures range from 64°F to 83°F.

Have a great week!