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Nothing else changes here in the meantime. Now, on to this week's lineup.

Here are some fun events coming up this week.

Monday, August 10
🎵 WOODBRIDGE: Bobby Wilson Live
Experience soulful oldies, R&B hits, and timeless tribute tracks in a big outdoor evening showcase.
Cost: Free
When: 7:30 PM – 9:30 PM
Where: Joseph R. Lewis Concert Field (Woodbridge High School), Woodbridge

Thursday, August 13
🎵 RAHWAY: Mayor's Concert Series and Book Bag Giveaway
Enjoy an evening of free live music hosted by the city, featuring a community school supply and book bag giveaway ahead of the new school year.
Cost: Free
When: 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Where: Union County Performing Arts Center (UCPAC), 1601 Irving Street, Rahway

Thursday, August 13
🎵 EDISON: Iyerish Cocktail, Summer Sounds Around Town
Free outdoor concert from Indian rock act Iyerish Cocktail, part of Mayor Sam Joshi's Thursday night summer concert series.
Cost: Free
When: 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Where: Lindquist Park, 241 W Grant Ave., Edison

Sunday, August 16
🎉 METUCHEN: Metuchen Street Fair (Summer Vibes Edition)
One of Central Jersey's premier summer festivals. Explore over 150 food and craft vendors, enjoy live entertainment, and stroll through a vibrant, pet-friendly downtown atmosphere.
Cost: Free admission
When: 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Where: Downtown Metuchen (Main St & Middlesex Ave), Metuchen

Sunday, August 16
🎼 PERTH AMBOY: Concerts by the Bay, Garden State Symphonic Band (final show)
The 32-member Garden State Symphonic Band closes out its summer concert series with a free outdoor performance. Bring a blanket or lawn chair.
Cost: Free
When: 3:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Where: Bayview Park, 250 Water Street, Perth Amboy

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.

Edison Adopts Its Budget in a Nearly Unanimous Vote
Edison's council adopted its 2026 budget 6-1 Monday after nearly four hours of debate, with a proposed $300,000 fuel budget cut failing for lack of a second. The meeting later turned personal when former council president Margot Harris accused two council members of lying about their absences from the July 20 meeting that triggered furloughs. The municipal portion of the tax increase is 4.42 percent.
Read the full story →

Rahway Tables Budget Vote Pending State Financing Review
Rahway City Council held its budget hearing Monday but postponed the vote on its $79.6 million budget while the state reviews a separate financing plan for employee retirement payouts. Residents, including council candidate Alan Levy, questioned how the budget document was introduced in July, though city auditor Dieter Lerch said the process complied fully with state law. The state Local Finance Board is expected to rule on the financing plan August 12.
Read the full story →

Rahway Council Meeting Reopens Tensions From World Cup Antisemitism Incident
Tensions from a July confrontation at Rahway's World Cup watch party resurfaced at a council meeting, where candidate Alan Levy said he was targeted with antisemitic language after confronting a bookstore owner over years of Holocaust denial content online. Mayor Raymond Giacobbe and Council President Jeffrey Brooks said Levy escalated the situation, while Levy and his wife, Lisa Vandever, said officials blamed the victim instead of condemning the hate speech.
Read the full story →

🎡 KENILWORTH: Kenilworth Fire Department Carnival
The all-volunteer fire department's annual carnival runs nightly through Saturday, August 15, with rides, games, and food benefiting the department.
When: 6:30 PM – 10:00 PM Monday through Friday, 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM Saturday
Where: 491 Washington Avenue, Kenilworth
More info

The Central Jerseyan's website went down this week, and getting it back up took some trial and error, including one rollback that briefly deleted a few articles. I walked through the whole ordeal on Patreon, from misbehaving plugins to the plugin purge that finally fixed it. New content is flowing again, and the post is a good reminder that running an independent outlet means being a reporter, editor, and IT department all at once.

Read the Full Post

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This week's trivia: A future Nobel Prize–winning economist spent his childhood in Rahway, moving there with his family at age 1 and graduating from Rahway High School in 1928. Who was he, and which university did he attend afterward on a competitive scholarship?

Last week’s trivia:  Rutgers was chartered as Queen's College in 1766, named for Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III. It kept that name until 1825, when a donation from Revolutionary War veteran Colonel Henry Rutgers led to the school's renaming in his honor.

Here’s the weather for the upcoming week:

☀️ Monday, August 10: Sunny throughout the day with increasing clouds in the evening — temperatures range from 72°F to 90°F.

⛅ Tuesday, August 11: Mostly cloudy throughout the day with light winds — temperatures range from 71°F to 88°F.

⛈️ Wednesday, August 12: Mostly cloudy during the day with a chance of scattered evening thunderstorms — temperatures range from 68°F to 87°F.

🌦️ Thursday, August 13: Partly sunny with a 45 percent chance of afternoon showers — temperatures range from 69°F to 88°F.

☀️ Friday, August 14: Sunny and clear throughout the day — temperatures range from 66°F to 85°F.

☀️ Saturday, August 15: Sunny with clear skies and comfortable humidity — temperatures range from 63°F to 82°F.

⛅ Sunday, August 16: Partly sunny with a slight chance of light rain — temperatures range from 64°F to 81°F.

Have a great week!