SCOTT FRIEDMAN Pavithra Ponnolu, 3, of Edison gets a sky high balloon hat from clown Allison Vitali, who is the camp director at the Woodbridge YMCA, during the Metuchen-Edison-Woodbridge YMCA annual Janice Garbolino Memorial 5K run on Roosevelt Park in Edison on Oct. 13. More ... Council demands budget details from administration Spending plan still being fine-tuned, says admin. spokesperson BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer       The Edison Township Council has been growing increasingly impatient as it waits for a detailed, line-by-line budget report from the administration. More ... Infrastructural renovations to MHS nearly complete Improvements are phase two of school overhaul BY JAY BODAS Correspondent       In a few year's time, incoming students to Metuchen High School will enter a newly renovated school. "Three years ago, this community was involved in the discussion of passing a bond issue for which we would renovate this high school and provide new windows for Edgar School," said George Trapp, B... More ... Gift comes early to ghost hunter BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer       BRICK TOWNSHIP - The visions began when Boni Bates turned 5. The first-grader had gone to get something out of her bedroom closet. When she looked up, she saw the ghostly faces of an elderly man and woman staring down at her. Then she did what most little girls her age would do. More ... Best face forward      SCOTT FRIEDMAN Rachael Ruggeri, 10, of Edison, got face painted during the Metuchen- Edison-Woodbridge YMCA annual Janice Garbolino Memorial 5K run in Roosevelt Park in Edison on Oct. 13. More ... Clothing drive benefits those pursuing new jobs BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer       NEW BRUNSWICK - To make the chances of getting hired even higher, the New Brunswick Rotary Club is sponsoring a clothing drive to benefit the Hire Attire Boutique & Men's Store Program of the New Brunswick Public Schools Adult Learning Center from now until the end of the month. More ... YMCA announces plan for expansion       EDISON - Officials at the Metuchen- Edison-Woodbridge YMCA have announced plans to expand the facility by 6,000 square feet, a more than 50 percent increase over the building's 11,00 square feet. The organization's CEO, William Lovett, said that the building is expanding with its membership, hav... More ... Haunted prison a place of sadness and despair BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer       PHILADELPHIA - Even the weather cooperated when the Garden State Ghost Hunters Society visited the abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia in June. Thunder boomed. Lightning flickered eerily from the skylights and across the stone walls of the medieval-looking prison built back in 1... More ... Katrina still echoes in New Orleans, says author Wardlaw-Hartridge alum recounts experience of covering hurricane BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer       EDISON - A presentation by journalist and author Jed Horne, given before students at Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison, portrayed New Orleans as a city racked with confusion and miscommunication during Hurricane Katrina, and facing tough choices about its future in the post-storm rebuilding. More ... Cheering for a cause      PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Above: Alyssa Errico, 16, Brittany Young, 16, both from J.P. Stevens High School in Edison, rally the crowd at the "Shop for a Cause" charity event at Macy's at the Menlo Park Mall in Edison Saturday. At left: Brittany Tufaro, 15, of J.P. Stevens High School, waits to cheer ... More ... Councilwoman, rec. department, clash over program funding BY CHRIS GAETANO Staff Writer       EDISON - A difference in opinion over township sponsorship of certain recreation programs led to a conflict between Township Council member Antonia Ricigliano and Recreation Department head Denise Halliwell during a council meeting Oct. 9. More ...