"Last year, I got tired of paying Comcast $14 a month to rent a modem and router, especially because the Wi-Fi service I got at home was so spotty. So I purchased my own modem and router for $290.I now have better Wi-Fi and lower monthly cable bills. What I am saving monthly will soon exceed the cost of my new equipment. After that, it will be like getting a $14 discount every month.I continued, however, to pay a very steep price to rent three digital adapters, which I need for the three “extra” TVs in my house. In December, Comcast hiked the fee for each adapter to $8.50. How can I justify paying $25.50 a month for adapters to TVs my wife and I only occasionally use?I can’t. And so began my long-overdue quest to free myself of those infernal adapters, spurred on by Comcast’s latest round of price increases. I finally figured it out, and I will soon be rid of them. In the process, I realized cutting cable altogether isn’t such a scary prospect, even for a somewhat technophobic baby boomer like me."
Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Boston Globe: "What to do about your cable bill"
Saturday, December 11, 2021
"Residents are just going to have to be more patient this year"
Saturday, July 17, 2021
"The total health and climate consequences of the American food system cost three times as much as the food itself"
"The true cost of food is even higher than you think, a new report out Thursday says.The U.S. spends $1.1 trillion a year on food. But when the impacts of the food system on different parts of our society — including rising health care costs, climate change and biodiversity loss — are factored in, the bill is around three times that, according to a report by the Rockefeller Foundation, a private charity that funds medical and agricultural research.Using government statistics, scientific literature and insights from experts across the food system, the researchers quantified things like the share of direct medical costs attributable to diet and food, as well as the productivity loss associated with those health problems. They also looked at how crop cultivation and ranching, and other aspects of U.S. food production impacted the environment. Focusing on the production, processing, distribution, retail and consumption stages of the food system (not including food service), they evaluated what it would cost to restore people’s health, wealth or environment back to an undamaged state, as well as the cost of preventing a recurrence of the problems."
The Rockefeller Foundation report |
Thursday, January 19, 2017
MassBudget: Budget Explainer: Transportation
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Wednesday, January 11, 2017
MassBudget: A preview of the Fiscal Year 2018 budget challenges
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A Preview of the Fiscal Year 2018 Budget Challenges - Table 1 |
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Election costs reimbursed
The full article can be found in the Milford Daily News here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/newsnow/x1920415040/Local-towns-get-money-back-for-special-election
Franklin, MA
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
College Cost webinar - Thu Sep 17 - 7:00 PM
One of the country's leading experts in college admissions and financial aid, author and speaker Paul Hemphill, will be conducting a live seminar online Thursday evening, Sept 17, at 7 PM. Topics will include:
• How to cut $42,000 from college costs without a parent taking out a single loan
• The financial advantages to applying to 10 colleges instead of 5
• Why a student should apply Early Action and NOT Early Decision
• The 4 questions to ask to get the most financial aid
• The money advantage of appealing a financial aid award
• The financial advantages of going to college during high school
• The college application – why answers to innocent questions can cause rejections
• Financial aid forms – why you must be cautious
Paul provides 60-70 minutes of pure stress relief. Be sure your high school student is watching - Paul will set their minds - and yours - at ease.
Paul has a fact-filled and fast-paced program that will produce a few laughs from true stories that will really hit home.
Go ahead and register now, and be sure to send this notice of the webinar to 4 of your friends who have high school students.
Here's a free YouTube video Paul created, which has become the second most-watched video on college essays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ago6tIEnL0g
Click through to register here
Sunday, January 18, 2009
"average rate of municipal health care cost increased 13 percent"
BOSTON - Rep. James E. Vallee, D–Franklin, support plans to file legislation this month to remove union veto power over cities and towns seeking to save hundreds of millions of dollars by joining the state health insurance plan.
"Cities and towns need our help and I am committed to doing all I can to help my communities weather the current fiscal crisis," said Vallee. "I believe these changes will help communities save money by allowing them to join the state health insurance plan. The cost savings to communities is tremendous."
Read the full article on the cost saving measure online at Wicked Local here
Thursday, March 27, 2008
In the News - diesel costs for school buses
The skyrocketing price of diesel fuel is putting a squeeze on school budgets and the contractors that districts hire to bus students.
"It's impacting us tremendously," said Joseph Vendetti, owner of Vendetti Bus Co. in Franklin. "Everybody's complaining about paying $3 a gallon for gasoline, and we're paying $4 for diesel."
Most school buses run on diesel, and the cost for that fuel shot past $4 last week - up 59 cents from just five weeks ago, according to AAA of Southern New England. As of Monday, the average price for diesel in Massachusetts was $4.14 a gallon.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily news