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 *
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Where in Franklin? #24 - 2nd Clue
Since the first picture didn't draw any guesses, maybe this is enough to attract some recognition of where this might be located.
Enjoy!
Franklin's Santa - Frank Falvey
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
FRANKLIN - He doesn't see you when you're sleeping, he has no idea when you're awake. And when it comes to being bad or good, don't worry about being good just for Frank Falvey's sake. "I try to stay away from that," said the Pond Street resident, in character as the jolly fat man during a downtown jaunt yesterday. "I don't think Santa Claus is trying to judge the bad or the good. It has to do with innocence and hope and possibility and wonder in what's going to come." |
Yes, he does look like most common representations of Santa Claus.
Read the full story in the Miford Daily News here.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Franklin Blogger: Model trains, his passion
Model railroads are Mason's passion
By Heather McCarron/Daily News staff
Although he was just 4 years old at the time, Scott Mason clearly remembers the first train set he ever received — 1950s vintage, used Lionel trains given to him for Christmas by a family friend.
Read the full article here
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Scott Mason's website can be found here
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Where in Franklin? #24
This place would look considerably different today covered with snow. So going back to a few weeks ago, where would you have found these trees decked out in glorious shades of red?
The guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.
Updated 12/20/07
As this has gotten buried with other posts this week, I wanted to raise it up again to see if anyone can identify it?
Patriots Traffic, MCAS, FHS Girls Hockey
Patriots place traffic: Wait till next year
The going isn't too rough, yet, on game days at the retail and entertainment complex near the stadium. But the challenge of managing it will only grow as the site fully opens
Read the full article here.
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Mixed news on MCAS scores
Overall marks up, but some falter
Read the full article here.
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Panthers pounce, shut down rival
In staying strong against Canton, Franklin shows maturity, confidence
Read the full article here.
Franklin can afford library repairs
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
FRANKLIN - The town can fit library repairs into upcoming budgets, councilors learned last night, but cannot take on any other large projects without tapping into its savings account, selling property or asking residents for more money.
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Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Town Council Meeting 12/19/07 - Summary
Announcement: Planning Board Positions (audio)
Proclamation: Carlo Geromini (audio)
Motion on License Renewals (audio)
Jeff Nutting on the Capital Requirements (audio)
Town Administrator's Report (audio)
Closing Comments
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My notes taken during the meeting as it occurred:
Accepting applications for planning board up through Jan 9th, appointing Jan 29th to fulfill
Rep. Vallee – House Resolution in recognition of Carlo Geromini
Carlo’s comments, has been reading… currently in middle of Kerouac “On the Road”,
Discussion on Franklin Tavern, in bankruptcy, viewing with buyers, license up for renewal
Even with renewal the trustee can’t use the license until further proceeding are accomplished
Passed 7-0
Nutting – capital forecasts
Reference to gen fund debt worksheet “Franklin capital Plan, Dacey 11-29-07”
Bartlett, Q
1.4M debt currently in plan but not being used
Municipal parking used to leverage some grant application, several months application pending
Whalen Q
3.5 percent very conservative
As debt frees up, there will always be something else to spend it on, walk the balance
Policy and guideline, free to be changed
Doak Q
2010 or 2011 depending upon what you want to do
Council is authorizing projects
Staff or capital committee makes recommendation
Roads are not part of this capital planning
500-700,000 Chapter 90 money from state funds our road work
900,000 in 2001,900,000 in 2004 otherwise nothing from town funds, totally from the state
Pleasant St 9.5 million alone
One huge need unmet is roads, could suggest an override, cash or state
Capital requirements
Schools 3.5M for other non-HS repairs
Portables lifespan remaining 5,6,7 years; cost over 2M
Population continues to increase, they need the space
HS – renovate or replace, tens of millions, no specific game plan yet, not on state listing
No significant impact to tax bill
Library interior, next 3-5 years, outside priority
Need to cap landfill, trying to get a land swap to help the process
Underground utilities, should it be done at the same time? Open for discussion/decision
Recreation center (currently in Municipal building)
Open space – long term savings in this kind of purchase
Roads build up a fund year over year
Water – gone through the 15 m authorized years ago, still have miles of pipe to be replace, can pay as we go with cash
Sewer – unless Beaver St junction comes apart, can go with normal cash flow to cover
Delcarte property – unknown at this point
Whalen Q
DEP has been lenient on this issue thus far…
Expect best guess estimate in next couple of months
District Improvement Financing (DIF) – state process, up to 25% of the town
Economic development grants are possible, generally smaller amounts
We have done well with grants, some we are not eligible for due to the wealth of the community
Doak Q
Amounts in water/sewer for ongoing funds, what’s our capacity
Took money from water reserves, approx 2M in water account
Not making enough money on an annual basis thus far, so would need to use that to stabilize the rate before we raise it
Earliest would be for 09 or 2010 for additional water/sewer projects, probably next 60 days come forward with a plan
Bartlett Q
Policy versus advice, need some assistance from the appropriate parties
Zollo Q
Getting the other assets on the sale front is important, we will need to get that revenue sooner than later
Pfieffer Q
Library, should not be considered last on the listing
RFP received no bids
Should consider changes to go back out again
Nutting – Admin Report
Kudos to DPW, snow blowers travel slower, plows can go quicker but couldn’t handle the depth of the snow
Ryan Jette awarded Heights award
Nice award from an outside group
Holiday on Monday, Tuesday, Christmas, New Year day before as well
Councilor comments
Zollo, quality of rec program, convinced that we have one of the best programs
Creating an inflationary bid process by publishing estimates before hand
2 phase project
17 trades bid on amount of work for their potion, collated with those numbers, then general contractor takes that to include his portion to come back with the total
Various estimates will come in but bids will not come in with the inflation
Filed sub records are public record, according to specs
Seems counter intuitive, public bid law
Seems to be a recurring theme if we did not have to abide by the state laws
Councilors Closing Comments (audio)
Time: 8 minutes, 36 seconds
MP3 File
Town Administrator's Report (audio)
Time: 2 minutes, 24 seconds
MP3 File
Jeff Nutting on the Capital Outlook (audio)
Time: 51 minutes, 57 seconds
MP3 File
Motion on License Renewals (audio)
Time: 3 minutes, 37 seconds
MP3 File
Proclamation: C Geromini (audio)
Time: 3 minutes, 56 seconds
MP3 File
Announcement: Planning Board Positions (audio)
Time: 22 seconds
MP3 File
Franklin's MCAS Results (Audio)
Time: 56 minutes, 44 seconds
MP3 File
Franklin Schools - MCAS Report for 2007
The report can be found on the district web site so you can follow along with the recording.
The audio for this presentation can be found here.
(Note: There is a delay during the beginning of the presentation as the presentation laptop is rebooted. Superintendent Ogden fills in the time with an update on a special education teacher that will need to be hired to meet the requirements of two 3-year olds registering in the district during February. They are hearing impaired.)
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My notes taken during the presentation
EQA audit
4 -Commendations for district
Higher MCAS scores
Strong curriculum alignment with state frameworks
Professional development
Mentoring program
“High performing” district
Aggregate outperformed the state
105 students awarded the J&A Adams scholarship based upon Grade 10 performance
Grade 8 was 2 full performance ratings above the state
9th grade Biology out performed the state by two ratings
Low income and special education subgroups are underperforming according to plan (although they are higher than the state)
Subgroups dropping in science where state subgroups are improving, overall i.e. aggregate numbers are rating “High”
K different world for writing, important to be developmentally appropriate and feed to upper grades
K-12 literacy plan
District wide, draft philosophy
Identify core instructional expectations, assessment practices
Action plan for identifying and implementing
“Middle school culture is redhot with factors that affect student performance”
Media, choices kids have, forced choices with family environment, so many variables
Audit shows the curriculum is aligned
Quality assessment, engagement and motivation, how do you measure that?
Current 10th graders will need to pass science and technology test to graduate
EdTech Networks Presentation (Audio)
Time: 1 hour, 8 minutes, 19 seconds
MP3 File
EdTech Networks Presentation
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My notes taken during their presentation and discussion with the School Committee:
EdTech Networks presentation
Based in Wakefield, MA
Builds website platforms for school systems
No out of pocket costs
Unique fundraising platform (new money for schools)
Advanced web technology
Good examples of the proposal in action:
Medford - http://www.medford.k12.ma.us/home.aspx?categoryID=3
Smithfield, RI - http://www.smithfield-ps.org/home.aspx?categoryID=3
E Greenwich, RI - http://egsd.net/home.aspx?categoryID=3
Georgetown - http://ps.gt.ma.ednets.us/home.aspx?categoryID=3
Other school districts mentioned:
Hudson (not an EdNet site)
Marlboro (not an EdNet site)
North Reading (web site not responding)
Large pipeline in progress 30-50, about 2/month coming on line
Participating merchants, recruit local businesses
Rebate recovery
Member marketing
Franklin brings – members YOU!
Key piece of the partnership is working with Franklin, parents, PTO school boosters, etc.
Marlboro school students developed a marketing plan
Two ways to generate rebates
1 – Online mall, school website (no need to register)
2 – Shop in store at local participating merchants (register your credit, debit, loyalty cards)
National, regional, online and local
Online mall has 500 national merchants
Expedia trip at $5000 would generate 2% back to the schools
Collect only card and date for tracking purposes, does not collect any other data, can not initiate a transaction
PCI compliant, high security standards
Encrypted data, data segregation
No plan text files of any files kept, all encrypted
No information is provided to any party, period
Content management system
Control users via permission
Easy to use, no HTML coding needed
Portal, single database, cut/paste from any MS program
Instantaneous updates
Publish to multiple pages simultaneously
Archival system
Navigation design
24/7 hosted, technical support provided
Training, by group
Faster communication, lower cost
Not limited to Franklin residents, can designate a beneficiary school district
Municipal requirements
1 – Separate account
2 – Education foundation
Combo websites and email
Targeted registration campaigns, some dollar reward for each registration via incentives
Can track district, schools, via promotion codes
Shrink wrap a school bus, with logo, and participating merchants
“Better schools through smarter shopping”
Split rebates, 2/3… up to website subscription fee, after that, 100%...
Advertising split 50/50
Could do picture profile online, do PTO profile online
Capacity for electronic payments for school fees, lunches, etc.
Demo of Marlboro, East Greenwich sites
Headshot for teachers capable, CV capable
.net platform, more current
After the sale what’s the spam effect? Self directed by customer, check off, to opt out
Use of captcha to access directory online
Three components of revenue
1 – rebate 80/20 merchant split
2 – split revenue from promotions 50/50
3 - website subscription fee paid from subscribers as noted in split above
Future items:
Electronic yearbooks
Social networking amongst teachers that could be monetized
100 million Americans in K-12 world, no one marketing to this group today
Don’t have a gas vendor today
Grocery highest priority
Then casual dining, faster growing segment of personal expenditures
Then Office/school supplies
Then Apparel
Co-branded debit and co-branded credit being explored
My questions (to be asked)
What percent of Franklin population has and uses a system?
What are traffic counts for existing school pages?
Franklin in the News
Two hurt in crash
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
FRANKLIN - A rescue helicopter rushed a man to a Worcester hospital yesterday after a head-on collision at the intersection of Rte. 140 and Grove Street, police said. |
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Store clerk stops robbery
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
FRANKLIN - Spotting a familiar customer opening the till at the Lincoln Street Market on Monday afternoon, clerk Ryan Lomberto ran in from pumping gas and grabbed the man before he could run off with any cash. |
Franklin (continues) to wait
Franklin to wait for answer to $590,000 question
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
FRANKLIN - A law firm investigating how an undisclosed $590,000 school budget gap ended up on the wrong set of books needs more time, Superintendent Wayne Ogden said, with a report now expected in January instead of this month. |
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
New Game at Milford Daily News (Video)
If you know where Julia Spitz shot this video, e-mail jspitz@cnc.com or call her at 508-626-3968. The first three people with the correct answer will have their names listed here and in the newspaper. All those who submit correct answers before 4 p.m. Thursday will be eligible for a monthly prize drawing.Have fun playing "Where'd She Go?
Note this was also posted on Steve's 2 Cents
School Committee: Health Survey - part 2 (audio)
Donovan, K-12 Director Health/Physical Education answer questions from the School Committee after their presentation on 11/27/07.
Time: 28 minutes, 56 seconds
MP3 File
Franklin School Committee: Health Survey Presentation (audio)
Time: 40 minutes, 6 seconds
MP3 File
My notes to accompany this audio file can be found here.
The presentation can be found here.
Metro West/EDC Adolescent Health Survey - Part 1
The survey results are important to understand. This is where a good deal of focus on the education of our children should be. The issues raised by this survey can put an appropriate context around budget discussions.
The presentation was rather lengthy so I have split it up into three posts.
- The first (this one) has the intro and my own notes taken during the presentation.
- The second will have the audio file for the presentation itself.
- The third will have the audio file for the question and answer discussion following the presentation.
The link to the presentation itself can be found here.
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My notes taken during the presentation on 11/27/07
Lifetime – tried it at least once in their lifetime
Trend in survey showing decline in reported usage of alcohol amongst middle school students
Alcohol most prevalent amongst high school, no difference between male/female,
10% admitted it interfered with their school work
48% high school admitted drinking within the last 30 days
This trend line was actually increasing over the study periods
Tobacco use, males more than females – middle school
Significant reduction in those admitting trying smoking (both MS and HS)
High school – 10% identified as daily smokers
Marijuana is a concern, there shows a reduction in MS
Steroids have dropped
HS – marijuana nearly as prevalent as tobacco for students as trying it
Students using marijuana using within 30 days, exceeds the smoker numbers
Biggest issue at HS bullying and fighting
Decrease from MS to HS, although increases from 2004, 2006 at HS
Electronic bullying increasing
Stress levels double from 9th to 12th grade, (i.e. college process)
Community involvement recommended to address these issues
15 components to be convened in the community involvement effort
Must celebrate trends going in the right direction
But we’re still taking about 10-20% of the population participating in risky behavior
Comparative analysis since 1999
How to provide the info to the parents, summary, call to action in some attractive but none-turning away manner
Introduction of Open Circle at kindergarten level helps
Middle school intervention programs
9th grade collaborative at the HS
Peer mentoring, peer leaders going through training now
Discussion on 1999, data, first year results seem not to be real
Chief Williams coming back to put this in perspective within the Town context
Avoid one shot assembly approach, programs work well when connected to curriculum
Have not looked at correlation with economy
Monday, December 17, 2007
Town Council Agenda 12/19/07 available
Blogs in plain English (video)
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Where in Franklin? Answer #23
Ken identified:
"This property has been before the planning board and town council several times for public hearings. I believe the property was sold at a foreclosure auction last week. If so what will the new owner do with it?"
Time will tell.
Oh, and if you had not recognized where this open pit is located, you can find it along RT 140 at the entrance to Chestnut Ridge.
Thanks, Ken! Stay tuned for the next picture.
Town trying to project its building plans
Now that Franklin has approved spending $300,000 for library and museum upgrades, some councilors want to get a better view of the big picture when it comes to future projects, and compile a new survey of the town's building woes
Read the full article here.
Brick Costs $37,600 Annually
Cost of Red Brick School: $37,600 annually
By Michael Morton/Daily News staff
FRANKLIN - After debating the contents of their financial report, task force members studying the viability of the Red Brick School agreed yesterday that the historic building costs $37,600 to run annually, with $600 currently borne by town taxpayers. |