Boston Globe : "‘The pandemic broke us’: Mass. superintendents see long road to recovery for students"

"It’s a generation permanently scarred.

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, Massachusetts students remain far behind where they were when the global health catastrophe struck and school leaders undertook the drastic step of shutting in-person learning down for months.

This is despite billions of dollars in federal aid to redress the damage done by prolonged school closures. Math skills have stagnated and reading achievement has worsened. Children who were not yet in high school when schools closed their doors have graduated, less equipped to navigate the world than those who came before.

Dozens of Massachusetts superintendents surveyed by the Globe said it will be years before students catch up. While a minority said their students have already matched pre-pandemic scores or will by the end of next year — six years after schools closed — most said it will take longer."

Continue reading the article online -> https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/24/metro/mass-education-covid-pandemic-learning-loss/? 

How to access the Globe articles via the Franklin Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

Boston Globe "This is not a drill"

A repressive, arbitrary regime is taking shape before our eyes

History, as the saying goes, has a way of rhyming. So it is worth noting that as the nation marks the 250th anniversary of the Revolution — that world-changing rebellion against tyranny and taxation that began in Boston, Concord, and Lexington — there are rumblings of discontent with President Donald Trump’s sweeping and erratic tariffs.

Polls suggest that even many Republicans are growing restive about the potential cost of what are effectively broad-based taxes on American consumers and businesses that depend on imports, which is to say almost all of us. But there is another Trump policy with equally haunting echoes of 1775.

It is an issue that doesn’t touch our pocketbooks the way taxes, tariffs, or the price of tea do. But it is one about which every American — particularly those who care about what it means to be an American — should be asking hard questions. That is: The use of federal force to arrest, imprison, and deport without due process foreign nationals accused, usually with scant or zero evidence, of being a danger to the country.

Continue reading the editorial online ->   https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/18/opinion/trump-deportation-ice-revolution-anniversary/ 

How to access the Globe articles via the Franklin Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

 

Here is a direct link: https://www.proquest.com/bostonglobe/newspapers/this-is-not-drill/docview/3191279476/sem-2?accountid=30660

 
This database is one of many services provided by Mass Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC). These resources are in danger of disappearing across the Commonwealth after Executive Order 14238. Learn more at: https://mblc.state.ma.us/federal-cuts.php

Boston Globe "This is not a drill"

What is behind the editorial? The 3 judges writing for the UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT said in part:

"It is difficult in some cases to get to the very heart of the matter. But in this case, it is not hard at all. The government is asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order. Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. 

This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear."

Read the full decision here ->   https://drive.google.com/file/d/17wvviF6w1L5Cg9dJltxDBJTC-RT2FiZj/view?usp=drive_link

Apparently forecasts don't matter until they hit you where it hurts

“From the college perspective, there’s some anxiety right now,” says Joseph DiCarlo, dean of enrollment and director of admissions at Worcester State University, as he looks out over the cavernous exhibition hall. “With a smaller number of students, you’ve got to cast a wider net.”

The number of college students in the state has already fallen since the last peak, in 2012, by more than 45,000, or nearly 9 percent — that’s more than the undergraduate enrollment of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and UMass Boston combined.

Before long, experts predict that higher education institutions, including some represented at this college fair, will begin to tumble down the demographic cliff and close. "

Apparently forecasts don't matter until they hit you where it hurts

Continue reading the article online -> https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/09/magazine/massachusetts-colleges-face-enrollment-drop-higher-ed-crisis/

 

How to access the Globe articles via the Franklin Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

 

In 2020, our State Representative Jeff Roy and I talked about his work on the Higher Education Committee and the issue that colleges and universities faced with declining enrollment

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/04/fm-255-state-representative-jeffrey-roy.html

Boston Globe: "Fiber art has long been ‘treated as a little sister’ to fine art"

"Artist Merill Comeau started talking to others back in 2022 about Gather 2025, a monthlong series of events in April exploring fiber arts in the Greater Boston area.

“I was thinking it would be four events over four weekends,” she said in a phone conversation from her home in West Concord.

But interest snowballed. Museums, galleries, groups, and makers jumped in.

Franklin's "art bombing" project anticipated this trend

“Now it’s like 70 events,” Comeau said. When you add opening and closing receptions, it’s closer to 100. There will be panel discussions, maker gatherings, demonstrations, and tours.

Exhibitions include “Art Evolved: Intertwined,” a show connecting basketry and quilting at Fuller Craft Museum, “Interwoven| Textile Arts and Climate Change” at Mosesian Center for the Arts, and “Orange Line: Connecting Neighborhoods North to South” at Piano Craft Gallery."

Continue reading the article online -> 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/03/arts/gather-2025-fiber-textile-art-symposium-greater-boston/

How to access the Boston Globe with your Franklin library card   https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html 

The Fiber Art event collection -> https://www.gatherfibersymposium.com/events

Relive the FHS Boys basketball Final Game on Sunday (video)

The basketball game Sunday is a good one to watch or watch again, thanks to Franklin TV.  Video link -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xo__LX4fgI

The HockomockSports.Com write up and the Boston Globe recap can be found ->

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/03/hockomocksportscom-franklin-outlasts.html

HockomockSports.com: "Franklin Outlasts Newton North To Win First Ever State Championship"

Boston Globe preview of the BIG game for FHS boys basketball on Sunday, Mar 16, 2025

The Boston Globe has a rundown of all the Divisional Championship basketball games this weekend. The key "lowdown" on the FHS game vs Newtown North is:

"The lowdown: Franklin has reached the final three times in the past decade (2024, 2018, 2014) but has yet to get over the hump. Last year, the Panthers stood little chance against a juggernaut Worcester North squad, and Newton North was a massive underdog in 2022 when the Tigers faced undefeated BC High in the state final. Now both programs have a very good shot to emerge from a balanced Division 1 field to claim a title. If North wins and goes undefeated against in-state competition, it would harken back to the great teams that won consecutive titles under Connolly’s steerage from 2005 and 2006, and cement Swint as one of the greatest players to put on a Tigers uniform. Yet scoring consistently against Franklin’s defense will be a tall task. The Panthers allowed just 47.8 points per game this season, turning in several dominant defensive performances while going 10-0 away from their home court."

Continue reading the full article in the Globe ->

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/13/sports/miaa-boys-basketball-finals-tsongas/

How to access the Globe via the Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

Boston Globe preview of the BIG game for FHS boys basketball on Sunday, Mar 16, 2025

Boston Globe: "State lawmaker dating top lobbyist accuses Globe of using ‘illegal materials’ in reporting on public court documents"

"State Representative Jeffrey Roy, who has been the focus of Boston Globe coverage about his relationship with a top lobbyist, leveled a series of accusations against the newspaper Wednesday, claiming it used “illegal materials” and violated a court order when it published claims from his estranged wife.

An attorney for the Globe disputed Roy’s assertions and said the newspaper did nothing unlawful in reporting information that was included in publicly available court records.

Roy made his comments during an appearance before members of the Medway Democratic Town Committee. The Franklin Democrat repeatedly criticized the newspaper’s coverage in the roughly hourlong talk, suggesting it committed ”journalistic malpractice" in its reporting of his relationship with a lobbyist who had business before the legislative committee he led."

Continue to read the Boston Globe article -> 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/14/metro/jeffrey-roy-lobbyist-jennifer-crawford-boston-globe/

How to access the Globe articles via the Franklin Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

I talked with Rep Roy early in February, 2025 and you can listen to our conversation

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/state-rep-jeff-roy-looks-back-on-2024.html

Rep Roy with Governor M Healey, and Councilor G Jones celebrating the climate bill signing in Dec 2024 (photo courtesy Rep Roy's office)

 

Boston Globe: "Turkey mating season has begun. Consider yourself warned."

"An aggressive wild turkey chased a parking enforcement officer in Brookline into a building on Wednesday, and police warned residents to be on the lookout as the turkey mating season gets underway.

Police in Brookline, where wild turkeys are known for their boldness, said several aggressive ones were seen along Babcock Street about 8:30 a.m.

“One such report stated a turkey chased a parking enforcement officer into a building and then began pecking on the glass door!” police wrote on social media.

An animal control officer came to help the parking officer, police said.

Breeding season for wild turkeys, which MassWildlife describes as a “strikingly handsome bird,” typically lasts from March into May."

Continue reading the article online -> 

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/03/12/metro/brookline-police-warn-of-aggressive-turkeys/?

How to access the Globe via the Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

part of the flock of turkeys in the front yard in Dec 2024

Boston GLobe: "Roy will join Mariano’s inner circle as a close advisor"

"State Representative Jeffrey Roy, who was first appointed chair of the powerful energy committee in 2021 and is dating a lobbyist with business before the committee, was removed from his post as chairman of the Joint Telecommunications, Utilities, and Energy committee and promoted by House Speaker Ron Mariano into his leadership team.

The move thrusts Roy into Beacon Hill’s powerful inner circle and assures the seven-term Democrat sees no cut to his compensation despite losing the coveted committee post.

The leadership shakeup comes after a series of stories published by the Globe last year revealed Roy’s relationship with lobbyist Jennifer Crawford, a partner in the state’s highest-grossing influence firm.

Mariano told reporters Wednesday that removing Roy from the top of the energy committee and promoting him into the leadership ranks makes “some of the negative things that he’s been attributed with goes away.”

Continue reading the article in the Globe:

State Representative Jeffrey Roy

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/26/metro/roy-crawford-committee-chairmanship-state-house-mariano/

You can access the full article at the Boston Globe with your Franklin Library card    ->    https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

You can also listen to my converdsation with State Rep Jeff Roy recorded earlier in February. During this interview, Jeff did talk about this issue and the GLobe reporting on it. He has had other chairmanship roles and was open to a different role to help the Speaker and continue to deliver for the Franklin and Medway community he represents.

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/state-rep-jeff-roy-looks-back-on-2024.html

Boston Globe: "Here’s how Massachusetts proposes to measure graduation readiness for students, post MCAS"

Massachusetts education officials are proposing interim graduation standards that would require students, beginning with the class of 2026, to pass specific classes after voters last fall dropped the MCAS exam as a graduation requirement.

graduation readiness for students

The proposed new requirements would remain in place while a new graduation council explores long-term options

“This is a change the voters have put in place, and it’s a step until we get something that is more robust,” acting Commissioner Russell Johnston said Tuesday during a state education board meeting.

Shared from -> https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/25/metro/mcas-massachusetts-graduation-requirements-competency-determination/

You can access the full article at the Boston Globe with your Franklin Library card    ->    https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

2 articles from the Boston Globe on the MA housing crisis and possible solutions

(1) Via the Boston Globe:  "Opinion | How Mass. can streamline its homebuilding process"

"It’s no secret that homeownership is out of reach for many people in Massachusetts. The average sale price of a single-family home is $642,000, the third highest in the nation. Renting instead is cold comfort; the average Greater Boston apartment costs $3,058. Although the state and local communities have taken steps to increase the housing supply, more housing still needs to be built.

Massachusetts achieved its notorious reputation for unaffordability by layering barrier upon barrier to new housing. In new research published by the Pioneer Institute, we lay out what we learned about the arduous and uncertain homebuilding process by interviewing builders, planners, lawyers, and scholars from across the state."

Shared from ->

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/21/opinion/homebuilding-permitting-process-massachusetts/

How to access the Globe via the Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

Go directly to the brief that lead to this article

https://pioneerinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/PNR-608-Permit-Reform-02192025.pdf

(2) via the Globe ->  "State commission on housing production targets single-family zoning, other sweeping reforms"

"Single-family neighborhoods are synonymous with the American Dream. Their driveways and grassy yards define the communities of suburban America, including Greater Boston.

But are they also compounding Massachusetts' deep housing crisis?

A state-appointed commission focused on the state’s worsening housing shortage in fact identified single-family-only zoning — the land-use rules that created suburban single-family neighborhoods — as a primary obstacle blocking the surge of construction Massachusetts desperately needs to address its housing problem.

And so the commission proposes a seemingly profound idea: get rid of single-family zoning — everywhere in Massachusetts."

Continue reading the article online ->  https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/21/business/massachusetts-housing-affordability/

MA housing crisis and possible solutions

How to access the Globe via the Library with your library card

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

Housing commission press release on the report ->   https://www.mass.gov/doc/building-for-tomorrow-a-report-from-the-unlocking-housing-production-commission

Direct access to the Housing Commission Report ->    https://www.mass.gov/doc/building-for-tomorrow-a-report-from-the-unlocking-housing-production-commission/download

Boston Globe: "Thanks to a 26-year-old nonprofit founder, one less downtown Boston office building is vacant"

"Imagine being 26 years old, at the start of your career, and figuring out how to buy an office building in the middle of downtown Boston for your fast-growing nonprofit.

The improbable scenario is all too real for Connor Schoen, who in December engineered one of the most surprising real estate deals in the city: a $6.3 million purchase of a five-story building on Franklin Street for the nonprofit he leads, Breaktime.

Schoen’s social entrepreneurship quickly became the talk of the town. Nonprofit executives and philanthropic leaders reached out to him about what they could learn from the deal, and whether they, too, could invest in downtown at a time when office building values have plummeted. For Breaktime and other nonprofits that might follow its lead, owning instead of leasing provides some control over their destiny."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/11/business/breaktime-nonprofit-connor-schoen-downtown-office-building/

You can read the article using the Franklin Library subscription to the Boston Globe. Follow these steps to do that ->

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2025/02/how-to-access-online-resources-with.html

Boston Globe: "Thanks to a 26-year-old nonprofit founder, one less downtown Boston office building is vacant"

How to Access Online Resources with your Franklin Library card

As you have noticed, I share pertinent articles from other legitimate media sources.

When I do that for the Boston Globe and NY Times, you can access the full article in the newspaper with a Franklin Public Library card. If you don't already have one, might be a good idea to get one.

There are a whole listing of online resources available with a library card. You'll need to go the Library page, Online resources, and then follow that link which will prompt you for your library card to get access. A few clicks but those clicks save you the subscription fee.

How to access the Online Resources step by step with the Boston Globe newspaper shown as an example:

Go to the Library page ->  https://franklinma.gov/233/Franklin-Public-Library 

Select “Online Resources” as indicated by the red arrow

Select “Online Resources” as indicated by the red arrow

Scroll alphabetically, or chose the alpha section to the one you want

Scroll alphabetically, or chose the alpha section to the one you want

On the next screen enter your Library card # and then enjoy the online access to this resource

On the next screen enter your Library card # and then enjoy the online access to this resource

While these steps are the easy one two three for most of the databases, there are a few that require some extra steps. If you need help getting access please contact the library through the website contact forms (https://www.franklinma.gov/235/Contact-Us) or call the main line at 508-520-4941

Download this info as a one page PDF to remember or to share

https://drive.google.com/file/d/16jrK4oH3oAR7R0dcAtVHBbMBQzW__089/view?usp=drive_link

Franklin is not alone in facing school district funding issues

"Residents of this town near the New Hampshire border have been on a roller coaster since early December over the future of its only school, which has just 150 students.

school district funding issues

At first the news was bleak: Ashby Elementary was one of two schools the North Middlesex Regional School Committee targeted for closure in December to remedy a projected $3.5 million shortfall for next year. One month later, the committee rescinded that vote, which also spared Spaulding Memorial School in neighboring Townsend.

But then on Thursday night, the committee moved forward with shuttering Ashby as part of the superintendent’s proposed budget, which would also likely require voters approve a tax increase to fully address the shortfall.

“It’s going to be detrimental to the community,” said Richie Sun, who has children in the second and third grades at Ashby. “People will move out and people won’t move in. Home prices will fall.”

Continue reading the article online -> (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/09/metro/massachusetts-school-districts-budget-cuts-inflation/

The 2nd of 6 Listening Sessions conducted by the Joint Budget Subcommittee will be held Wednesday at Remington/Jefferson cafetorium at 7 PM. Please attend to ask a question or make a comment. Please tune in via Comcast, Verizon or YouTube to watch and follow along.

• FRANKLIN TOWN HALL TV - YouTube  https://bit.ly/FTV-TownHall 

State Rep Jeff Roy looks back on 2024 and ahead to 2025 (audio)

FM #1373 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 1373 in the series. 

This session shares my conversation with State Representative Jeff Roy. We had our discussion in person at the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Monday, February 3, 2025. 

We cover 

• The recent Legislative session #193 of the General Court

• Legislation filed for #194

• Entertainment fee to offset cable cord cutting for local PEG channels 

• Transparency and the Globe articles 

• Changes at the Federal level can have impact to us

The recording runs about 49 minutes, so let’s listen in. Audio link -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-1373-state-rep-jeff-roy-02-03-25/

--------------

Jeff’s Representative profile page at MA Legislature =  https://malegislature.gov/Legislators/Profile/JNR1  

Jeff Roy’s Twitter =  https://twitter.com/jeffroy  

Representative Roy’s Facebook page =  https://www.facebook.com/RepJeffRoy/  

Subscribe to Jeff’s newsletter -> https://jeffreyroy.com/newsletter/

BU Student generate project archive with the info on the development of the major MA climate legislation passed in 2022 by Gov Baker -> "Chapter 179, An Act Driving Clean Energy and Offshore Wind"

https://sites.bu.edu/masslaw/2023/02/10/chapter-179-an-act-driving-clean-energy-and-offshore-wind/ 

-------------

We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial. 

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors

• If you don't like something here, please let me know

• And if you have interest in reporting on meetings or events, please reach. We’ll share and show you what and how we do what we do

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/  or www.franklin.news 

If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana"  c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

------------------

You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters

Boston Globe: "Five things to know about Trump’s school choice executive order"

"5 things to know about Trump’s school choice executive order"

"President Trump last week signed an executive order to expand school choice.

The move has drawn praise from conservatives who have long-advocated for families to be able to use taxpayer dollars to support their children’s private or faith-based education.

Critics, meanwhile, see Trump’s order as an attempt to dismantle public education, trampling student rights in the process."

Shared from -> (subscription maybe required)  https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/03/metro/trump-school-choice-executive-order/?

Boston Globe: "In re-filed bill, Healey takes second swing to allow cities and towns to raise taxes on hotels, meals, cars"

"Governor Maura Healey on Friday filed legislation geared toward cities and towns that would cement the option for hybrid public meetings, and allow local leaders to raise the tax rate on hotel stays, meals, and cars in their borders.

The sprawling proposal, which Healey previewed to municipal leaders at the Massachusetts Municipal Association’s annual conference in Boston last week, mirrors parts of legislation that Healey filed a year ago, which died in the Legislature.

Among those provisions she’s reintroducing are three tax proposals that her administration last year estimated could collectively generate more than $150 million in new annual tax revenue for towns and cities.

Boston Globe: "In re-filed bill, Healey takes second
swing to allow cities and towns to
raise taxes on hotels, meals, cars"

They include a provision that would allow towns and cities to collect a 1 percent tax on meals in restaurants and local stores, up from the current 0.75 percent maximum. Healey’s bill would also create an option for cities and towns to charge an additional 5 percent on the motor vehicle excise fee residents pay."

Continue reading the article online (subscription maybe required) ->

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/01/31/metro/healey-municipal-bill-taxes/

or 

Link to legislation document -> https://www.mass.gov/doc/healey-files-mea/download

Link to Gov Healey's press release -> https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-files-municipal-empowerment-bill-to-enhance-ability-of-local-leaders-to-deliver-high-quality-services-for-their-communities