Franklin Town Government 101 - January 27 - 10 AM to noon

Franklin Town Government 101

What makes our town government tick? How can you have your voice heard? How can you get involved? What are the big challenges facing town government this year?

Come to Franklin Town Government 101 to find answers to some of these questions!

WHEN: Saturday, January 27 10-noon (snow date, if library closes, Feb. 3)

WHERE: Franklin Public Library, 118 Main St., Franklin, MA (ground floor meeting room)

PROGRAM:

10:00 AM Welcome and Introductions

10:10 AM Government and the Potential to do Good 

– Dr. Robert Krim, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Framingham State University. Among his many accomplishments, Dr. Krim is the Founder and Executive Director of the Boston Management Consortium, a partnership between the City of Boston and the Greater Boston management training and organizational development community. This partnership helped the City to be innovative and efficient and, in particular, helped lower the homicide rate by 50%.

10:40 Town and State! 

– Franklin State Rep. Jeff Roy has previously held positions on the Franklin School Committee and Town Council. He will discuss the rewards (and perils) of getting involved in town government. He will also discuss some of the lessons he has learned about municipal government, as well as providing some perspectives on how state policies and funding help (and sometimes complicate) town government.

11:10 Franklin 2018 – the Challenges Ahead 

– a conversation and question and answer period with Town Council representative Tom Mercer and School Committee member Denise Schultz, moderated by Steve Sherlock of Franklin Matters.

12:00 Adjourn

Franklin Town Government 101 is sponsored by Franklin in Focus, a citizens’ group supporting more transparent and effective government in Franklin.

Franklin Town Government 101 - January 27 - 10 AM to noon

Note: Yes, I am looking forward to participating in this discussion

In the News: Session on how government works scheduled; NationalGrid changing rate request

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"A small group of dedicated residents is holding a community meeting they’re calling “Franklin Town Government 101.” 

The goal of the get-together is to field questions about how local government ticks, how residents can access more information, and how to have their voices heard. 

The first of what is expected to be multiple meetings will occur on Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Franklin Public Library, with a snow date of Feb. 3. 

Co-organizer and father of newly-elected town council member Eamon Earls, Alan Earls, said he’s not looking to kick up dust with town officials, but rather hopes to further unite them with their residents. 

“We don’t want it to be an ‘us versus them’ thing at all,” he said. “I realize (town officials) also have a really big challenge in working with the town, because many of us don’t know a lot of what happens, and how it works.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180111/franklin-meeting-to-share-with-residents-how-local-government-works

"National Grid will seek a smaller rate hike in Massachusetts than it originally requested, the utility company said Thursday, citing the benefit of the recent federal tax reform bill. 

The company announced that it will reduce its proposed rate hike for Bay Staters by $36 million -- from a total increase of $87 million to $51 million --due to unexpected savings the company is now expecting to see as a result of the federal corporate tax rate dropping from 35 percent to 21 percent. 

“We are committed to ensuring that the tax savings of the legislation are fully realized and are used to help our customers in their energy bills,” Cordi O’Hara, president and COO of National Grid in Massachusetts, said in a statement. “We’ll continue to seek opportunities to provide this benefit to all of our customers.” 

National Grid said it does not yet know exactly how the changed proposed rates will affect customers’ bills, but did say the change will “result in smaller impacts than originally proposed and will vary across rate classes and customer usage.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20180111/citing-tax-law-national-grid-reduces-rate-hike-request

"civics education is a rather limited offering for students"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"According to Michael Walsh, a history, government and politics teacher at Franklin High School, students often struggle with answering sample questions from the U.S. citizenship test. 

A general understanding of the material only goes so far. 

“They may know there are three branches (of government) but do they know they’re supposed to be equal branches?” Walsh asked in a recent interview."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170824/students-push-for-education-about-government

The full text of the US Constitution can be found online
https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/constitution

The charter is the document that determines how Franklin governs itself
http://www.franklinma.gov/sites/franklinma/files/uploads/revised_2013.pdf

Franklin Municipal Building

“Increased trust leads to being able to manage better in a lot of ways”

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"Massachusetts leads the nation in a lot of things, but transparency isn’t one of them. When news start-up MuckRock published a ranking of government transparency in all 50 states based on how long each took to respond to public records requests in 2015, Massachusetts placed 49th. Only Hawaii lagged behind the commonwealth. MuckRock found Massachusetts hands down little punishment for public records violations and slaps on huge fees for information. The upside, though, is that recent pushback could spark some change in the law. 

Because of social media and the internet, demand for public records has increased over the years. With that, demand for records to be online and easily available has grown. While recent laws aimed at making public records easier to obtain will affect everyone, they are mainly targeted at the state level. At the town level, though, transparency can also be a problem, cropping up at selectmen and other municipal meetings across the region. If you ask Hopkinton's Chris Bullock, though, just putting numbers online isn't enough. Though many municipalities in MetroWest and the Milford area have their records online, Bullock said they need more context."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161009/transparency-changing-municipal-relationship-with-public

screen grab of part of Franklin's 2014 data in ClearGov (note: 2014 is only year currently available)

• For some of Franklin's data in the ClearGov view

http://www.cleargov.com/massachusetts/norfolk/city/franklin/2014

• Boston is working on CityScore which summarizes the city operations in key performance metrics.

https://www.boston.gov/cityscore

• More about the dashboard can be found here

http://www.cityofboston.gov/mayorsdashboard/

How does Franklin consider itself?

The downtown traffic flow has been redesigned. Before we go and create another charter commission to review how we operate as a government, let's spend some time designing our flag. 

Yes, Franklin does not have a flag, or if we do, I have not seen it. We have a seal, which is prominently used where we could use the principles of design from a flag.

What are the design principles of a flag?

I am glad you asked, there are five:

1. Keep It Simple (The flag should be so simple that a child can draw it from memory)
2. Use Meaningful Symbolism (The flag’s images, colors, or patterns should relate to what it symbolizes)
3. Use 2 to 3 Basic Colors (Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set)
4. No Lettering or Seals (Never use writing of any kind or an organization’s seal)
5. Be Distinctive or Be Related (Avoid duplicating other flags, but use similarities to show connections)

And from the TED Talk below:

"As we move more and more into cities, the city flag will become not just a symbol of that city as a place, but also it could become a symbol of how that city considers design itself, especially today, as the populace is becoming more design-aware. And I think design awareness is at an all-time high. A well-designed flag could be seen as an indicator of how a city considers all of its design systems: its public transit, its parks, its signage. It might seem frivolous, but it's not. 

16:08 - TK: Often when city leaders say, "We have more important things to do than worry about a city flag," my response is, "If you had a great city flag, you would have a banner for people to rally under to face those more important things."

Where did the flag idea come from? 
A relisten of this TED talk:

"Roman Mars is obsessed with flags — and after you watch this talk, you might be, too. These ubiquitous symbols of civic pride are often designed, well, pretty terribly. But they don't have to be. In this surprising and hilarious talk about vexillology — the study of flags — Mars reveals the five basic principles of flag design and shows why he believes they can be applied to just about anything."

Who is Roman Mars?  http://www.ted.com/speakers/roman_mars

more on flag design

For more on flag design
http://99percentinvisible.org/article/vexillology-revisited-fixing-worst-civic-flag-designs-america/

Opening Doors to Federal Government Contracting - May 19 - 6:00 PM

Looking for new markets for your small business’ goods or services?

• Consider selling to the federal government.
• Learn how the federal government purchases.

Understand these federal certification’s application process and benefits:

Small Business - Small Disadvantaged Business - Women Owned Small Business - Veteran and Service Disabled - 8(a) Business Development Program - HUBZone Program 

Small business certifications are like professional certifications; they document a special capability or status that will help you compete in the marketplace. Unlike permits and licenses, you do not need to obtain certifications to legally operate. 

However, in order to take advantage of business opportunities, such as government contracts, you may need to obtain some certifications.

RSVP here 

Incontro Restaurant

"induced earthquakes will likely happen in the near future"

The Washington Post reports that the US Geological Survey (USGS) has updated their maps showing the increased likelihood of man-made earthquakes. 

"Earthquakes are a natural hazard — except when they're man-made. The oil and gas industry has aggressively adopted the technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to shatter subsurface shale rock and liberate the oil and gas lurking there. But the process results in tremendous amounts of chemical-laden wastewater. Horizontal drilling for oil can also produce massive amount of natural, unwanted salt water. The industry disposes of this wastewater by pumping it into deep wells. 

And the Earth moves."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/03/28/new-seismic-hazard-map-includes-fracking-related-quakes-for-the-first-time/

USGS map displaying 21 areas impacted by induced earthquakes as well as the location of the fluid injection wells that have and have not been associated with earthquakes. (Courtesy of USGS)

The USGS announcement of the press conference during which this data was released http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4486&from=rss_home#.VvnG2vkrLIU


The Earthquake Hazards Program can be found here  http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

The Guide to Child Support in the Commonwealth

The Mass.GOV blog has a new post on "The Guide to Child Support in the Commonwealth."

Divorce or legal separation can put both emotional and financial strain on a family. When the parents of a child no longer live together, child support must be paid by one of the parents to ensure a child’s financial needs are met to facilitate growth, security, and mental development. 

The parent with whom the child lives most of the time is called the custodial parent and the other parent is non-custodial. Often, it is the non-custodial parent who pays child support to the custodial parent. The process is straightforward whether you’re the parent who pays child support or the parent who receives child support.

screen shot of the Mass.Gov webpage

Continue reading the "Guide to Child Support" here
http://blog.mass.gov/blog/children-families/a-guide-to-child-support-in-the-commonwealth/

Will Potter: The shocking move to criminalize nonviolent protest

Hmm...

"The opportunity to lead is a privilege that is earned"

The Milford Daily News reports on the Project 351 'Day of Service' that was held on Saturday. 8th grade students from around the Commonwealth gathered at the State Capital where Governor Deval Patrick was quoted as saying:

"I think having a sense of community is vital to solving every issue facing us, our commonwealth and our country," he said. "It's the notion that we have a common cause, a stake not only in our own struggles, but those of our neighbors as well." 

Ashland ambassador Julia Sicard asked Patrick if, as a youth, he thought he could be governor. Patrick said he had not, but was driven to politics by a desire to stop short-sighted policies. 

Project 351

"I think the way we make government better is to make hard decisions now, which will pay off over time," he said. 

Rebekah Redwine, of Franklin, was among the students who led the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

See more at: http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140119/NEWS/140118635/1994/NEWS#sthash.0F9cM7f6.dpuf



For more information about Project 351 visit their webpage here  http://project351.com/

Rep Roy: Student Government Day

On April 5th, the State House hosted the 66th Annual Student Government Day. Jeffrey N. Roy (D-Franklin) was delighted to see five students from Franklin and Medway participate – Ryan Creavin, Meagan Schmauder and Dylan Martin from Franklin, and Corrie Brown and Amanda Pollock from Medway. The students had the opportunity to participate in a Joint Senate and House of Representatives mock debate, or participate at the John Adams Court house as Supreme Judicial Court justices. 

“It was great to see the students actively engaged in government” noted Representative Jeffrey Roy (D – Franklin). “They offered some poignant arguments and speeches during the debate and set a good example for legislating” For 66 years the General Court has hosted this event, offering insight to young and spirited students into how the legislature functions. 

The enclosed photograph shows Ryan Creavin, Meagan Schmauder and Dylan Martin with Rep. Roy in the State House.

Ryan Creavin, Meagan Schmauder and Dylan Martin with Rep. Roy

STATEMENT FROM SECRETARY JOANNE GOLDSTEIN ON THE NOMINATION OF THOMAS PEREZ FOR U.S. LABOR SECRETARY

MA seal

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        March 19, 2013

Contact:–Kevin Franck, 617.626.7121(o), 617.823.7580 (c)

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STATEMENT FROM SECRETARY JoANNE GOLDSTEIN  ON THE NOMINATION OF THOMAS PEREZ  for U.S. Labor Secretary

BOSTON – Tuesday, March 19, 2013 – Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Joanne F. Goldstein released the following statement today on President Obama's nomination of Thomas Perez to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor: "Tom Perez's life story, his experience at the state level and his unwavering commitment to protecting our nation's promise for all Americans make him an excellent choice to be the U.S. Secretary of Labor. He shares the Commonwealth's commitment to protecting vulnerable workers and I look forward to working with him."

REVISED NUMBERS SHOW MASSACHUSETTS CREATED 32,100 MORE JOBS IN 2011 AND 2012 THAN PREVIOUSLY ESTIMATED

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                        March 7, 2013

Contact:–Kevin Franck, 617.626.7121(o), 617.823.7580 (c)

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REVISED NUMBERS SHOW MASSACHUSETTS CREATED 32,100 MORE JOBS IN 2011 AND 2012 THAN PREVIOUSLY ESTIMATED 16,100 New Jobs Estimated for January 2013, Unemployment holds steady at 6.7%

BOSTON MA - March 7, 2013 – Revised benchmark numbers from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released today show that Massachusetts created 92,800 jobs in 2011 and 2012, 32,100 more jobs than previously estimated. Revisions to the statewide unemployment rate also show very little month-to-month change for 2012. Every year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) releases year-end revisions to its previous estimates for job growth and unemployment. While initial estimates of job growth are based on surveys of representative samples, the benchmark revisions are based on actual data collected from employers in the Commonwealth through September 2012. Revised jobs numbers for the last quarter of 2012 are still based on projections. "We still have work to do to make sure everyone in Massachusetts who wants a job can find one and that companies who want to hire can find the employees they need but these new jobs number based on actual data make me more confident than ever that our investments in innovation, infrastructure and education are helping the Commonwealth recover faster and stronger," said Labor and Workforce Development Secretary Joanne F. Goldstein. "These jobs estimates show a steady job recovery and more continuous job growth compared to previously published estimates for 2011 and 2012." The revised unemployment numbers, drawn from newly revised data, show that the unemployment rate for every month of 2012 was between 6.6% and 6.8% and there was very little change from month-to-month. In January 2013, the Massachusetts unemployment rate was 6.7%. According to the BLS, 19,300 private sector jobs were created while government jobs declined by 3,200. Thus, the Commonwealth added 16,100 jobs in the first month of 2013. 2011-2012 Benchmark Job Growth Revisions by Sector Education and Health Services: Previous estimates showed jobs in Education and Health Services increased by 300 in 2011 followed by a gain of 7,300 jobs in 2012. Revised estimates show Education and Health Services gained 13,800 jobs in 2011followed by a gain of 13,900 jobs in 2012.  Construction: Previous estimates showed jobs in Construction decreased by 2,000 in 2011 followed by a gain of 300 jobs in 2012.  Revised estimates show Construction added 5,400 jobs in 2011 followed by a gain of 2,400 jobs in 2012. Leisure and Hospitality: Previous estimates show jobs in Leisure and Hospitality decreased by 2,200 in 2011 followed by a gain of 6,300 jobs in 2012.  Revised estimates show Leisure and Hospitality gained 7,200 jobs in 2011 followed by a gain of 10,700 jobs in 2012.  Manufacturing: Previous estimates showed jobs in manufacturing increased by 2,300 in 2011 followed by a decrease of 1,100 jobs in 2012. Revised estimates show Manufacturing lost 1,100 jobs in 2011 followed by a loss of 2,500 jobs in 2012. Government: Previous estimates showed Government jobs declined by 6,000 in2011 followed by a gain of 900 jobs in 2012. Revised estimates show government lost 3,600 jobsin 2011followed by a gain of 6,200 jobs in 2012. Professional, Scientific and Business Services: Previous estimates indicated this sector added 9,900 jobs in 2011 and another 22,800 jobs gained in 2012. Revised estimates show 16,200 jobs added in 2011 and another 9,300 jobs gained in 2012. January 2013 Employment Overview Professional, Scientific, and Business Services added 5,100 (+1%) jobs over the month. Over the year, Professional, Scientific, and Business Services added 15,100 (+3.1%) jobs with gains across all components. Trade, Transportation, and Utilities added 2,400 (+0.4%)jobs over the month with gains across all components. Over the year, Trade, Transportation, and Utilities added 6,500 (+1.2%) jobs; Retail Trade added 3,600 (+1%) jobs; Transportation added 2,600 (+3.1%) jobs; and Wholesale Trade added 300 (+0.2%) jobs. Leisure and Hospitality added 3,300 (+1%) jobs over the month due to gains in both components. Over the year, Leisure and Hospitality added 10,700 (+3.3%) jobs. Construction added 2,400 (+2.1%) jobs over the month. Over the year, Construction added3,700 (+3.2%) jobs. Other Services added 1,300 (+1.1%) jobs over the month. Over the year, Other Services added 2,700 (+2.2%) jobs. Information added 700 (0.8%) jobs over the month. Over the year, Information gained 2,300 (+2.7%) jobs. Financial Activities added 100 (+0.0%) jobs over the month. Over the year, Financial Activities gained 500 (+0.2%) jobs; Finance and Insurance lost 300 (-0.2%) jobs; Real Estate, Rental and Leasing added 800 (+2%) jobs. Education and Health Services gained 1,900 (+0.3%) jobs over the month. Over the year, Education and Health Services gained 14,300 (+2.1%) jobs. Manufacturing gained 2,100 jobs (+0.8%) over the month. Over the year, Manufacturing lost 1,500 (-0.6%) jobs. Mining and Logging gained no (0.0%) jobs. Over the year, Mining and Logging lost 200 (-18.2%) jobs. Government lost 3,200 (-0.7%) jobs over the month. Local Government lost 1,400 (-0.5%) jobs, State Government lost 1,600 jobs (-1.3%) and Federal Government lost 200 (-0.4%) jobs. Over the year, Government gained 3,000 (+0.7%) jobs. Labor Force Overview The January 2013 estimates show 3,251,000 Massachusetts residents were employed and 232,900 were unemployed, for a total labor force of 3,483,900. The January labor force increased by 2,100 from 3,481,800 in December, as 2,800 more residents were employed and 600 fewer residents were unemployed over the month. The labor force was 7,400 above last year's level, with 9,400 more residents employed and 2,000 fewer residents unemployed.   The unemployment rate is based on a monthly sample of households. The job estimates are derived from a monthly sample survey of employers.As a result, the two statistics may exhibit different monthly trends. NOTES: Beginning with the March 2011 estimates, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has assumed responsibility for the production of the CESState and sub-state jobs estimates. BLS has also implemented methodological changes which may increase the month to month variability of the estimates. See Changes to procedures for producing Current Employment Statistics (CES) State estimates. Local area unemployment statistics for January 2013 will be released on Tuesday, March 12, 2013. The preliminary February 2013 and revised January 2013 unemployment rate, labor force data and jobs estimates for Massachusetts will be released on Thursday, March 21, 2013.  See Media Advisory for a complete list of release dates. Detailed labor market information is available atwww.mass.gov/lmi. ###

Sunday Reading suggestions

With snow swirling again, pull up a cuppa something warm, settle into your comfy chair and click through to read a few articles on local government, interesting free tools used in schools and deceptive ingredients in common branded foods.

Boston Fed Highlights Regional Consolidation as Opportunity for Local Governments to Reduce Costs, Improve Service Quality

from Boston Fed News

New research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's New England Public Policy Center is prompting state and municipal officials to take a second look at a familiar proposal: regional consolidation. Motivated by the prospect of continuing strain on local government finances, this research examines the extent to which joint service provision could potentially reduce costs.

Student Oral Reports with School Hallway Dioramas via AudioBoo

by Wesley Fryer

I took the following photographs today in the hallway at Independence Elementary School in Yukon, Oklahoma. The GT teacher, Dawn Dukes, has helped students create audio narrations (powered by AudioBoo) linked via QR codes for independent study projects students completed recently. It’s a high-tech museum-like audio tour, in the hallways of IES in Yukon. What a great use of educational technology tools to help students practice their oral language skills as required by the Common Core State Standards! It’s especially cool since the library at IES has iPod Touches for students to check out, pre-loaded with QR Code reader apps like i-Nigma so students can listen to their peers share their reports

Food Babe Investigates: How Food Companies Exploit Americans with Ingredients Banned in Other Countries

by Food Babe

Thoughts of outrage, unfairness, disbelief, and ultimately grief consumed me while I was doing this investigation. A list of ingredients that are banned across the globe but still allowed for use here in the American food supply recently made news. While I have written about some of those ingredients before, this list inspired me to look a little deeper and find out how pervasive this issue is for us. Are these banned ingredients contributing to the higher mortality and disease rates in the U.S.? . . . → Read More: Food Babe Investigates: How Food Companies Exploit Americans with Ingredients Banned in Other Countries

State opens registration for Student Government Day

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

State opens registration for Student Government Day

via The Milford Daily News News RSS by Staff reports on 12/10/12

The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has opened registration for the 2013 Student Government Day, and Sen. Richard Moore, D-Uxbridge, is encouraging all area high schools to participate.

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to The Milford Daily News News RSS using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Food Marketed to Children

Are you concerned about government guidelines on food? Particularly, those where they cover food marketing to children? You have a chance to have your say. Excerpts from the full document here (PDF) reveal the objectives of the guidelines and feedback needed:

The Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (Working Group), comprised of representatives from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), seeks public comment on a preliminary proposal for voluntary principles to guide industry self-regulatory efforts to improve the nutritional profile of foods marketed to children. The Working Group has drafted these principles pursuant to a directive from Congress, as set out in the 2009 Omnibus Appropriations Act. As directed by Congress, the Working Group has developed this proposal based on the nutrition, health, and marketing expertise of the member agencies, with the goal of improving children’s diets and addressing the high rates of childhood obesity. Marketing can be an effective tool to encourage children to make better food choices, and voluntary adoption by industry of strong, uniform nutrition and marketing principles, like those proposed here, will advance the goal of promoting children’s health. 

Public comment is sought to help inform the Working Group in shaping its recommendations for enhanced industry self-regulatory efforts as part of a report requested by Congress. Comments are not being requested as the basis for regulation. The recommendations include principles addressing the nutritional quality of foods that are most heavily marketed to children. They also include proposed definitions of advertising, promotion, and other marketing activities targeting children ages 2-11 years and adolescents ages 12-17 years to which the nutrition principles would apply. The Working Group seeks public comment on both the nutrition principles and the definitions of marketing targeted to children and adolescents. Comments must be received no later than June 13, 2011
,,,,

The primary objective of the Working Group in developing recommendations for nutrition principles for foods marketed to children has been the promotion of children’s health through better diet, with particular – but not sole – emphasis on reducing the incidence of childhood obesity. The proposed recommendations are therefore designed to encourage children, through advertising and marketing, to choose foods that make a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet (Principle A) and minimize consumption of foods with significant amounts of nutrients that could have a negative impact on health or weight – specifically, sodium, saturated fat, trans fat, and added sugars (Principle B). 

The Working Group recommends that, as industry develops new products and reformulates existing products, it should strive to create foods that meet both of these two basic nutrition principles. It further recommends that industry focus these efforts on those categories of foods that are most heavily marketed directly to children, such as breakfast cereals, carbonated beverages, restaurant foods and snack foods. The proposed principles, if fully implemented by industry for these categories, should lead to significant improvements in the overall nutritional profile of foods marketed to children.  

The Working Group recommends that industry work toward the goal that all foods within the categories most heavily advertised or otherwise marketed directly to children and adolescents would meet the nutrition principles by the year 2016. The Working Group acknowledges that this is an ambitious goal, but believes it is warranted by the urgent need to improve children’s diets and health and address the epidemic of childhood obesity.
,,,,

The Working Group seeks comment on its two proposed nutrition principles, including the recommendation that industry focus its self-regulatory efforts on the categories of foods most heavily marketed to children. The Working Group is proposing two possible approaches for assessing whether a food product meets Principle A – making a meaningful contribution to a healthful diet. The Working Group is also proposing specific targets for saturated fat, trans fat, added sugars, and sodium content to meet Principle B – minimizing consumption of foods with significant amounts of these nutrients that could have a negative impact on health or weight. Finally, the Working Group is seeking comment on its proposed goal that all foods within the categories most heavily marketed to children meet these two nutrition principles by the year 2016.

You can review the full document here (PDF) and find the details on how to provide feedback.

Engage with your government

The role of government as a service for the people should be an ongoing discussion. The Franklin Charter should be coming up for a decision by the voters of Franklin this November.

Changes to government at the State level impact what happens here in Franklin. Changes to the government at the Federal level also trickle down to impact what happens here. If you want to get involved on the Federal level:

The Federal Communications Commission is holding two dialogs with the public:

• Future of Media Forum – Join in the discussion to help ensure that all Americans have access to vibrant, diverse sources of news and information that will enable them to enrich their families,  communities and democracy.
• Reboot.FCC.gov Forum – Join the discussion to help improve the Federal Communications Commission. Your suggestions, ideas and comments will be part of a public discussion that furthers FCC reform. 

You can view more dialogs with the government at USA.gov.

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

More info on the Franklin charter changes can be found here
http://franklinmatters.blogspot.com/2010/07/in-news-charter-changes.html

Additional info will be posted as soon as it is available.


Franklin, MA

Gov 2.0 Camp - great discussions started

Gov 2.0 Camp was held at the Sorenstein Center at Harvard on Saturday, March 6th. In an unconference format, it brought together a diverse group of folks all interested in improving government.

As part of the unconference, each attendee introduced themselves and provided three words. Someone was quick enough to capture all the three words and produced the following Wordle:



Note: if you click on the image, it will take you to the original and a larger version


My three words were: conversation, content, community.

More about the Gov 2.0 event can be found on the wiki page here
http://gov20ne.pbworks.com/

Can't go? Watch on the web!

What is Government 2.0?

Government 2.0 Camp New England is an unconference about using social media tools and Web 2.0 technologies to create a more effective, efficient and collaborative government.

Who should attend the Gov 2.0 Camp New England?

Anyone interested in improving government through social media and Web 2.0 technology should attend, including government employees, elected officials, students, researchers, and citizens of all types. The purpose of the conference is to share innovative projects and brainstorm new ideas.

Watch Gov 2.0 Camp New England live: http://bit.ly/gov20ne

PS - I will be attending and will report back during the day, if connections are available, or at least a recap after.

 

This we know

Found this cool search engine of government data about a place in the USA. You input the place name, or zip code to see what it finds.


Here are the Franklin results



-----

Found via

This We Know - Government Data About Your Town

from Free Technology for Teachers by noreply@blogger.com (Mr. Byrne)