"In collaboration with BioRender, Akiko Iwasaki, Ph.D., Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University School of Medicine, explores COVID-19 Immunology 101 for Non-immunologists."
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| July 22, 2020 Town Council Meeting Postponed |
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| Sidewalk Sale! Franklin Federated Church Friday, July 24, 12-5 |
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| THE BLACK BOX: Ali Funkhouser: I Only Wanna Laugh - July 23 |
"Franklin's Concerts on the Common start this Friday! This week's concert starts at 5 PM so come early and do some shopping at the market."
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| Concerts on the Common: Friday, July 24 |
"Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday afternoon signed a pair of bills that will update the state’s approach to mosquito control and allow restaurants to sell sealed containers of mixed drinks with their takeout and delivery food orders.
Lawmakers sent Baker those two bills on Thursday, along with a $1 billion supplemental budget that focuses on spending related to the state’s COVID-19 response. That spending bill (H 4808) remains on Baker’s desk, and he has until Sunday to act on it.
“While many mom and pop establishments have been able to slowly reopen in recent weeks, they still face significant challenges in their efforts to retain employees and pay their bills,” said State Sen. Diana DiZoglio, who filed the legislation. “According to our local, family owned and operated restaurants, these measures could help them generate thousands of dollars a month and would greatly assist them in paying utility bills and rent.”
The new to-go cocktails law (S 2812) is aimed at helping restaurants generate additional revenue while their operations are restricted amid the COVID-19 crisis. It follows an April law that allowed restaurants to sell beer and wine alongside takeout and delivery, and restaurants will now be able to sell limited quantities of beer, wine and mixed drinks for off-premises consumption through February 2021 or until the COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted, whichever comes later."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
"For years, Massachusetts police chiefs say, they’ve been ignored by state lawmakers. Now, police say legislators are threatening their safety - and the safety of the public — through proposed police reform measures.
“Law enforcement in Massachusetts is under attack by a liberal element that wants to bring shame (to police officers) that none of us understand,” said Hampden Police Chief Jeff Farnsworth, president of the Massachusetts Police Chiefs Association, on Tuesday. Massachusetts police have been leading the way in model police standards in the United States for years – but those efforts haven’t been acknowledged by legislators, he said.
“As leaders, we can stand here today and tell you, the legislation will not make us safer,” Farnsworth said.
Farnsworth was joined by nearly 100 of the state’s 351 police chiefs Tuesday morning in Framingham to criticize two police reform bills that were recently moved by the Senate and House. The chiefs urged Gov. Charlie Baker and state legislators to work with police on the legislation instead of cutting them out of the conversation."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
"As concerns mount about a potential wave of evictions this fall, Governor Charlie Baker on Tuesday extended the state’s ban on evictions and foreclosures into mid-October, citing the ongoing health and economic crisis set off by the pandemic.
The ban, which was set to expire Aug. 18, will remain in effect until Oct. 17, buying time for tenants as the state slowly starts to recover economically from the impact of COVID-19-related shutdowns. The measure blocks nearly all eviction cases from being filed in the state’s housing courts.
“The extension I am declaring today will provide residents of the Commonwealth with continued housing security as businesses cautiously re-open, more people return to work, and we collectively move toward a new normal,” Baker wrote to the Legislature."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
.png?itok=DapanwwY "Baker-Polito Administration Extends Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures to October 17") |
| Baker-Polito Administration Extends Moratorium on Evictions and Foreclosures to October 17 |
"A kid sniffles on a school bus. A parent’s throat is sore. A teacher’s spouse feels sick.
As schools reopen in the fall, previously common and insignificant situations will carry new prospects of danger. To guide districts’ responses, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education this week released protocols for when students, staffers, or families experience symptoms or test positive for COVID-19 — a 19-page plan that makes clear how complicated and challenging the new school year will be.
“Even as we remain vigilant, and public health metrics in Massachusetts remain positive, the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in school will not be zero,” the guidance reads. “No single strategy can ever be perfect, but all strategies together will reduce risk.”
The guidance includes detailed instructions for various scenarios, which all stress the importance of assessing symptoms, isolating the sick, disinfecting spaces, testing, and staying home while awaiting test results and notifying the school. It says schools should promptly notify the families of any “close contacts” — anyone who came within 6 feet of the infected person in recent days for more than 10 minutes — so that family member can self-isolate and get tested too.
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| DESE: "What happens when a student or staffer gets sick at school this fall?" |
HLAA News: HLAA Veterans Across America Virtual Chapter Meeting – July 21, 2020 |  |
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Posted: 15 Jul 2020 08:39 AM PDT
We invite veterans with hearing loss to attend the next Veterans Across America Virtual Chapter Meeting online using Zoom on July 21, 2020 at 8 pm EST (US and Canada). This meeting will be an open...
Read more here https://www.hearingloss.org/hlaa-veterans-across-america-virtual-chapter-meeting-july-21-2020/ |
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| Proposal on Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Massachusetts for Franklin |
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| #ThinkBlueFranklin Contest starts - get your camera ready! |
"Night one of our street hockey program. Thanks to our super coach @JackGeromini for running another great @FranklinRec program"
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| Franklin Recreation: Street hockey program begins |
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| VIRTUAL Veteran's Coffee Social - August 5 |
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| Franklin Public Library: curbside pickup hours changed slightly |
WITH THE END OF the legislative session fast approaching, the House and Senate are trying to hammer out a bill dealing with police reform. In the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis, there is tremendous momentum to pass a bill, but significant differences are emerging between the two branches.
The Senate passed its bill last week and the House is scheduled to take up its version on Wednesday. Both measures share common ground. They require fellow officers to intervene in situations of excessive force. They ban chokeholds, the use of tear gas, and most no-knock warrants. The latter became a spotlight issue following the shooting death of Breonna Taylor, a woman who died when Louisville, Kentucky, police executed a no-knock warrant at the wrong address, killing her in her own home.
The two branches also appear to be in general agreement on eliminating the municipal police training committee – a little-known entity within the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security – and replacing it with a new Massachusetts Police Standards and Training Commission with the power to investigate misconduct claims against police officers and decertify those officers found to violate standards. The decisions of the commission would be open to the public and shared with a national database of decertified police officers.
The House and Senate are not totally on the same page with regard to the commission. They differ on who would serve on the commission and the House bill would require that complaints about police misconduct not include a nondisclosure or non-disparagement agreement unless the complainant requests that provision. That would mean that police officers couldn’t ask their accusers to avoid speaking publicly about their conflicts if settlements are reached.
