Hi I am the Nursing Home Administrator at Cedarwood Gardens the former Franklin Nursing and Rehab. As we all know the holiday season can be a tough time for many. If anyone in the community would like to send a holiday card to a resident please address the envelope to
From the Pew Research Center comes a study on measuring news consumption:
"Given the increasing complexity and interconnectedness of this news landscape and concerns around overreporting of news consumption, Pew Research Center wanted to explore how best to measure news consumption: Where do currently used survey practices still work and where might changes be in order?
This report is the culmination of this effort and is organized into three sections: Chapter 1 looks at the U.S. public’s familiarity with newer concepts related to news; Chapter 2 examines possible ways to improve survey-based measures of news consumption; and Chapter 3 compares survey results to the use of passive data that comes straight from tracking software news consumers downloaded to their digital devices.
Americans are largely familiar with new technologies but often don’t think of them as news sources."
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| "Survey-based measurement of news consumption is not without its own problems" (Pew Research photo) |
FM #408 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 408 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my "Talk Franklin" conversation with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen and Marketing and Communications Specialist Anne Marie Tracey. We had our conversation via conference bridge to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
We talk about:
We’ll record a session of Talk Franklin each week leading to Christmas and take the holiday week off to begin again in 2021
Links to the key topics covered here are included in the show notes. The recording runs about 45 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Jamie and Anne Marie.
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| Town Administrator Jamie Hellen updates the Town Council during the 12/02/20 meeting |
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UNIQUE EMERGENCY PLANS FOR 2020-2021
"For the 2020-2021 school year, Franklin Public Schools plans to implement remote learning instead of snow days during the winter of 2020-2021. Having opened school remotely positions us well to pivot to a remote learning day in the event of inclement weather. Instruction on these days will be structured. The Department of Elementary and Secondary education is allowing districts to do so this school year only, without having to make up the days at the end of the year. In the event of inclement weather, educators and students/families should be planning for remote learning days to be held using the remote learning schedules previously communicated at the beginning of the school year. Schools will send additional information about daily schedules. Should inclement weather bring widespread power outages, the district may need to close one, multiple, or all schools for the day, and the day will need to be made up at the end of the year. Asynchronous learning will be provided in the event that sporadic power outages are experienced for individual students to be able to be “virtually present” for the day. The district will continue to use delayed starts to the school day if morning weather conditions make travel difficult but the forecast calls for improvement of conditions throughout the day."
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| Updated Inclement Weather Plans for 2020-2021 School Year |
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| 67 Degrees Brewing HOME DELIVERY (weekly) IS ON!! |
The Franklin Police Department has become aware of Residential B&E's that have occurred in several other cities and towns over the last month. These breaks all appear to have targeted the Asian and Indian communities.
In 2019 the town of Franklin experienced several Residential B&E's where the Indian community was also targeted.
With the holidays upon us The Franklin Police Department would like to remind all of our residents to remain vigilant. Please don't hesitate to contact this department in regards to any suspicious persons, vehicles or activity. Please be ready to describe in as much detail as possible any suspicious persons or vehicles you see when you call. This will help us identify them if they are still in the area when officers respond.
The Franklin Police Department wants all of our residents to have a happy and safe holiday.
Shared from https://www.franklinma.gov/police-department/news/recent-home-breaks-area-communities
Download a copy of the press release https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/news/psabes.pdf
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| Franklin Police: Recent home breaks in area communities |
From CommonWealth Magazine we share two articles of interest for Franklin:
"AS THE SURGE of COVID-19 cases continues statewide, Gov. Charlie Baker announced new measures to expand testing and keep hospital beds open.
Baker was visibly angry as he discussed the need to increase testing and stem the virus’s spread, saying that the state’s positive test rate “took off like a rocket,” because some people ignored public health recommendations and gathered with others outside of their households indoors and without masks over Thanksgiving.
“We’ve been saying for months this is one of the primary ways the virus spreads, and we talked a lot about why Thanksgiving was particularly worrisome,” Baker said at a Monday briefing. He said he had a weekend call with mayors, some of whom shared frustration at seeing neighbors hold indoor gatherings without mask wearing.
“Thanksgiving, the ultimate informal gathering among people who are informal with each other, but who don’t necessarily live with each other here and in many other places, has been exactly the kind of event that people said it would be,” Baker said. He added that he hasn’t shared a meal with his own father since February. "
Gov Baker's press conference that lead to the article can be viewed here https://youtu.be/s04QGn97BG8
"As news of promising progress on coronavirus vaccines have filled the headlines in recent weeks, labor lawyers say employers have been pressing one question in particular: Once approved, can they require employees to take it?“Until maybe about a month ago, we hadn’t had many clients asking about it,” said Brett Coburn, a labor and employment partner with Alston & Bird. “We’re starting to see a lot more momentum.”The news that a coronavirus vaccine could start being distributed within the next few weeks has sent stocks soaring and government officials scrambling to develop plans for the herculean task of distributing it across the country.For employers, many of which have kept workers home for months, it has opened a complex set of legal and practical issues: Can they require employees to take a vaccine? Should they offer incentives instead to encourage compliance? And what should they do if employees resist?"
"MASSACHUSETTS FINDS ITSELF in the eye of a storm. As municipal leaders, we have grown increasingly concerned as we see COVID-19 cases spiking across the state. In some communities we are already seeing the rising prevalence of this virus cause week-long turnaround times for COVID tests as contact tracers are unable to keep up with the sheer volume of new cases.
We have been warned by medical and epidemiological experts for months that a winter surge is coming. Now our public health infrastructure is starting to show signs of strain and will be overwhelmed if we continue on the same trajectory. There is no mystery what follows these record case numbers: a severe rise in hospitalizations for people who require intensive care and a frightening number of lives lost.
There is expert consensus that we are entering the most dangerous phase of the pandemic. But why accept the worst–case scenario as inevitable? In March, faced with an existential test as a society, we banded together and rose to the occasion. We found that with collective sacrifice and government action led by Gov. Baker, we were able to avoid the worst of what the catastrophe might have been.
We face another defining moment today, and we know that we can once again rise to the occasion and do what is necessary to meet this extraordinary challenge. If we act now to reverse the trend of community transmission, we can minimize the toll of human suffering ahead of us. This will require targeted, temporary rollbacks of the state’s reopening plan, with a focus on reducing activities that are sources of transmission, especially those that allow for gatherings of people from outside our households. "
63 MBTA employees infected with COVID-19
"MBTA GENERAL MANAGER Steve Poftak said on Monday that 63 of the agency’s employees currently have COVID-19, up from 50 last Wednesday.
Poftak said for every worker with COVID-19 there are usually two others affected, mostly because they came in contact with the infected individual and have to quarantine while they await the results of a test. “This begins to have workforce impact,” he said.
Jeffrey Gonneville, the deputy general manager of the T, said the last time the T had 63 infections was during the first COVID-19 surge in April. The peak number then was about 108.
To deal with the vacancies caused by the disease, Gonneville said the agency is slightly adjusting travel times on the T’s subway lines to free up employees who can be used to substitute for workers out because of COVID-19."
The members of the EDC will host the third in a series of five Business Listening & Networking Sessions on sectors of the Town’s economy. Anyone is invited to attend and offer public comments.
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| listening session schedule adjusted to include the original #3 session with that of the Dec 9 agenda |
FM #405 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 405 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Dec 2, 2020.
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: members of the Town Council, selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council Chambers, the public was remote via Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
I’ve split the full four hour plus meeting into three logical segments:
The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda.
Let’s listen to this segment of the Town Council meeting of Dec 2, 2020. Audio file => https://player.captivate.fm/episode/a062ed2d-0e87-4576-8ed6-4d6252137436
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Agenda document (and released supporting materials in one PDF)
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/12-02-2020_town_council_agenda.pdf
Agenda details with individual documents
https://www.franklinma.gov/town-council/agenda/december-2-town-council-meeting-tax-rate-hearing
Spear phishing update folder
https://franklinma.gov/administrator/pages/spear-phishing
My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/town-council-meeting-comcast-contract.html
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| Assessor Kevin Doyle addresses the meeting explaining the tax rate process |
FM #406 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 406 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Dec 2, 2020.
The
meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: members of the Town Council,
selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council
Chambers, the public was remote via Zoom conference bridge, all to
adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
I’ve split the full four hour plus meeting into three logical segments:
The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda.
Let’s listen to this segment of the Town Council meeting of Dec 2, 2020. Audio file => https://player.captivate.fm/episode/8e5fe663-ef08-47af-8d56-36b299ea74c1
--------------
Agenda document (and released supporting materials in one PDF)
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/12-02-2020_town_council_agenda.pdf
Agenda details with individual documents
https://www.franklinma.gov/town-council/agenda/december-2-town-council-meeting-tax-rate-hearing
Spear phishing update folder
https://franklinma.gov/administrator/pages/spear-phishing
My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/town-council-meeting-comcast-contract.html
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| Town Administrator Jamie Hellen address the Council on the Comcast contract and bylaw fee adjustment |
FM #407 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 407 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Dec 2, 2020.
The
meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: members of the Town Council,
selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council
Chambers, the public was remote via Zoom conference bridge, all to
adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
I’ve split the full four hour plus meeting into three logical segments:
The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda.
Let’s listen to this segment of the Town Council meeting of Dec 2, 2020. Audio file => https://player.captivate.fm/episode/f5e26bfe-2d9c-4dd7-a68a-a652123f561d
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| Police Chief TJ Lynch updates on the ongoing police investigation |
Despite continuing difficulties imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Register of Deeds William P. O’Donnell reported Norfolk County experienced increased numbers in real estate sales and lending activity during the month of November 2020.
“The Norfolk County real estate market,” noted Register O’Donnell, “has been firing on all cylinders during the past several months and November was no exception. 1,669 properties, both residential and commercial, were sold in Norfolk County during November, a 13% increase year over year. Average sales price, again including both residential and commercial sales, increased 7% to $1,079,955. Total sales volume during November was $1.08 billion, a 25% increase compared to November 2019. These numbers are especially impressive considering the impact COVID-19 has had on all communities, not just in Norfolk County but across Massachusetts and the United States. What factors are fueling these strong sales numbers? It appears a perfect storm of strong demand for single family housing in particular, limited supply of available housing stock, and historically low interest rates are motivating buyers to do what is necessary to secure housing.”
In addition to real estate sales, the Norfolk County lending market also had a strong month in November. 4,312 mortgages were recorded during the month, a 49% increase year over year. Total amount of money borrowed for mortgages countywide was $1.8 billion, a 2% increase compared to November 2019. “While some of the mortgages recorded reflect new sales, we are continuing to see a large number of individuals and families refinancing existing mortgages to take advantage of historically low interest rates so they can reduce monthly payments and in other cases pay for home improvements and other capital expenditures,” noted the Register.
The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds has been closely watching the foreclosure market. Since October 17th, there is no longer a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions. This moratorium was previously in place due to the COVID-19 state of emergency. O’Donnell stated, “During November, the Registry recorded 3 foreclosure deeds. Additionally, there were 9 Notice to Foreclose Mortgages, the first step in the foreclosure process, recorded here in Norfolk County. While a foreclosure recording is catastrophic to those it impacts, the low volume of foreclosure recordings appears to reflect lenders being sensitive to the plight of some of their customers who are in dire straits due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Please know we at the Registry are also sympathetic to those facing a housing crisis through no fault of their own.”
“The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds has also been working in close cooperation with Attorney General Maura Healey’s office to ensure there are no abuses being perpetrated against homeowners while the COVID-19 state of emergency is ongoing,” noted O’Donnell.
Additionally, for the past several years, the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds has partnered with Quincy Community Action Programs, 617-479-8181 x376, and NeighborWorks Housing Solutions, 508-587-0950 to help anyone facing challenges paying their mortgage. Another option for homeowners is to contact the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division (CARD) at 617-727-8400. Register O’Donnell stated, “If you are having difficulty paying your monthly mortgage, please consider contacting one of these non-profit agencies for help and guidance.”
Homestead recordings increased 8% during November. “A Homestead,” noted O’Donnell, “provides limited protection against the forced sale of an individual’s primary residence to satisfy unsecured debt up to $500,000. I would urge anyone who has not availed themselves of this important consumer protection tool to consider doing so.”
In conclusion, Register O’Donnell stated, “Many small businesses and specific sectors of our economy, such as restaurant and hospitality, have been negatively impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. One sector that has continued to thrive during the pandemic is the real estate market, particularly the residential market. There have been many factors that have kept the Norfolk County real estate market viable. Motivated buyers and sellers, low interest rates, and the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds remaining open for the recording of land documents. While the Registry of Deeds building in Dedham remains closed to the general public, we at the Registry remain open operationally to serve our customers, the residents of Norfolk County and real estate professionals alike. By listening to public health officials, practicing social distancing, making sure all staff are wearing masks and taking any and all other steps necessary, the Registry of Deeds has remained open for business. Land documents are being recorded electronically for many of our institutional users. We are also receiving documents via regular mail, Federal Express and from those placed in our drop-off box located just outside our main entrance at 649 High Street, Dedham, MA. As your Norfolk County Register of Deeds, I want to thank all of you for the cooperation, patience and understanding you have shown myself and the Registry staff while this pandemic has been ongoing. Be healthy. Be safe.”
To learn more about these and other Registry of Deeds events and initiatives, like us at facebook.com/NorfolkDeeds or follow us on twitter.com/NorfolkDeeds and Instagram.com/NorfolkDeeds.
The Norfolk County Registry of Deeds is located at 649 High Street in Dedham. The Registry is a resource for homeowners, title examiners, mortgage lenders, municipalities and others with a need for secure, accurate, accessible land record information. All land record research information can be found on the Registry’s website www.norfolkdeeds.org. Residents in need of assistance can contact the Registry of Deeds Customer Service Center via telephone at (781) 461-6101, or email us at registerodonnell@norfolkdeeds.org.
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| Register O’Donnell Reports Increased Real Estate Sales and Lending Numbers in Norfolk County |
