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| "Go for the Green" Online Auction - ends Mar 17 |
"In the shadow of its exceptionalism, America fails to invest in the basics.
Stunning advances in medicine and technology have comealongside systemic breakdowns in infrastructure and health.
....
America can put a rover on Mars, but it can’t keep the lights on and water running in the city that birthed the modern space program. It can develop vaccines, in record time, to combat a world-altering illness, but suffers one of the developed world’s highest death rates due to lack of prevention and care. It spins out endless entertainment to keep millions preoccupied during lockdown — and keep tech shares riding high on Wall Street — but leaves kids disconnected from the access they need to do their schoolwork. "
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| MindShift: Mental Habits that support Lifelong Learning |
Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick W. McDermott - Norfolk County Sheriff Website
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| almost spring time, DPW is busy already tidying up the Town |
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| FSPA: "Broadway in Franklin" - Mar 21, 2021 |
by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 03/14/2021
While recording a recent session of our weekly radio program ‘More Perfect Union’ I noted a reaction from our roundtable panelists to my somewhat casual comment. We were discussing the nettlesome issues around the vaccine rollout. I was not criticizing either Charlie Baker or Joe Biden. I was addressing the unprecedented enormous challenges they are facing.
The key word to keep in mind: unprecedented.
The challenges of the pandemic are indeed unprecedented in scope.
When scrambling to address today’s emergency today, it’s almost impossible to fully anticipate the downstream emergent needs of tomorrow. “Warp Speed” was a simplistic response – throw some money at the private sector and hope. The science came through, but it wasn’t backed with a forward plan for the follow-on logistics.
Scope:
Administering the three vaccines will require ≈450MM (million) doses to ≈300MM willing Americans. (Yes, I’m more than willing.) At 5 minutes per, that’s ≈37.5MM person/hours or ≈4.7MM 8-hour days. That means between now and mid-June we need at least ≈52 thousand trained personnel working 7 days/week. No slack time.
A best-case working assumption – 15 workers per site. (Clearly not the case.) This means that vaccines must be distributed timely as needed to ≈4K sites. Logistics. Considering small sites with 1 or more workers – it’s more like ≈20 thousand sites? That’s how Biden’s team estimated a need for 20K pharmacies and health centers. The President’s team clearly understands logistics, science and math.
Joe also recently arranged to stockpile vaccine for all Americans who want it by the end-of May. Now the challenge is getting that vaccine into arms. They are ramping up and organizing that Herculean effort as quickly as possible. The challenge? Create a temporary national organization having 50 thousand trained staff. All hands on deck who can vaccinate – from dentists to optometrists; from EMT’s to midwives; from veterans to veterinarians.
SoW – The Scope-of-Work: The pandemic – It’s big. It’s complex. It’s also unstable. We’re asking the Biden administration to work a miracle. He promised 100 million doses in arms in 100 days. A reasonable goal, It got done by day 60. Recall that when Joe took office, he asked us all to mask up for 100 days. A reasonable request. Are we all doing our part?
During our radio session I quipped – Good, Fast. Cheap. Pick two.
You want Good & Fast? It won’t be Cheap.
You want Fast & Cheap? It won’t be Good.
You want Good & Cheap? It won’t be Fast.
A corollary observation about shaping the scope of any endeavor. When it’s all over you’ll get to explain one thing:
High Expense Why it costs so much.
Poor Quality Why it works so bad. (-and/or looks so ugly.)
Late Timing Why it’s not done yet.
The first is often the easiest to explain. We are attempting to accelerate the pace, to literally buy time. In this case, time is not only money; it’s also lives. We are in an urgent fight to save lots of lives. We’re scrambling to save our national economy and personal livelihoods. Time is not on our side, yet we have no other choice but to fight the good fight. Time is a terrible taskmaster. We the electorate also can be terrible taskmasters, seeking affordable, instant perfection from political leaders.
The total $6,000,000,000,000.00 (trillion) government bailout cost will average $1,700.00 in annualized per capita cost for every single American over the next decade. That’s $7,000.00/year for a family of four. Scope.
Consider these numbers as well:
The Feds spent almost 2X their annual budget trying to save us. That’s – um, a lot? More specifically, it raises the total projected Fed budget to 19% GDP for a decade. Now, to be perfectly unclear, if all the economists were laid out end-to-end, they wouldn’t reach a conclusion. ( – unknown) Economics is known as the dismal science, and I’m pretty dismal at it. Thus, I can’t opine as to how our national economy will absorb the cost and continue to grow. However, that too, is actually possible.
Hopefully, it will grant us all brighter days ahead.
But, for now – the cost of salvation is dear, non-negotiable, but absolutely necessary.
And – as always –
Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm.
And, thank you for watching.
Listen to "Toward A More Perfect Union" on Monday’s at 11 AM, 2 PM and 8 PM at wfpr.fm or 102.9 on the local area dial.
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| Franklin TV: Scope - This is huge! |
"Diversity– “The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc” is what comes up when searched on google. But what does this really mean?
To myself and many others, diversity is being inclusive to all and not just the ones we look like; it is standing up for someone even if you don’t know them. It is being a kind human- when you see people being judged based on the color of their skin and you stand up for them. We all deserve equal kindness and respect.
In order to deep dive into race relations at Franklin High School, I interviewed Mr. Hanna and have included his thoughts."
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| Pantherbook: "Race Relations at FHS" |
"After the cancellation of the entire 2020 spring season because of the coronavirus pandemic, high school sports teams and athletes across Massachusetts will have the opportunity to participate in MIAA-sponsored postseason tournaments this year.
During a virtual meeting Friday afternoon, the MIAA’s board of directors voted, 18-0, to approve sectional tournaments this spring. The board also left open the possibility that the postseason could be expanded to include traditional state semifinals and finals for sectional champions.
The board agreed to survey member schools over the next few days, gauging interest in expanding the postseason to include state tournaments and their willingness to participate. The board will meet again Wednesday afternoon to vote on that piece of the plan."
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).
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?
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!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| Franklin uses 'free cash' for its capital budget |
Audio file = https://player.captivate.fm/episode/ebddf331-f1ea-432d-864b-601e72d320a4
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).
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?
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"
 |
| Chief Lynch answers a question during this segment of the meeting |
Audio file = https://player.captivate.fm/episode/7ade95d3-e023-4a12-b4fb-72640e702aec
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).
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?
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"
 |
| Town Administrator Jamie Hellen explaining the revenue estimates as we start the budget cycle for FY 22 |
"The #COVID-19 #vaccine does not contain the live virus. If you experience side effects, these are most likely signs that your body is building immunity against the virus. "
Learn more: https://t.co/Bm8ycw2dHa or https://www.mass.gov/info-details/trust-the-facts-get-the-vax
#TrustTheFacts #GetTheVax https://t.co/fs1fJWIMxk
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| Mass. Public Health: Trust the Facts! Get the Vax! |
"Our meeting time has changed to 7:30 PM on Monday, March 15th 2021. Sara Ahern will be in attendance at our meeting."
Shared from Twitter: https://t.co/EfbMnaC4Gl or https://twitter.com/FHS_PCC/status/1370747837282140163
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| FHS PCC - Meeting Monday, Mar 15, changed to 7:30 PM |
The Massachusetts House of Representatives and state Senate on Thursday March 11, 2021, passed legislation to extend mail-in voting and early voting options for elections held through the end of June 2021. The vote-by-mail provision was previously set to expire at the end of March 2021.
“As other states across our country work to disenfranchise their voters, I am proud Massachusetts is choosing to extend and enhance efforts to ensure every eligible resident can exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot in our local elections, stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “With a record number of ballots casted in 2020, our successful vote-by-mail system increased access and protected our most vulnerable residents from putting their health at risk. I would like to thank Senators Rodrigues, Finegold, Lewis and Creem as well as Speaker Mariano and my colleagues in the House for their collaboration on this bill and look forward to this extension of voting options becoming law.”
“During this pandemic, our vote-by-mail system has proved to be an accessible and secure tool for voters to exercise their right to vote without putting their health at risk,” said Speaker of the House Ronald J. Mariano (D-Quincy). “We are glad to have passed this extension that will allow cities and towns to continue offering vote by mail and other voting options for their upcoming elections. I thank my fellow members in the House, and Senate President Spilka and our state senators for their collaboration in getting this bill to the Governor’s desk. We must continue to explore options that encourage and empower voters to be active participants in our democratic process, and I look forward to working with Chairs Aaron Michlewitz and Daniel Ryan in legislation that will make vote by mail permanent in Massachusetts.”
“Ensuring access to the polls is a vital part of democracy, and I am happy that the Legislature has taken this important step to ensure upcoming local elections can move forward safely without disruption,” said Senator Michael J. Rodrigues (D-Westport), Chair of the Senate Committee on Ways and Means. “Thank you to Senate President Spilka and Senator Finegold for their leadership on this issue, and thank you to my colleagues in the Legislature for supporting equitable access to voting for all residents of the Commonwealth, including individuals with disabilities.”
“By passing this short-term extension of the vote by mail reforms the Legislature enacted last year, we are ensuring that cities and towns will be able to provide voters with safe and easy access to the ballot box this Spring,” said Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Chair of the House Committee on Ways & Means (D-Boston). “Later this session I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Legislature to make these reforms permanent, so that these measures will continue to safeguard our elections and guarantee that our democratic process will not be hampered by this or any future public health crisis.”
“This legislation will help ensure that residents can continue to vote safely and easily during the ongoing pandemic,” said Senator Barry R. Finegold (D-Andover), Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Election Laws. “Last year, the Legislature passed a common-sense, bipartisan bill to expand early voting and implement a secure vote-by-mail system for elections in 2020. These reforms protected public health, empowered voters, and helped generate record-breaking turnout. I am glad that the Legislature is temporarily extending mail-in voting through the end of June, and I look forward to working with my colleagues and local election officials on legislation to make vote-by-mail permanent.”
‘Over this past year, the COVID pandemic has caused us to take a closer look at, and improve upon, many of our society’s systems. Voting is one of those,” said Representative Daniel J. Ryan, House Chair of the Joint Committee on Election Laws (D-Boston). “I applaud Chairman Michelwitz and my House and Senate colleagues for working swiftly to extend vote-by-mail and other safety precautions through this spring’s elections. I especially want to thank Speaker Mariano for his leadership on these ballot access measures and his bold commitment to work toward their permanency. I’m looking forward to a robust discussion on how to best move election legislation forward.’
“Voting reforms like mail-in voting and expanded early in-person voting have been critical to ensuring that all voters can safely and conveniently exercise their right to vote during the pandemic,” said Senator Jason Lewis (D-Winchester), lead Senate sponsor of the legislation. “I’m very grateful to my colleagues in both the House and Senate for the strong bipartisan support of this bill and look forward to working together to hopefully pass further legislation later this session to make these voting reforms permanent.”
“Vote by mail and early voting options have allowed us to conduct safe elections during the pandemic while also expanding voter participation,” said Senate Majority Leader Cindy Creem (D-Newton). “By extending these options today, this bill ensures that we can conduct safe, secure municipal elections this spring without limiting anyone’s access to the ballot box.”
The bill also allows municipalities to provide residents with the option to vote early in-person in these elections. Additionally, the legislation requires local election officials to make reasonable efforts to grant accommodations for voters with disabilities who might have difficulty accessing a paper mail-in ballot and request an accommodation. Furthermore, cities and towns can postpone municipal elections and caucuses scheduled before June 30, 2021 until August 1, 2021.
The bill now advances to the Governor for consideration.
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| MA Legislature Extends Vote-By-Mail Through June |
