FHS Diversity Awareness Club: Statement on Anti-Asian Violence and Discrimination

Joshua Hanna (@MrHanna_FHS) tweeted on Wed, Mar 31, 2021:

"Proud of the response that the @DiversityFHS thoughtfully created in response to acts of hate and violence around our Nation.  @FranklinHS is committed to creating a respectful environment for all of our students."

Read the statement here  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1saPBOK5Yrqds0WUAwrZEmnS-9wfBwNUQK0lsIJgpijM/edit?usp=sharing

Shared from Twitter:https://twitter.com/MrHanna_FHS/status/1377264996577595393

https://twitter.com/DiversityFHS

Status update for 3

To Our Guests,

We are happy to report some good news from 3!  But first, I want to thank you all for the outpouring of support you have shown us over the past week.  We are truly grateful for such kind, thoughtful and loyal guests!

Fortunately, the COVID protocols we have in place at the restaurant were effective in preventing any spread of the virus inside the restaurant!  The restaurant has been thoroughly deep cleaned and while the restaurant and staff are ready to reopen, we  have decided to remain closed for a few extra days.  We expect to reopen after Easter, on Monday April 5.  

 
This week our staff will receive a few bonus days off to relax and recharge while we tackle some building improvements such as the installation of new HVAC systems,  the installation of new kitchen equipment and the implementation of a new computer system.  Plus, our chefs will be putting the finishing touches on a delicious new spring menu and the bar team has created some amazing seasonal cocktails.  

We hope to have all of these projects completed by next week in anticipation of welcoming you back into the restaurant for what we expect will be a bustling spring and summer season.
Thank you again and we wish you and your family a happy and healthy Easter week.

Cheers!

Stephen Corcoran
Owner

 

Shared from Facebook:https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10157472103952136&id=189417882135

Visit 3 online at https://3-restaurant.com/

 

Status update for 3

 

Remote work and the " new normal"

"The post-vaccine workplace is taking shape, and for many it’s going to be a hybrid model, allowing more remote work but with clear expectations that some days a week will be in the office.

Workforce experts are bracing for a whole new set of post-pandemic upheavals, in some instances more transformative than the unplanned move to working from home last March, with some making efforts to avoid pre-pandemic remote-work mistakes.

“In a lot of ways it’s going to be more disruptive than when we went all remote,” said Brian Kropp, vice president of research at Gartner."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2021/03/30/hybrid-office-remote-work-citigroup-ford-target/

 

"Since the pandemic sent workers home last year, a slew of modifications have been made to office buildings to protect against the spread of the coronavirus. Now, as companies prepare to bring workers back, experts say even more changes are on the way.

Expect expanded gathering spaces and fewer personal workstations, for instance, changes that are being fueled by the success of working from home. Companies like Google, Microsoft and Walmart have already announced proposals for hybrid work models that will allow employees to continue to work remotely at least a few days a week."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/business/office-return-space.html 

 

What background disqualifies a reporter from a story?

"Felicia Sonmez had to flee her home. In early 2020, after the death of the basketball player Kobe Bryant, Sonmez, a longtime breaking news reporter at the Washington Post, tweeted a link to a Daily Beast story about the 2003 rape allegation against Bryant. The tweet had no commentary and no editorializing by Sonmez, and yet on the day it appeared online, it was a lonely acknowledgment of Bryant’s compromised legacy amid a sea of uncritical praise for the dead athlete. In response, the reporter received a deluge of abuse from Bryant’s fans. They were angry at what they saw as Sonmez besmirching Bryant’s memory by acknowledging the accusation that he had been sexually violent towards a Colorado woman; they were willing to avenge this disrespect, or so they claimed, with more violence against women. The name-calling escalated into threats, and some of those threats seemed credible. Her home address was published online. For her own safety, Sonmez went briefly into hiding.

The story is sadly familiar to female journalists, who face harassment, threats, stalking, and other digital hostility as a strange and uncompensated condition of their jobs. But in many cases, these female journalists are defended by their employers. Such was the case for Taylor Lorenz, a New York Times reporter on digital culture who was targeted by Tucker Carlson and other rightwing instigators last month: the Times issued a statement standing by their reporter, and condemning the attacks against her."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/30/washington-post-felicia-sonmez-sexual-assault-sexism

 

Town of Franklin: Stormwater Division Announces Student Art Contests!

Stormwater Division Announces Student Art Contests!

Calling all Franklin students! The Town of Franklin Stormwater Division needs your creative energy!! In an effort to expand our community stormwater awareness campaigns, we are holding a number of art contests for kids ages 5 - 17!!

Find details posted here https://bit.ly/3fyd0LT

Read more  https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/stormwater-division-announces-student-art-contests

Download a PDF with the Contest info: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ww-DHU6eyFF82-Qql2COk_IG2YeoUUit/view?usp=sharing

 

Town of Franklin: Stormwater Division Announces Student Art Contests!

 

St Mary's Parish: Holy Week Service Schedule

The Sacred Triduum

 

Holy Thursday, April 1

7:00 a.m. Morning Prayer in the Chapel - No live-stream

7:00 p.m. Evening Mass in the Upstairs Church and live-streamed

 

Good Friday, April 2

Fast and Abstinence

7:00 a.m. Morning Prayer in the Chapel - No live-stream

3:00 p.m. Service with communion in the Upstairs Church and live-streamed

 

Holy Saturday, April 3

7:00 a.m. Morning Prayer in the Chapel

8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Confession in the Reconciliation Room (Chapel)

4:00 p.m. Modified Vigil outside on the Rocco Plaza - No live-stream

Please bring your own chair to sit on.

 

Easter Sunday - The Resurrection of Our Lord

April 4

All Masses Live-streamed

7:30 a.m. Mass Upstairs*

10:30 a.m. Mass Upstairs*

12:00 Noon Mass Upstairs*

Easter Communion available outside on the Rocco Plaza

10:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon

 

Easter Monday, April 5

No Mass

Easter Tuesday, April 6 through Friday, May 21st

7:00 a.m. Monday through Friday daily Mass in the Chapel

*Downstairs in the Chapel and Sacred Hall if necessary.

 

For additional info, please visit St Mary's on the internet at https://stmarysfranklin.org/index

St Mary's Parish: Holy Week Service Schedule

Rotary Club of Franklin MA Donates 2000 Masks to Franklin Fire Department

The Rotary Club of Franklin MA, whose motto is “Service above self”, is proud to donate 2000 masks to the Franklin Fire Department, for them to use as they see fit. “Rotary Club has been weaved into the Franklin fabric for more than 90 years, providing services like this and many others too.” said John Power, pictured here with Capt. William Blanchard of the Franklin Fire Department. 

An International group, the club’s primarily focuses on finding local needs and completing service projects that serve Franklin’s elderly, underserved & High School students by providing annual Scholastic Scholarships & Youth Leadership Awards.

If you would like to find out more about Rotary Club of Franklin MA, you are invited to join them for a meeting on the first and/or third Tuesday of each month, 5:30pm – 7:30pm or visit their website:  http://portal.clubrunner.ca/3689. 

John Power (left) pictured here with Capt. William Blanchard (right) of the Franklin Fire Department

 

FHS volleyball team tops Mansfield 3-0 in first of two matches this week

From HockomockSports.com and Twitter we share the FHS sports results:

Volleyball = Franklin, 3 @ Mansfield, 0 – Final 

– Click here for a Photo Gallery from this game. Franklin put together an impressive overall performance to earn the 25-12, 25-19, 25-10 victory that puts the Panthers half a game ahead of KP in the division standings. Franklin never trailed at any point in the match. Ally Bonnet-Eymard led the way with 18 kills and eight digs and Taylor Lacerda chipped in with five kills. Cailyn Mackintosh continued her strong season with 27 assists and six digs. 

 

 

For a photo gallery for this match

https://hockomocksports.smugmug.com/2020-2021/Fall-II-2021/Mansfield-Franklin-Volleyball-03-30-21/i-PmNqVGH

 

For other results around the Hockomock League 

https://hockomocksports.com/tuesdays-schedule-scoreboard-03-30-21/

 

FHS volleyball team tops Mansfield 3-0 in first of two matches this week (HockomockSports.com photo)

 

Franklin Public Schools, MA: Schedule reminders for this week

Schedule reminders for this week. https://t.co/b928AGrRwc

https://twitter.com/FranklinPSNews/status/1376925903373090817

Franklin Public Schools, MA: Schedule reminders for this week

Meeting Notice, 350 Mass Greater Franklin Node, Thursday, April 1

The Greater Franklin Node of 350 Massachusetts will meet this week, Thursday, April 1, 7:00 pm.  

 

Here is the Zoom link: 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88924607755?pwd=bHl1empTRVFxYzdZUmVBSGl1Q0p3Zz09
 

Meeting ID: 889 2460 7755

Password: 350ma

Audio by phone: +1 646 876 9923 

 

Residents of Franklin and nearby cities and towns are invited to attend. We will discuss ongoing legislative developments at the State House and the White House around climate action, including greater reliance on renewable sources of energy for electricity, home heating, and transportation. 

 

We are also planning local activities to educate and engage our communities about climate, renewable energy, home improvements, and related topics. We want to collaborate with groups and individuals from the region who share the same concerns, so all our cities and towns can benefit. Please join us to learn and contribute.  

 

350 Massachusetts for a Better Future (https://350mass.betterfutureproject.org/) is building a powerful statewide social movement to confront the climate crisis, hold our politicians accountable and undermine the destructive influence of the fossil fuel industry. Our name comes from 350 parts per million, the safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 

 

350 Mass is made up of several local volunteer-led chapters we call "nodes" around the state that carry out both municipal-level and statewide campaigns, coordinated by a Statewide Steering Team (SST). The Greater Franklin Node includes Franklin and close to twenty nearby communities. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, at 7:00 pm.

 

For questions and information, contact the node co-coordinators, carolyncbarthel@gmail.com and/or ralph.halpern@comcast.net.

 

Ralph Halpern

ralph.halpern@comcast.net

781-784-3839 (h)

339-203-5017 (c)

  

Meeting Notice, 350 Mass Greater Franklin Node - Apr 1 = 7:00 PM

 

"Hynes vaccination site to administer 7,000 shots a day"

 

"AN EIGHT-WEEK federal-state pilot vaccine program at the Hynes Convention Center will begin administering 7,000 shots a day starting Wednesday and then next week begin diverting roughly 2,000 doses a day to mobile units that will administer shots in Chelsea, Revere, Boston, New Bedford, and Fall River.

At a press conference at the Hynes, Gov. Charlie Baker said the mass vaccination center at the Hynes (relocated from Fenway Park) will receive 1,000 doses a day from the state’s allocation of vaccine and 6,000 doses a day supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/health/hynes-vaccination-site-to-administer-7000-shots-a-day/

Boston Globe coverage (subscription may be required)  -> https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/30/metro/baker-cdc-director-walensky-tour-vaccination-site-hynes-convention-center/

Gov Baker Press conference video link:  https://youtu.be/neh7QDVeKhA

Fiscal Year 2021 4th Quarter Real Estate & Personal Property Tax Bills have been mailed

Fiscal Year 2021 4th Quarter Real Estate & Personal Property Tax Bills have been mailed

Treasurer Collector, Kerri A. Bertone has mailed the Fiscal Year 2021 4th Quarter Real Estate and Personal Property tax bills. 

The due date for these bills is May 3, 2021

Shared from: https://www.franklinma.gov/treasurer-collector/news/fiscal-year-2021-4th-quarter-real-estate-personal-property-tax-bills-have

Fiscal Year 2021 4th Quarter Real Estate & Personal Property Tax Bills have been mailed

The News Literacy Project - webinar for Seniors on fact-checking - Mar 31, 1:00 PM

Older adults — join us & @OlderAdultsTech / @seniorplanet Weds, Mar 31 (1 PM ET) for the 3rd in our series of #NewsLiteracy webinars, this one on fact-checking & digital verification. Gain skills to stick to the facts!

Sign up / spread the word —> https://t.co/KAJmRSxPje

cc: @AARP
https://twitter.com/NewsLitProject/status/1376969389233278977?

The News Literacy Project - webinar for Seniors on fact-checking - Mar 31, 1:00 PM

Talk Franklin -> The Start of Spring 2021: News & Updates in Franklin! (audio)

 FM #503 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 503 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: 

• Re-opening
• Vaccine local delivery for homebound?
• Library, what’s next?
• Senior Center st pats meal

• THE BLACK BOX has events in April
• Project Envoy continues (#ThinkFrankinFirst)

• Budget cycle
• Capital coming to Capital SubComm - Weds, Mar 31
• Joint Budget SubComm - TBD
• FinComm hearings in Apr (4/27-28-29, 5/4)
• Town Council hearings in May

Links to the key topics covered here are included in the show notes. The recording runs about 41 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Jamie and Anne Marie. 

*** Audio file = https://anchor.fm/letstalkfranklin/episodes/The-Start-of-Spring-2021-News--Updates-in-Franklin-etqjl7/a-a53fd35

 

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

Town of Franklin COVID-19 page = https://www.franklinma.gov/home/pages/vaccination-and-covid-19-data 

Town of Franklin budget page  https://www.franklinma.gov/town-budget 
Franklin Schools budget page  https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-district-budget 

#Project Envoy - March schedule = https://www.franklinfoodpantry.org/project-envoy/ 
#ThinkFranklinFirst gift cards = https://franklingiftcard.com/ 

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

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?

• 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

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"

Talk Franklin -> The Start of Spring 2021: News & Updates in Franklin! (audio)

Capital Budget Subcommittee Meeting - Mar 31 - 5:00 PM

Capital Budget Subcommittee Meeting

Agenda & Meeting Packet

March 31, 2021 = 5:00 PM 

Discussion:
1. Town Administration Free Cash Overview
2. Department Presentations

a. School Department, School Facilities and School Technology requests

b. Town Facilities

c. Public Safety- Fire & Police requests

d. Public Works- DPW, Highway & Grounds, Water, Sewer requests

This is a meeting of the Franklin Town Council Sub-Committee; under the Open Meeting Law, this subcommittee is a separate "public body" from the Town Council. Therefore, unless the Town Council has separately noticed and posted its own meeting, Councilors who are not members of this subcommittee will not be permitted to speak or otherwise actively participate @ this meeting, although they may attend and observe. This prohibition is necessary to avoid the potential for an Open Meeting Law Violation.

Connection info and the full set of documents released for this meeting in the following  https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/capital_budget_subcom_agenda_final_1.pdf

Capital Budget Subcommittee Meeting - Mar 31 - 5:00 PM