"Bring the little ones in to have their photo taken with the Easter Bunny between 10AM and Noon at the Museum"
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| Photos with the Easter Bunny - Apr 9 |
Are there events/workshops that you would like to see in the future? Let us know! Love to hear you feedback and we love you all!
Visit https://www.fairmountfruit.com/ for updates
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| The April event calendar at Fairmount Fruit Farm is filling up! |
Upcoming Practice Interviewing Sessions
Wednesday April 6th 10 AM
Register in advance for this Zoom meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/
Thursday April 7th; 2-3:30 PM: Practice Interviewing courtesy of the Framingham Public Library.
No need to register; use the link to join!
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
Session 11: Interview Practice - Tuesday April 12th: 10 am – 12 pm
Congratulations, you were invited to an interview and have been preparing by investigating the company, its competitors, and the people you will likely meet.
You’ve also been preparing your STAR/PAR stories. But, how do you know you are ready?
You practice.
Why you need to do this: Actors understand how practice isn’t enough. That’s why they have dress rehearsals. Even the live TV show Saturday Night Live (SNL) has a dress rehearsal!
Practicing your interviewing skills has been proven to enhance your chance of landing the job.
If you are already in the program, use the same link you used for any previous Tuesday session you attended this year.
New to the program? Registration is Required: https://50plusjobseekers.org/
For more information contact Denise Magnett: 50plusjobseekersadmin@
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| Upcoming Practice Interviewing Sessions with Ed Lawrence |
"MASSACHUSETTS SPENDS MORE than $1 billion a year to incarcerate roughly 13,000 people in its state prisons and county houses of correction, but a lot of the details of that spending are shrouded in mystery and uncertainty.
As part of the recent wave of attention to criminal justice reform, the Legislature recently formed a special commission to try to make sense of correctional spending in the state. The call for a commission was driven by a steep drop in the state’s inmate population – the total is now roughly half the peak of recent decades – that has occurred with no corresponding reduction in corrections spending. Meanwhile, per inmate spending varies widely among the state’s 14 sheriffs who oversee houses of correction, and there is widespread concern among those outside the system that inmates are not receiving adequate rehabilitative services while behind bars.
A big takeaway from the commission’s recently issued report, said its two co-chairs, Sen. Will Brownsberger and Rep. Michael Day, on this week’s Codcast, is the need for much clearer information on spending and inmate programming in order to assess what changes are needed. "
Correctional Funding Report -> https://correctionalfunding.com/commission-report/
"THE BOSTON GLOBE is facing a growing chorus of criticism from public health advocates and media critics for working with Philip Morris to create and publish stories featuring interviews with prominent scientists, many of whom say they were never told the true purpose of the interviews – for inclusion in Philip Morris ads.A coalition of six leading public health organizations sent a letter last month to Globe owner and publisher John Henry in an effort to persuade him to get rid of the tobacco ads. He did not respond.To be sure, the Philip Morris ads in the Globe today are nothing like the tobacco ads of the past. Gone are the Marlboro man and his ilk. Instead, the tobacco ads in the Globe nowadays take the form of what’s known as “sponsored content” articles, a type of advertising that looks similar to Globe news stories with headlines, bylines, and even the same font the paper uses. The ads run under the heading “From our Partners” on the Globe’s website."
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| CommonWealth Magazine: transparency needed in evaluating correctional expenses and with Globe sponsored content |
Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf
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| Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) |
Having left Facebook, I try not to encourage folks to go there but in this instance, the 30 min (or so) conversation is worth spending some time with. Senator Becca Rausch prompts Sarah Mabardy to share some great nuggets of info that are well worth implementing (if you haven't already).
For example: Sarah talks about her service orientation, facilitating "word of mouth," and her idea of "everyday impact."
Video link -> https://www.facebook.com/beccarauschMA/videos/266734962322974
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| Senator Rausch talks with Sarah Mabardy (Facebook live - 03/25/22) (video) |
The Franklin School Committee has two meetings back to back on Tuesday evening. The first will be the deliberation on the one internal candidate they interviewed last week for Superintendent. The second is the normally scheduled 2nd meeting of the month.
First meeting - Apr 26, 2022 - 6 PM
How did the school committee get to this deliberation decision?
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| Back to back School Committee meetings Tuesday, April 26 |
"The MBTA is pushing ahead with electrification, but on its own terms.
Transit advocates, climate activists, and many lawmakers are pushing the T to ditch its diesel buses and quickly embrace battery electric buses. They are also pressing the transit authority to start electrifying commuter rail lines, particularly those running through environmental justice communities, and to scrap plans to discontinue use of the electric trolleys that operate off catenary wires in Cambridge. "
"MBTA PASSENGER LEVELS, which took a hit earlier this year when COVID levels shot up, have recovered their lost ground and appear to be picking up steam, particularly on the commuter rail system.
Commuter rail ridership a year ago was just 11.6 percent of pre-COVID levels. Passenger levels rose a bit in the last half of 2021 but they really began to pick up during the first three months of this year. Ridership on commuter rail hit 31 percent of pre-COVID levels in January, rose to 39 percent in February, and reached 49 percent in March."
"WE ARE HEADING for a massive MBTA operating budget deficit next year, and no one in power on Beacon Hill is doing anything about it. This is not a theory or hypothesis; this is a fact, something the T itself candidly acknowledges and has publicly stated.
Why will this happen? And what can be done to avoid the impending crisis?"
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| CommonWealth Magazine: 3 articles on MBTA electrification schedule, ridership, and budget woes |
We appreciate our music families and hope you all enjoy a wonderful night of jazz!
Please be prepared to show your receipt at the door as we will be accepting online payments up to and at the time of the event.
Ticket for this can be purchased online -> https://givebutter.com/jazzcafe
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| FHS Jazz Café - March 30, 2022 - 7 PM |
"The Franklin Fire Department SAFE Program would like to thank the Franklin Highs School American Red Cross Club for coming out and washing our trucks this weekend."
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| Franklin Fire Dept gets its trucks cleaned by FHS Red Cross Club |
Based on the facts and the public policy implications this Registry Information Technology IT controversy should be over. It is not. There should be a permanent on-site direct report Registry CIO at the Norfolk Registry of Deeds. There is not. There should be no question that the Registry should keep its 2 person on-site direct report in the Registry budget Registry IT Department that includes the aforementioned Registry CIO.
The new twist in this Registry of Deeds saga is that the consultant Mark Abrahams refuses to answer questions about the “Abrahams Report” which has been the foundation on which this Registry CIO and Registry IT Department controversy rests. It only seems right that Mark Abrahams as an “independent” consultant should have to answer questions about his study.
The questions of Mr. Abrahams are not trick questions. Why did Mr. Abrahams write to the Norfolk County Commissioners NOT to replace a retiring Registry CIO on June 29, 2021? Why would Mark Abrahams write such a recommendation when he had not ever visited the Registry of Deeds to make any observations of Registry operations including the Registry IT Department in his 13 month study? Why did Mark Abrahams recommend NOT hiring a Registry CIO when Mr. Abrahams had not spoken to the person tasked with running the Registry of Deeds by state law or the management team at the Registry of Deeds? Why did Mark Abrahams recommend NOT hiring a Registry CIO without talking with or finding out the perspectives of those that use the Registry IT Information Technology services?
Mark Abrahams got paid taxpayers money to do this report. There have been many flaws found in the Abrahams study. There are flaws in process, substance, findings and conclusions as it relates to the Norfolk Registry of Deeds that have been written about since Mr. Abrahams concluded his 13 month study in October 2021. Mr. Abrahams with the input of influential county decision makers chose Plymouth and Bristol Counties to be benchmarks for Norfolk County. Mark Abrahams mistakenly wrote that these Registries DO NOT have Registry IT Departments. Mark Abrahams was wrong. Is this why Mr. Abrahams does NOT want to answer questions? How do you get that fact wrong in the 13 months you were doing a report?
If the Registries of Deeds in Plymouth and Bristol have on-site direct report Registry IT Departments then shouldn’t that end all this controversy in Norfolk County? The Registries of Deeds in Plymouth and Bristol do have on-site Registry IT Departments and Mr. Abrahams’ mistake in facts was challenged and corrected. The Norfolk Registry of Deeds should have a permanent Registry CIO as part of an on-site permanent direct report Registry IT Department just like the Norfolk Registry of Deeds has had for over 35 years.
Mark Abrahams writes information requested “will be unduly burdensome for me.” There will NOT be a modern functioning technology driven Norfolk Registry of Deeds without an on-site direct report Registry CIO and Registry IT Technology Department. This will be “unduly burdensome” on Registry operations and on those Registry stakeholders that depend on Registry of Deeds services. Everyone who owns a home whose legal title to that home is authenticated by the real estate records secured at the Norfolk Registry of Deeds could be negatively impacted. Does Mark Abrahams’ “burden” to answer questions about his study outweigh the homeowners and business owners who in essence paid Mr. Abrahams to do his study?
Some have expressed disbelief that Mark Abrahams is now doing additional consulting work for Norfolk County. Mr. Abrahams wrote in his study that almost all individuals spoken to did not favor keeping the Registry IT Department as is. Who are these individuals? These individuals were unnamed in the Abrahams Report. Were these individuals influential county decision makers? When and why were these individuals spoken to? How come key Registry of Deeds personnel were NOT spoken to? Why were those that use the Registry of Deeds services not spoken to by Mark Abrahams? These are not trick questions. These questions go the substance of the Registry IT controversy and seek the truth.
Mark Abrahams’ report is the foundation for those who do not want the Registry to keep its Registry IT Department. It does not make sense for transparent and sound public policy for Mark Abrahams not to want to answer questions relating to his report. Based on the facts the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds should have a permanent Registry CIO. It does not. Based on the facts the Norfolk Registry of Deeds should keep its permanent Registry IT Department no matter what some paid consultant writes. It is such an unsound public policy decision NOT to keep the on-site direct report Registry IT Department. There are too many bad outcomes on Registry of Deeds operations and services. Additionally, there is the ever increasing risks of cybersecurity breaches and ransomware.
On behalf of the Registry staff and Registry users along with all who rely on Registry operations and services I thank you for your patience as well as your support.
By William P. O’Donnell, Norfolk County Register of Deeds
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| Good Deeds: Unanswered Registry IT Questions |
"In some ways, Rausch’s experiences have been normalized in these pandemic times. Online trolls, shrouded in anonymity and fueled by the divisive nature of COVID politics, have levied streams of hate against people they dislike, often translating into aggressive in-person encounters.
But Rausch’s story — one of a female, Jewish politician who supports vaccines and mask mandates — also reinforces an ugly truth: that members of minority groups in leadership positions are increasingly targets for online hate campaigns that run deep with antisemitism and racism."
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| State Senator Becca Rausch at the State House in Boston.LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFF |
Order Form: https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSc0mDBz2yiHlm.../viewform
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| my garden bed from the Fanuele's early in the growing season 2020 |
Neighbors-helping-Neighbors USA, Inc. (NhN) is a cost-free, grassroots, nationally and internationally recognized job search support and networking organization.
The group's culture is based on a pay it forward model with a focus on networking and support. |
| Neighbors-helping-Neighbors meets virtually, paying it forward, focusing on networking and support |
Get this week's program guide for Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf
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| Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) |
