has extended free school meals through the 22-23 school year! This means that meals will continue to be served at NO COST to ALL STUDENTS. Household applications for free/reduced meals are still important to fill out & will be available in the coming weeks.
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| Free school meals extended through the 2022-2023 school year! |
Join us for a fun day of wiffleball! All proceeds go to The Random Smile Project.
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| 2022 Wiffleball Tournament - Random Smile Project - Aug 13 |
"Our Registration site is currently down. We are hoping to have it back up and running today. Questions regarding sponsorship can be sent to: rspwiffle@gmail.com Please stay tune! We’ll update shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience."
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| Reminder: 2022 Wiffleball Tournament - Random Smile Project - Aug 13 |
Chris Dempsey has spent his career working to reform Massachusetts state government and to protect the public interest. He served as Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Governor Deval Patrick. He has worked outside of state government as Co-Founder of the grassroots No Boston Olympics and as Director of the non-profit Transportation for Massachusetts. Chris will be an Auditor who can ensure an efficient, effective, and equitable state government for all residents of the Commonwealth.
Dempsey secured the Massachusetts Democratic Party endorsement on the back of a grassroots campaign. With more than 2,000 individual donors, Chris has clearly demonstrated that he is focused on the people of Massachusetts, not corporations or special interest groups. Along with the Massachusetts Democratic Party endorsement, Chris Dempsey has secured endorsements from Auditor Suzanne Bump, Progressive Massachuestts, the Environmental League of Massachusetts, JP Progressives, Our Revolution Massachusetts, and Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts.
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| Democratic Candidate for State Auditor Chris Dempsey announces endorsement from State Representative Jeffrey N. Roy |
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| Would you like to paint a Town of Franklin fire hydrant? |
Via Environment MA (https://twitter.com/EnvironmentMA)
"Across Massachusetts, cities and towns are leading the way to a future powered by clean energy. Our new report shows how.
Join us for the release of Renewable Communities 2022 next Wednesday at 11 AM:"
Reduce your water bill by utilizing a rain barrel to collect rainwater. When it rains you SAVE!
The Fall Residential Rain Barrel Program is currently open to residents - residents can order directly from The Great American Rain Barrel Company.
The deadline to order is September 5 and pick up will be at the DPW on September 14 from 4-6 PM.
Learn more about rain barrels here => https://www.franklinma.gov/stormwater-division/pages/rain-barrels
Note: while it has not yet determined how much of a credit, a rain barrel is an example of a credit against the future storm water fee. The storm water fee is expected to be implemented for July 2023.
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| Order your Rain Barrel before September 5, pick it up September 14 |
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| Franklin, MA: School Committee Meeting - Aug 9, 2022 |
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with Ted McIntyre, Franklin resident and climate activist. We recorded this via the Zoom conference bridge Thursday, August 4, 2022.
We talked with our special guest, MA State Representative Jeff Roy. Jeff represents Franklin and Medway and chairs the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy which marshaled the recent climate legislation through the MA House & Senate, the Conference Committee, back through both the MA House & Senate and sits on Governor Baker’s desk.
This discussion continues our journey understanding the MA roadmap toward net zero and while it helps me “make sense of climate”, we hope it helps with your understanding as well.
If you have climate questions or Franklin specific climate questions, send them in and we’ll try to answer them in a future session.
The conversation runs about 50 minutes. Let’s listen to my conversation with Ted and State Rep Jeff Roy. Audio file -> https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-835-making-sense-of-climate-14-08-04-22
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The climate legislation discussed as amended and returned to the Governor for action https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/07/massachusetts-legislature-passes-major.html
State Rep Jeff Roy’s remarks on the MA House of Representatives floor in favor of the legislation and quoting Governor Baker on compromise (from the Governor’s recent book).
Governor Baker’s book -> https://www.amazon.com/Results-Getting-Beyond-Politics-Important/dp/1647821800
See the page that collects the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) or 102.9 on the Franklin area radio dial.
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!
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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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| MA State Representative Jeff Roy |
"Losing in a state tourney final game is never easy and to lose in a baseball playoff final by a 2-1 score can be emotional and painful.
The late Vince Lombardi, who coached the Green Bay Packers to triumphs in the first two Super Bowls, not only put a high priority on winning, but he went so far to say: “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.’’ At the professional level, that’s a very acceptable quote.
Zach Brown, Franklin High’s baseball coach for the last eight years, regards winning as important, but he puts his team’s 2-1 loss to Taunton in the state final last month in perspective — a real life perspective.“It’s not always about winning trophies that collect dust,’’ Brown emphasized. “It’s about building relationships, enjoying the camaraderie of the locker room and embracing the journey that, win or lose, ends with emotions.’’
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| Local Town Pages - Franklin: "FHS Nine Learned Valuable Life Lessons in Tourney" |
"Often described as a giant tower of Jenga blocks, Boston University’s Center for Computing and Data Sciences shows no outward signs of leading the race to sustainable energy design. No rooftop wind turbines grace its heights; no solar panels are mounted on the multiple roof decks jutting out from the building’s core.What makes this building unique lies deep underground, where water circulating through 31 geothermal boreholes will supply 90 percent of its heating and cooling needs when the building opens, as scheduled for later this year. Through a process called geothermal heat exchange, water pumped from 1,500 feet underground will draw upon the near-constant temperature that prevails beneath the earth’s surface – 50 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit year-round.
Even on the coldest New England days, water prewarmed by the earth will be circulated through heat pumps that will further raise its temperature to deliver heat where needed. On warmer days or in heavily occupied spaces where heat builds up even in winter, the heat exchangers will draw on the earth’s cooler temperature to provide air conditioning."
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| In the summer, heat is extracted from the home, and is discharged into the earth. In the winter, the process is reversed. (Source: Solar Review) |
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"We are regularly asked about the ‘median age’ of users to different audio platforms. Fortunately, with Edison Research’s Share of Ear® study we can answer this question – at least for those age 13 and older.
But there are two ways to solve for this, and the differences are interesting.
The two ways are represented in the table below. In the first data column you see the median age for the ‘cume’ or ‘reach’ of the 13+ audience – the point where half the listeners are older and half are younger. You will note that Streaming Audio (essentially listening to pureplays like Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and the like – but not listening to podcasts on any of these platforms) and Podcasts have the exact same median age when looked at this way. The median listener to AM/FM Radio is 46 years old — 12 years older than the listener to streaming and podcasts. "
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| Who listens to podcasts vs. radio? |
"A new study led by researchers from Tufts University and the Cleveland Clinic sounds a familiar warning, saying the more red meat you eat the higher your risk of cardiovascular disease will be.The observational study, published Monday in the American Heart Association’s peer-reviewed journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology, also used statistical methods to try to discern how meat might be having that effect and found several different possible mechanisms.One, researchers said, was meat’s effect on the gut microbiome. Recent research has suggested that gut bacteria digesting red meat and other animal-source foods produce metabolites in the blood that can cause cardiovascular disease."
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| A steak on the grill of a barbecue restaurant in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A new study says red meat is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and the reason may be your gut bacteria. MIGUEL MENDEZ/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES |
The Town of Franklin has entered Level 3 Critical Drought status which has triggered the phase IV water ban which will go into effect August 6th, 2022 at 12AM.
Water Conservation Measures are needed to limit the daily demand on the water system in order to ensure that adequate water is available to meet the public health and safety needs of the Town. This measure is necessary to maintain the water levels in the tanks for fire protection and normal consumption.
The following is allowed under phase IV of the water ban...
- Watering gardens and ornamental plants by means of a hand held hose.
The following is NOT allowed under phase IV of the water ban...
- Irrigation of lawns and landscaping via sprinklers or automatic irrigation systems.
- Washing of vehicles except in a commercial car wash or as necessary for operator safety.
- Washing of exterior building surfaces, parking lots, driveways or sidewalks.
Reminder: If you have a private well for irrigation, you must a sign posted that is visible from the street in accordance with Town bylaws 179-23
Learn more about Franklin's Water Conservation measures here: https://www.franklinma.gov/water-sewer-division/pages/water-conservation?fbclid=IwAR1KokmHXP1NdxuQKcdBFvvd3GR6hWBAi_NrbH2WEjssiDhMDwl6m7_oMdA
Learn more about Massachusetts drought management here: https://www.mass.gov/guides/drought-management-in-massachusetts
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| Attention Franklin: Phase IV of Water Ban Begins August 6, 2022 at 12 AM |
