Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
The United Chamber of Commerce welcomed the British Beer Company (BBC) with a ribbon cutting ceremony this week. The British Beer Company opened in January in the former Applebee's location at the Franklin Village Mall. It is a very popular place with waits up to 90 minutes on Friday's nights.
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I had heard that the walking speed of people in cities varies according to the size of the city. The larger the size of the city, the faster the walking speed. Think about it and you can see from your own travels that this is true. Walk around Franklin. Go to Boston. Go to New York. You do need to walk much faster in New York to keep up with the flow on the sidewalk don't you?
The walking speed is one aspect of the theory that is coming together now about how cities and companies grow. Why does this matter? What has Franklin done? The population has tripled since the 1960's.
The problems Franklin faced when it was 10,000 people are different that it is now 30,000 people. The ideas that worked for 10,000 won't necessarily work for 30,000 people. Why? A multitude of reasons but there is one basic and fundamental reason that is now explained by Geoffrey West with this new theory.
Watch the video (18 minutes). More than once to get the information and begin to digest it.
Fascinating stuff. Follow the links to the TED Talk page and find additional information on the studies that have brought this theory to light.
I happen to think that Franklin tends to behave like a teenager. We are in that middle stage of growth trying to remain a kid yet forced to recognize that we have an adult-like body. We still want to play but are being forced to work, and not just 'to work' but 'to work' differently than our parents. It is a new and changing world.
How do you think this applies to Franklin?
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the video.
The Boston Globe West captures the high school building project in part by writing:
The complexity of the current building would make renovations very invasive to the school day, officials said. With 19 different roof lines and walls primarily lined with cinder block, construction workers couldn’t possibly refurbish the school in a discreet manner.
“We would literally have to rip apart the walls to get to the plumbing,’’ said Sabolinski.
As the building committee conducted a feasibility study, it discovered that renovations would also prove very costly. In a budget document released to the public in March, the committee revealed that an extensive renovation would cost $97.9 million before state reimbursement. In the same document, the projection for a model school stood at $91.6 million. But the state allocates an additional 5 percent to the total reimbursement of the model school project, which lowers the final town cost to just under $40 million.
For years the committee debated the renovation-rebuilding quandary, until the scales tipped decidedly last month when the Massachusetts School Building Authority indicated that it would probably invite Franklin to join its model school program. A quasi-independent government agency, the state authority aims to streamline public school building projects throughout the Commonwealth.
To help with the fund raising efforts of the Franklin riders for the PanMass Challenge, here are the links to their individual fund raising pages (in alphabet order by last name):
The Remington Jefferson School complex will be busy Saturday morning. The site is a rest stop on the course for the PanMass Challenge. Hundreds of bike riders will roll through, take a quick break, some refreshments, pose for pictures with friends and family and ride on!
Slide show of photos from 2009:
The site lays out the purpose of the PMC in plain words - "When cyclists register for the PMC, they are signing up for a fundraising mission first and a bike ride second. ... Raising money for cancer research and treatment at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is the core of the PMC mission."
"We're remaining true to the mission," said Starr.
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Riders settle into their own methods of raising money. Most send out letters each year, via email and the Postal Service, but their recipients vary from 50 people who give much, to 200 people who give what they can. Some letters are personalized, some are identical form letters. Some have heart-wrenching stories, while others simply remind loyal followers that it's the time of year to give again.
To donate to any of the riders or teams in the PMC, check pmc.org and plug a name or team into the search bar.
Medway and 12 other Norfolk County towns are using the drug containers after Morrissey wrote the county police chiefs in May and asked them to participate in the program.
Franklin and Wrentham also have the boxes, and about 300,000 people will have access to the containers across the county, Morrissey said.
Franklin Police Chief Stephen Williams said a container has been at the station for about a month.
"I think prescription drug abuse is endemic almost everywhere," Williams said. "We're seeing many of our young people become involved in it, and where are they getting the drugs from? From their mom and dad's prescriptions and friends."
Look closely. Franklin ball field, A sign clearly stating that the backstop was donated by the fence company to the Franklin Girls Softball Assoc. The property is owned and maintained by Franklin but as the budget shrinks from year to year, organizations and companies are stepping up to fill in the gaps. This is happening all over town. It is the little things like this that make Franklin a good place to live.
Local Eagle Scouts from Franklin organized a beautification project with the help of the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company for the Franklin/Dean College commuter rail station. Scouts and MBCR staff planted shrubs and flowers as part of the project.
MBCR operates the commuter rail system under a contract with the MBTA.
Thanks to the Eagle Scouts!
Photo 1 (L-R): Molly Dickenson, Samantha Conway, Patrick Cunniff, Cathy Tomaso, Grant Conway, Cameron Cawley, Mike Miga and Chris Gerber – all of Franklin.
Photo 2 (L-R): Molly Dickenson, Grant Conway, Cathy Tomaso, and Samantha Conway