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Thursday, October 28, 2021
Senator Rausch: Beacon Hill Update - Oct 28, 2021
FYI: NO VETERANS COUNCIL MEETING IN NOVEMBER
NO VETERANS COUNCIL MEETING IN NOVEMBER
The next meeting will be on Dec. 16 at 7:00 PM at the Senior Center
Shared from Town of Franklin page -> https://www.franklinma.gov/veterans-services/news/no-veterans-council-meeting-november
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| FYI: NO VETERANS COUNCIL MEETING IN NOVEMBER |
1st interactive session of 50+Program: Tuesday, Nov 9 , 2021
Session 1: Ageism!
Tuesday November 9th: 10 am – 12 pm
An estimated 20% of US workers are age 55 or older, yet many employers question the abilities of the demographic and recent Supreme Court decisions have made it harder to prove age discrimination. Join us as we explore the issue of ageism: The history; the facts; the perceptions; the mistakes you make, according to employers.
Why you need to know about this: As you set forth on your job-search, you must know the environment, the perceptions, and the traps. What you don't know could hurt you.
Start your journey towards self-realization, re-invention and transformation
1. Ageism
2. Self-assessment
3. Networking Introductions
4. STAR/PAR Stories
5. Resumes Part 1: Summary & Formatting
6. Resumes Part 2 Experience Section
7. LinkedIn Part 1: Your Profile
8. LinkedIn Part 2: The Job Search
9. Branding & Marketing
10. Interview Preparation
11. Interview Practice
12. Job Applications
13. Cover Letters
14. Closing & Negotiating the Deal
15. Teamwork & Getting Along with Difficult People
16. Job Success
New to the program? Registration is Required: https://50plusjobseekers.org/outreach/registration/
For more information contact
Denise Magnett via email 50plusjobseekersadmin@mcoaonline.com
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| 1st interactive session of 50+Program: Tuesday, Nov 9 , 2021 |
MA Senate Passes Redistricting Legislation
Today (10/27/21), the Massachusetts State Senate passed S.2560, An Act establishing senatorial districts. This bill, and the redistricting map it describes, doubles the number of majority-minority Senate districts, from three to six.
This bill divides the Commonwealth into 40 senatorial districts that will be in effect until the next redistricting cycle following the decennial census in 2030. These districts are drawn based on data from the 2020 census.
The efforts to increase majority-minority representation include the strengthening of a Black ‘ability-to-elect’ district in Boston and the creation of a Hispanic ‘ability-to-elect’ district in the Merrimack Valley, along with the creation, strengthening or preservation of four ‘opportunity-to-elect’ districts in the Chelsea area, the Brockton area, Springfield, and Boston.
The Special Joint Committee on Redistricting sought broad public input, holding. 19 public hearings, including hearings in nine different languages. The Committee also held a large number of meetings with advocates and legislators and maintained a website with case law, statistics, and ultimately, draft and final maps.
“This redistricting process will ensure that everyone's voice is heard in the Massachusetts State Senate,” said Massachusetts Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). ‘By listening to residents throughout this process, we have passed a map that fairly and accurately represents the people of Massachusetts. Additionally, these districts will better reflect the diversity of people who call Massachusetts home. I'd like to thank the Joint Committee on Redistricting, the members of the Senate Committee, their staffs, my Senate colleagues, and Senate Chair William Brownsberger for his thoughtful and thorough approach to ensuring equitable representation.”
“I am deeply grateful to the New Democracy Coalition, the Drawing Democracy Coalition and the hundreds of individuals who came forward to help shape the Commonwealth’s legislative districts for the coming 10 years,” stated Senator William N. Brownsberger (D-Belmont), the Senate Chair of the Joint Redistricting Committee. “I believe that with their help we have ended up with a high-quality plan.”
The Special Joint Committee on Redistricting carefully identified and sought to meet its legal obligations under the Equal Protection Clause, the Voting Rights Act, and other relevant law. It also followed traditional redistricting principals, especially emphasizing keeping municipalities whole. In a move hailed by Massachusetts municipalities, the new Senate map reduces the number of towns and cities split between two or more Senate districts from 21 to 11.
The Senate bill will now go the House of Representatives for their approval. Complete details of the Senate map can be found at malegislature.gov/redistricting.
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| MA Senate Passes Redistricting Legislation |
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Town Council candidate Robert Dellorco - 10/25/21 (audio)
FM #649 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 649 in the series.
This session shares my conversation with candidate for Town Council Robert Dellorco
This is one of a series of conversations with candidates for the Franklin Election on Nov 2, 2021. I do this to provide Franklin, MA voters with accurate and timely information that they can use to cast an informed vote. Publication of the answers or interview responses does not constitute an endorsement of this or any candidate.
We cover the candidate questions as previously developed in conjunction with the community and shared with the candidates in advance. Five of the questions are ‘general’ in nature, the sixth is specific to the role of the candidate. In this case, for the Town Council
Our conversation runs about 25 minutes, so let’s listen to my interview with Robert Dellorco. Audio file -> https://player.captivate.fm/episode/e635b92a-3468-4c59-9df6-5bb0c5d400ec
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Candidate questions -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/09/election-2021-candidate-interview.html
Election Collection 2021 -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/07/franklin-election-collection-2021.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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| Town Council candidate Robert Dellorco |
Voices of Franklin: Aaron Gouveia for candidates that support diversity
Despite seeing much lower turnout, local elections impact citizens far more than presidential contests. To that end, I implore people to pay close attention to the folks we're electing to local office in the hopes that Franklin chooses to bypass extremism and fringe candidates who represent potential harm to this community.
On Oct. 15, School Committee candidate Dashe Videira held a "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion CRT" (taken directly from her website) event that included guest speaker Rev. Steven L. Craft. Following 30 seconds of searching on Google, I found a video Rev. Craft posted on his own YouTube channel featuring him as a guest on a New Jersey television show speaking about whether or not a transgender teacher should be allowed in the classroom. He says "homosexuality in all of its forms, along with other sexual deviations, are wrong." He also goes on to say "There is child abuse here when children are being brainwashed and being taught these deviant lifestyles and making them appear normal."
It is nothing short of horrific that a School Committee candidate aligns herself with a speaker who feels gay people are "wrong" and that it's "child abuse" for students to be taught be a transgender teacher. When I followed up with Dashe directly, she confirmed that she would not allow her children (none of whom attend Franklin Public Schools) to be instructed by a transgender teacher specifically because they are trans. She cited her faith as the determining factor in this decision.
Then, a week later, I read the opening statements of the School Committee candidates who couldn't be present at a candidates night. Four of them introduced themselves, stated why they wanted to run for office, and identified important issues and potential solutions. Dashe Videira's statement, however, was singularly focused on Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and why this classic should not be read by Franklin High School students. Because apparently the issue she felt to be of the highest priority is potentially banning a book by an African-American, Nobel Prize winning author.
Please do not vote for anyone who holds these archaic and damaging views regarding transgender people and whose priority is banning books instead of expanding the world view of our kids. There are gay students in Franklin. There are trans students in Franklin. There is even a trans School Committee candidate. I can't imagine how terrible it must feel for these folks to hear that a School Committee candidate thinks they are potentially harmful just because of who they are or how they identify. Or to know someone could soon hold office who would actively limit exposure to books that share the lived experiences of marginalized authors.
Unfortunately she is not the only one in this boat. Town Councilor Andrew Bissanti is up for reelection and was captured in a Milford Daily News photograph holding a sign this summer at a rally in Medway that read "Screw your critical race theory: Stop teaching racism and woke liberal politics in our schools."
First of all, Critical Race Theory (CRT) is something graduate students learn but it is not taught in our schools and there is no plan to do so. Which means Bissanti is opposed to something that isn't even happening in our schools. But more importantly, a sitting Town Councilor holding a sign that says "Screw CRT" and demeaning good faith efforts to examine how race and racism influence our laws, policies, and practices by terming them "woke liberal politics" is a monumental red flag. As is insinuating our hard-working teachers are in any way teaching racism in school. He told the paper "Parents don't want their children viewing the world through the lens of racism." But Bissanti certainly doesn't speak for all Franklin parents and I wonder if he thought about our non-white families who have no choice but to see racism on a daily basis when he made that statement.
This is not about condemning religious beliefs and this transcends left vs right or liberal vs conservative. People are free to worship however they choose and hold whatever views they want, but there's a different standard when that person's religious views and beliefs are going to be injected into policy that affects every child who attends public school in Franklin. And bigotry cloaked in religion is still bigotry.
Please don't vote for extremism and intolerance on Nov. 2 or for people who openly admit they won't separate church and state. Franklin deserves better than that because our community IS better than that. Thankfully we have a robust slate of diverse and qualified candidates, and I hope voters choose people who don't condone prejudice or align themselves with extremism.
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| Voices of Franklin: Aaron Gouveia for candidates that support diversity |
What happened at the Franklin School Committee meeting? (video)
That is a very good question. Settle in to watch the YouTube video of the Franklin School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, Oct 26, 2021 to determine for yourself.
Alan Earl's Franklin Observer reports on the first part of the meeting here:
https://franklinobserver.town.news/g/franklin-town-ma/n/47376/what-just-happened?
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| What happened at the Franklin School Committee meeting? (video) |
FHS volleyball tops Milford 3-0 on Tuesday
Milford, 0 @ Franklin, 3 – Final
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| FHS volleyball tops Milford 3-0 on Tuesday |
Lifelong Learning: Kids' Corner Cooking Classes - Registration open
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SAFE Coalition starts a diaper bank
"DIAPER BANK IS IN FULL SWING!Currently accepting donations of diapers and wipes in ALL sizesLooking to utilize the diaper bank? Feel free to complete this form and we can set up a time for pick-up or delivery!"
Halloween Doggie Costume Contest - Oct 31
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| Halloween Doggie Costume Contest - Oct 31 |
Franklin Police cancel Halloween event in advance of inclement weather this weekend
***EVENT CANCELLED***
Due to inclement weather this weekend, our annual Halloween Party is cancelled and will not be postponed at this time. We're sorry for the unfortunate news and hope to see everyone next year!
Shared from Twitter: https://t.co/enUwpkrfRQ
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| Franklin Police cancel Halloween event in advance of inclement weather this weekend |
Sen. Becca Rausch reminder on DPH vaccination rates released weekly
#DidYouKnow @MassDPH issues weekly #vaccination rates by town/city?
It's true. Every Thursday. Download here: https://t.co/h1hnSpvxky
Here are the overall rates in communities in my current district & those that will come into the district in 2023.Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/Becca_Rausch/status/1452664558506631179
#MApoli #COVID19 #transparency https://t.co/OLblEeRaOb
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| Sen. Becca Rausch reminder on DPH vaccination rates released weekly |
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
school mask mandate is extended through "at least January 15, 2022"
Commissioner Riley has announced that the state #MAEdu school mask mandate is extended through "at least January 15, 2022."
Please see attached documents for more information. https://t.co/2TC9w7Mp93
- Public school students ages 5 and older in all grades and staff are required to wear masks indoors in schools, except when eating, drinking or during mask breaks
- All visitors are also expected to wear a mask in school buildings, regardless of vaccination status
- Masks are not required outdoors
- It is strongly recommended that students younger than 5 also wear a mask in school
- Students and staff who cannot wear a mask for medical reasons, and students who cannot wear a mask for behavioral reasons are exempted from this requirement
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| school mask mandate is extended through "at least January 15, 2022" |