Franklin Matters

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Live reporting - Financial Plng - 4/23/09

Attending: Roche, Bartlett, Hardesty, Nutting, Cameron, Trahan, Whalen, Wilschek
Absent: Kelly, Ogden, Zollo

Approved minutes of 4/2/09, 4/9/09 meeting

Review of new numbers to show decline in town employees since 1999 versus population increase since that same time.

Discussion on new slide which tries to get at the projected deficit for this year. Too much is still in float, leave out the revenue numbers. Focus on the one-time adjustments because that puts us in the hole to start out in FY 2011.

Discussion on freeze versus deferral. Deferral is more accurate.

Live reporting - Financial Planning Committee - 4/23/09

The meeting was rescheduled to start at 7:30 PM.

fuel assistance

Seniors, veterans, all it takes
Is one phone call with Bob
To get it started

What is a sherku?

Call Bob who?
You can call Bob Fahey at the Franklin Senior Center. He and I had a good fact filled conversation on Wednesday and I'll have more to write about the assistance he provides guidance on for Franklin's seniors and veterans over the next several days.

For other sherku celebrating this National Poetry Month you can visit quiet poet here

School cuts put libraries in danger

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

School cuts put libraries in danger

via Boston Globe -- Globe West by Rachel Lebeaux, Globe Correspondent on 4/22/09

A budget squeeze is forcing Franklin officials to consider laying off school librarians as one measure toward closing its deficit. It is seen as a grim possibility, one that other communities have also faced.

Things you can do from here:

Subscribe to Boston Globe -- Globe West using Google Reader
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10th Annual Charles River Earth Day Clean Up

The 10th Annual Charles River Earth Day Clean Up will be held this Saturday (4/25/09) from 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon all along the Charles River and its tributaries.

David Dobrzynski is the site supervisor for the Bellingham/Franklin/Medway/Millis/Norfolk portion of the Charles River Watershed for this event and would be happy to sign up anyone who would like to pitch in with this effort.

David will be manning the volunteer sign in site at the Whole Foods Market in Bellingham, MA beginning at 9:00 AM. People interested in volunteering can drop by and get an assignment for a specific area that needs to be cleaned up.

Full details about this event can be found at: http://www.crwa.org/cleanup.html

"I want to change their way of thinking"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

Milford Daily News

Posted Apr 23, 2009 @ 12:12 AM

FRANKLIN —

Marina Smoske, an eighth-grader at Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School, looks and sounds no different than any other 14-year-old.

She is energetic, beautiful and loves theater. She can't wait to join other kids who know all the lyrics to musicals at Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick where she has been accepted. She is just crossing her fingers, praying that she'll get the scholarships she needs to attend her dream school.

And she definitely knows what she believes - she's got strong opinions and enjoys expressing them.

But Smoske is different than most of her peers: She was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism, , at age 4.

Autism is a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Web site.

Read the full article about Marina's effort in the Milford Daily News here