The presentation by the Teen Angels group is one of several at the School Committee meeting this evening. Read more in the Milford Daily News here."The best that we can try to do in the schools is endeavor to teach students to properly use resources, including online tools," said Roy.
That's exactly what the Franklin Teenangels chapter, a division of a nationwide group of teen cyber-safety experts, is trying to do.
Worried about online social networking safety, concerned mother and Dean College technology instructor Lisa Keohane stumbled across wiredsafety.org, a Web site dedicated to Internet safety, and learned about the teen initiative which was featured on the Web site.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
"that's one bit of data that hasn't shown any indication of slowing down yet"
Monday, January 11, 2010
FM #53 Week Ending 1/10/2010
This is what matters as the week ends Jan 10, 2010 in Franklin, MA. The session covers the Town Council and two items of importance from it's meeting on January 6th.
Time: 7 minutes, 56 seconds
MP3 File
Session notes:
This internet radio show or podcast is number 53 in the series for Franklin Matters.
Take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends January 10, 2010
In this session I’ll cover the Town Council meeting of January 6, 2010
Two items of importance occurred during the meeting.
First, Brian Taberner, Director, Planning and Community Development, came before the Council to preview some bylaw changes that will be coming up at the next meeting. The bylaw changes have to do with the welcome mat that Franklin is creating for biotechnology firms to consider relocating here to conduct their business. There were bylaw changes made last year that have helped put Franklin near the top of the pile of MA communities. In an analysis of what it would take to move up the listing, one item sticks out. Franklin currently requires a potential biotech company to obtain a special permit from the Town Council. This is over and over all the normal planing board, health dept, fire dept, etc reviews required. He is proposing that this requirement be removed. He is also making some minor modifications to the zoning map itself. The changes would add about 11 parcels in the industrial park and remove one parcel that recently was obtained by State to add to the Town Forest. The formal discussion to approve these changes will come before the council in future meetings. As these are bylaw changes, they require two readings before final approval.
Second, the big snow storm that hit Franklin the weekend of Dec 19/20 dropping 14-18 inches created problems for students walking to school as the sidewalks were not cleared. Robert “Brutus” Cantoreggi reviewed the snow storm planning details and what the Town is currently capable of providing. With the current priority listing as follows:
With storms delivering under six inches of snow, the DPW can clear the sidewalks within a day after the plowing stops.
With storms delivery more than six inches of snow, the DPW will take two-three days after the plowing stops to clear the sidewalks.
This is due to resource constraints. One, equipment to clear the sidewalk. Even if we had money to purchase additional (approx. 120,000 per unit) would that be an effective use of our funds since we would only use them once or twice a year? Consider that this amount would effectively fund two teachers and some supplies or books.
Two, even with the equipment and additional manpower available, you can't start the sidewalks until the roads are complete. Otherwise, you'd end up messing up the sidewalk when the plows went by on the road. Don't believe this? What happens at the end of your driveway? How do you keep that clear with the plows going by multiple times on the roads?
Finally, Franklin has this issue due to the overall budget problems we face. Should we plow the roads less well? Should we accept the way it is? All good questions that should lead to a good discussion.
There is a quick poll set up on this question this week. You can see and respond to the poll on the front page of Franklin Matters.
Looking ahead this week, the School Committee meets on Tuesday, Jan 12th.
As I close this session this week, let me remind you that
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
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!
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.
MP3 File
Session notes:
This internet radio show or podcast is number 53 in the series for Franklin Matters.
Take about ten minutes to keep current with what matters in Franklin, MA as the week ends January 10, 2010
In this session I’ll cover the Town Council meeting of January 6, 2010
Two items of importance occurred during the meeting.
First, Brian Taberner, Director, Planning and Community Development, came before the Council to preview some bylaw changes that will be coming up at the next meeting. The bylaw changes have to do with the welcome mat that Franklin is creating for biotechnology firms to consider relocating here to conduct their business. There were bylaw changes made last year that have helped put Franklin near the top of the pile of MA communities. In an analysis of what it would take to move up the listing, one item sticks out. Franklin currently requires a potential biotech company to obtain a special permit from the Town Council. This is over and over all the normal planing board, health dept, fire dept, etc reviews required. He is proposing that this requirement be removed. He is also making some minor modifications to the zoning map itself. The changes would add about 11 parcels in the industrial park and remove one parcel that recently was obtained by State to add to the Town Forest. The formal discussion to approve these changes will come before the council in future meetings. As these are bylaw changes, they require two readings before final approval.
Second, the big snow storm that hit Franklin the weekend of Dec 19/20 dropping 14-18 inches created problems for students walking to school as the sidewalks were not cleared. Robert “Brutus” Cantoreggi reviewed the snow storm planning details and what the Town is currently capable of providing. With the current priority listing as follows:
- the roads
- town buildings and schools
- sidewalks and downtown
With storms delivering under six inches of snow, the DPW can clear the sidewalks within a day after the plowing stops.
With storms delivery more than six inches of snow, the DPW will take two-three days after the plowing stops to clear the sidewalks.
This is due to resource constraints. One, equipment to clear the sidewalk. Even if we had money to purchase additional (approx. 120,000 per unit) would that be an effective use of our funds since we would only use them once or twice a year? Consider that this amount would effectively fund two teachers and some supplies or books.
Two, even with the equipment and additional manpower available, you can't start the sidewalks until the roads are complete. Otherwise, you'd end up messing up the sidewalk when the plows went by on the road. Don't believe this? What happens at the end of your driveway? How do you keep that clear with the plows going by multiple times on the roads?
Finally, Franklin has this issue due to the overall budget problems we face. Should we plow the roads less well? Should we accept the way it is? All good questions that should lead to a good discussion.
There is a quick poll set up on this question this week. You can see and respond to the poll on the front page of Franklin Matters.
Looking ahead this week, the School Committee meets on Tuesday, Jan 12th.
As I close this session this week, let me remind you that
- If you like what I am doing, please tell your neighbors
- If you don’t like something, please tell me
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.blogspot.com/
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!
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the website to listen to the audio version.
Maguro House
Utilization of the retail store front in the new building is coming to completion. East Coast Driving School opened next to Sarapaan. Now a new Japanese restaurant, Maguro House, will be opening on the corner. When running Sunday, I catch sight of the door sign and stopped for a photo.
Construction on the interior is still in progress.
When I find out the tentative opening date, I'll share that here.
Updated - 2/25/10
The Grand Opening Party is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The restaurant website can be found here: http://www.magurohouse.com/
When I find out the tentative opening date, I'll share that here.
Updated - 2/25/10
The Grand Opening Party is scheduled for Sunday, February 28th from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM
The restaurant website can be found here: http://www.magurohouse.com/
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Franklin, MA: Police Dept
From the 2009 Town of Franklin Annual Report. This is available in a printed version at the Municipal Building or online at the Town website here.It has been a very difficult year for us all. The economic times have left no one unscathed including your Police Department. We have had a reduction in personnel. Currently we are down to 45 sworn officers. Our business, with all its expectations, is still there and we are doing our best to keep Franklin a great place to live.
We continue to seek out grant monies to offset some of our important projects dealing with alcohol, traffic, the elderly and our youth. Franklin has been fortunate in that we have received some grant monies to help us to continue what we have started in these areas.
Our main concerns are that we continue to be an active partner in our youth and elderly programs. Our Community Service Division has been very busy in our schools and offering summer camp programs. We will hopefully be able to provide another great Halloween event at the High School Field House as we did this past year by providing a safe and fun day for the entire family.
The High School Hockey team, the Varsity Basketball team and the Tri-County Football teams all have enjoyed great seasons ending in playoff finals or in the Super Bowl. We would like to think this was in no small part due to several of our police officers in coaching positions. I believe this interaction between our officers as coaches and the student athletes builds bridges of friendships, trust and understanding. Ben Franklin’s adage of “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” certainly appears to be true in this case.
The Alcohol Grant Awards have been very helpful in offsetting costs associated in our attempts to curb underage drinking. The success of our program has been evident with the number of license suspensions, and arrests made of those procuring for minors. Please accept my sincere thanks for being a great community in which to work. I’d like to take this opportunity to also thank the officers of our Police Department for their dedication and hard work over this past year. I boast of being blessed with great people to work with not only within the department but with all the other departments and boards.
Sincerely,
S.T. Williams
Stephen T. Williams
Chief of Police
For additional information, be sure to visit the Police Dept website here
- The Daily Police logs are available here
- You can follow them on Twitter here
- There are a number of safety tips available here
Saturday, January 9, 2010
DPW Sidewalk Snow Removal Presentation - 01/06/10
The presentation text for the DPW discussion on sidewalk snow removal from Wednesday night's Town Council meeting.
The sidewalk map that shows the three routes can be viewed on the DPW website here.
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the Franklin Matters website to view the presentation.
The sidewalk map that shows the three routes can be viewed on the DPW website here.
PLEASE NOTE:
These maps are in provided in Adobe Portable Document Format and Architecture D Size (24" x 36"). Because of their size and level of detail they are large files and take additional time to download. Please be patient.
Note: email subscribers will need to click through to the Franklin Matters website to view the presentation.
"a teacher-driven initiative"
The Franklin Arts Academy is a "school within a school" designed to create smaller learning communities where students can engage in academics through music and video production, visual art, theater and architecture.The Franklin Arts Academy program was proposed for Franklin High School. Hopefully it will be implemented for the next school year (Fall 2010) with no impact to the budget. Read more about the program in the Milford Daily News here.
"Each of the arts classes is creating a lesson through academics," Waters said. "Everything is interrelated."
The live reporting and presentation from the Dec 8th School Committee meeting can be found here. The video and Q&A discussion can be found here.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Food, Inc. Sunday Jan 10th - 7:00 PM
A series of films on sustainable living called "The Green Reel" will be held Sunday evenings in North Attleboro. The films are presented free of charge. Some refreshments are available. Discussion about the film is encouraged.
Food, Inc. will be shown Jan 10th at 7:00 PM
The flyer for the full series can be seen here:
Food, Inc. will be shown Jan 10th at 7:00 PM
The flyer for the full series can be seen here:
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