Franklin Matters

Friday, November 26, 2010

Franklin, MA: Police toy drive

The Franklin Police will be conducting their annual toy drive. Details in the flyer below

FranklinPolice_toydrive_2010

Franklin, MA

Thursday, November 25, 2010

A Thanksgiving Tradition

One of our family traditions on Thanksgiving is to listen to this on our way to the family gathering.

If you're traveling, drive safely.

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Thanks to WriterJax for the link to the video

Franklin, MA

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Why We Shouldn't Cut Food Stamps to Pay for School Lunch

The food stamp program is officially called SNAP—the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. In March 2009 the average monthly SNAP benefit per recipient was $115. After the stimulus money began to flow in April 2009, it rose to between $133 and $134 (PDF). This may sound paltry, but for households on the poverty line, it's vital. A food secure household spends $200 a month on food for each household member. A food insecure household spends on average $55 less than that per person per month. In helping to bridge that gap, the food stamp boost made an immense difference. And it was an example of stimulus funding that was universally acclaimed—it led directly to higher productivity, jobs, and community multiplier effects. (Every dollar spent on food stamps leads to $1.73 in economic growth, compared to, say, $0.32 for making the Bush-era income tax cuts permanent.)

Today, the poorest Americans are being threatened with a one-two punch. First, congress has failed to extend unemployment benefits for the 99ers—those who have run out of the 99 weeks of unemployment benefits, meaning that there are going to be many more families depending on food stamps in the future. Yet it is precisely these entitlements that the Senate has put on the block. Although many groups and large parts of the food industry think it's worth pushing for the Child Nutrition Bill this way, a few groups, such as the Food Research and Action Center, think it's short-sighted to let congress get away with robbing families' entitlements to feed their children. FRAC is right.

Read the full posting on the website of The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/food/archive/2010/11/why-we-shouldnt-cut-food-stamps-to-pay-for-school-lunch/66913/

The Franklin Food Pantry website is http://franklinfoodpantry.org/

Franklin, MA

Holiday Stroll - Dec 2, 4:00 PM - 8:00 PM

The Holiday Stroll will be held on Thursday, Dec 2 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM amongst various sites downtown Franklin. The flyer for this event with additional details and participating businesses can be seen here:

Note: stop by the Franklin Food Pantry on your way around downtown. The Pantry is located in the Rockland Trust parking lot across from the fire station. The Pantry will be holding an open house.

Franklin, MA

Teach real math through computer programing

In this TED Talk, Conrad Wolfram says:

... the part of math we teach -- calculation by hand -- isn't just tedious, it's mostly irrelevant to real mathematics and the real world. He presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through computer programming.

This is a full TED Talk, it will last 17 minutes but it is well worth it.

I remember struggling with word problems for a time in my early schools days. Some additional help was required and then one day, it clicked. I realized that the words could indeed be changed to an equation, that the equation could indeed be solved. Since then, problem solving has been one of my strengths. Not even the world's worst word problem stops me any more:

If a hen and a half laid an egg and a half in a day and a half, how long would it take a monkey

with a wooden leg to kick all the seeds out of a dill pickle?

Once I found this problem in Tom Robbins novel "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues", it went to memory and hasn't left yet.

Do you have a memorable word problem?

Franklin, MA

Funding Storm Water Management - Dec 6th, 3:00 PM

Stormwater management is a growing challenge for local governments. As a resource that is increasingly regulated, municipalities must develop approaches that protect and enhance how stormwater is handled.

Please join us for a presentation and discussion of potential funding options to support stormwater management in your community and the surrounding region.

The flyer and details can be viewed here:

FundingStormwaterMgt_101122

The towns of Bellingham, Franklin and Milford have been designated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as pilot communities for draft enhanced stormwater regulations. To assist the towns with potential challenges associated with these regulations, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is developing background materials on Stormwater Utilities, which operate similarly to other public services like water supply and wastewater. MAPC is preparing information on state laws supporting use of a Stormwater Utility, the structure and administration of a utility, and case studies of other communities in Massachusetts and the US where stormwater utilities are in existence or are under consideration.

Note: email subscribers will need to click through to Franklin Matters to view the document.

If you miss the Franklin time slot, there is also one later in Bellingham:

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council will give a presentation on the effects of the Environmental Protection Agency’s newly enacted stormwater management regulations at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, Dec. 6.