Franklin Matters

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Happy Father's Day

To all the fathers in Franklin, have a great day!

"just don't have the means to purchase food"

The food assistance program is meant to help families and individuals who live near the poverty line put healthy food on the table. To qualify, a household of two with children can make no more than $2,429 in gross income per month, $3,052 for a household of three or $3,675 for a household of four, according to a state website on the program. SNAP also has limits on savings and other resources to qualify.

Benefits, which total more than $107 million a month in Massachusetts, are federally funded. The national and state governments split the cost of administering the program. Recipients receive benefits on Electronic Benefit Transfer, or EBT, cards, which limit what the money can be spent on.

Kehoe said the state has worked over the past few years to improve access to the SNAP program. Eight to 10 years ago, Massachusetts ranked 48th in the nation for the number of residents who were eligible and had actually signed up for food stamps, she said. Today, the state ranks eighth.

The state has taken steps such as shortening applications for seniors, allowing a medical deduction aimed at helping the elderly and disabled, lowering how often participants have to recertify that they qualify and holding outreach and health expos, Kehoe said. The agency has especially targeted seniors, many of whom saw a stigma attached to accepting food assistance, she said.

Franklin should have a choice on fluoride

In case you missed Rich Aucoin's Letter to the Editor, it is reprinted in full here. Thanks for sharing Rich!

To the Editor:

The US Dept of Health & Human Services warned in January that American children are overdosing on fluoride, causing an increase in dental fluorosis. A group of Franklin residents investigated Franklin's water supply and learned that in 1970 the Board of Health ordered fluoridation, making Franklin families take fluoride every day whether they want to or not.

Most MA towns remain Pro-choice on Fluoride. Nearby towns like Milford, Bellingham, Hopedale, Blackstone, Mendon and Plainville, for example, all remain Pro-choice. Just as with all other common household medications, if people want fluoride they can easily get it. There's no reason to force it on everyone.

Even licensed physicians cannot force their patients to take a medication, nor would any responsible doctor recommend ingesting a drug in uncontrolled dosages. So it stands to reason that unlicensed practitioners such as the Board of Health members should not be doing these things either.

Even though the Board members don't dispute that individuals have a basic human right to choose their own meds, they nonetheless refused a request last month by concerned Franklin residents to restore Fluoride Choice to Franklin. The Board said it lacks the authority to end its own policy and referred the residents to the Attorney General.

However, Chief AG Attorney Margaret Hurley disagreed with the Board on May 6th, saying that Mass Gen Law Chapter 111 makes local health officials responsible for enforcing medical freedom. Still the Board said no to Choice.

By blindly continuing an unfair and outdated fluoridation policy even as fluorosis rates are on the rise, the Board members are exposing the town to unnecessary health and legal risks.

It is time to bring Fluoride Choice back to Franklin, which will also save taxpayers $35,880 every year in fluoridation-related costs.

Rich Aucoin,
Franklin resident

Helpful links:
Kidney Foundation Drops Fluoridation Support
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/06/09/idUS123736+09-Jun-2008+PRN20080609

Civil Rights Leaders Oppose Fluoridation on the Grounds that it Harms the Poor
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/14/idUS192420+14-Apr-2011+PRN20110414

Franklin Board of Health: 508-520-4905

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Why Franklin, MA public schools deserve your financial support

If you need proof that your local tax dollars are being spent well at the Franklin, MA public schools, please take a few seconds to look at the following repost from the 02038.com blog.

The post covers the recent art festival held at the Franklin High School by the school’s Franklin Arts Academy (FAA). The FAA functions as a school within a school. It helps boost the academic achievements of artistically talented Franklin students who might otherwise struggle in a traditional school environment.

Video of the FAA’s art festival

Here’s a short video of the art festival:

Why Franklin public schools deserve your financial support

I brought my two young sons to the art festival thinking I’d be showing them some typical high school art. Instead I came away excited about the vision and dedication of Franklin High’s teaching and administrative staff and very encouraged about the future of Franklin’s public schools. We have something special in the Franklin public schools and we’d be smart to dedicate the funding needed in coming years to maintain the outstanding services we are getting from the system.

As I said in the 02038.com post: Franklin High School’s excellence in action

It says a lot about the quality and dedication of the educators in the Franklin Public School system that the High School has implemented such a forward-thinking and creative program that truly helps students.

In these times of budget cuts and municipal layoffs, it is refreshing to see such dedication to the ideals of public education. Please remember this the next time you hear complaints about local real estate taxes and municipal spending. Support your public schools!

You can read the whole post here.

In the News - summer classes, summer reading

Registration open for Dean College summer classes

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Franklin summer reading lists available

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Water alert

We received an automated phone call yesterday from the Franklin DPW notifying us about a test on Well #9 that returned bad results. The well was taken off line. No action on our part is required. This is a normal part of the daily effort to deliver clean water to Franklin.