Cash-strapped MBTA aims to sell station naming rights

Gee, I wonder if that means Dean College could loose the place they currently have (Franklin/Dean) or would now have to pay for it? It could get real confusing associating a business name with a station location.

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

Cash-strapped MBTA aims to sell station naming rights

via Boston Business News - Local Boston News | Boston Business Journal on 7/11/11

Next stop: State Street Bank Station? Or, how does TD Bank North Station sound? No? Harvard Pilgrim Station has a nice ring to it. The fiscally troubled Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) is gearing up to sell naming rights to its stations, transit lines, and even the authority's Charlie Card payment system. According to a request for proposals published on the website of MBTA real estate arm Transit Realty, the T is accepting bids for "naming rights consulting services" - a two-year contract "to assist in the monetization of the Naming Rights potential of the MBTA's...

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"We're going to have some class size issues"

"We don't like to build a budget on attrition," said Superintendent Maureen Sabolinski, adding that she looks for savings wherever she can. "It's really hard to predict what the attrition number could be." 

Attrition money is gained through replacing retiring teachers, often at the higher end of the pay scale, with new hires who start with much lower salaries. 

The federal money, $850,939, is left over from last year's Education Jobs Fund program, a stimulus program similar to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The School Committee voted last year to save about half of the $1.4 million federal allotment for the fiscal '12 budget. 

Sabolinski and the School Committee members were quick to point out to one another that both sources of funding are unsteady - the Jobs Fund money won't be available next year and the superintendent cannot count on consistent retirements of highly paid teachers.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x1850043587/Franklin-schools-use-saved-funds-to-bridge-budget-gap#ixzz1RyX6E8b7

History Mystery

Yes, indeed, inside the cover of a book there are worlds to explore!



What book are you reading this summer?

Preliminary Analysis: The Governor's Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Vetoes

Explore our online budget database Is our research helpful to you? Support our work Contact Info   Noah Berger   President    nberger@massbudget.org   (617) 426-1228 x102  Preliminary Analysis: The Governor's Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Vetoes  July 11, 2011  Presented with a budget that implemented a fourth year of budget cuts across state government, Governor Patrick today signed that document without using his line-item veto authority to impose any additional cuts.    In signing the budget, the Governor highlighted several reform initiatives in the budget, including: changes in the indigent defense system that aim to save money by shifting some cases from privately contracted lawyers to public defenders; an initiative to try to place homeless families more quickly in permanent housing rather than shelter; and the creation of a new office of Performance, Accountability and Transparency. The Governor vetoed several outside sections and returned a number of them with proposed amendments.  Outside sections are parts of the budget that don't appropriate money.  This preliminary analysis of the Governor's vetoes briefly describes outside sections the Governor vetoed and amendments he proposed to other outside sections. The report is available at www.massbudget.org or by clicking here.     See MassBudget's Budget Browser to explore Massachusetts state budgets from Fiscal Year 2001 to the present, as well as budget proposals for the next fiscal year as they are offered by the Governor and the Legislature.     MassBudget provides independent research and analysis of state budget and tax policies, as well as economic issues, with particular attention to the effects on low- and moderate-income people.

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New Look Locomotives

Sent to you by Steve Sherlock via Google Reader:

New Look Locomotives

via Commonwealth Conversations: Transportation by Klark Jessen on 7/11/11

As the manufacturing and production of 20 new locomotives gets underway, the MBTA is asking the public to help choose a design scheme that reflects a new era in the delivery of
Commuter Rail service.  Beginning Tuesday, visitors to www.mbta.com will be presented with three options from which to choose, seen at left.  The on-line preference poll will be available for two weeks.  The design options will also be on display at North and South Stations.

The MBTA is purchasing a new fleet of twenty diesel-electric passenger locomotives from Motive-Power Incorporated of Boise, Idaho.  The $114 million investment represents the MBTA's first major locomotive procurement in more than 20 years. Employing the industry's newest technological advances, the locomotives are being designed and built to operate more efficiently, reducing fuel use and emissions while significantly improving performance and reliability.  The new locomotives will be in service by 2013.

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"asked for a waiver on two restrictions"

This plan eliminated a second drive-through proposed earlier, but asked for a waiver on two restrictions: one that prohibited left turns out of the property, and another that prohibited the restaurants being open during breakfast hours. It also asked for permission for, but didn't commit to building, increased square footage for one of the buildings, from 2,360 square feet to 5,280 square feet. 

"Doubling the size of a building doesn't come under a limited site plan, in my opinion," said Planning Board member Joseph Halligan, before the board took a vote that would have forced Daddario to create a full site plan, instead of push his project forward with a limited plan. 

An initial vote to require a whole new plan came out in a tie. 

After vehement disapproval from the applicant and Ballarino, and a suggestion of compromise from the Town Planner Beth Dahlstrom, the board reconsidered the decision. 

The board then voted to use the limited site plan, but not approve it until a further traffic study was examined and to limit the building size for now. 

The hearing was continued until July 25, when the board will vote on reconsidering the restriction on left turns.

Read more: http://www.milforddailynews.com/archive/x1498054749/Franklin-board-hears-changes-to-development-plan#ixzz1Rsl9DT4O

LIVESTRONG at the YMCA

LIVESTRONG at the YMCA is a twelve-week small group program designed for adult cancer survivors who have become de-conditioned or chronically fatigued from their treatment and/or disease. The program is offered without cost to the participants. Our goal is to help patients build muscle mass and muscle strength, increase flexibility and endurance, and improve functional ability. Certified Hockomock Area YMCA health and wellness instructors give personal individualized instruction to the participants. The instructors are trained in the elements of cancer, post rehab exercise, nutrition, and supportive cancer care.


Why is LIVESTRONG at the YMCA Important?
This program fulfills the important need of the increasing number of cancer survivors who find themselves in the transitional period between completing their cancer treatment and the shift to feeling physically and emotionally strong enough to attempt to return to their normal life. The fact that the program is outside a medical facility and integrated into the community serves to emphasize that LIVESTRONG at the YMCA is about health, not about disease. The positive and enthusiastic feedback that we receive from individuals who have gone through the LIVESTRONG at the YMCA program convinces us that this is a significant community program that fills an important, and previously unaddressed, need of cancer patients and survivors.


A survivor is defined from the point of cancer diagnosis through the balance of his/her life. Are you a cancer survivor or do you know someone who is? Please contact your local Hockomock Area YMCA branch to get involved.


The Hockomock Y is pleased to announce its upcoming summer program and encourages cancer survivors in the community to join. There is no cost to participants.


Bernon Family Branch, Franklin
45 Forge Hill Road
Franklin, MA
508.528.8708


Start Date: week of July 18
Day & Time: Mondays & Thursdays, 6:00pm or Tuesdays & Thursdays, 10:30 am
Contact: Vickey Marini