Franklin Matters

Monday, October 17, 2011

Weekly summary

There is a weekly summary available. If you want to stay up with the news in one weekly dose, instead of the daily dose, you have this option.

You can visit Franklin Matters Weekly and subscribe via email or RSS feed.

The summary for the past week is found here
http://franklinmattersweekly.blogspot.com/2011/10/week-ending-oct-16-2011.html

In the News - Brunelli, hair salon, NCLB, local aid

Meet the Franklin Candidate: Philip Brunelli, Board of Health

by Alison McCall, Daily News staff

Franklin man opens hair salons in MetroWest

by Kelleigh Welch/Daily News staff

Educators welcome No Child Left Behind reform plan

by Scott O'Connell/Daily News staff

While no one from Franklin was mentioned in the No Child Left Behind article, we do find the following in an article on the increase in local aid coming from the Commonwealth that was just announced:

Franklin Town Council Vice Chairman Stephen Whalen said snow removal could be a good use for the money. Whalen cautioned that it should not be used for operating expenses or to pay salaries.

"I kind of cringe when we get unexpected sources of funding from the state or any other entity," Whalen said. "I think it fuels the belief among some voters that whenever there's a shortfall in the operating budget, money will be quote-unquote found. It's very difficult to predict when the Legislature may throw a bone like this to the town."

Sunday, October 16, 2011

World Food Day - 2011

"Never before has man had such capacity to control his own environment, to end thirst and hunger, to conquer poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and massive human misery."

~ John Fitzgerald Kennedy, before the UN General Assembly

Jeremy Irons on getting mad

Sign the petition to end hunger here
http://www.1billionhungry.org/

This Sunday, around your table in Franklin, have a conversation on where your food came from.

Join Oxfam America and make this World Food Day, Sunday October 16th, a cause for celebration and action! When we sit down to dinner every day, rarely do we realize that our meal depends on a global system that involves people both next door and across oceans. This World Food Day, Oxfam America is teaming up with allies across the USA and around the globe to encourage people to take a simple yet profound action. We’re asking you and thousands of others to dedicate your Sunday Dinner on October 16th to a conversation about where your food comes from, who is behind its cultivation and how we can make the food system more just and sustainable. Just click on www.oxfamamerica.org/worldfoodday We are all tied to a global food system that is broken. Yet there is a strong and growing movement of individuals and organizations working to repair and improve the system. In a world facing the challenges of the current famine in East Africa, constrained land and water, and an erratic climate, one of the best ways to combat global food insecurity is to invest in farmers and remove the barriers that limit their productivity. Creating this awareness is what a World Food Day Sunday Dinner is all about.

Desmond Tutu for World Food Day 2011 talks briefly in this video:

Join the many in Franklin looking to make a difference locally. Key among the groups making an effort in this area are the Franklin Food Pantry, the Community Gardens, the Farmers Market (Fridays on the Town Common) with help from the YMCA and the MetroWest Community Health Care Foundation.
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Watery rain gardens

Yes, the rain gardens did catch some water.

The Parmenter School had some rain gardens installed as part of the effort to remove phosphorus from the Charles River. By catching the water and filtering it through some natural materials, the intent is to remove the phosphorous before it gets into the tributaries and into the Charles River. Additional rain gardens can be seen along the edge of the parking lot on Wachusett St for the ball fields at Fletcher Field.

Additional photos showing the construction of the rain gardens can be found here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/4935285138/in/photostream/

and here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/4934685201/in/photostream/

"It isn't something you can do overnight"

"It's good to get new ideas in there," said Sean Donahue, a 23-year-old first-time candidate for School Committee. "You have people who have been there for a really long time. I think it's just good to have new people, coming in with those new ideas."

The full seven-member School Committee is up for election, with five incumbents running for their seats plus three fresh faces, as is the full nine-member Town Council, which has six incumbents running with six candidates who did not serve on the council in this last, two-year term.

Three people are running for the two open seats on the Board of Health, only one of whom is an incumbent, all three incumbent constables are vying with two potential newcomers for their positions, and Jim Dacey, who has been the town's treasurer-collector for the past 12 years, has an opponent in former Planning Board member Mark Denommee.

"There could be so much gained from having a new voice," said Denommee, who added that having someone in a position for such a long time "leads to some sort of complacency. We need a new set of eyes and a new set of ears in the Town Hall of Franklin."

In the News - Aucoin

Meet the Franklin Candidate: Richard Aucoin, Board of Health

by Alison McCall/Daily News staff

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Library book sale: today - 9:00 to 4:00

The Friends of Franklin Library are holding their book sale today at the DPW garage off Hayward St.

Bring a donation for the Franklin Food Pantry and you get a coupon for a book (up to $1).