MA Consumer Affairs: Recap of 2015 Tips

It’s been an exciting 2015 for Undersecretary Chapman and the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. This year we focused on educating the consumer, alerting you to rights you may not have known you had and calling your attention to ways to protect your identity and investments.

MA Consumer Affairs header

Continue reading the article to find the recap of tips published during 2015. Tips on 

• home improvement projects
• renting
• car buying
• scams
• shopping

http://blog.mass.gov/consumer/massconsumer/2015-recap-how-the-office-of-consumer-affairs-and-business-regulation-affects-you/

Spectra Access Northeast Open Houses Announced

Dear friends,

Spectra has just put out its schedule of Open Houses.

Algonquin Open Houses for the Access Northeast Project

Per Spectra's notice:

Algonquin will hold Open Houses in January in order to provide updated information concerning the Access Northeast Project to landowners, public officials and interested stakeholders.  The Open Houses are designed to enable people to get their questions answered by Project representatives.  In addition, since there is no formal speaking program, individuals may arrive at any time during the hours listed.  FERC representatives will also be in attendance and will be available to speak with attendees.

WALPOLE/SHARON/CANTON/STOUGHTON: Tuesday, January 19, 2016
5:30PM – 7:30PM
Four Points Sheraton
1125 Boston Providence Turnpike
Norwood, MA

MEDWAY/BELLINGHAM/FRANKLIN/MILLIS/NORFOLK:
Thursday, January 21, 2016
5:30PM – 7:30PM
Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham
835 Union St.
Franklin, MA

They are lumping MILFORD (and strangely enough MEDWAY again) into the West Boylston 16-inch lateral pipeline called the West Boylston Lateral:

MILFORD/MEDWAY/UPTON/GRAFTON/MILLBURY/SUTTON/SHREWSBURY/BOYLSTON/WEST BOYLSTON:

Monday, January 25, 2016

5:30-7:30PM

Highfields Golf & Country Club

42 Magill Drive

Grafton, MA

For those of you live on the east end of the Q-1 Loop, there's a piece of pipeline also proposed in Quincy and Braintree as well as the compressor station in Weymouth.  If you'd like to support their fight as well:

QUINCY/WEYMOUTH/BRAINTREE:

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

5:30-7:30PM

Boston Marriott Quincy

1000 Marriott Drive

Quincy, MA

If you want to attend any other Open Houses to show support for other towns, here's some basic information.  Let me know if you want more details:

• Wednesday, January 20: Rehoboth
• Thursday, January 21: Burrillville, RI
• Tuesday, January 26: Freetown/Acushnet/New Bedford

I will send out more information next week about what to expect at the Open Houses and what you can learn and do at them.

As usual, call me with questions.

Carolyn

508-473-3305 H

508-335-0848 C

one of several Franklin lawn signs

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Also of note:

• a group in NY against the project   http://sape2016.org/
• the group in Quincy has a website  http://nocompressor.com/tag/access-northeast/

and if you need some of the pipeline material

• Spectra Energy's Access North East page

http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/New-Projects-and-Our-Process/New-Projects-in-US/Access-Northeast/

as well as 

• the Atlantic Bridge portion of the project

http://www.spectraenergy.com/Operations/New-Projects-and-Our-Process/New-Projects-in-US/Atlantic-Bridge/

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 1/8/16 - THU 1/14/16

FRIDAY 1/8/16
9:30am   Canvas and Coffee at the Franklin Art Center

SATURDAY 1/9/16
10am-12pm   Information Session and Building Tour of the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School
1-3pm   Family Paint at the Franklin Art Center
6:30pm   Electric Youth 2016 Debut at The Black Box
8:00pm   Circle of Friends Coffeehouse: John Gorka and Honor Finnegan, FUSF (262 Chestnut Street, Franklin)
8:30pm   Electric Youth 2016 Debut at The Black Box

SUNDAY 1/10/16
7:30-10:30am   Sunday Morning Breakfast at Franklin Rod and Gun Club

TUESDAY 1/12/16
6:30-8pm   Knitting Circle for Adults at Franklin Public Library
7:30pm   Franklin and Bellingham Rail Trail Committee Meeting at the Franklin YMCA. Public welcome!

THURSDAY 1/14/16
7-9:30pm   Zentangle (Winter Bear) at the Franklin Art Center

For all the Town of Franklin Public Meetings click HERE.

For event details click HERE.

*If you have any suggestions or events for the calendar, please email Renata@BetterLivingRE.com

The Tri-County Insider January 7

JANUARY 7 To the Tri-County Community, Happy New Year! We are almost at the midpoint of the school year- there is a Ferris Bueller quote in here somewhere about time flying by. Our Winter Sports are in full swing. We are preparing freshmen to select their programs soon, and seniors will begin their Senior Project presentations next week. Ms. Haney will be planting the garden before we know it. Our MCAS results have been made public and Tri-County is once again a Level 1 school with all of tested programs making gains towards their 2017 goal. It is rewarding to see students work so hard to achieve these goals and a faculty so willing to do whatever they can to help them. We hear and read a great deal about college and career readiness in the news, and here at Tri- County and the other vocational programs across the state this idea of college and career readiness is lived out every day. Congratulations to all the teachers, students, and parents on our 2015 performance. More congratulations to our Computer Information Systems students on their "Late Pass" app that was entered into the Verizon App Contest and won Best in State winner in the Verizon Innovative App Challenge. Please read below how to help our students succeed at the next level of the competition. Thank you all for your support, Mr. Procaccini Upcoming Events Grade 9 Shop Selection Night Wednesday, January 13 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Monday, January 18 About The TC Insider The TC Insider is a biweekly newsletter for the families of Tri-County students. Forward to a Friend Follow on Twitter Like us on Facebook View Email In Browser Tri-County RVTHS 147 Pond Street Franklin, MA 02038 www.tri-county.us 508-528-5400 Tri-County admissions webpage image Note: the newsletter was shortened for publication here, you can view the full set of contents here

Blood drive and bone marrow drive this Saturday in Norfolk

Via the Franklin network:

The Gary Mirliss Memorial Blood Drive and Bone Marrow Campaign Has Arrived Next Saturday your donation can make a difference in someone's life. We need your help, your family's help, your friend's help, and your neighbor's help to reach our goal of collecting  200 Units of Blood       BE THE ONE THAT PUTS US OVER THE TOP  When Saturday, January 9, 2016    From 8 AM to 3 PM Where King Philip Middle School 18 King Street  Norfolk, MA 02056 All participants names will be placed in a raffle for the chance to win great donor raffle items and enjoy a pancake breakfast and pizza See you next Saturday, January 9th Schedule Appointment Sponsor Code: Mirliss Forward to Family, Friends, and Neighbors STAY CONNECTED:

MBTA: New feature: Subscribe-by-train for Commuter Rail

Dear T-Alerts subscriber, We've introduced a new feature for Commuter Rail T-Alerts. Subscribers can now choose a specific commuter rail train(s), instead of everything that runs during a specific time of day. This way you'll only receive the alerts that matter most. To update your subscriptions to take advantage of this feature: Log in to edit your T-Alert subscription at https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MABTA/subscriber/new Check your trains to subscribe to them (You can hover your mouse over the blue "i" symbols to see each train's scheduled stop times) Click "submit" at the bottom when you're done We hope this feature improves your T-Alerts experience. - The MBTA T-Alerts Team

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train at Franklin/Dean station

Strategic Materials fined for violating state air pollution control and wetland protection regulations

"The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) has assessed a $17,200 penalty on Strategic Materials, Inc. of Houston, Texas, which operates a glass recycling facility at Kenwood Circle in Franklin, for violating state air pollution control and wetland protection regulations. 

State of MA DEP

Strategic Materials holds an air quality permit issued by MassDEP, which establishes emission limits and operating requirements for the glass bottle-crushing facility. Inspections conducted by MassDEP staff in 2014 identified violations of both the permit and the Wetlands Protection Act regulations."

Continue reading the press release by the State of MA DEP
http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/massdep/news/releases/franklin-recycling-facility-assessed-17200-penalty.html