Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 10/7/16 - THU 10/13/16

FRIDAY 10/7/16
10:30am   Knitting Circle for Adults @ Franklin Public Library (all skill levels welcome)
12-6pm   Franklin Farmers Market @ The Town Common
6:30pm   Art Night Uncorked @ Franklin Art Center
8pm   The Mark Poniatowski Situation  @ The Black Box

SATURDAY 10/8/16
1-4pm   Open Auditions for Holiday Performances at The Black Box
8pm   The Daybreak’s with special guest Copilot @ The Black Box

SUNDAY 10/9/16
7:30-10:30am   Sunday Morning Breakfast returns to Franklin Rod and Gun Club - open to public

MONDAY 10/10/16  Columbus Day - no school
10am   Papier-mache pumpkins @ Franklin Art Center
11am-6pm   Disney Silhouette Artist @ Franklin Art Center - reserve your spot
4pm   Krafty Mondays (ages 6-12) @ Franklin Public Library

TUESDAY 10/11/16
7pm   Yankee Quilters Guild Meeting @ St. John Episcopal Church
7:30pm   Franklin and Bellingham Rail Trail Committee Monthly Meeting @ Franklin YMCA. Public welcome.

WEDNESDAY 10/12/16
1-3pm   Family Paint @ Franklin Art Center
1pm   Magician Tommy James Halloween Safety Magic Show @ Franklin Public Library
6:30pm   Creative Writing Group at Franklin Public Library
7:30pm   Franklin Newcomers Monthly Meeting @ ‘3’ Restaurant. Prospective members welcome.
7:30pm   The East - original play @ Dean College

THURSDAY 10/13/16
8:30-9:30am   Rep Roy Office Hours @ Franklin Senior Center
5-9pm   SAFE Coalition;s Substance Abuse Drop-In Center opened @ St. John’s Episcopal Church
5-7pm   Preschool Fair hosted by Franklin MOMs Club @ Bellingham Public Library
7pm   Bagels and Wine Tasting @ Franklin Liquors
7:30pm   The East - original play @ Dean College

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

MassBudget: Cost of special business tax breaks nearly tripled since 1996

MassBudget report examines growth of special business tax breaks

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. The cost of special business tax breaks has nearly tripled since 1996  A new study by the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) shows that the cost to the state from special business tax break spending has nearly tripled, even after adjusting for inflation, from $370 million in 1996 to over $1 billion anticipated in this fiscal year. The Commonwealth forgoes a large amount of potential revenue each year through spending on business tax breaks aimed at supporting economic development in Massachusetts. Although less often a focus of budget debates, spending on these tax breaks is no different in its bottom-line effect than direct spending through the state budget: law makers must offset each dollar from these special breaks with reductions to other public programs or increases to other forms of taxes. The MassBudget report finds that the cost of special business tax breaks began to climb rapidly starting 20 years ago with incentives for the mutual fund industry, manufacturers, and others including the film industry and life sciences companies. And yet, despite the findings of a 2012 report from a state special commission that called for studying their effectiveness, most state business tax breaks have not faced a thorough examination. Back in 2011, the Massachusetts Legislature established a Tax Expenditure Commission to "study carefully for the first time the various exemptions, deductions and credits in the Massachusetts tax code, and to recommend methods for measuring and reviewing their effectiveness." The Commission recommended an overall reduction in the number and cost of these special tax breaks. It also recommended: identifying the clear purpose of each special business tax break; creating clear metrics to gauge their impact; conducting a regular rolling review of whether to let these programs expire; and spelling out clear rules about when the Commonwealth would "clawback" forgone revenues from businesses that fail to deliver the jobs or other kinds of economic development for which the given tax break was originally awarded. Most of these recommendations have yet to be implemented. MassBudget's new report tracks and explains the growth of special business tax break spending, and how it has resulted primarily from three major, industry-specific tax breaks including  for manufacturing companies, mutual fund companies, and tax breaks for movie production companies. The report examines these and a number of other recent tax breaks for businesses in Massachusetts. Read the new report here (LINK). The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, 15 Court Square, Suite 700, Boston, MA 02108 Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today

FHS field hockey and girls soccer teams win on Thursday

From Hockomock Sports we share the FHS fall sports results from Thursday, Oct 6


*** Field Hockey = Stoughton, 0 @ Franklin, 3 – Final 
– Kayla Marshall scored 10 minutes into first half on a pass from Annie Walsh and Brayden Downing with 10 minutes left in first half on another pass from Walsh to make it 2-0 at the break. Freshman Maeve Ledwith got her first career goal with 12 minutes left in the game on a pass from Erin Walsh. Christina Lucini and Sam Hertzberg combined for the shutout each making one save.


*** Girls  Cross Country = Attleboro, 48 @ Franklin, 15 – Final 

FHS Panthers

– Franklin had the top five finishes in the race, led by junior Nicole Clermont. Clermont won the race in 21:41 while classmates Kate Hartnett and Ella Gutkowski came in second and third in 21:42. Sophomore Katrina Walbert was fourth in 21:55 and junior Brianna Cummings crossed the finish line in 21:57 for fifth overall.

*** Boys  Cross Country
no results available


For all the results around the Hockomock League
https://hockomocksports.com/thursdays-schedule-scoreboard-100616/

What a day for a Cross-country meet! And they're off.... pic.twitter.com/kVVUiLK4nZ

— FranklinAthletics (@FHSSports) October 6, 2016

Newcomers Meeting = October 12

The Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club welcomes you to join us on Wednesday, October 12th at 7:30 at our monthly meeting. We meet upstairs at "3" Restaurant, 461 W. Central Street, Franklin. Light refreshments and non-alcoholic beverages are provided.

The Franklin Newcomers and Friends is a social club for residents of all ages and situations - not just those who are new to town. We meet the second Wednesday of the month, September through May. Additionally, we organize and offer numerous other events and gatherings throughout the year. 

For more information, visit www.franklinnewcomers.com. We're also on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/FranklinNewcomersFriendsClub/

The Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club is a non-profit social and 
charitable organization for residents of Franklin

"one downside to that forecast is no drought-busting rainfall"

From the Milford Daily News, articles of interest for Franklin:

"While many in New England are probably relieved that Hurricane Matthew will not be making a trek north and swamping the region with heavy rain and wind, one downside to that forecast is no drought-busting rainfall. 

For the fourth consecutive week, the U.S. Drought Monitor shows 52 percent of the state still gripped in an extreme drought. Nearly 90 percent of the state is in at least severe drought. Those statistics released Thursday morning are unchanged from previous weeks despite a wet and dreary weekend and cooler than average temperatures in the past week. Unfortunately, there was actually not much widespread significant rainfall. Last weekend, Boston had .74 inches of rain but Worcester only saw .16. 

According to the National Weather Service, Boston is 10.31 inches below normal for rainfall this year. Only 2.12 inches of rain has fallen since Sept. 1 which is 1.95 inches below normal. Worcester is only slightly better with an annual rainfall deficit of 9.24 inches. Since Sept. 1, 3.43 inches of rain has fallen which is 1.28 inches below normal for Worcester."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20161006/extreme-drought-unchanged-in-massachusetts

US Drought Monitor Map; Massachusetts 10/6/16

Harvest Stroll - photo essay

early in the morning, before most were up and about, the streets were cleaned

early in the evening, right around supper time, Main St closed

Town Council Chair Matt Kelly served as master of ceremonies

Congressman Joe Kennedy represented the Federal side of the collaboration to pull the improvement plan together

Representative Jeff Roy

Senators Karen Spilka and Richard Ross

and what we were waiting for, the ribbon did get cut!

Main St was full of folks all evening

not the best spot for a string instrument performance but the FHS students did well for an appreciative crowd

even as the sun was setting, Main St was full

Emma Newton at 2016 Franklin Cultural Festival (video)

Turning back time (or #TBT) to that Saturday in July when THE BLACK BOX had two stages going for a full day of musical performances.

Here is a sample of Emma Newton's performance at THE BLACK BOX on the indoor stage. 




For more about Emma Newton visit https://soundcloud.com/emma_newton

Emma Newton performing at THE BLACK BOX