Calling all Women! United Regional Chamber seeks your input

We'd like your feedback on a future women's impact group.

Do you have a moment?   We are looking for your input on the start of a women's impact group.   Please click the link below, and answer the brief four question survey. Start Survey We truly appreciate your time and consideration.

United Regional Chamber of Commerce | 310 South Street, Plainville, MA 02762 Sent by jack@unitedregionalchamber.org in collaboration with Try it free today

image from United Chamber Chamber of Commerce website

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 2/3/17 - THU 2/9/17

FRIDAY 2/3/17 - 1/2 Day Franklin Public Schools
10:30am   Knitting Circle for Adults @ Franklin Public Library
12:30pm  Water Bottle Flipping Contest @ Franklin Public Library
6:30pm   Designer Handbag Bingo to benefit Jefferson Elementary PCC @ Elks Lodge (public welcome)
7pm   Jazz Cafe @ Remington Middle School

SATURDAY 2/4/17
8am-12pm   Franklin Youth Baseball Walk-in Registration @ Elks Lodge
10am-1pm   Franklin Historical Museum Open
1pm   Cookie Decorating Fun with SugarMomma's Custom Cakes @ Franklin Public Library

SUNDAY 2/5/17
7:30-10:30am   Sunday Morning Breakfast @ Franklin Rod and Gun Club
1-4pm   Franklin Historical Museum Open
2:30pm   Opera for Kids: Little Red Riding Hood - free family event @ The Black Box

MONDAY 2/6/17
7-8:30pm   Learn To Cope Franklin Chapter Meeting @ FUSF

TUESDAY 2/7/16
6:30pm   Charles River Meadowlands Meeting @ FUSF
7pm   Valentine Wine Tasting @ Franklin Liquors
7:30pm   Franklin and Bellingham Rail Trail Committee monthly meeting (open to public) @ Franklin YMCA

WEDNESDAY 2/8/17
12:30pm   Meme All the Shirts! @ Franklin Public Library (1/2 day for FHS)
6:30pm   Teen Advisory Board Meeting @ Franklin Public Library
7:30pm   Franklin Newcomers and Friends Club Meeting @ 3 Restaurant

THURSDAY 2/9/17
4pm   Family Coloring Book Club @ Franklin Public Library
7-8pm   Healing Hearts Community Support Group @ Franklin YMCA

For the Town of Franklin Public Calendar click HERE.

For all other Franklin events and happenings click HERE.

*If you have any suggestions or events for the calendar, please email FranklinMAHappenings@gmail.com and/or shersteve@gmail.com

Town Council Recap - Feb 1, 2017

The Town Council moved to approve the change in manager for Joe's American Bar and Grill, held a public hearing on the zoning for recreational marijuana and approved a land swap with the State to help resolve the outstanding issue with the Recycling Center.

How serious are liquor license violations taken?
At least by the Joe's American Bar and Grill, the actions taken since their violation serving an uderage drinker as part of the annual Franklin Police operation in 2016, they are serious. The restaurant boosted their training requirements for the wait and bar staff. The restaurant is now using a private sting service where monthly the company conducts a sting operation. The first four the restaurant has passed. There also is a new manager who was approved as part of the normal license change process.

Marijuana zoning
The public hearing on marijuana zoning drew no community comments and very little discussion from the Council. The set of 5 amendments align the recreational marijuana with the zoning for medical marijuana (in the industrial park areas of Franklin). In the combination, the terminology is also removing the medical or recreational distinction and just calling it 'marijuana' zoning. The five amendments were moved to a second reading after the public hearing. The measures will be scheduled for a future Council meeting for final approval.

Public access on private property
The issue raised last year where it was revealed that one of Franklin's drainage pump stations had been placed on private property and Franklin had no access agreement with the residences, was finally resolved. 

Police Dept promotions
The domino effect of replacing Chief Semerjian with Chief Lynch continued with the recognition of five promotions. Officers Smith, Guarino, Bussey, Grover, and West were introduced for the public pinning ceremony. The details of the introductory remarks were published separately and can be found here
http://www.franklinmatters.org/2017/02/franklin-police-department-promotions.html

post bage and pinning L to R: Bussey, Smith, Grover, West, Guarino

29.3 acres for 4.71
The amount of land Franklin is swapping with the State to resolve the issue with the recycling Center on Beaver St. Apparently, years ago when it was used as a land fill, Franklin had used more of the land they they technically owned. When the landfill closed, due to the ownership issues, the closing of the fill area was not completed properly and has been sitting unresolved until now. The land swap deal needs to be authorized y the Legislature but then when Franklin owns the land, additional work will need to be done to properly cap the fill.

Per Jeff Nutting at the meeting in his update to the Council, it would be approximately 2-3 years before they would come back with the plan and request for some number of millions of dollars to cap the landfill and complete the recycling center.





My notes reported live from the meeting can be found here

• Live reporting: to closing
• Live Reporting: Legislation for Action
• Live reporting: License transfer - Joe's American ...
• Live reporting: Public hearing on recreational mar...
• Live reporting: Town Council - Feb 1, 2017

The Actions Taken as published by the Town Council can also be found here
http://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/town-council-actions-taken-february-1-2017

The full video for the meeting is available from the Town of Franklin
http://view.earthchannel.com/PlayerController.aspx?PGD=franknma&eID=431

FHS girls drop ice hockey match to KP

In a light day of action for winter sports, there is only the girls hockey game to report via Hockomock Sports


Girls Hockey = Franklin, 1 @ King Philip, 4 – Final

For the other results around the Hockomock League

https://hockomocksports.com/thursdays-schedule-scoreboard-020217/

Via Twitter

KP 4-1 victory over Franklin @HockomockSports @SunChronSports @In_The_Slot @WrenthamTimes @MassHSHockey

— KP Girls Ice Hockey (@KPGHS_IceHockey) February 2, 2017

FHS Panthers

Circle of Friends Coffeehouse: Joe Crookston with Emily Mure - Feb 11

Celtic band RUNA March 4th View this email in your browser JOE CROOKSTON with Emily Mure Feb 11th 8PM $20 Joe Crookston returns for his third performance at Circle of Friends Coffeehouse on Saturday, February 11th. He is bringing his fiddle, his slide guitar, hilarious stories, foot-stomping and infectious rhythms, and gorgeous, universal songs for a night of sublime music that will leave you feeling more awake and alive and with a renewed sense of what's possible. This concert WILL be more than you're expecting and you WILL be glad you came. Promise. A night of Joe Crookston stories and songs will make you laugh one minute and feel transcendent the next. Turn off the news and come out for a night of beauty and pure magic. Never heard of Joe Crookston? Check him out on YouTube. It's good but live is so much better. Take a chance and decide to come to this concert. Joe Crookston was invited to be the Artist in Residence at last year's Folk Alliance International Conference. There are films being made of his songs. Come and hear why. http://www.joecrookston.com/ Videos: Joe Crookston has a rattlesnake tail in his slide guitar. Check out this rattlesnake song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6jelut90L0 Having a good day? Having a bad day? Maybe... it's hard to say! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vod4RX0A7vg Singer-songwriter Emily Mure will open the show.  She was an emerging artist at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, a Telluride Bluegrass Troubadour in 2014 and has shared the stage with the likes of Kim Richey, Kath Bloom, Darlingside, Garrison Starr, The Farewell Drifters, Kris Delmhorst, and more.  http://www.emilymure.com/ The Circle of Friends Coffeehouse is a non-profit organization affiliated with Franklin's First Universalist Society. Concerts are presented in a smoke free and alcohol free environment at the Society's handicapped accessible Meetinghouse, 262 Chestnut St. in Franklin, and begin at 8:00 PM; doors open at 7:30 PM. Beverages and gourmet desserts will be available. Admission is $20. Please call (508)528-2541 or visit http://www.circlefolk.org/ to purchase tickets or for more information.  Upcoming Shows Mar 4        Celtic Band RUNA Mar 18      The Boxcar Lilies Apr 1         Brother Sun Apr 22       Livingston Taylor May 6        Catie Curtis

Circle of Friends Coffeehouse · First Universalist Society · 262 Chestnut St · Franklin, MA 02038 · USA

MassBudget: Analyzing the Governor's budget proposal

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Analyzing the Governor's Budget The budget proposed last week by the Governor for the fiscal year beginning in July includes proposals that strengthen the capacity of the state's MassHealth program to meet the healthcare needs of people in Massachusetts and address fiscal challenges caused by a decline in private-sector employees receiving health insurance from their employers. This decline has led to increasing enrollment in MassHealth and thus growing state costs.  MassBudget's new BudgetMonitor parses the details of Gov. Baker's various spending and revenue initiatives, including a $2,000 per-employee assessment on employers who don't meet certain benchmarks for providing health coverage. While the budget contains several other revenue and savings proposals, the health care strategies are the major reasons the Governor is able to propose a budget that significantly reduces reliance on temporary revenue and savings to achieve balance. The Governor's budget proposal includes expanded supports for behavioral health and substance misuse, including allowing treatment of civilly-committed men at facilities other than MCI-Bridgewater, increased support for mental health services in the corrections system, and across-departmental initiatives to combat harms caused by opioid misuse. The Governor also proposes to increase significantly funding for services for young people with developmental disabilities in the year they turn 22 and lose eligibility for school-funded services. The proposal again includes an initiative that the Governor brought forward last year that would reduce benefits for certain low-income families receiving Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) by changing the way disability insurance benefits are counted in the formula for determining TAFDC payments. In addition, the Governor's budget proposes several modest reforms to update our tax system, including: taxing some short-term room rentals; requiring additional online retailers to collect sales taxes; and having credit card companies remit sales taxes to the Commonwealth more quickly. As with past budget proposals, the Governor's FY 2018 budget does not propose significant new funding to make progress on some of the big challenges our Commonwealth faces, such as expanding early education; making higher education more affordable; improving schools in all of our communities; or fixing our transportation infrastructure. Check out the Budget Monitor examination of the Governor's proposals for major state programs in greater detail. Links from the Table of Contents allow readers to jump quickly to specific sections. Each section also provides links to our on-line budget tools including our Budget Browser (which provides funding information for every account in the state budget going back to FY 2001) and, where applicable, to our Children's Budget and Jobs and Workforce Budget. 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

Sent by nberger@massbudget.org in collaboration with Try it free today Gov Baker's budget proposal press release http://www.mass.gov/governor/press-office/press-releases/fy2017/gov-baker-releases-fiscal-year-2018-budget-proposal.html and the direct link to the Governor's budget http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy18h1/

In the News: Franklin Public Radio born; Anne-Marie Weaver in lead role

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

"At 10:29 exactly Thursday morning, a new sound hit the Franklin airwaves. 

Franklin TV Executive Director Peter Fasciano, sitting in a small shelter on Forge Hill, struck a few keys on a laptop, cueing a brief announcement about a new radio station and its mission. With that, the programming switched to music, and 102.9 FM WFPR - Franklin Public Radio - was born. 

This marked the culmination of a multi-year process, Fasciano said, with the first steps taken back in 2012. Efforts accelerated last summer, with the public access station working with federal agencies and local boards to approve the antenna's location and prepare for broadcasting."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170202/new-radio-station-launches-in-franklin

the radio tower was put into place on January 17, 2017 (Photo via @wknorman)

"The Walpole Footlighters are warming up winter at their playhouse at 2 Scout Road in East Walpole, where they have been rehearsing for their next production, "Don't Dress for Dinner". 

In the cast of this comedy is Franklin's Anne-Marie Weaver. 

The show will be performed weekends from Feb. 3 through 19. This is the second production of the Walpole Footlighters 2016-2017 season, their 92nd in continuous operation. 

Weaver plays the role of Jacqueline, who creates much of the hilarity in this frenzied farce. Weaver returned to the Footlighters stage in 2014 in the Ken Ludwig comedy "Fox on the Fairway" after a 12-year hiatus. Her first role at Footlighters was as the grieving daughter in "Graceland," which was followed by parts in "6 Rms Riv Vu," "Sweet Charity," "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" and as the trouble-making maid in "Angel Street."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
http://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20170202/franklin-actress-appearing-in-footlighters-dont-dress-for-dinner