“I think it validated that we’re here to play”

Josh Perry, Managing Editor of HockomockSports.com, provides the game recap for the FHS girls basketball win vs Bridgewater-Raynham in the Comcast Classic Tournament in Woburn this weekend. FHS plays their next game at 3:30 PM on Sunday Mondayvs. Cathedral.

"Running through a perfect league campaign and putting up an average margin of victory of more than 30 points per game has earned Franklin a consensus No. 1 ranking in the state. On Saturday night at Woburn High, the Panthers had the chance to show if they could be that dominant against one of the state’s other top teams.

Franklin answered the bell and then some, leading right from the opening whistle and never letting up to earn a 58-41 victory against Div. 1 title contender Bridgewater-Raynham.

“We talked a lot about playing in a big game,” said Franklin coach John Leighton. “The lights are brighter, the crowd’s bigger and that’s fine. We believe in what we do. We need to adapt to whoever we’re playing and see what we can do.”

He added, “When you play teams of this caliber, you get to really find out who you are. You play some teams and the game’s over kind of early, the kids don’t go all four quarters so it’s a different look.”

Continue reading the article online
https://hockomocksports.com/franklin-girls-basketball-makes-statement-against-b-r-in-comcast-classic/

For a photo gallery:
https://hockomocksports.smugmug.com/2019-2020/Winter-2019-2020/Franklin-Bridgewater-Raynham-Girls-Basketball-2-15-20

FHS Elizabeth Wilson passes to Erin Quaile (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)

FHS Wrestling takes D1 Central Championships

Via HockomockSports.com, we share the results of FHS wrestling team at the D1 Central meet on Saturday

** D1 Central **

Teams
1. Franklin – 242.5
2. Brookline – 229

Placements
113 = 4th – Dillon Cashin, Franklin
120 = 3rd – Drew Difilippo, Franklin
126 = 4th – Devon Bramson, Franklin
132 = 2nd – Jake Carlucci, Franklin
138 = 5th – Alex Foley, Franklin
145 = 3rd – Alex Fracassa, Franklin
152 = 1st – Ken Sauer, Franklin
160 = 1st – Dom Sackley, Franklin
170 = 5th – Luke Cashin, Franklin
182 = 1st – Dylan Nawn, Franklin
195 = 3rd – Ben Jacoby, Franklin
220 = 3rd – Matt Walker, Franklin
285 = 2nd – Matt Leofanti, Franklin


For other Hockomock League Sectional wrestling results on Saturday
https://hockomocksports.com/hock-results-from-miaa-wrestling-sectional-meets-2020/

Franklin wrestling won the D1 Central Sectional championship. (Twitter/FHSWrestle)

"municipalities face outlays of tens of millions of dollars to comply with the MS4 permit requirements"

Via the MA Municipal Assoc (MMA) we hear that the EPA has reached proposed settlement with Franklin (among others) on the MS4 implementation. The MS4 regulation is what has been driving Franklin actions on storm water and the development of the storm water utility fee.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached proposed settlements with several environmental and developer organizations, as well as two Massachusetts municipalities, over implementation of its small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permits in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

MS4, a type of National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit issued by EPA regional offices, authorizes certain discharges of stormwater to surface waters.

The most recent iteration of the MS4 permits were issued for Massachusetts in 2016 and for New Hampshire in 2017, replacing a permit issued in 2003. Environmental groups, including the Conservation Law Foundation and the Charles River Watershed Association, sued the EPA in 2017 to expedite implementation of the permit and ensure that it met stringent environmental and public health standards. Around the same time, several home builder and developer organizations, along with the town of Franklin and the city of Lowell, sued the EPA over the anticipated financial impact of the stricter regulations.

According to an EPA press release, the proposed settlements, announced on Dec. 27, are “the outcome of all parties’ efforts to ensure that, when fully implemented, both MS4 permits protect the environment, adhere to the Clean Water Act and EPA regulations, and address municipalities’ implementation concerns."

Continue reading the article online
https://www.mma.org/epa-negotiates-settlement-over-ms4-stormwater-permit/

The proposed settlement agreement and links to the amended permits are posted to the Federal Register at bit.ly/MS4settlement.


The EPA page on the MA MS4 regulation
https://www.epa.gov/npdes-permits/regulated-ms4-massachusetts-communities

Storm water utility information sessions have been scheduled. Ben Franklin, the Franklin police dog, will also be in attendance to provide a 'ruff' overview!

• Friday, March 6th, 2020 8 - 10 am in Town Council Chambers
• Wednesday, March 11th, 6 - 8 pm at Franklin TV
• Saturday, March 21st, 11 am - 1 pm at Franklin Library

 https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/stormwater-information-sessions

Massachusetts Phase II Automatically Designated Area (PDF) (EPA image)

US Census: Putting 2020 Census Rumors to Rest

"Every decade, technology plays a greater role in the way the census is conducted. But in 2020, the first time anyone who wants to respond to the census online has that option, the greatest change may come from the way all of us use technology.

For the first time during a decennial census, the majority of people in the United States are using digital and social media in their everyday lives.

“The rise of digital and social media use has exponentially increased the speed of how accurate and inaccurate information can spread,” said Stephen Buckner, assistant director for communications at the U.S. Census Bureau. “We know that many people may not know what the census is because it happens only every 10 years, making it a likely target for misinformation and disinformation campaigns, which is why we’ve been actively preparing to defend against them.”

The Census Bureau is ready for these challenges."

Continue reading the article online
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/02/putting-2020-census-rumors-to-rest.html?

YouTube video link = https://youtu.be/EKUBQlcFjVw

Alzheimer's program for Kids at Franklin Senior Center - Feb 20

Thursday, Feb 20 at 10:00 AM, Shannon Reardon, a Franklin High School senior, who is a member of the High School's Alzheimer's Club, will be doing a presentation here at the Franklin Senior Center that teaches kids about Alzheimers and what activities they can do with their grandparents.

Shannon is doing this presentation as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project. A brochure is attached. She also created a list of 50 activities kids can do with their grandparents. 

Franklin TV will be here to tape her "presentation" for us, the station, and for us to put on our Dementia Friendly Franklin web page. Could you please help us spread the word?

• Brochure

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczYWVvY3pXQVlSdjZfZ013WFFTWGNKblV1aV9R/view?usp=sharing

• 50 Things to Do

https://drive.google.com/file/d/148StBf_loQUdBv6yte0hPti4smT2-BaY/view?usp=sharing

• Dementia Friendly Franklin page   https://www.franklinma.gov/dff

Dementia Friendly Franklin

FM #205 - Intro Conversation with Trish Collatos (audio)

FM #205

This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 205 in the series. We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).

With my mobile recording equipment, I went to the Senior Center to sit with Patricia (Trish) Collatos. We talk about how she got to this role and what she does. As you’ll hear, there is a whole lot going on.

From blood pressure and blood sugar testing at the beginning, she began to expand the services offered. There is a balance and strength class, run for 5 weeks at a time. What is covered is primarily prevention and avoiding the fear of falling.

Trish’s overall goal is to keep the seniors healthy. A friendly reminder that the Senior Center is open to those 50 and older. While most services are geared to this ‘senior’ population, many services are provided to all of Franklin.

Trish is at the Center on Wednesdays and Thursdays. If you need to talk with her, she does have an open door policy.

Check out the Senior Center newsletter for the activities available Monday through Friday. Links to subscribe to the newsletter and to the current newsletter (including prior month archive) are included in the show notes

The conversation with Trish was lively and the time just runs along, so without further ado, here is the recording (approx 17 minutes):

https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/H6xtVQHX




Sign up for the newsletter https://www.franklinma.gov/subscribe

Current Newsletter
https://www.franklinma.gov/franklin-senior-center/pages/franklin-connection-newsletter


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This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but I can't do it alone. I can always use your help.

How can you help?

• If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
• If you don't like this, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements.
Thank you for listening.

For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com

The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.

I hope you enjoy!

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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"

FM #205 - Intro Conversation with Trish Collatos (audio)

"here’s the key – it’s really, really hard to do alone”

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

"When Plainville resident Robin Hamlin found a bottle of OxyContin in her son’s bedroom, he confessed that he needed help.

“He sat down on our couch. Actually, just like this,” said Hamlin, pointing to a framed photo of her son – Brian Hamlin Jr. – sitting on their living room couch, both elbows resting on his thighs with his hands clasped loosely together.

The photo is nailed to a wall, under a banner reading, “Brian Hamlin Jr. Recovery Resource Center.”

“With tears pouring down his face, he said, ‘Mom, I’m in trouble,‘” she said. “I need help, I can’t stop.’”

Brian Hamlin Jr. died on June 11, 2014, at age 32. He had a seizure following an addiction to painkillers, though he was in recovery at the time of his death.

To honor his memory, the new, centralized location for the Support for Addicts and Families through Empowerment (SAFE) Coalition is dedicated to him. Previously based out of Franklin and borrowing space for meetings and support groups to help those struggling with substance abuse, the coalition moved to a permanent location at 206 Dedham St., Suite E, in Norfolk on Thursday night."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200214/safe-coalition-finds-permanent-home-in-norfolk-after-five-nomadic-years

Visit the SAFE Coalition on the web  https://www.safecoalitionma.org/

The SAFE Coalition opened their new office in Norfolk and they they did not do it alone