2020 Census Invitations Arrive March 12-20

"Ninety-five percent or about 143 million households in the country will receive an initial invitation to respond to the 2020 Census in their mailboxes between March 12 and 20. The U.S. Census Bureau released informational copies today of the invitations, the enclosed materials, and the subsequent reminders households will receive. These materials can help the public know what to expect and avoid potential scams.

Households are encouraged to respond when they receive their invitation. Depending on how likely the area is to respond online, households will receive either an invitation encouraging them to respond online or by phone (about 112 million households), or an invitation along with a paper questionnaire (about 31 million households).

All invitations will include a short phrase in English and 12 additional languages inviting people to respond online or by phone in their language. In areas where 20 percent or more of the households need Spanish assistance, the invitations will be in both English and Spanish.

All households receiving an invitation in the mail will receive a second letter in the mail shortly after reminding them to respond. Then, households that still haven’t responded will receive a series of additional reminders, including a paper questionnaire in mid-April. Census takers will follow up with households that don’t respond to collect responses in person."

This was shared from the 2020 Census page
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2020/2020-invitations-arrive.html

A sample of the English/Spanish letter coming in the mail

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g4CSkYK1fXOrOHCp_etDJX7qb6bcNmiM/view?usp=sharing

2020 Census Invitations Arrive March 12-20

In the News: Firefighters serve seniors traditional Irish meal; some residents don't like the civil discourse pledge

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

"St. Patrick’s Day came early to the Franklin Senior Center on Friday, as members of the Fire Department spent lunchtime serving plates of corned beef and cabbage, with potatoes and carrots, to a few dozen seniors.

Although the Lenten season has begun, Catholics in the group had no need to worry about enjoying the classic St. Patty’s day meal instead of sticking with fish and vegetables.

Firefighters had that covered.

“Maybe next year we’ll try not to plan it on a Friday during Lent,” said firefighter/paramedic Doug Perro, going on to quip, “However, we talked to Father Brian (Manning, of the Parish of St. Mary), so you get a special dispensation ... if you’re over 59.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200307/franklin-firefighters-dish-up-new-tradition/1

"That’s what the Franklin Fire Department is all about."

"A civil discourse pledge has upset dozens of residents who say the Town Council is targeting free speech rights when it comes to their – and certain councilors’ – online activity. One resident has even suggested it’s a violation of the U.S. Constitution.

While the proposed pledge originally stated that a councilor’s participation on certain social media channels could violate the Massachusetts’ Open Meeting Law statute, a crowded meeting room applauded as council Chairman Tom Mercer suggested a slight amendment to the pledge toward the end of Wednesday’s meeting.

On Wednesday, councilors approved the Civil Discourse Pledge, Resolution 20-14, which was originally drafted by Town Administrator Jaime Hellen and the Town Council. The resolution follows a series of related administrative actions, starting in 2018 with harassment training for all municipal employees, said Hellen in a memorandum dated Feb. 7.

Designed as an aspiration for the town to make everyone in the community feel welcome, the amended resolution was approved, 6-2-1. Councilors Andrew Bissanti and Eamon McCarthy Earls were opposed, and Matt Kelly abstained."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200307/civil-discourse-resolution-riles-some-franklin-residents

The audio file for the citizen comments and the civil discourse discussion can be found here  https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/fm-218-town-council-citizen-comments.html

"We really want to make sure people do not panic, wash their hands and do the simple things they can do”

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

"Although nobody in the community has been reported ill with the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, the town is looking to allay any concerns -- and take preventative action -- by wiping its municipal spaces clean.

Town Administrator Jamie Hellen said Franklin has engaged the services of an independent vendor to sanitize the town’s public buildings over this weekend as a precaution.

From the municipal building to the senior center and library, to public spaces of the police and fire departments, officials want to ensure that residents feel confident when they need to stop in at town buildings amidst concerns about COVID-19.

“It feels like a step to take when you can say we have a new baseline,” Hellen said."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200307/franklin-to-sanitize-public-buildings-over-weekend

The audio of the recent Board of Health meeting can be found here
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/fm-216-board-of-health-meeting-march-4.html

Coronavirus Information Portal
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/attention-franklin-coronavirus.html 

"We really want to make sure people do not panic, wash their hands and do the simple things they can do”

FM #218 Town Council - Citizen Comments and Civil Discourse Pledge Discussion/Vote (audio)

FM #218 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 218 in the series.

The Town Council meeting of Wednesday, March 4, 2020 featured multiple citizens comments and then the discussion on Resolution 20-14 - the Civil Discourse Pledge.

At least one topic was really not related to an agenda item and hence appropriate for raising here. Many of the other citizen comments ultimately seemed related to the item scheduled for discussion later in the meeting.

For the ease of the listener, the whole citizen comments segment is included, with brief bit of music to provide some space, and then the meeting segment on civil discourse begins and runs to completion.

The resolution passed by a 6-yes, 2-no, and 1-abstain vote with a couple of minor textual clarifications via amendment. 

The proposed text is included here 
https://www.franklinma.gov/town-council/agenda-items/10a-legislation-action-27

My notes from the meeting are linked to also

• Citizen Comments

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/live-reporting-town-council-march-4-2020.html

• Civil Discourse Pledge

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/live-reporting-civil-discourse.html

When the final text is available, we’ll add that link as well.

The citizen comment segment runs about 17 minutes. The civil discourse segment runs about an hour and twenty-five minutes.  The total recording runs an hour and 47 minutes   https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/H6KfYWFX





We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We 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 something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I 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!

------------------

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

Boy scouts from Troop 126 lead the overflow crowd at the Town Council meeting in the "Pledge of Allegiance"

FM #217 - wfpr.fm Presidential Primary Broadcast March 3, 2020 (audio)

FM #217 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 217 in the series.

The Franklin Public Radio team gathered to broadcast live on wfpr.fm from Franklin High School as the polls closed at 8 PM on Tuesday, March 3. As the Franklin results were tabulated, we would be ready to share Town Clerk Teresa Burr’s information.

If you happened to tune in live, or read the news on Wednesday you found out that due to a spreadsheet problem, the results were not available for broadcast. I did stop by the Town Clerk’s office on Wednesday to capture what were still the unofficial results.at that time. You’ll hear Teresa and Assistant Clerk Nancy Daniello provide the quick summary.

The official results will be certified and submitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth by Friday, March 6. The results when available will also be found on the Franklin Town Clerk page and Franklin Matters.

Thanks to my co-hosts Jim Derrick, Frank Falvey. Also to Pete Faciano, Keith Palmieri and Mark Berman for their technical work to enable this. And special thanks to our guests; Rep Jeff Roy, Town Councilor Glenn Jones, and School Committee member MJ Scofield.

Let's listen to the broadcast: https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HXqXCBwX




We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).

This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We 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 something here, please let me know

Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I 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!

------------------

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

Note the official results were released by Town Clerk Teresa on Friday, March 6
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cRD9ZEFGGnaC13E3GtH5X9EwkLnV5Elq/view?usp=sharing

FM #217 - wfpr.fm Presidential Primary Broadcast March 3, 2020 (audio)

"to win two (sectional championships) back-to-back is incredible”

Josh Perry, Managing Editor of HockomockSports.com, provides the game recap for the FHS girls basketball team 53-38 win vs. Natick in the D1 Central Final.

"After overcoming a rough first quarter against Holy Name in the Div. 1 Central semifinal, Franklin wanted to make sure that it got off to a better start in Friday night’s final at Worcester State.

The Panthers dominated on both ends of the floor, scoring the first nine points of the game and building a 16-5 lead after one. Natick never got closer than eight points for the remainder of the game. Franklin showed off its experience on the big stage, and its defensive prowess, to pull out a 53-38 victory and win its second straight Div. 1 Central crown.

“That was super hard,” Franklin senior Megan O’Connell said of the tough start to the semifinal. “My stomach was in my throat that game. This was a lot better. We got up by a lot, but in the third quarter it fell apart and then we got it back. We want to keep moving on and it’s survive and advance right now.”

Franklin coach John Leighton admitted that there was a focus on starting better than the Panthers did at WPI and he brought in some reinforcements to talk to the team. Kristen McDonell, the current Norwood boys and former Braintree girls coach (who twice coached the Wamps to wins over Franklin in sectional finals), spoke to the Panthers about staying the course even if things don’t go well in the opening few minutes."

Continue reading the recap:
https://hockomocksports.com/franklin-girls-basketball-brings-home-second-straight-central-crown/


For a photo gallery from this game:
https://hockomocksports.smugmug.com/2019-2020/Winter-2019-2020/Franklin-Natick-Girls-Basketball-3-6-20/

"to win two (sectional championships) back-to-back is incredible”

FHS boys basketball drop heartbreaker to St. John’s In D1 Central Final

Joe Clark, HockomockSports.com Contributor, provides the game recap for the FHS boys basketball loss to St John's 55-56

"The Franklin and St. John’s Shrewsbury boys basketball teams are no stranger to each other, squaring off in the state tournament for the fifth time in the last seven years.

And just like the times before it, it came down to the wire.

Behind a pair of free throws from sophomore TJ Power with 4.9 seconds left, top-seeded St. John’s squeaked out a 56-55 win over the sixth-seeded Panthers in the D1 Central Final.

“Franklin’s got a heck of a team, they’re well-coached, but we’re not bad either,” St John’s coach Bob Foley said after the Pioneers win."

Continue reading the recap online
https://hockomocksports.com/franklin-drops-heartbreaker-to-st-johns-in-central-final/

Franklin’s Thomas Gasbarro takes a shot in front of his bench in the D1 Central Final. (Josh Perry/HockomockSports.com)