Senate President Spilka, State and Local Leaders Announce COVID-19 testing in South Framingham

On Monday, August 3, 2020, Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland) joined state and local leaders to announce the creation of a free COVID-19 testing site in South Framingham, an area that has experienced rising coronavirus case rates in recent weeks. The site, part of the state-wide Stop the Spread network, is designed to expand testing coverage to communities of color and immigrant populations who are currently at high risk of infection.

"Framingham is a large, diverse city that is as vulnerable to a rise in cases of COVID-19 as any other area of the state, and I felt very strongly that its residents have access to testing," stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). "I'd like to thank the Administration, Mayor Spicer and Fallon Ambulance Service for working together to make this testing site a reality."

"I am grateful to DPH, Dr. Wong, and all those who worked to make this testing site happen," said Representative Maria D. Robinson (D-Framingham). "With Framingham as the heart of Metrowest and home to many essential workers, it is absolutely necessary that our residents can get tested here in the city."

"I am grateful to everyone who worked together to make this possible," said Representative Jack P. Lewis (D-Framingham). "Special thank you to Senate President Karen Spilka and Dr. Sam Wong for their steadfast advocacy."

"Testing with quick reporting of results and contact tracing is essential to keep the coronavirus under control in our communities," said Representative Carmine L. Gentile (D-Sudbury).  "This free testing site will help us prevent another surge in Framingham and MetroWest and I am very thankful to see its opening!"

Greater support for the Framingham area was necessary to address a rise in cases and a lack of testing access for residents who work as frontline workers. Located at Joseph P. Keefe Technical High School, the site will be open from 2:00 to 6:00 pm on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm on Tuesday and Thursday, beginning August 5 and running until August 14. The site will be drive-through, with parking available, and no appointments necessary. To expand access to testing more broadly, including to low-income and essential workers who are on the frontlines of the pandemic, testing will be open to all and free of charge. The site will also feature interpretation services.

"The "Stop the Spread" initiative is a data-driven effort to reduce the prevalence of COVID-19 in communities that are above the state average in total cases and positive test rate and have experienced a decline in testing levels since April," said COVID-19 Command Center Director and Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders. "We monitor trends in each city and town and Framingham's 14-day average positive test rate has increased over the last two weeks. We appreciate the City of Framingham's collaboration to get this testing site launched quickly for the benefit of its residents."

"From the Governor's office to Senate President Spilka to Framingham's Legislative delegation, this has been a team effort. I appreciate the leadership and support in making free COVID-19 testing a possibility in Framingham," said City of Framingham Mayor Yvonne M. Spicer. "The City has begun to see a slight uptick in our cases, and the new free testing will remove barriers and encourage more residents to be tested."

"This free COVID-19 testing comes at a good time," said Dr. Samuel Wong, director of the Framingham Public Health Department. "As Mayor Spicer mentioned, Framingham's cases have begun to increase slightly, and by having free testing, open to all without an appointment, people can take action and further protect others."

"Fallon Ambulance is proud to partner with the Commonwealth of MA and the City of Framingham in the Stop the Spread campaign," said Patrick "Sean" Tyler, president and CEO of Fallon Ambulance Service. "Providing easy access to molecular, RT-PCR COVID19 tests is a key strategy to stopping the spread. We are proud to support the community and do our part in stopping the spread."

This action is the latest in a series of state-wide initiatives to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The site represents one more step taken by civic and medical leaders in the Commonwealth to serve the needs of all residents through the duration of this public health crisis.

For more information on the specifics of the testing site, please call 508-532-5470.

New York Times: "Mask slackers of 1918"

From the New York Times, an article of interest for Franklin:

"As the influenza pandemic swept across the United States in 1918 and 1919, masks took a role in political and cultural wars. 

The masks were called muzzles, germ shields and dirt traps. They gave people a “pig-like snout.” Some people snipped holes in their masks to smoke cigars. 

Others fastened them to dogs in mockery. Bandits used them to rob banks.
More than a century ago, as the 1918 influenza pandemic raged in the United States, masks of gauze and cheesecloth became the facial front lines in the battle against the virus. But as they have now, the masks also stoked political division. Then, as now, medical authorities urged the wearing of masks to help slow the spread of disease. And then, as now, some people resisted. 

In 1918 and 1919, as bars, saloons, restaurants, theaters and schools were closed, masks became a scapegoat, a symbol of government overreach, inspiring protests, petitions and defiant bare-face gatherings. All the while, thousands of Americans were dying in a deadly pandemic.

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/03/us/mask-protests-1918.html

Police Court Officials of San Francisco holding a session in the open, as a precaution against the spreading influenza epidemic in late November of 1918.Credit...National Archives

“But if we can survive in this, we’ll do all right”

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


"Franklin resident opens the vegan-focused Nirvana Tea House & Café in Millis"

"Thirteen thousand feet up in the Himalayas, Franklin resident Ed Williamson, his hiking guide, a horseman and a cook set up and broke down tents across the mountain for 10 days last year. They never had to worry about finding a stranger living in a tent on that mountain in Bhutan who wasn't willing to invite them in for a cup of tea. 

That welcome over a cup of tea, remind Williamson of his childhood. 

“The tea was just a way to talk,” said Williamson, who grew up in Cork, Ireland, with a mother who lit a burner for the teapot whenever company was invited over. 

“Anyone that came to visit – the teapot went on," he said. "I grew up drinking tea; coffee was not something we drank. That whole (experience drinking tea with strangers in the Himalayas) reminded me of home.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200803/franklin-resident-opens-vegan-focused-nirvana-tea-house-amp-cafxe9-in-millis?rssfeed=true

https://nirvanateahousecafe.com/

"qualified immunity isn’t just invoked in excessive force cases and not just against police"

WBUR has a real good article on the details of qualified immunity and how it has worked here in MA. I learned a few things in this article. One: that the law currently isn't a specific law in the 'books'; it is the result of judicial doctrine developed over time by individual court cases.

"When officers use excessive force and someone sues, police are not always held accountable in a civil lawsuit. That can be, in part, because of a controversial defense known as qualified immunity. 

Lawmakers at the State House this week are weighing a massive compromise police reform bill that could change that legal avenue, making it slightly easier for people to successfully sue police officers and other public officials who violate people’s constitutional and civil rights. 

Qualified immunity isn’t a law on the books passed by elected officials. It’s a judicial doctrine developed over decades, through court decision after court decision. 

Essentially, qualified immunity says a government official can only be held liable for unconstitutional actions if it’s “clearly established” in existing case law that the conduct was unlawful. Plaintiffs need to point to another, similar case already decided by a court that the action in question was illegal in order for the lawsuit to go forward."

Continue reading the article online
https://www.wbur.org/news/2020/08/03/qualified-immunity-police-massachusetts-overview

WBUR has a real good article on the details of qualified immunity

Video shows how scammers tell you to pay

Video shows how scammers tell you to pay by Sachit Gali Intern, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC Scammers make up all kinds of stories to get your money, from telling you that you've won a prize, you owe a debt, or your family member is in an emergency. But some things stay the same: scammers want your money, they want it fast, and don't want you to be able to get it back. They'll ask you to pay in ways that make it hard to track them down — and once you know what these are, you'll have one more clue to tell if you're dealing with a scammer. Read more https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/08/video-shows-how-scammers-tell-you-pay? This is a free service provided by the Federal Trade Commission.

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https://youtu.be/PbiXbIHsTqU

Economic Development Subcommittee Recap - 7/30/20

As with most meetings in this pandemic period, I took my notes via Twitter during the meeting reporting in real-time via the virtual session.

The Twitter hashtag can be found online #edc0730
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23edc0730&src=typeahead_click

• Real time reporting underway for the Economic development subcommittee meeting, #edc0730
• Town administrator Jamie Hellen provides a recap of opening status mostly repeat of comments at the Town Council meeting; now on the market study and how to begin to work the doc and actions/recommendations #edc0730
• Way finding signs mentioned as something to be developed; listening sessions to be scheduled for area/retail specific business groups to help gather items for the pandemic recovery period, what can the town do? #edc0730
• Open, flowing discussion, ideas back and forth. The recording should be available soon to let you hear and get the mind grey matter generating more ideas. #edc0730 next meeting Aug 20, ideas welcome before then to the subcommittee members or Bryan Taberner
• Prior to next meeting, review the doc (or again) for ideas to discuss Aug 20 https://franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/mai/files/8a._final_town_of_franklin_market_study_1.pdf
• #edc0730 this closes out the reporting tonight, catch you next time!

Note: while I did not include it in the Twitter stream, I did comment on the plans for re-introducing the community calendar as the re-opening continues to make progress. There had been a community calendar of events but with all public events canceled, it was suspended. (The Cultural District page still shows a calendar with out dated events.)

The working agreement with the Cultural District is to produce three calendars. The Town of Franklin maintains their meeting and events calendar. We won't touch that but provide links to it from the Cultural District page and Franklin Matters. 

The Cultural District page will display the cultural events from FSPA, Circle of Friends, Dean College, etc.  They will also provide a link to both the Town meeting calendar and to Franklin Matters' community events. 

Franklin Matters will display the community events and provide links to both the Town page and to the Cultural District page.

In this way, each view of the calendar (Town meetings, cultural events, community events) will be simplified and relatively uncluttered. If we did try to have one calendar with all three sets of events combined it would be unworkable with current calendar tools.

Stay tuned for further developments on the calendar discussion. For reference, the Town calendar can be found   https://www.franklinma.gov/calendar

The Cultural District calendar can be found   https://www.franklinculture.org/things-do/pages/calendar

The Franklin Matters calendar is currently 'unpublished' and will be shared when this new process has enough events to make it newsworthy.  A pre-coronavirus sample of the weekly outlook can be found
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/03/upcoming-events-in-franklin-ma-fri-mar.html

Economic Development Subcommittee Recap - 7/30/20

FM #321 FPS Superintendent Sara Ahern on Reopening Status - 7/31/20 (audio)

FM #321 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 321 in the series.

This session shares my conversation with Superintendent Sara Ahern regarding the school fall re-opening status. Our conversation was conducted via conference bridge to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

Sara provides an overview on the task force and process to work on the preliminary plan. The preliminary plan is due to be submitted to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) by close of business on Friday, July 31. (It was submitted after we recorded this conversation with the preference to open with 'remote learning' in September).

The show notes contain links to the School Committee meeting agenda and reference documents as well as the audio from the meeting covering the preliminary plan and discussion.

Our conversation runs about 11 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Sara on the preliminary plan and process.

Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/H6nSl5dK



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School Committee agenda
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/07/franklin-ma-school-committee-agenda_26.html

School Committee meeting packet
https://www.franklinps.net/district/school-committee/pages/july-28-2020-school-committee-meeting-packet

Franklin Public Schools - Re-opening page
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/07/franklin-public-schools-re-opening-plan.html

Re-opening Plan presentation doc
https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/reopening_school_presentation_for_sc_7_28_2020_updated_with_new_info.pdf

My real time reporting via Twitter summarized
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/07/school-committee-recap-re-opening-fully.html



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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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FM #321 FPS Superintendent Sara Ahern on Reopening Status - 7/31/20 (audio)