Wednesday, September 23, 2020

MA.gov: Information For Voters for 2020

Dd you get the election information booklet in the mail from the Secretary of the Commonwealthhttps://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleidx.htm

You can get your copy at the ma.gov page  https://www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepdf/IFV_2020.pdf 

or with this Google doc copy:

 

 

MA.gov: Information For Voters for 2020
MA.gov: Information For Voters for 2020

 

In the News: "The letter states that the numbers printed do not equal 104"

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

"In June, 104 employees – many of them teachers – at Franklin Public Schools received pink slips. This fall, 87 of them are returning, according to a recent comprehensive personnel update released by the district.

Only 15 positions of the 104 threatened with the chopping block back in June wound up being cut, according to a letter from the district signed by Superintendent Sara Ahern and Director of Human Resources Lisa O’Keefe-Trainor on Friday. "

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) https://www.milforddailynews.com/news/20200922/layoffs-in-franklin-schools-fewer-than-expected?rssfeed=true

Editor's note: Other than the quote from Superintendent Ahern, there is no new information in this article and the numbers still don't add up. This is elementary math and if turned in as a school report by a fourth or fifth grade student, it would be really interesting to see what the rubric would provide as a score. Lots of numbers, lots of info but it doesn't add up. They can start with either people or positions, there is a difference between them, I get that. But 104 (or 103) got notified, what happened to them? It should be as easy as 87 came back and 17 (or 16) didn't. There can be a variety of other categories, that really doesn't matter. Tallying to the total (either 104 or 103) does.

In the News: "The letter states that the numbers printed do not equal 104"
In the News: "The letter states that the numbers printed do not equal 104"

 

 

 

Boston Globe: Norfolk County ranked as a healthy community by US News & World Report

From the Boston Globe, an article of interest for Franklin:
"Call Martha’s Vineyard or Nantucket home? US News & World Report just ranked these two island communities the healthiest in the state.

In its third annual “500 Healthiest Communities” rankings, US News listed three Massachusetts counties in the top 100, taking into account economic, educational, and environmental factors, as well as other social determinants of health.

Dukes County, which represents six towns on Martha’s Vineyard and one on the Elizabeth Islands, was ranked 39th, followed by Nantucket County, which placed 62d. A little further down the list was Norfolk County, ranked 75th. The five communities that topped the list were Los Alamos County in New Mexico, Douglas County in Colorado, Falls Church city in Virginia, and Broomfield and Routt counties in Colorado.

.....

Norfolk County, with a much bigger population of 670,850, received an overall score of 75, with population health, education, and economy scoring the highest, and equity scoring the lowest."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

MBTA Franklin Line: Through Wednesday - Franklin Line delay due to signal problem

All outbound Franklin Line trains may experience delays up to 20 minutes between Windsor Gardens and Forge Park/495 due to a signal issue. Individual alerts will be sent as needed.

Last Updated: Sep 22 2020 10:42 PM

Up to date alerts can be found on the MBTA page  https://www.mbta.com/schedules/CR-Franklin/alerts

 

MBTA Franklin Line: Through Wednesday - Franklin Line delay due to signal problem
MBTA Franklin Line: Through Wednesday - Franklin Line delay due to signal problem


FTC Consumer Alerts: Heard about the “waiting package” phishing scam?

Consumer Alerts from the Federal Trade Commission

by Ari Lazarus, Consumer Education Specialist, FTC

Phishing scams can be hard to spot. For example, we've been hearing about one where people get a text message saying that there's a package waiting for them, and asking them to click a link to learn more. Sounds innocent enough, right? Unfortunately not.

Read more 

This is a free service provided by the Federal Trade Commission.


     

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

NY Times Magazine: "How Climate Migration Will Reshape America"

This article, the second in a series on global climate migration, is a partnership between ProPublica and The New York Times Magazine, with support from the Pulitzer Center. Read Part 1
"August besieged California with a heat unseen in generations. A surge in air-conditioning broke the state’s electrical grid, leaving a population already ravaged by the coronavirus to work remotely by the dim light of their cellphones. By midmonth, the state had recorded possibly the hottest temperature ever measured on earth — 130 degrees in Death Valley — and an otherworldly storm of lightning had cracked open the sky. From Santa Cruz to Lake Tahoe, thousands of bolts of electricity exploded down onto withered grasslands and forests, some of them already hollowed out by climate-driven infestations of beetles and kiln-dried by the worst five-year drought on record. Soon, California was on fire.

Over the next two weeks, 900 blazes incinerated six times as much land as all the state’s 2019 wildfires combined, forcing 100,000 people from their homes. Three of the largest fires in history burned simultaneously in a ring around the San Francisco Bay Area. Another fire burned just 12 miles from my home in Marin County. I watched as towering plumes of smoke billowed from distant hills in all directions and air tankers crisscrossed the skies. Like many Californians, I spent those weeks worrying about what might happen next, wondering how long it would be before an inferno of 60-foot flames swept up the steep, grassy hillside on its way toward my own house, rehearsing in my mind what my family would do to escape.

But I also had a longer-term question, about what would happen once this unprecedented fire season ended. Was it finally time to leave for good?"
 
Continue reading the article online

Franklin Public Schools: "Comprehensive Personnel Update"

It may not be fair, but in all the private sector companies I worked for over the years the employee count a manager was responsible for was a key piece of data. You could not make a mistake with that. Budget, payroll, never mind the service you were delivering all depended upon it.

To see the following footnote: 
"Numbers do not equal 104 as some staff members received notices appointing them to similar positions that were vacated in the district
leaves me with a problem.  If you notify 104 folks they don't have work, and then for a variety of reasons some do, and some don't, it still has to add up to 104.


The personnel update can be found


 

Franklin Public Schools: "Comprehensive Personnel Update"
Franklin Public Schools: "Comprehensive Personnel Update"