Boston Globe: "private companies can make a killing, legally, if you can’t keep up with your property taxes"

"On Nov. 11, Mark Mucciaccio answered the door at his home in Easton to a woman who said she had been sent by the property’s “owner” to change the locks on the doors.

The woman handed him a “to whom it may concern” letter that said the house, which Mucciaccio, 58, and his brother, Neil, 55, inherited from their late parents many years ago, was now owned by a company called Tallage Lincoln LLC.

The three-sentence letter cited a “final” court judgment giving the company ownership, but said nothing about taxes. Still, Mucciaccio had no doubt it came as a result of the thousands of dollars he owed in property taxes, dating back to 2016."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/18/business/mass-private-companies-can-make-killing-legally-if-you-cant-keep-up-with-your-property-taxes/

Boston Globe: "As the planet warms faster, scientists study controversial ways to lower temperatures"

"As the planet continues to warm at an accelerating rate, scientists are looking into a potential insurance policy, a radical way of curbing climate change by altering the climate system itself.

A team at Harvard University this summer plans to conduct the first of a series of highly controversial tests of what’s known as solar geoengineering, a way to reduce global warming by spreading particles in the atmosphere to reflect sunlight back into space.   

If an advisory board authorizes them to proceed, the scientists plan to travel in June to a remote part of northern Sweden, where they’ll launch a giant balloon into the stratosphere to test whether they can adequately maneuver an instrument-filled gondola suspended below. If all goes well, the team later this year plans for the first time to inject a small amount of calcium carbonate — a common substance found in rocks — into the atmosphere to better understand how the chemical compound might be used to moderate temperatures on the ground."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/17/metro/planet-warms-faster-scientists-study-controversial-ways-lower-temperatures/

"all of the social science shows that if someone really believes a conspiracy theory, it is just about impossible to change their minds”

"President Trump stands as a singular figure in American history for his willingness to entertain conspiracy theories from the Oval Office, and none has been more damaging or far reaching than his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 election was rigged against him. One out of every three Americans believes that there was widespread fraud in the last presidential election, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, despite no evidence to support that view. Two in three Republicans believe so.

The social conditions that brought so many people to believe the falsehoods Trump has told about the election and a litany of other issues took root decades before he became a political figure and will extend far beyond the four years of his administration, according to scholars of disinformation and conspiratorial thinking.

“What’s unique about Donald Trump is that he took advantage of this widespread distrust of government and media to say everyone is lying to you except for me. We have never had a president so devoted to spreading disinformation and trying to overturn an election,” said Kathryn Olmsted, a historian at the University of California at Davis. “The people who stormed the Capitol are absolutely convinced that the election was stolen. They’re not being opportunistic; they really believe this. And all of the social science shows that if someone really believes a conspiracy theory, it is just about impossible to change their minds.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-trump-presidency-was-marked-by-battles-over-truth-itself-those-arent-over/2021/01/18/3bee0050-5750-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html

Compost service coming to Franklin, sign up for a plan to begin Jan 25

"We are stoked to be rolling out service in these new towns.  Sign up now for compost collection at blackearthcompost.com starting soon:

• Franklin - Monday, January 25th
• Cohasset - Thursday, January 21st
• Norfolk - Monday, January 25th"

"Compost, Grow, Eat...Repeat. Our mission is to collect food waste, process it into nutrient rich compost, and return it to the community. There it will re-enter the growth cycle in your backyard garden or at a local farm, creating zero waste."

Shared from Facebook:

https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=3887942597904221&id=245180832180434

This is not a Town of Franklin service, it is provided by the Black Earth Compost company

Pricing available on the Black Earth Compost page

https://blackearthcompost.com/residential-curbside-compost-pickup/

Compost service coming to Franklin, sign up to pay for a plan to begin Jan 25

New York Times: Fox settles lawsuit over it's lies

"On Oct. 12, 2020, Fox News agreed to pay millions of dollars to the family of a murdered Democratic National Committee staff member, implicitly acknowledging what saner minds knew long ago: that the network had repeatedly hyped a false claim that the young staff member, Seth Rich, was involved in leaking D.N.C. emails during the 2016 presidential campaign. (Russian intelligence officers, in fact, had hacked and leaked the emails.)

Fox’s decision to settle with the Rich family came just before its marquee hosts, Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity, were set to be questioned under oath in the case, a potentially embarrassing moment. And Fox paid so much that the network didn’t have to apologize for the May 2017 story on FoxNews.com.

But there was one curious provision that Fox insisted on: The settlement had to be kept secret for a month — until after the Nov. 3 election. The exhausted plaintiffs agreed."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/17/business/media/fox-news-seth-rich-settlement.html

NO Trash Delay This Week

NO Trash Delay This Week

For more info and a link to the flyer, visit the Trash and Recycling page

https://www.franklinma.gov/recycling-solid-waste

Shared from the Franklin DPW Facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/931498886934582/posts/3799972780087164/

NO Trash Delay This Week

FM #438 SchComm Davis Thayer FA Mtg - 01/14/21 (audio)

FM #438 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 438 in the series.

This session shares the Franklin, MA School Committee Davis Thayer Facility Analysis meeting held on Thursday, Jan 14, 2021.

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: some of the School Committee and Central Office personnel were in the Municipal Building, the remainder of the Committee was remote via conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda and to my notes.

Let’s listen to this segment of the Davis Thayer Facility Analysis meeting of Jan 14, 2021

Audio file = https://franklin-ma-matters.captivate.fm/episode/fm-438-schcomm-davis-thayer-fa-mtg-01-14-21

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Agenda doc
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/davis-thayer-facilities-analysis.html

My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/01/school-committee-davisthayer-facility.html
 

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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!

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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 #438 SchComm Davis Thayer FA Mtg - 01/14/21 (audio)