Extension of Premises: Outdoor Dining on Private Property/Parking Lot - UPDATE

 

"This guidance is for restaurants who wish to use or currently use private parking lots for outdoor dining to increase business activity and revenues in a safe and responsible way during the COVID-19 pandemic. On June 3 2020, the Town Council authorized the Town Administrator to execute any and all licenses relative to COVID-19 Executive Order No. 35 in regards to opening reactants for outdoor dining.

For any businesses who applied and were approved last year: Your permit remains in effect however you must send the Town Administration Office your updated Certificate of Liability Insurance. Also, if you had tents and wish to use these again you must have those reinspected by the building department. Please contact the Building department at 508-528-4926 with any questions or complete the online building application here: https://franklinma.viewpointcloud.com/categories/1081/record-types/6456

For any new businesses applying or any changes to existing permit being made: Before the private parking lot is used for the benefit of the restaurant, the owner or his/her/their designee, shall complete the online “Temporary Outdoor Dining License” application via Viewpoint under “Administration”. https://franklinma.viewpointcloud.com/"
 

Download a copy of the file:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VPKyWSW1Umi5IoWmwgVJxzY__HJSGx0x/view?usp=sharing

Shared from: https://www.franklinma.gov/home/news/update-temporary-outdoor-dining

Extension of Premises: Outdoor Dining on Private Property/Parking Lot - UPDATE

 

CommonWealth Magazine: State considering remote telework as standard practice; Spilka advocates for teachers to get vaccinated

 

"CLOSE TO HALF of the state’s executive branch employees could continue some form of telework even once the pandemic ends, Secretary of Administration and Finance Michael Heffernan said Tuesday.

Speaking to the House and Senate Ways and Means Committees at a hearing on Baker’s $45.6 billion fiscal 2022 budget proposal, Heffernan laid out the broad contours of a proposed state employee remote work plan. Of 44,000 full-time employees working for state government, Heffernan said, more than 20,000 could telework in the future in some sort of “hybrid” plan. He said employees would come into the office some days and work remotely on other days.

The state’s stance on telework could be a precursor of what happens in the rest of the economy, and a permanent shift to telework could have major implications for downtowns, commercial real estate, and transportation. The MBTA, for example, is struggling to chart its future service plans amid great uncertainty about commuting and work patterns."

Continue reading the article online  https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/state-eyeing-hybrid-telework-model-for-half-of-workforce/

 

"WITH THE STATE expecting to see its supply of COVID-19 vaccine increase over the coming weeks, Senate President Karen Spilka on Tuesday said Gov. Charlie Baker must let teachers get vaccinated this month and should set aside a percentage of doses for teachers and school staff.

Spilka’s call on the Baker administration to prioritize teacher vaccination comes a week after the Republican governor and Education Commissioner Jeff Riley detailed their intent to have all school districts bring elementary school students back to the classroom full-time by April.

The Senate’s top Democrat said if that is the goal then the administration must provide cities and towns with the resources and support they need, including vaccines."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/education/spilka-to-baker-get-teachers-vaccinated/

 

MetroWest Daily News: "Franklin High athletics nearly perfect this winter"

Via FHS_Gymnastics we find:

"Great article proud to be part of this exceptional group of coaches and student athletes! #pantherpride @FHSSports @fhsgymboosters @FranklinMatters @KatCornetta"

 

"The Franklin High girls basketball team went undefeated, again, this winter.

Granted, this past season was only 10 games long. But still, the Panthers kept their unbeaten streak alive at 35 straight games, spanning across the last two seasons.

"Our girls basketball team, under the direction of John Leighton, has been simply outstanding," Franklin High athletic director Tom Angelo said. "Coach Leighton preached (that) this is one game at a time. Last year's season is over, last game doesn't matter, it’s this next game and that was their focus."

It was that mentality that helped the Panthers continue their success on the court following a 25-0 season last year and a Division 1 co-state championship title. "

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.metrowestdailynews.com/story/sports/2021/03/02/franklin-high-athletics-has-nearly-perfect-winter-sports-season/6853095002/

 

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/fhs_gymnastics/status/1366780488988327937

M.A.S.S. (@massupt): DESE updates guidance on singing indoors

M.A.S.S. (@massupt) tweeted on Tue, Mar 02, 2021:

"DESE has received approval for schools to allow singing indoors if in-person school is occurring. Singers must wear a mask & be at least 10 feet away from each other plus more.... The updated guidance is here: "

https://t.co/02ffh6vw7M  or via this link:  https://mailchi.mp/doe.mass.edu/commissioners-weekly-update-3-1-21-board-recap-pooled-testing-indoor-singing#updatedgui

Shared via Twitter:  https://twitter.com/massupt/status/1366768316132581389

M.A.S.S. (@massupt): DESE updates guidance on singing indoors

Meeting Notice: 350 Mass Greater Franklin Node - Mar 4 = 7:00 PM

The Greater Franklin Node of  350 Massachusetts will meet this week, Thursday, March 4th, at 7:00 pm.  

 

Join on Zoom 
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88924607755?pwd=bHl1empTRVFxYzdZUmVBSGl1Q0p3Zz09

Meeting ID: 889 2460 7755   Passcode: 350ma  Audio by phone: 1-646-876-9923

 

Residents of Franklin and nearby cities and towns are invited to attend. We will discuss ongoing legislative developments at the State House around climate action, including greater reliance on renewable sources of energy for electricity, home heating, and transportation. We are also planning local activities to educate and engage our communities about climate, renewable energy, home improvements, and related topics. We want to collaborate with groups and individuals from the region who share the same concerns, so all our cities and towns can benefit. Please join us to learn and contribute.  

 

350 Massachusetts for a Better Future (https://350mass.betterfutureproject.org/) is building a powerful statewide social movement to confront the climate crisis, hold our politicians accountable and undermine the destructive influence of the fossil fuel industry. Our name comes from 350 parts per million, the safe level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. 

350 Mass is made up of several local volunteer-led chapters we call "nodes" around the state that carry out both municipal-level and statewide campaigns, coordinated by a Statewide Steering Team (SST). The Greater Franklin Node includes Franklin and close to twenty nearby communities. We meet on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month, at 7:00 pm.

 

For questions and information, contact the node co-coordinators, carolyncbarthel@gmail.com and/or ralph.halpern@comcast.net.

 

Ralph Halpern

ralph.halpern@comcast.net

781-784-3839 (h)

339-203-5017 (c) 

 

 

Meeting Notice, 350 Mass Greater Franklin Node - Mar 4 = 7:00 PM

Statement from Senate President Karen E. Spilka - Priority for teacher vaccination plan

"A top priority for everyone in government, whether at the local, state or federal level, should be getting our students and teachers and staff back into the classroom safely. Getting students back into the classroom, where they learn best, should be a local decision which will depend upon a variety of factors. If the Governor wants to mandate opening elementary schools across the Commonwealth to in-person learning by April 1^st, the Administration must have an equitable plan that gives communities the necessary support and resources to do that. Among those resources, we need a vaccine program for teachers and staff that is aggressive, and we need it this month. As more vaccine doses become available to the state, I am calling on the Governor to designate a percentage of those doses to be administered to teachers and staff in their communities."

Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland)

 

"human operators will do little to offset the biases of AI programming"

"The New York police department has acquired a robotic police dog, known as Digidog, and has deployed it on the streets of Brooklyn, Queens and, most recently, the Bronx. At a time that activists in New York, and beyond, are calling for the defunding of police departments – for the sake of funding more vital services that address the root causes of crime and poverty – the NYPD’s decision to pour money into a robot dog seems tone-deaf if not an outright provocation.

As Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, put it on Twitter: “Shout out to everyone who fought against community advocates who demanded these resources go to investments like school counseling instead. Now robotic surveillance ground drones are being deployed for testing on low-income communities of color with underresourced schools.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/02/nypd-police-robodog-patrols