White columns. Hand rail.
Odd looking contraption.
Where in Franklin have I seen that?
A sherku to introduce the next challenge.
The guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.
Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
White columns. Hand rail.
Odd looking contraption.
Where in Franklin have I seen that?
A sherku to introduce the next challenge.
The guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.
The Town Council last night swiftly rejected a proposal to place a welcome sign downtown, saying it would "denigrate" the common.
Based on feedback from the Downtown Partnership, Historical Commission chairman and Town Common Committee, the Department of Planning and Community Development recommended installing the sign at the corner of Pleasant and Main Streets as part of ongoing downtown revitalization.
The sign, which would look similar to those already installed in the area, would be funded by a state grant, which must be spent by June 30, said Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
Listen to the full Town Council discussion here.
The School Committee last night unanimously voted to hire town resident Miriam Goodman as the new school business administrator.
During a break at last night's special meeting, committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy called Goodman, offered the job and reported that she accepted.
Goodman is director of administration and finance for the Woonsocket, R.I., Education Department, a post she has held since 1999.
She was one of four finalists in the search for a new business administrator following the committee's ousting of Dolores McCoy last fall. McCoy was put on administrative leave when officials discovered she had made numerous accounting errors, including putting $590,000 in expenses from last year into this year's budget.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
The interviews conducted by the School Committee can be found here.
While many public officials are hesitant to share information about what the government is doing, what many Americans don't realize is that the business of public officials is highly accessible, especially when it comes to how taxpayers' dollars are spent.
To raise such awareness, the Daily News is participating in Sunshine Week, an annual project aimed at creating awareness about freedom of information and government secrecy.
A Daily News reporter hand-delivered written public record requests to several Milford and MetroWest town officials last month, asking for each one's three most recent town-issued cell phone bills.
How did Franklin fare?
Franklin Police Chief Stephen Williams also refused to provide complete bills.
Franklin Town Attorney Mark Cerel wrote a letter on Williams' behalf, explaining he would provide general billings, but not an itemized record.
"Public safety and security and personal privacy interests preclude making any of the records available," wrote Cerel. "There is a significant risk that he would inadvertently disclose an exempt telephone number in reviewing a high volume of calls, thereby creating a public safety and/or security risk or a personal privacy violation."
The town later provided general billings of all townwide-issued cell phones, which includes Williams' phone, free of charge. Franklin pays about $3,000 each month for all town employees' cell phones.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here.
This is a nice attempt to participate in "sunshine week". Rather than make an issue on the phone numbers themselves, I'd have preferred an analysis of the kinds of coverage the phones have.
Do they have basic phone service or a higher level of service?
Then you could have a discussion on what level of phone service is appropriate by department for a local community to provide.
Come to the 7th Annual HMEA Independence 5K Walk and Race in the Park on May 18th at 11AM, being held at 50 Constitution Blvd on the fields at EMC in the Franklin Industrial Park. All proceeds from this fund raising event go to benefit 2000 children and adults with developmental disabilities in Massachusetts. The event is a 5K Walk and a 5K race with free tee shirts for all fund raising partners and racers. Special gifts for fund raising walkers and medals and trophies for 1st through 3rd place finishers (all catagories) in the race. Free food, entertainment, games and activities. A special tribute to local veterans plus special guest appearances by Gene Lavanchy (Fox 25 News annchor), Gail Huff (WCVB NewsCenter 5 reporter), Ayla Brown of American Idol fame and Pat Patriot from The New England Patriots.
Registration for the race and the walk is through HMEA's web site
Horace Mann Education Association (HMEA) is a non profit human services agency located in Franklin MA, in Forge Park, Incorporated in 1961, providing specialized supports, education and therapy for 2000 individuals with disabilities in 110 Massachusetts cities and towns including Franklin.
The guidelines for playing "Where in Franklin?" can be found here.
School and town officials battling for control of the School Department's $5 million maintenance account will continue to duke it out this month, according to Town Councilor Robert Vallee.
The account has traditionally been managed by schools, but Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting has proposed the town's Department of Public Works take it over for to eliminate duplication of jobs and maximize cost-efficiency, Vallee said.
Nutting, Vallee, Town Councilor Shannon Zollo, Councilor Deborah Bartlett,
Chairman Chris Feeley, School Superintendent Wayne Ogden, and several other town officials debated the issue at a joint budget subcommittee meeting last week, Vallee said.
``Nothing was accomplished, but we exchanged thoughts,'' said Vallee.
School officials still need to ``clearly understand'' why Nutting is seeking the change, said Ogden. Nutting could not be reached for comment on Friday.
Read the remainder of the article at the Milford Daily News here
Your web site came up in a Google search and I was wondering if youDoes anyone have some information that you can share?
might be able to provide some information about Franklin. I just came
across an old family photo and was wondering if you had fairly recent
historical information about a farm in Franklin. Was there ever a Dacey
Brothers Dairy in Franklin that made home milk deliveries? We lived in
Wrentham.
Police foiled students' apparent plan to wreak "chaos and mayhem" in the style of Project Mayhem from the movie "Fight Club" at Franklin High School yesterday, officials said.
Seven students were suspended indefinitely, pending further investigation, Superintendent Wayne Ogden said.
"In Fight Club, there's Project Mayhem, a group of guys who want to do things to cause chaos and mayhem to the establishment. From the best police can figure, that was kind of the express purpose of this group of kids - to create chaos and confusion," said Ogden.
Read the remainder of the article in the Milford Daily News here.
By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff
Read the full article in the Franklin Gazette here.Thirty-six teams were tested on their movie mettle at last night's Trivia Bee at the Horace Mann Middle School, and in the end, knowing the name of Humphrey Bogart's club in "Casablanca" determined the victors.
Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting and the "Franklin Munibees," (aka Town Hall), Town Attorney Mark Cerel and Treasurer Jim Dacey, won a spot on the Bee trophy when they correctly answered "Rick's American Cafe."
A small Franklin company says it is developing a novel device that could potentially let diabetics continuously monitor their blood-sugar levels - without having to draw blood.
Echo Therapeutics Inc. is expected to say today the device passed one of its first key tests, a pilot study with two dozen patients in the intensive-care unit at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. The Symphony system, a disc about the size of a half dollar, is designed to read glucose levels through the skin and transmit the information wirelessly to a nearby computer or hand-held meter. Currently, diabetes patients must normally prick their skin to draw a few drops of blood and place them on a measuring strip.
"I think it's extremely promising," said Dr. Stanley Nasraway, a Tufts University School of Medicine professor and director of surgical intensive-care units at the medical center. Nasraway said Echo's experimental device appeared to be reliable, relatively accurate, and easy to use, though he cautioned that it must first be tested in much larger clinical trials with a wider group of patients.
Read the full article in the Boston Globe
Franklin business leaders dominated the United Chamber of Commerce's 20th annual meeting and awards gala at Lake Pearl Luciano's last night, taking home five of seven awards recognizing members.
People winning awards at last night's Chamber gala included: Franklin Town Clerk Deborah L. Pellegri, the Public Service Award; Franklin's Luigi Moccia of Putnam Investments, the Ambassador of the Year; Incontro Restaurant in Franklin, the Small Business of the Year; William D. Green, a Dean College alum and chairman and CEO of Accenture, a global management consulting and outsourcing company, Business Person of the Year.
Dean College President Paula Rooney accepted the award for Green, who was out of the country. ``He is without a doubt the most compassionate, caring intellectual human being I get the pleasure of speaking with on a regular basis,'' she said of Green.
Rooney read from a letter Green gave to her: ``We need an educated work force. Without that, the future is very bleak.'' Rooney said Green just gave Dean College a $1 million gift.
By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff
|
Franklin School Committee Meeting
March 11, 2008
Municipal Building – Council Chambers
6:30 P.M. Executive Session
7:00 P.M.
AGENDA
Call to order Mr. Roy
Pledge of Allegiance
Moment of Silence
1. Business Administrator Candidates
7:00 pm Patricia Lange
7:40 pm Ann Giombetti
8:20 pm David Proule
9:00 pm Miriam Goodman
2. Payroll Ms. Armenio
3. Correspondence:
Budget to Actual
Invitation to 14th Annual Boisi Lecture in Education and Public Policy
4. New Business:
To discuss future business that may be brought before the School Committee.
5. Executive Session
To discuss interview candidates
6. Adjourn
Debbie Drew was loading groceries into her car at Stop & Shop when she noticed a big white vehicle advertising itself as the Franklin Area Bus. She rushed over to get the skinny on what appeared to be the first public bus in town.
"Is this like a new service? Do we have a bus now?" she excitedly asked the driver. "Excellent!"
The Franklin Area Bus yesterday drove its first 13 passengers around town. It will run Monday through Saturday year-round with a regular fare of $1, 50 cents for the elderly, students and the disabled, and free for children under 6.
Read the remainder of the article here.
Mastering the perfect spiral and finding the balance to glide on one ice skate requires discipline, patience and grace.
But imagine pulling off all those tricks in concert with a group of other ice skaters.
That's precisely what the 11 Chickenellas, Franklin's Symmetric Ice Crystals synchronized skating team, have challenged themselves to do.
Synchronized skating beats singles because everyone supports one another, said Caleigh Smith, 11, who prides herself on her back-lunges.
"You have to help each other. It's harder because if somebody next to you falls down, you have to help pick them up or else you fall down. You have to support each other," said Smith.
Read the remainder of the article here
Responding to the recent announcement that the School Department will lay off 45 teachers next year, parent groups have been letting school officials know they are "very curious" what the impact will be on their children, said Superintendent Wayne Ogden.
And newer teachers are starting to panic, Ogden said.
"Many of our younger, less experienced staff are all very nervous about it because seniority plays into it, and they are the most vulnerable," said Ogden.
The School Committee received its budget two weeks ago, and the group is deliberating on it, Ogden said.
School Committee members will meet with parent communication groups in the coming weeks as follows:
April 4, at 9 a.m., at Davis Thayer;
April 11, at 8:45 a.m. at Jefferson;
March 14, at 9 a.m., at Kennedy;
March 19, at 9 a.m., Sullivan Middle School;
April 8, at 9 a.m., at Horace Mann;
March 12 at 7 p.m. at Remington; and
May 7 at 7 p.m. at Franklin High School.
By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staffGHSPosted Mar 07, 2008 @ 12:01 AM
FRANKLIN —Where can you find a Rabbit Elevator, two versions of a humane mouse trap, a Pet-o-matic, and the Trash Carrier 2008?
The fifth-grade Invention Convention at the Davis Thayer School lays exclusive claim to these ingenious contraptions, along with 44 other inventions, dreamed up by fifth-graders over the last several weeks.
Fifth-grade teachers Jennifer Alger and Caitlin Colahan instructed students to invent a product using three of a number of simple machines which would solve one of life's daily problems, including a lever, pulley, hinge and inclined planes.
FRANKLIN, Mass., March 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Many of the newer model beds and stretchers emerging onto the healthcare market utilize components such as frames and drive mechanisms that are within just a few inches of the floor. This means traditional mobile patient lifts can be difficult to use because their legs normally are too high to extend under these beds and stretchers. Liko's newly introduced Golvo LowBase(TM) model circumvents this problem with a lower total leg height, including wheels, of only 2 1/3 inches.
Liko's Golvo is unique among mobile lifts due to its flexible lift strap, vertical lifting motion, and parallel widening base legs. Originally introduced in 1986, Golvo represented a breakthrough in mobile lift design because its unique telescoping mast and lifting strap enabled patients to be lifted vertically, similar to an overhead ceiling mounted lifting system.
The new Golvo 7007 LowBase(TM) model is an ideal solution for applications such as lifting or transferring patients to or from low profile beds or stretchers. In addition to its low bed compatibility, the Golvo 7007 LowBase(TM) is ideal for lifts to/from the floor, horizontal lifts, and ambulation assistance for patients weighing up to 440 lbs.
About Liko North America
Liko North America is one of the world's leading suppliers of patient lifts, including mobile, overhead rail, sit-to-stand, and bariatric lifts, as well as a selection of more than 250 slings and accessories. The company is also the exclusive sponsor of the pro bono "Safe Lifting Environment" campaign designed to help prevent caregiver injuries (visit http://www.safeliftingportal.com/ for more details). For more information on Liko's complete line of patient lifts, contact Liko North America, 122 Grove Street, Franklin, MA 02038. Telephone (888) 545-6671 or (508) 553-3993; fax (508) 528-6642, or visit the Liko website at http://www.liko.com/.
Franklin does have a varied industrial base, for previous posts on industry located here, follow this link.
By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff
Town Administrator Jeffrey D. Nutting announced that he is finishing next year's town budget proposal and will have it ready next Friday. "Obviously, budget requests (from department heads) and funds available - there's a big gap between them," said Nutting, encouraging anyone with questions to call his office. He also noted that "Old Man Winter came again" and put more stress on the town's snow and ice spending, which was $340,000 over budget prior to last week's snowstorm. Also at last night's meeting, Town Clerk Deborah L. Pellegri invited all the town's citizens to stop by Town Hall today for a piece of birthday cake to celebrate Franklin's 230th birthday. |
At our March 6 meeting, we will host town officials to discuss school budget issues and answer questions. We have invited Ed Cafasso, a Franklin School Committee member, and a Franklin Town Council representative as our guests. So please join us for a budget discussion.
MASSACHUSETTS MAKEOVER | GLOBE EDITORIAL At home in downtown FranklinMarch 3, 2008 Fifth in a series FOR MOST of its existence, Franklin looked like a New England town straight out of Currier & Ives. And in some ways, it still does. While the town center languished as the region's mills declined, it still boasts a compact business district surrounded by historic homes and the leafy campus of Dean College. During the tech boom of the 1990s, Franklin, 25 miles from Boston, turned into something else: the quintessential Interstate 495 exurb. Flex-space buildings and shopping centers clustered along the highway, and new subdivisions sprawled across what had been open space. But that rapid development has slowed, and in recent years Franklin began confronting the problems that past growth had left behind. Among other things, that meant knitting Franklin back together by revitalizing the town center. "We had a traditional dying downtown," says Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting. Yet with an MBTA commuter rail station in the heart of town, Franklin was primed to capitalize on a movement toward transit-oriented growth. So businesses and civic groups formed the Franklin Downtown Partnership to push for beautification and economic development. In 2001, Franklin rezoned roughly 40 acres in the town center to allow for mixed-use development; the old zoning forbade new housing in commercial zones. Because it's hard to get around without a car, Franklin joined the Greater Attleborough Taunton Regional Transit Authority and will inaugurate a bus line in March. Franklin is now using a $5 million federal grant to improve traffic flow and make other streetscape improvements downtown. The goal, as the partnership puts it, is to make Franklin "the 'up and coming' downtown of the western suburbs." These efforts are starting to bear fruit. Since last summer, developer John Marini of Canton has completed two mixed-use buildings that are part of the $35 million Franklin Center Commons project. A third is underway, and a fourth is also planned. Even so, this model of redevelopment remains an experiment, in Franklin and elsewhere. It gained currency during a period of economic prosperity. And to the extent that its power depends on the popularity of cute shops and upscale condos, its prospects are less certain now, as the economy falters. Unsustainable development As part of a project known as MetroFuture, an effort to promote sustainable development in Eastern Massachusetts, the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission studied how towns might evolve in the future. Had Franklin continued to sprawl as it did in the '90s, it would be on track to lose 2,600 acres of open space to development by 2030. In contrast, by steering development to existing population centers, areas near public transit routes, and previously developed land, the town can accommodate almost as much population growth - but would lose fewer than 1,000 acres of undeveloped land. Ironically, the consequences of past sprawl may be helping downtown revival efforts. "The reason downtown fell into problems," says Bryan Taberner, Franklin's new planning director, "is that there was a lot of land available" elsewhere in the town. Now, he says, undeveloped land has become scarcer and more expensive, so downtown redevelopment looks more attractive than it used to. And while the construction of retail shops alone can be cost-prohibitive because of land prices, mixed-use developers can generate more revenue on the same parcel by adding one or more floors of offices and apartments above stores. The Franklin Center Commons project suggests that the market has caught on to the advantages of such development. While the town used a grant to demolish a piano factory that once stood on part of the project site, Marini has otherwise relied on private money. Cautionary notes While Franklin has been adding fewer than 100 single-family homes a year throughout this decade, about 350 such homes were built in each of the two peak years of the '90s construction boom. By comparison, the Franklin Center Commons project plan calls for only 77 condos. And even that number isn't firm; Marini says he may seek to replace condo units in one proposed building with office space, because of a weak housing market. Moreover, while Marini thinks his new retail space will rent for a premium - about $20 to $24 per square foot, he says, compared with $12 or so in older buildings - he has yet to find tenants for much of it. Amid all of Franklin's exertions and aspirations, the laws of retail physics still apply: The town isn't just competing with other downtowns for upscale shoppers; it's also competing with nearby Wrentham Village - an outlet mall so popular that it shows up in Japanese travel books. Of course, there's more to downtown redevelopment than just luring retail stores. "That's the easiest thing," says Marc Draisen, chairman of the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission. He stresses the benefits of luring corporate employers to downtowns instead of to anonymous office parks. Then again, Nutting says, the amount of vacant office space elsewhere in the region may make Franklin's downtown a tough sell. Even so, he figures Franklin is keeping pace with other downtowns with similar aspirations. "It's not like we've done one thing and said, 'That's it,' " Nutting says. "This is in perpetuity." Downtown Franklin frayed over the course of decades. Efforts to revive it won't succeed overnight. |
The cost to play a school sport will increase substantially over the next five years, according to a plan the School Committee approved at its meeting last night.
Starting next school year, the cost to play a varsity or junior varsity sport will rise by $14 per year through 2012-13, reaching $195 per sport. The seasonal and annual limits on what one family pays for athletics will also be removed in the plan.
MARCH SCHEDULE OF EVENTS 2008
Thursday, March 7, 7PM
Scrapbooking with Charleen Belcher
Wednesday, March 19, 3:30PM
Dear America Children's Book Discussion
Thursday, March 20, 7:30PM
Sean Murphy with Big Dig Stories
Saturday, March 29, 8:30-4PM
2008 New England Family History Conference
91 Jordan Road
Franklin, MA 02038
By Jeffrey Roy on Budget
On February 26, 2008, Superintendent Wayne Ogden presented the proposed FY09 budget to the School Committee. During the presentation, Ogden explained that the school department needs a 6.7 percent budget increase to provide level service, but is slated to receive only 1.5 percent from the town. This includes the loss of about $400,000 in projected [...] |
By Rachel Lebeaux, Globe Correspondent
Franklin schools could lay off 45 teachers and other staff members next year in what's shaping up to be a particularly grim budget season. |
By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff
The School Committee was left in ``sticker shock'' last week after hearing the price of each option to repair or rebuild Franklin High School.Read the remainder of the article here.
Kaestle Boos Associates presented three design options for renovating and adding to the building, with costs ranging from $93 to $100 million, and a fourth scenario to build a completely new school for $120 to $130 million.
The School Committee began discussions on repairing the high school in 2005, when the New England Association of Schools and Colleges issued its evaluation of the building, which called for major structural improvements. The association said the school, built in 1971, was not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, the locker rooms were in disrepair, the floors needed to be fixed, and noted the lack of an auditorium, among other problems, said School Committee Chairman Jeffrey Roy.