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After learning that organizers were canceling the Junior Miss program due to a lack of money, a local woman decided to rescue this year's competition.
"I have a 14-year-old daughter (Jordan) who can't wait to do Junior Miss ... in the year 2013," said Jill M. Bedoya, who took part in a competition here in 1988 and served on Junior Miss committees at both the town and state levels.
"I stepped forward to offer my services to run this year's program so there were no girls left without the opportunity to participate in and experience a Junior Miss program. Junior Miss has been a part of my family for many, many years. My father, Tom Mercer and my aunt, Raye Lynn Mercer, ran the Franklin program for about 10 years, prior to taking over the Massachusetts state program, which they both ran for years. I grew up with Junior Miss," Bedoya said.
She refused to let the 40-year-old program, open strictly to Franklin High School senior girls, cease.
Many people put the program together, she said, and they just needed a little support.
"I have lots of contacts and I'm trying to use my coordination abilities to give the Franklin committee some support," she said.
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
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The income tax question on the ballot this fall is a reckless proposal that will have severe and immediate consequences for all of us. This binding referendum will take more than $12 billion—nearly 40 percent—out of the state budget, driving up local property taxes and leading to drastic cuts in services. Our communities will suffer sweeping education cuts, steep reductions in public safety personnel and further deterioration of roads and bridges. Times are hard enough. Let’s not make them worse.
Even after a century, members of the philanthropic Ray family may still be hanging around their old haunts, according to staff at Dean College.
Workers at Ray House, which serves as the school's admissions office, and several staff members, including Vice President of Enrollment Jay Leiendecker, have reported encounters with spirits they believe are Ray family members. The house was their former home, built in the 1800s.
Sensing a spirit, or seeing a shadow flash by is not rare at Ray House, Leiendecker said.
"It's not once every so many years - there's definitely a spirit living in the house," he said, adding, "Nothing bad has happened."
In fact, if the otherworldly inhabitants are members of the Ray family, he said they're probably quite friendly ghosts, because they were incredibly charitable people in life.
Although encounters are common, they can still be startling.
"We had window-washing crews come here on weekends, and a man was washing the window inside and out one Saturday," Leiendecker said, pointing to his tall office window overlooking the campus, "and he apparently went screaming for the hills after he saw ... something."
Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here
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The Framingham and Franklin school systems face a common problem - the need to hire a new superintendent - but they're looking to solve it in different ways.
They're among at least 11 school systems in the region that have either hired new district leaders in the past year or are in the process of doing so. Some, like Franklin, have sought to nurture internal talent and hire from within the school district. Others, like Framingham, have put out a nationwide call for applications.
Both approaches reflect a desire to hire the best leaders from what area school officials say is a shrinking pool of candidates for a growing number of openings.
Just last week, Shrewsbury's longtime superintendent, Anthony Bent, announced he will be retiring at the end of the academic year.
Bent, who has headed Shrewsbury's system for 15 years, said the School Committee will search for his successor both inside and outside the district, casting a broad net in order to "have the best potential pool to choose from."
Thomas Scott, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said there have been between 50 and 60 superintendent vacancies in each of the last five years, up from fewer than 10 annual openings a decade ago. Each open slot used to draw 75 or more applications, whereas school districts are now lucky to get 20 applications, he said.
Read the full article in the Boston Sunday Globe West section here
