"every person has a place in the political spectrum"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Dec 18, 2008 @ 12:41 AM

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Life in the Barack Obama administration is tough - it's a seven-day-a-week, 15-hour-a-day job, leaving precious little time for loved ones, or really anything else.

But for Franklin native Jennifer O'Malley Dillon, who serves as President-elect Barack Obama's associate director of personnel after working three presidential campaigns, it's all worth it.

"I love what I do. There are so many great parts of my job. To me, the best part is, I get up every morning and do something I believe in," said O'Malley Dillon.

"I really have been lucky - I've lived in Louisiana, South Dakota, Florida, and got to know people from all over the country, and it's been a tremendous experience," she said.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"I just wish people would participate"

By Joyce Kelly/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Dec 18, 2008 @ 01:15 AM

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FRANKLIN —

Town Council unanimously voted to endorse a five-year open space and recreation plan, making the town eligible for grants.

The long-term plan includes five goals:

* Increasing public awareness of open space and recreation opportunities in Franklin;

* Preserving, protecting and enhancing the town's existing open space resources;

* Maximizing recreational opportunities to meet the town's evolving needs by providing new facilities and programs;

* Protecting the natural, historical and cultural resources to maintain Franklin's New England character.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"the time of year to extract the joy of life"

James Johnston writes in his bi-weekly column:

FRANKLIN —

This is the week before the sixty-fifth Christmas of my life time. My first Christmas was celebrated on Dec. 25, in the year 1944. Hitler was taking a licking from the Russians in the east and the Americans and British and their allies in the west. 1944 was to be Hitler's last Christmas. I don't think anybody was too sad about that.

My father was in the Philippines. My mother posed me in all of my tubby cuteness under the Christmas tree in my little Christmas outfit with a very large stuffed Panda Bear, that was to be my boon companion for many years to come, for a photograph to be sent off to my dad in the far Pacific in that last year of the war. There were other things under that tree to be sure, and years later I would dig them up from the earth around the outside of the house.

Continue reading about the items he buried around his house in the Milford Daily News here

"can result in both civil and criminal penalties"

By Michelle Laczkoski/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Dec 17, 2008 @ 01:06 AM

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FRANKLIN —

An Upper Union Street sheet metal company will have to pay nearly $50,000 in restitution and penalties for violating the state's wage and overtime laws, Attorney General Martha Coakley's office announced yesterday.

The attorney general has issued a civil citation against Custom Metal Systems, Ltd., and owner Sarah Farren, 45, of Wrentham, for unintentionally violating the state's wage and overtime laws.

Farren was ordered to pay $42,507 in restitution to the affected employees and a $4,600 fine for unintentionally failing to pay the proper prevailing wage.

In August, Coakley's Fair Labor Division received complaints from two employees alleging the company failed to pay the proper wage and overtime for sheet metal work performed at the Ralph Small Elementary School project in Fall River.

Investigators conducted an audit of the company's certified and general payroll records and found the company had misclassified 14 employees as laborers rather than sheet metal workers.

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

"I don't want to leave any stone unturned"

By Heather McCarron/Daily News staff

GHS

Posted Dec 17, 2008 @ 01:18 AM

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PLAINVILLE —

Police arrested a man they say provided rum to King Philip High senior Taylor Meyer before she wandered off alone from an underage drinking party and drowned.

The 17-year-old Meyer was found dead in a Norfolk swamp three days later, on Oct. 20.

Brian Zuzick, 19, of 6 Redcoat Lane, Plainville, was arrested Monday and is charged with sale or delivery of alcohol to a person under 21 and purchase of alcohol by a person under 21, police said.

Police are following other related to the Oct. 17 party at the old Norfolk airport, where Meyer, also of Plainville, and other teens had gathered after King Philip's homecoming football game.

"This is an open investigation," said Plainville Police Chief Edward Merrick. "Where charges are warranted, they will be pursued."

Read the full article in the Milford Daily News here

Choices, choices

You can go to the Town Council meeting 7:00 PM at the Town Hall

or

Go to the production of "The Laramie Project" at 7:00 PM at Franklin High School's lecture hall.

or

Go to the auditorium at King Philip High School, Rte. 140, Wrentham, for a forum which will address both substance abuse by teens and parental strategies associated with substance use, at 7:00 PM

Town Council - Agenda - 12/17/08

December 17, 2008 7:00 PM

A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES – November 5, 2008

B. ANNOUNCEMENTS

C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS

D. CITIZEN COMMENTS

E. APPOINTMENTS

F. HEARINGS -

G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS – Annual Alcohol License Renewals

H. PRESENTATIONS/DISCUSSIONS - Draft 2008 Open Space & Recreation Plan

I. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION

1. Resolution 08-85: Endorsement of the Draft 2008 Open Space & Recreation Plan
   
2. Zoning Bylaw Amendment 08-628: Chapter 185 Nonconforming Uses and Structures – 2nd Reading
3. Bylaw Amendment 08-629: Amendment to Chapter 25: Personnel Regulations, Appendix A – Classification Plan- 2nd Reading

K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT

L. OLD BUSINESS

M. NEW BUSINESS

N. COUNCIL COMMENTS

O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required

P. ADJOURN