Franklin Matters

Saturday, June 11, 2011

"We're playing Russian roulette"

"This was my sixth budget year and in each of those six years we've made cuts," Town Council Chairman Scott Mason said. "The budget that we just approved (Thursday) night stinks, just like the others before it. It's like we're crawling down a well and it's going to be very difficult for us to climb back out."

The fiscal 2012 budget represents a 1.3 percent increase over this year's $88.1 million budget. It cuts about 31 positions, including two firefighters, two police officers, 5.5 library jobs and four Public Works jobs.

Mason worried the cuts will make it harder to fix roads, could lead to a reactive police force and may increase firefighters' reaction time and reliance on mutual aid.

"There's only so much we can do with less people," Town Councilor Tina Powderly said, noting the budget has remained relatively flat since fiscal 2009 despite rising energy, salt and insurance costs. "I think the budget was the best we could do but I don't sleep well at night. ... I'm very concerned about this town."

In the News - Arts Academy, Woodshed Gallery, Partridge St

Franklin Arts Academy arts festival set

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Woodshed Gallery featuring Franklin artist’s work

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Franklin street will partially open after collapse

from The Milford Daily News News RSS by GateHouse Media, Inc.

Friday, June 10, 2011

Go beyond the headline

Two headlines appeared in my RSS Reader at the same time, at first glance they seemed to be polar opposites. Reading beyond the headline, yes into the details of both articles one realizes that they were effectively saying the same thing.

Price Changes & Temperatures Soar in Franklin, MA

Consensus: MA home prices will fall in 2011, rise in 2012

What should you take away from this?
Don't depend on the headline to tell you what is in the article. The headlines are designed to catch your attention.

Feel free to click through to read Kathy Standard's article showing the amount of change in prices recently (and all prices heading down) and then Warren Reynolds' article referencing research predicting the downward trend in prices this year and recovery next year.

Franklin, MA

The budget cuts about 31 positions, including two firefighters, two police officers, 5.5 library jobs, four Public Works jobs and more than 14 school positions. It represents a 1.3 percent increase over this year's $88.1 million budget.

Cuts are needed because of decreased state aid, local revenue and $2 million less in federal school stimulus money. Increased contractual obligations and health insurance costs have led to a rise in the school budget, administrators have said.

Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting said on Wednesday that there would be three to four layoffs on the town hall side. The rest of the positions are already vacant or will be by the start of the fiscal year next month.

FHS and HMMS students visit the US Army Natick Labs

“This is the U.S. Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center. I know it’s a long name, but the most important word here is Soldier,” said Bulger, NSRDEC workforce development manager. “Everything we do here is to support the Soldier.”

That is how Bulger greeted the 65 students assembled May 16 in Hunter Auditorium from Franklin (Mass.) High School and Franklin’s Horace Mann Middle School. About 40 high school students and 25 middle school students, accompanied by nine chaperones, divided into small groups to tour facilities on the installation.

At each destination, an expert walked them through the lab, explained the basics of his or her job, answered questions, and provided a demonstration. Middle school children visited the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Lab, Sensory Lab, and Prototype Shop while high school students saw the Thermal Test Facility, Doriot Climatic Chambers, and Fiber Facility.

The middle school kids really enjoyed the science experiments; one seventh grade student in particular was amazed by the MREs: “We had three-year-old cake! But it tasted the same as the other fresh cakes!” A fellow student commented: “The food stuff was really cool. I had never thought of doing this kind of job, but this visit definitely sparked my interest.”

That’s what STEM visits are designed to do. Students are afforded the opportunity to glimpse what they could do in the future should they choose to pursue degrees in science, mathematics, education or technology. Students became scientists when they experimented here, while at the STEM Lab, students created mini bottle rockets, tested fabrics that repelled water, made silly putty, and performed chromatography tests.

Continue reading the remainder of the article on the US Army website here