Representative Roy Announces Office Hours for March

State Representative Jeffrey Roy (D-Franklin) announced today that constituent office hours will be held in Medway and Franklin for the Month of March on the following days:

Medway – Saturday March 22nd, 9:00-10:00AM, Coffee Sensations – 116 Main St. Medway, MA 

Franklin – Thursday March 27th, 9:00-10:00AM, Franklin Food Pantry – 43 W Central St. Franklin, MA

Franklin Food Pantry

Christopher Yancich, his legislative aide, will be accompanying him.

Representative Roy stated that all office hours are open to any residents of Franklin and Medway who may have questions or concerns that they wish to bring to his attention. Walk-ins are welcome; no appointment necessary. He looks forward to hearing from you.

He also invites all constituents to call him at his State House office at (617) 722-2400, stop by Room 134 in the State House, or email him at Jeffrey.Roy@MAhouse.gov.

Make a placeholder: Last walk through of FHS - TBD

via Facebook from Ed Cafasso:

Good morning everyone. As a member of the Building Committee for the new Franklin High School, I wanted to let you know that there are plans in the works to have an open house at the current high school after this academic year ends. Many FHS alumni are hoping for a last chance to walk the halls. As soon as a date and schedule are finalized, I will be sure it's posted here.

Beatles mural in H wing of FHS

Franklin can use your help

May be you have just the background and interest to help on one of the following Committees:

• Library Board of Directors - Felicia Oti 508-520-4940

• Franklin Housing Trust Fund - Maxine Kinhart 508-553-4886

• Zoning Board of Appeals - Send letter of interest and resume to Town Administrator Jeff Nutting, 355 East Central Street

If you are interested in serving on the committee, please complete the form (shown in the link below) and return to the Town Administrator's Office.

http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_News/01B2AF2D-000F8513.0/TOWN%20OF%20FRANKLIN%20VOLUNTEER%20FORM.pdf

Franklin Municipal Building

Summer Camps Around Franklin, MA

Looking for a summer camp in Franklin, MA area? Renata has the answers for you.

Summer camps

Many registrations are open now. Check out her listing of Franklin area summer camps
http://franklinliving.blogspot.com/2014/03/summer-camps-around-franklin-ma.html

Casino Night - Franklin Youth Baseball - Mar 21

Franklin Youth Baseball

Franklin Youth Baseball (FYBO) is holding a Casino Night on March 21.


Tickets are $20 in advance and can be purchased from any board member.

Franklin Youth Baseball

Find Franklin Youth Baseball on the web here
http://www.franklinyouthbaseball.com/

or on Facebook here
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Franklin-Youth-Baseball-Organization/297843190245685

In the News: assault at Dean

Police arrested a 20-year-old man on Friday after receiving a report of a sexual assault at Dean College. 

Connor W. Elliott, 20, of 55 Pinewood Road, Plymouth, was charged after police were called by Dean College at 10:55 a.m. to address a report of an assault. 

Elliott was charged with rape, indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over and assault and battery, police said.

Read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140308/NEWS/140306694


Note: The MDN website is still experiencing script errors and inconsistencies. While they may be trying to implement a 'paywall', they are having trouble doing so. I will keep the paywall and my readers experience in mind as I think about how to handle this situation.

Citizen Advisory - Fraud Alert

The Franklin Police Department would like to remind all citizens to be cautious of any phone 

calls, mailings or individuals who knock at your door and request that you provide personal 

information, data or ask that you send money by any means such as a gift card, debit card, money order or check to any person, entity, business or company that you do not have a personal knowledge of, or a business relationship with. 

We cannot stress strongly enough just how clever and deceitful these individuals who are trying to get your money from you can be. They will telephone you repeatedly hoping to engage you in conversation because as long as they can keep you talking they may be able to get you to provide them the information they want.

Franklin Police

Let me give you an example. Franklin Detective's are currently involved in an investigation where, innocently enough, the victim provided Franklin as their hometown. The caller, who had identified himself as an FBI agent in an attempt to gain the confidence of the victim stated that he knew the Franklin Police Chief and provided my name. All of this information is available via computer and was obviously searched while talking on the phone.

This "FBI agent" has repeatedly called the victim back and the caller ID now shows the 528-1212 phone number of the Franklin Police which is also easily done by using computer applications. Again, be very cautious as these callers have no conscience or remorse for what they are trying to do. 

They will represent themselves as a representative of a Government Agency, Insurance Company, a Bank, a Law Enforcement Agency, or tell you that you have won a prize or anything else to gain your trust. They are aided by computer applications and programs that will automatically dial phone numbers, screen or disguise who they really are and where they are calling from in an effort to get you to disclose personal information about yourself or to send them money through and untraceable means to an untraceable location.

The bottom line is this. If you have doubts or concerns at all about anyone who calls or otherwise contacts you looking for information or promising you anything that you have no knowledge of hang up the phone and immediately call your local police department. 

Stephan H. Semerjian, Chief

To subscribe you can sign up here http://town.franklin.ma.us/subscriber-news

This was also posted to the Franklin Police webpage
http://town.franklin.ma.us/Pages/FranklinMA_PoliceNews/01CD9EDC-000F8513.0/Fraud%20Alert%202014.pdf

Spring forward!

Remember to turn the clocks ahead one hour tonight!

Spring forward one hour

The wikipedia page has some good background info on Daylight Savings Time
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time

Reach Out For Youth and Families Breakfast

Good Morning Healthy Futures Franklin!

Attached is an invitation to our Reach Out for Youth and Families Breakfast.  The Hockomock Area YMCA's annual Reach Out for Youth in Families Breakfast benefits our Annual Campaign.  This year's breakfast is on Thursday, March 27th at Gillette Stadium (Putnam Club).  I hope you can join me as a guest and hear the powerful stories of our Y's impact and how our number one priority is being there for our community.

Hockomock Ymca

Through our Annual Campaign, our Y supports youth, adults, seniors, and families on a daily basis.  Whether a family has been stricken with an illness and finds themselves needing childcare or a sports class to keep the children busy, or an older adult finds themselves looking for a way to connect with others and find social interaction, we are there for all ages.  We do not turn away anyone from YMCA services or programs, regardless of their ability to pay.  Our Health Innovation Team specifically works with our partner school districts and community groups in increasing physical activity and nutrition and supporting individuals with, or at risk for, a chronic disease through our Healthy Futures Initiative and our Prescription for a Healthy Lifestyle Program.  Our Adventures in Respect and Darkness to Light Initiatives are a couple of the other powerful ways in which our Y gives back to our local partners and community members.   

In 2013, we gave out over $1.5 million in financial assistance.  All of that stayed in our 15 communities, directly helping kids, families and adults that needed it most.  This year, our goal is to raise over $1 million as we expect the need in our communities to continue.

I hope you will consider joining me on Thursday, March 27th as we kick off this year's campaign and continue to support our efforts to help even more kids and families through our 2014 Reach Out for Youth and Families Campaign.

Please forward to anyone you think would be interested in joining us at the breakfast and I ask that you either RSVP to me or the email/phone number included on the invitation (realimpact@hockymca.org or 508-643-5278).  If you cannot make the breakfast we are having our post event in Franklin at 3 Restaurant on April 1^st.

Hope to see you there!

Marissa L. Garofano MPH, CHES

Director of  Community Wellness

Hockomock Area YMCA

Library - Book and Bag Sale - Mar 15-16

The monthly Library Book and Bag sale is scheduled for next Saturday and Sunday, Mar 15-16

Franklin Library - Book and Bag sale

For additional info on Library events visit their blog here   http://franklinpl.blogspot.com/

In the News: job gains for MA, upskirt law revision

Massachusetts posted its largest single-year jobs gain in 2013 since the dot-com boom of the late 1990s. But it still has an unemployment rate above the national average. 

The state’s employers added 55,200 jobs in 2013, the biggest annual gain since 2000 when the economy grew by 95,500 jobs. 

But the state also shed 4,500 jobs in January. The state finished January with an unemployment rate of 6.8 percent, according to data released Thursday morning, a drop from 7.1 percent a month earlier, but still higher than the 6.6 percent national average.

Read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140307/NEWS/140307277/1994/NEWS

Governor Deval Patrick on Friday signed a bill passed by the Legislature to close a loophole in state law that the Supreme Judicial Court said made it legal to take cellphone pictures up a woman’s skirt. 

“I’m hard-pressed to think that a person doesn’t have a reasonable expectation of privacy in their own clothes,” Sen. Brian Joyce, D-Milton, said after the Senate unanimously passed an amendment sent over from the House that now makes it illegal for someone to photograph the “sexual or other intimate parts” of an unsuspecting person. 

“It’s sad and somewhat bizarre that we even have to pass such a law,” Joyce said. “Clearly there are some twisted individuals.”

Read the full article here
http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140307/NEWS/140307275

Note: if the Legislature had craft the previous law properly, the Supreme Judicial Court would not have been in a position to overturn it. It is good to see the Legislature turn around so quickly. They can really accomplish something when they want to.

Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 3/7/14 - THU 3/13/14

FRI 3/7   3:30pm   Silly Science & Mystical Math, grades 1-4, Franklin Public Library. Theme: Geology Rocks!
FRI 3/7   6:30pm   Art Night Uncorked, Franklin Art Center.
FRI 3/7   7pm   Culinary Cabaret, Clarke Center Milford. $75 - tickets available here: www.fpaconline.com

SUN 3/9   1-4pm   Antique Appraisal Day, Franklin Historical Museum. 1-3 items, $5 per item.
SUN 3/9   3pm   FSPA performs with MetroWest Symphony Orchestra, Framingham. Tickets available  here: www.metrowestsymphony.org

TUE 3/11   7:30pm   Franklin & Bellingham Rail Trail Committee Meeting, open to public, Franklin YMCA.
7:00pm Finance Committee - FY 2015 Budget Hearing (1st of a series) Municipal Bldg

THU 3/13 7:00pm Finance Committee - FY 2015 Budget Hearing (2nd of a series) Municipal Bldg


For more details on above events click HERE and select the event of interest.

*If you have any suggestions or events for the calendar, please email Renata@BetterLivingRE.com

National Defense Authorization Act: What Would Benjamin Franklin Do?

From Rich Aucoin:

For those interested, below is the text of the speech I delivered before the Franklin Town Council last night.

____________________________

What Would Benjamin Franklin Do?

The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) is routine legislation passed annually to finance US military operations overseas.

But new language was quietly added to the NDAA in 2012 which authorizes Guantanamo Bay-style indefinite detentions on US soil.

The new language is dangerously vague and strongly implies that America is now a "battlefield" in the war on terror and that anyone, including US citizens, can now be denied constitutional protections and be subjected to the laws of war: kidnapped in the middle of the night on accusation alone, hooded, shackled and locked away possibly for life with no right to counsel, no right to face her accuser, no right to a jury of his peers.

So dangerous is this new language that President Obama issued a signing statement promising that his administration would never indefinitely detain Americans under the laws of war but warned that future presidents could do so unless the new language is fixed.

Benjamin Franklin's famous quote comes to mind: "They who sacrifice essential liberty to gain temporary safety shall have neither."

Franklin and the Founders took great pains to guarantee the Rights of due process and trial by jury. They carefully enumerated these Rights in both our state and federal Constitutions to ensure they could never be nullified.

To ensure these Rights would live on forever, the Founders devised a system of checks and balances, a constitutional structure of human "pillars" to uphold the rule of law. All elected office holders, including local councilors like yourselves, were to swear an oath to protect and defend constitutional governance. If at any time state or federal officials failed in their pillar duty, then the local pillars would be a last line of defense, standing by ready to take up the load and save the structure from collapsing. Each of you is a pillar in this system. Each of you bears the duty to stand up when other office holders stand down. Some local officials in other towns have claimed they do not have the authority to uphold constitutional government. But if so, why did they swear to uphold something that they did not have the authority to uphold?

The resolution I will be bringing supports constitutional government by reasserting the Right of Due Process for the people of Franklin, as enumerated in Articles 12 and 18 of our state Constitution and Amendments 5 and 14 of the US Constitution.

Congressman Jim McGovern has voiced strong support for this resolution, helping it win passage in towns like Oxford and Webster. Representatives Jeff Roy (D) and Ryan Fattman (R) have also stood up for this resolution.

Everyone watching this meeting knows how Benjamin Franklin would vote if he were here today. I am asking you to vote how Franklin would vote. I am asking you to honor his legacy. I am asking you to defend both liberty AND security. I am asking you to be a pillar for the rule of law to ensure that our children and their children will inherit the same America that we were blessed to inherit. I am asking you to keep your oath.

The draft resolution can be found here

http://www.franklinmatters.org/2014/03/proposed-resolution-restoring.html

Read Across America

Senator Karen Spilka

On Tuesday, March 4th, the Benjamin Franklin Classical Charter Public School in Franklin celebrated Read Across America Day and Dr. Seuss' birthday. Teachers and students dressed in red and white and participated in many Dr. Seuss-related activities throughout the day. Various members of the community came to visit and read aloud in classrooms. We are honored to have so many guest readers visit our school and share in our celebration of reading! The event was organized by reading specialist Karen LaPlaca. 

Representative Jeff Roy

Guests included: Senator Karen Spilka; Representative Jeff Roy; Officer Chris Spillane of the Franklin Police Department; Town Administrator Jeff Nutting; Mrs. Karen Alves from the Franklin Senior Center; Paul Molla from the Franklin Fire Department; School Committee member Roberta Trahan; Franklin Town Council members Steve Williams, Matt Kelly, Brett Feldman, & Judy Pfeffer; Allison Medeiros from the Franklin Public Library; Raye Lynn Mercer & Nick Paone from FSPA; Don Tappin & Joe Mullen from the BFCCPS Board of Trustees; former Head of School Dr. Kevin O'Malley; founding teacher Mrs. Elizabeth Henderson; & eighth grade teacher Mrs. DiMartino and baby Ryan

 More photos can be found at the Charter School website www.bfccps.org.

Franklin Downtown Partnership has a few dates to remember

The Franklin Downtown Partnership has set the dates for this year's events and general meetings. 

Contact information for the chairperson for each of the events can be found under the Events tab located on the Downtown Partnership webpage. 

Franklin Downtown Partnership - 2014 event dates

For additional information on the Franklin Downtown Partnership, visit their webpage here
http://www.franklindowntownpartnership.org/