HMEA: Benefit Beatles Concert - You're invited!

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YOU ARE INVITED! Greetings, January is always a tough month. The holidays are past and Spring is no where in sight. If you are experiencing cabin fever or just looking for a fun night out, we welcome you to join us for a special evening filled with good food and great music - all to benefit individuals supported by HMEA. WHO: "STUDIO TWO" Beatles Tribute Band WHAT: Concert to benefit HMEA WHEN: Saturday, January 24th, 2015 | 8 pm - 11 pm WHERE: Finnegan's Wake Restaurant, Walpole MA Presented by: Lippolis Plumbing REFRESHMENTS - DOOR PRIZES - RAFFLE PRIZES All proceeds will benefit HMEA (Horace Mann Educational Associates) HMEA is a non-profit agency providing supports and services for children and adults with Autism and other Developmental Disabilities.  $15/Per person - available in advance or at the door For ticket information call Phil @ 781-218-4170 or contact Marie Maloney at mspeedymarie@aol.com  RSVP to the Facebook event View the concert song list Official concert poster See you there! The HMEA Team

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Upcoming Events in Franklin, MA Area: FRI 1/16/15 - THU 1/22/15

FRI 1/16   6:30pm   Art Night Uncorked at Franklin Art Center
FRI 1/16   8pm   Frozen Friday DJ Public Skate at Pirelli Arena, Franklin

SAT 1/17   9am-4pm   Franklin Public Library Book Sale

SUN 1/18   9am-12pm   Franklin Public Library Bag Sale
SUN 1/18   1pm-4pm   Ben Franklin’s Birthday Celebration at Franklin Historical Museum, special glass harmonica performance at 1:30pm

TUE 1/20   5:30pm   Community Walking: FREE Walk Halls at Franklin High School

WED 1/21   12pm-6pm   Workshop Wednesday at The Cake Bar: Cute Bugs Cupcakes
WED 1/21   5:30-7:30pm   Community Walking: FREE Walk Track at Franklin High School
WED 1/21   6:30pm   Doggie Tales at Franklin Public Library: Read to a therapy dog. Registration required.
WED 1/21   7pm   Franklin SEPAC workshop: ADHD and Executive Functioning - free and open to all, Municipal Building
WED 1/21   7pm   Lions Heart Teen Service Organization - Parent Info Session at Adirondack Club

THU 1/22   5:30-7:30pm   Community Walking: FREE Walk Track at Franklin High School
THU 1/22   6:30-8:30pm   Franklin Newcomers Club Outing at Pour Richard’s
 
For all the Town of Franklin Public Meetings click HERE.

For event details click HERE.

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

Town Council - Jan 7th video available for viewing

The video from the Town Council meeting on January 7th with the public hearing on the Pond St zoning bylaw change is now available for viewing on the Franklin website.

Thanks to Franklin TV for providing this important video.

You can follow this link
http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSL.aspx?ecm=635569843478071250&indexSessionSKU=PRUmFH8FY5oVqMDv/lesqA%3D%3D&siteSKU=L7qhQ46xin/r3Z0jcDVCNw%3D%3D


You can also go to the Franklin webpage, from the left column find the "Live Videos and Archive" link and then select the year and month of the video you wish to view.

Franklin webpage for live video and video archives

Also worthy of note, a new sticker has been placed on the bottom of the microphones to indicate the "Mute" buttons more clearly.

sticker added to microphones to make it more obvious that there is a mute button

"Also, need to mention that the sticker is wrong. By default, the mics are always on and you have to push the button to mute it, meaning, if you want it muted, you'd have to sit there holding the button down the whole time."

Senator Spilka: Encouraging Economic Growth and Innovation in Massachusetts

January 15, 2015 Yesterday I announced key pieces of my economic development legislative agenda for the new 2015-2016 legislative session. I will continue to advocate for programs and policies that encourage economic growth, job creation and innovation across all sectors of the Massachusetts economy. I'm always looking for new ways to help Massachusetts companies start, grow and thrive here. We need to continue to support all sectors of our economy, foster innovation and improve education and workforce training opportunities. I look forward to a new session advocating on behalf of smart economic development policies for MetroWest and the Commonwealth. Continue reading to learn about some of my economic development priorities for the new session, including civic innovation, crowdfunding, entrepreneurship and education. For other news and updates, please connect with me on Facebook and Twitter. Innovative Communities A terrific group of people from the tech community and government shared feedback on the latest version of the Innovative Communities bill. A product of a November Tech Hub Caucus policy "Idea-a-thon" event, the new Innovative Communities Program would connect and educate Massachusetts startups and municipalities. The program is the result of a collaborative process, pulling together best practices from existing government programs and incorporating input and ideas from startups, government offices and municipal groups. The bill creates a new program charged with guiding startups through the purchasing process and helping them to more easily pursue local government contracts. Startups would have the opportunity to sell their technology to innovative cities and towns that have chosen to be designated as "Innovative Communities." These civic technology solutions would allow communities to better serve residents and use resources more efficiently and effectively. Read press coverage of the Innovative Communities Program in State House News and the Boston Globe. Partnering World-Class Entrepreneurs with State Agencies This bill authorizes the state's Executive Offices to establish a pilot Innovator-in-Residence program, placing successful entrepreneurs in state agencies to identify ways to make agency services and operations simpler, more efficient and more responsive. The program would encourage improved public-private coordination, address entrepreneur and business obstacles and opportunities and identify ineffective or duplicative government programs. Encouraging Small Business Growth Through Crowdfunding This bill amends the Uniform Securities Act in Massachusetts to include an exemption to securities registration requirements for emerging businesses seeking small-scale investments through crowdfunding. The bill helps local small businesses raise seed funding and grow more easily while still protecting investors from overly high-risk investments. Bi-literacy Education The legislation creates a State Seal of Bi-literacy to recognize high school graduates who have attained a high level of proficiency in speaking, reading and writing in one or more languages in addition to English. The bill supports foreign language educational programs in the Commonwealth as a way to promote global trade and prepare our students to compete in a global economy. Tax Code I will also file legislation to make the tax process more predictable and transparent for companies in all industries and encourage companies to maintain or establish their corporate headquarters in Massachusetts. As always, if you would like additional information or have any concerns or comments, please call my office at (617) 722-1640 or email me at Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov. Warm Regards, Senator Karen E. Spilka 2nd Middlesex and Norfolk http://www.karenspilka.com Office of State Senator Karen E. Spilka Room 320, State House Boston, Massachusetts  02133 Phone: (617) 722-1640 - Fax: (617) 722-1077 http://www.karenspilka.com/

Senator Karen Spilka | Karen.Spilka@masenate.gov | Office of Karen Spilka | Office of State Senator Karen E. Spilka, Room 511-C, State House | Boston, MA 02133

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NationalGrid: Recycle your second fridge or freezer and get $100!

To view this email as a web page, click here.

Get $100 for your second fridge or freezer through 2/15 Cleaning house doesn't have to wait until springtime. For a limited time only, get $100 just for recycling your second fridge or freezer. That's $50 more than the incentive we offer any other time of year! We'll even pick it up for free. Plus, you'll save up to $150 a year in electric costs. Hurry, this promotion ends February 15. Schedule Your Free Pickup >> Massachusetts residential electric customers of National Grid may qualify. The $100 rebate is good for working second refrigerators or freezers. Unit pickup must be scheduled between January 1, 2015 and February 15, 2015 for pickup by March 15, 2015. The unit must meet the size requirement of 10 cubic feet – 30 cubic feet. Savings and energy efficiency experiences may vary.

This email was sent by: National Grid 40 Sylvan Road Waltham, MA, 02451, U.S.A.

What a marked difference for a community meeting

The School Committee meeting on Tuesday had almost as many in the audience as the Town Council did in their last meeting. It was an eventful meeting but more emotionally moving for good reasons.

Two young ladies, seniors at Franklin High School were recognized with the Superintendents Award for being in the Top 1% of their class.

(Left to right) Supt. M Sabolinski, H Frank, M Wendell, Sch Comm Chair P Mullen

This was followed by a presentation on the special education program. Beth Fitzmaurice was joined by Stephanie Gedis, Dillon Scarnicki, and Sara Mulcahey in making the presentation. Dillon was supported by most of the Franklin Boys Hockey team which he is part of. He showed a brief video clip of his first goal scored!

community participating in the School Committee meeting

Fitzmaurice acknowledged that there can be a feeling of isolation for a parent of a special education student, in that there maybe no one to help. In Franklin, there is a community to provide support. The town has been amazing supporting us. 

What a marked difference in community presence and meeting conduct. 

The School Committee did get into some hard discussions around the capital budget (top priorities outlined here) and on the 2015-16 calendar (the school marking periods and parent meetings still need to be added to this draft). One section of a policy is being retired as it is outdated and covered by other business practices and legal requirements.

Of not, there will likely be a future discussion about the school starting time. Given some studies about high schoolers starting so early and recent weather events where extra time in the morning would make a difference for the safety of all involved with the schools, there is work underway to see if that could be done. Stay tuned as this will be a topic for a future meeting.

The enxt meeting this month will also be held at the Franklin High School. Details on specific location within remained to be announced.


All my notes reported live from the meeting can be found here:

• Live reporting - closing

• Live reporting: Action Items

• Live reporting: Discussion Only Items (BICO Collab...

• Live reporting - Capital discussion

• Live reporting - Presentations (Excellence Awards,...

• Live reporting: School Committee - Jan 13, 2015

• 
  

MassBudget: New study--Who pays lowest taxes in MA?

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Highest income residents pay lowest  share of income in state and local taxes A new study released today by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) finds that the highest income taxpayers in Massachusetts, and across the country, pay a smaller share of their income in state and local taxes than do low and middle income taxpayers. Read the study HERE.  The study, Who Pays?, analyzes tax systems in all 50 states and factors in all major state and local taxes, including personal and corporate income taxes, property taxes, sales and other excise taxes. Taxes, of course, are how we pay for our schools, our roads, our parks and playgrounds, public safety, our safety net, and everything else we do together through our government to make life better for all of our families and all of our communities. To provide more detail on the situation in Massachusetts, MassBudget is also publishing today updates of two factsheets: Examining Tax Fairness and Where Does the Taxachusetts Label Come From? In examining the Massachusetts tax system we see that the highest income 1% of taxpayers pay $83,000 a year less than they would if they paid the same percentage as most other taxpayers. This costs the state $2.1 billion a year. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) produces policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations focused on improving the lives of low- and middle-income children and adults, strengthening our state's economy, and enhancing the quality of life in Massachusetts. MASSACHUSETTS BUDGET AND POLICY CENTER 15 COURT SQUARE, SUITE 700 BOSTON, MA 02108

Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center | 15 Court Square | Suite 700 | Boston | MA | 02108

To save some clicks, I went to the report and saved a copy of the MA page here

screen grab of MassBudget webpage

FHS Hockey takes 'game of the week' over Mansfield

From Hockomock Sports we find the FHS results from competiion on Wednesday. The boys did well to top Mansfield in hockey and wrestling but lost on the track to North Attleboro. The girls track results weren't posted.

Wrestling

Mansfield, 6 @ Franklin, 55 - Final

Boys Track

Franklin, 15 vs. North Attleboro, 85 - Final

Girls Track

Franklin vs. North Attleboro, 4:30 (sorry, no score listed)

Game of the Week - Boys Hockey

Mansfield, 1 @ Franklin, 6 - Final

As it was the "game of the week", there is a full article reporting on the game.

Franklin scored five goals in third period to runaway with a key 6-1 win over Mansfield in a Kelley-Rex showdown. 

The Panthers looked like they were going to jump all over the Hornets when Ryan Spillane buried a rebound off his own shot just 40 seconds into the game to make it 1-0, but it took over 30 minutes of game time for Franklin to strike again. 

“We came out flying early and I thought we had a really solid first period, we just didn’t have too many goals to show for it,” Franklin head coach Chris Spillane said. “In the second period. [Mansfield] came out flying, they took it too us. They took the wind out of our sails but we in the third we just had to move our legs again. I thought we did a good job forechecking, all four lines out there.”

FHS Hockey celebrates a goal ((Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

Continue reading the article at Hockomock Sports here

http://www.hockomocksports.com/blog/third-period-outburst-lifts-franklin-over-mansfield

Comedy Night January 30th!

3 461 W Central Street (Rt.140), Franklin, MA 02038 • 508.528.6333 • www.3-restaurant.com Please visit our other Let's Eat, Inc. restaurant in Norwood: SKY

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