Against King Philip, FHS boys soccer tied, the girls won, and the volleyball team lost

In matches against King Philip, FHS boys soccer tied, the girls won, and the volleyball team lost. Thanks to Hockomock Sports we share the results here

FHS Panthers

Boys Soccer

King Philip, 1 @ Franklin, 1 – Final 

– King Philip sophomore Tyler Mann put the Warriors up a goal with just over 10 minutes left to play but just a minute later Nick Parent headed home a service from Austin Kent to knot the game at one.

Girls Soccer

Franklin, 3 @ King Philip, 0 – Final 

– Alexis Stowell opened the scoring off an assist by her sister Victoria. Jess Kroushl added a second off an assist by Alexis Stowell and Halle Atkinson scored an unassisted third.

Volleyball

King Philip, 3 @ Franklin, 1 – Final 

– With the match tied 1-1, KP picked up the a vital win in game three and walked away with a 25-11, 16-25, 27-25, 25-21 win. Josie Rowean led the way with 16 kills, Gwen Uyrus added six kill, Amelia Murphy and Emma Lopez each had four kills and Micaela Murray had seven digs. Franklin’s Aubrie Kutil had 10 kills, Beth Neal had 19 assists, seven kills and two blocks and Alyssa Shea had seven kills.

For other results around the Hockomock League on Thursday
http://www.hockomocksports.com/thursdays-schedule-scoreboard-102915/

In the News: Candidate profiles - Schultz, Padula-O'Neill, Jewell

Town Council candidate James Schultz said he hopes to increase the town's transparency and willingness to take resident input if elected. 

Schultz is one of 14 candidates seeking the nine council seats. He said he was driven to run for Town Council because he felt the body was not listening to citizens.

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Diane Padula-O'Neill, a town clerk candidate in the upcoming election, said she would like to see more clerk services move online. 

Padula-O'Neill is one of four candidates seeking the clerk position in the Nov. 3 election.

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School Committee member John Jewell, running for re-election this fall, is looking to help the district's students compete in the worldwide economy. 

Jewell is one of eight candidates running for seven seats on the committee in the Nov. 3 election. Jewell, an Army veteran and former professor at the U.S. Military Academy, is seeking his third term.

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"told they shouldn't have any expectations of privacy at all"

"Students currently sign forms saying they consent to being monitored," Crockford said. "But should students be forced to give up the right to privacy in order to access new technology?" 

According to the report, several local school districts, including Franklin, Hopkinton and Sudbury, gave the ACLU documents stating that students should have "no expectations of privacy" in their school-owned devices, while Millis and West Springfield allow for random and periodic searches of student computers. Of the 35 school districts included in the study, which also included Franklin and Wayland, only Uxbridge has a clear policy limiting searches to "when a problem is brought to the attention of the building administration." 

According to Crockford, the ACLU of Massachusetts feels that schools should have a right to search student devices when there is reason to believe the student has done something against the rules, but until there is probable cause of a crime or infraction, students' rights to privacy should be protected. Student privacy regulations in Massachusetts were last updated in 2006, Crockford said, which is far too long given how fast technology is growing.

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In the News: OSHA training, cheerleaders fund raising, expand music program

Four employees from Franklin completed a comprehensive “OSHA-10” training program, held at Town Hall in Walpole. 

The interactive 10-hour hazard awareness training session was designed to enhance the skills, productivity and general safety of municipal employees who work in construction zones. The Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, property and casualty insurance provider for the six participating municipalities, presented the program free of charge as a membership benefit.

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Cheerleaders from Medway and Franklin are participating in the third annual Cheer for Dana-Farber fundraiser, which supports adult and pediatric cancer care and research at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 

The Medway High School Varsity cheerleaders and Franklin High School JV and Varsity cheerleaders are fundraising until Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26. 

To participate in Cheer for Dana-Farber, cheerleading teams fundraise in their local communities through car washes, bake sales, canister collections and more. There is no minimum fundraising requirement, but teams are required to register.

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The Center for Adult Education and Community Learning, a program of the Franklin Public School’s Lifelong Learning Institute, will expand its private music lesson program. 

The program is now available Monday through Thursday, after school and during early evenings at Franklin High School, 218 Oak St.

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Franklin Candidate for Town Council - Matt Kelly

Our schedules did not align to meet in person so Matt Kelly and I conducted our discussion about his campaign for Town Council via email. The results are shared here.

FM - What is your Franklin story?

Kelly - I relocated to Franklin in 1993 with my parents and brother where I attended Franklin High School and married my high school sweetheart Lesley Douglas. My wife Lesley and I never thought twice about where to raise our family. Lesley is a 3rd generation Franklin resident and I am a Franklin business owner so living here in town was the obvious choice. 

Today I live on Crescent Street near the Franklin Common with my wife and 2 daughters, Madison and Abigail. As a member of the Franklin Town Council and a Franklin Rotarian I feel privileged to live in and give back to the community that offers so much to its citizens.

FM - What do you see as a challenge for the position of Town Council?

Kelly - I feel like the issues for the incoming Town Council is to insure that we as a council continue to balance the budget and the upcoming growth of Franklin. As the economy improves, we will see tremendous growth and demand for new homes and businesses in Franklin. 

While we need to balance the demand for new homes and industry that want to come into Franklin, at the same time we need to maximize the amount of revenue while preserving the unique small town feel that Franklin offers.

FM - What do you bring to the position that would set you apart from the other candidates?

Kelly - The most important thing I bring to the position is experience. I have been on the council for three terms so far and have become very familiar with the town processes. I also bring extensive local knowledge and am willing to ask questions. 

My work ethic sets me apart from a lot of the other candidates and even though it is a volunteer position I take it extremely seriously and I always open my doors to any resident. You can come in to my office, call, or email me anytime. I am also a frequent contributor to the social media sites.

If you have any follow up questions for Matt, you can contact him via email at matt@kellycolombogroup.com


Noteworthy: This information is intended to help the Franklin voters when we all head to the ballot box on November 3rd. The interview candidates have had an opportunity to review the text before publishing to ensure the accuracy of our discussion.

Franklin Candidate for Town Council - Jim Gianotti

Our schedules did not align to meet in person so Jim Gianotti and I conducted our discussion via email. The results are shared here.

FM - What is your Franklin Story?

Gianotti - My Franklin story started 20 years ago this month when I was offered a job by IBM to work in its Waltham facility. Being the first of a large family to pick up our roots and move away from the homestead was frightening at first. Jeannette, my wife for over 32 years and I turned it into an adventure with our young children James III and Sean. 

This was going to be a family decision, so the boys came to every house we looked at. We could have moved anywhere east of I-495 and even southern New Hampshire. In total we looked at dozens of homes in dozens of towns. Although we made it as fun as possible for the boys, Jeannette and I knew we were making the most important decision in our lives to find the best community to bring up our boys. 

The last town we visited was Franklin. As we drove through for the first time on Main Street we noticed the brick school house, St Mary’s with the school, Dean College, Franklin Library and the downtown movie theater. The house we looked at was perfect but was out of our budget. 

We decided to stay in a hotel for a couple of days to learn more about Franklin. One of the first things I wanted to learn was the culture of the town. I was told that Franklin had a very high Italian population. Being of Italian descent for both Jeannette and I, it was very important to keep our family traditions, culture and fit right in. With no computer in hand back then I investigated the old fashion way, I opened up the Franklin phone book and to my surprise I saw lots of Italians. The next question was can they cook Italian? 

The next couple of days we had our own taste of Franklin. We got subs from De Vitas, went to The Rome for dinner, and then went to see a movie downtown. The next day we went to Church at St. Mary’s before leaving, we picked up a couple subs from Ferrara’s. 

We decided on our way home that Franklin was the best place to bring up our boys. With the new school almost finished, taxes very low back then, a great downtown and magnificent church, we decided to tighten our belts for a couple of years and buy the home of our dreams. For 20 years now Franklin has been our home.

FM - What do you see as the challenge for the position that you are campaigning for?

Gianotti - I think the biggest challenge is going to be rebuilding the trust with the Franklin residents and their local government. I have talked to hundreds of Franklin residents and their biggest complaint is lack of transparency and openness with the current town council. What I concluded from further discussion was that it’s not that all the decisions that the town council were making were all bad, but the speed, lack of dialogue and lack of timely communications with their constituents is paramount on their minds.

Franklin residents clearly want to be involved in the bigger decisions, in some cases directly with their vote. Examples I have heard are the marijuana factory, buying the building on Beaver Street for the recreation department, and most recently the Franklin Library. These types of decisions should be brought to the people for a vote. This council has no problem bringing forth a prop 2 ½ override for basic road repairs but refuses to engage its citizens fully on other items of most concern to them. Yes, this council for most items goes through the minimum processes to get approvals, but residents expect and deserve more than the minimum.

The citizens of Franklin also expect that their fundamental services such as roads be prioritized over nonessential projects in budgeting. I have driven many miles on Franklin roads in the past couple of weeks putting up almost 100 signs, and the roads are atrocious. This isn’t a problem that came overnight, for many years now the problem was well known, but the current and past councils have pushed the proverbial can down the road. With a budget now exceeding $1oo million and a budget that has grown 28% since 2007, one would think they could find resources to keep the roads up to standards.

FM - What do you bring to the position that would set you apart from the other candidates?

Gianotti - First of all, I know the biggest differential factor is I am against all operation prop 2 ½ overrides. I have fought against every one of them. To me it’s just poor financial planning. Like most Franklin residents, I see through the rhetoric and scare mongering. You all remember the rhetoric from past overrides, where it was said we’re going to have to close the library, our services are going to be decimated, and classrooms sizes are going to be unmanageable. Today Franklin is one of the best places to live along with one of the safest without all the overrides and because of you, the Franklin voter, saying NO to overrides. 

With this present sitting Council the Annual Update list potential issues for 2015 and the future such as Balancing the budget, Roads, Water improvements, pensions and health insurance and the list goes on, If elected I will fight against any overrides, tax increases and work for a better budget and solutions to these issues. So that we can keep Franklin Affordable to live in. 

If you are wondering why I continue to be so vehement against overrides I will tell you. I got a call one year from an elderly woman. She had found out I was the guy making the homemade signs to vote no on the override. She explained to me, in a crying voice that she had lived in Franklin all her life and if the override passed she and her husband would just have to sell their home because they couldn’t afford to live in Franklin anymore. After paying taxes all her life in Franklin she couldn’t believe this was happening to her and her husband. She thanked me profusely for my efforts. The day after the override failed she called me again. This time with tears of joy. As a Council Member I want to continue to help any resident not be in fear of a council over spending over building or an override. 

Second, as a candidate I have no personal or business vested interest except to all the citizens of Franklin. I won’t need to abstain from voting, so I can be fully engaged in all the decisions the council will have to make without the fear of conflict of interest. 

Third, I would bring in true private industry fiscal experience into the mix. You would think working for a $100 billion corporation for 20 years you would have all the money you need. That’s just not the case. Most departments in any company would be ecstatic with the thought that their overall budget would go up a minimum of 2 1/2% every year. The reality is we are asked to do more with the same or even less. My experience would bring in a breadth of programmatic skills to budget decision solutions to a mindset that continues to depend on prop 2 ½ overrides for their solutions. 

Last but not least, I would bring much needed change. However, it will be difficult to do it alone. If you are looking for real change on the council I ask for your vote, but also I ask for your vote for the other brand new candidates. Please remember there are 9 seats up for election for town council and that doesn’t mean you have to vote for all 9. If you are truly looking for a new way forward for Franklin just vote for the new candidates. Voting for just the new candidates like me will give the council the needed new blood, while maintain enough experience so that everyone combined will bring a fresh new start so that we can all work together towards these goals. 

So back to the question can Franklin Italians cook, well the 20lbs I gained in the last 20 years is a testament to the fine Italian meals I have had over the years. 

Thank you all for supporting me and I humbly ask for your vote on Election Day.


If you have any questions or inquires you can reach Jim at jimgianotti@yahoo.com


Noteworthy: This information is intended to help the Franklin voters when we all head to the ballot box on November 3rd. The interview candidates have had an opportunity to review the text before publishing to ensure the accuracy of our discussion. 

In the News: Candidate profiles - Vallee, Kelly, Cheli

Longtime Town Council member Robert Vallee said he hopes to complete a number of local projects if re-elected in November. 

Vallee is one of 14 candidates seeking nine seats on the council. He is the current chairman of the council, and has served on it for 15 terms.

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Town Council member Matt Kelly hopes to encourage smart development in town if re-elected this fall. 

Kelly is one of 14 candidates seeking the council's nine seats in the Nov. 3 election. A Franklin resident for about 22 years, he is the vice chairman of the council.

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Paul Cheli said he believed his long history of work in the public and private sectors would serve him if he is elected town clerk this fall. 

Cheli is one of four candidates running for the clerk position in the Nov. 3 election. He is looking to replacing longtime Town Clerk Deborah Pellegri, who is retiring.

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