Library of Congress: WATCH LIVE on HALLOWEEN - Frankenreads

LIVE Reading of Shelley's "Frankenreads" on Halloween 2018 marks the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," and to acknowledge this milestone, the Library of Congress hosts "Frankenreads," a live, day-long reading of the novel in its entirety by Library staff, friends and some very special guests. The program will be streamed LIVE on Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 31 from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. ET:  Watch LIVE on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HY7dn_7dj9o

LiveARTS: Concert on November 4 - Music of Leonard Bernstein

JOIN US FOR THE SECOND CONCERT OF OUR SEASON BERNSTEIN AT 100! Music of Leonard Bernstein Sunday, November 4, 2018 3:00 PM with Sandra Piques Eddy, mezzo-soprano David Kravitz, baritone Wayman Chin, piano Brian Moll, piano Metropolitan Opera's Sandra Piques Eddy and baritone David Kravitz team up to celebrate the 100th birthday of Leonard Bernstein in a LiveARTS concert on Sunday November 4th at the Meetinghouse of the First Universalist Society in Franklin, Massachusetts. The concert will include selections from the musicals  On the Town, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Wonderful Town, as well as music for piano, performed by Wayman Chin and Brian Moll.  Few composers capture their time and become the iconic voice of their age like Leonard Bernstein. Writing for small ensembles, symphony orchestras, Broadway, film and opera houses, Bernstein projected a simple message of understanding and hope employing both complex and simple forms and styles – yet always sounding like "Bernstein", a voice best known in his score to West Side Story. Mezzo-soprano Sandra Piques Eddy has performed on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera more than 100 times. A Boston native, Ms. Eddy has sung with the Boston Lyric Opera, New York City Opera, and will perform the title role of Carmen on a Japanese tour with Maestro Seiji Ozawa in the coming year before singing with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston and the New Zealand Opera. Hailed by the New York Times and Opera News, David Kravitz's recent opera engagements include the Washington National Opera, Piccolo Teatro in Milan, Italy and concert performances with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra.  This concert takes place at 3:00 p.m. at the Meetinghouse of the First Universalist Society in Franklin, 262 Chestnut Street. Prior to the concert, Dr. Ann Sears, Professor of Music at Wheaton College, will present a pre-concert talk at 2:30. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for seniors, and students are welcome by donation. Tickets are available at the door or by going to our website – liveartsma.org. The building is handicapped accessible.  LiveARTS presents performances throughout the year bringing world-class musicians to perform locally at a reduced cost to our audience. For more information about LiveARTS, please call 774-571-7920 or visit our website. We look forward to seeing you at this concert. LiveARTS is an autonomous, nonprofit, nonsectarian affiliate of the First Universalist Society in Franklin. Tax-deductible contributions go directly and exclusively to LiveARTS. Support the ARTS! Support LiveARTS! Copyright © 2018 LiveARTS, Franklin, Massachusetts, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails?

Inside Question One: 2 key pieces of info that factored for my decision

I won't say how I voted but I think it makes sense to share the info that helped me to make an informed decision. You can use this to help make your own informed decision. 

Whatever position you decide to take is your choice. The only recommendation I'll make is please vote! Your vote is a critical part of our political process.

Piece #1

Jerold Duquette wrote a series of essays on Question 1 that were published on MassPoliticsProfs  http://www.masspoliticsprofs.org/. Deep in one essay he writes:

"Both the advocates and opponents of Question One decided that average voters would choose whatever side they thought nurses were on. Unfortunately for the proponents, “nurses” is too large a category to evoke the intended group sympathy among voters. 

Had they understood the issue as a conventional dispute between labor and management, they would have realized that the principles and interests advanced by nurse staffing ratios are of hospital bedside nurses (i.e. labor), but not necessarily the principles and interests of nurse managers or nurses who work in settings or facilities where bedside nurses (especially non-unionized bedside nurses) are not severely hampered by patient assignment overloads. 

The opponents of Question One are hospital executives and nurse managers (i.e. management) and they have been able to exploit the public’s ignorance about the nursing profession to disguise the clear cleavage on Question One. Opponents understand it’s a labor- management dispute and that average voters would assume that “nurses” are on the side of labor. 

Since nurse-managers and other types of nurses are not labor, but are, in fact, management, the “No on One” side has had the luxury of making it look like the laborers in this labor-management dispute are not united in support of Question One, signaling that the law being proposed may not be aligned with the interests and principles of labor."

Continue to read the essay online
http://www.masspoliticsprofs.org/2018/10/18/question-1-voters-shouldnt-be-confused/

Within the same essay he references a WBUR poll that helps to show the point that while nurses are on both sides of the issue, nurses is too broad a term to use and when you break down the pill results, some types of nurses are on one side or the other.

The link to the WBUR poll article
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/10/15/wbur-poll-nurse-staffing-question-one

Inside Question One: 2 key piece of info that factored for my decision

Piece #2

"The POLITICAL bottom line is this: If Question One passes, negotiations on this very important issue to bedside nurses will be energized and the ballot measure itself will have served one of the primary purposes of ballot measures in the first place, which is not to allow average voters to make complex policy decisions, but rather to allow the general public to exert POLITICAL influence on behalf of interests that would otherwise be at a severe disadvantage in getting their issues addressed by politicians who depend on the financial support of wealthy special interest groups. 

When proponents and opponents of ballot measures treat average voters like policy experts they are really manipulating them, which is why both sides on every ballot question supplement their “expert” arguments and endorsements with appeals to voters’ in-group loyalties, or as in the case of the opponents of Question One this year, to average voters’ irrational fears. 

Voters can and will happily choose sides in a political dispute and ballot questions, like any statute, are NOT set in stone. They can be amended or even repealed by elected policy makers, which means that despite the hype, voters will not have the final say on Nurse Staffing Ratios when they vote next month. Pretending that they will and that a “mistake” by voters will bring on the apocalypse is at best naive. 

A YES vote will force hospital lobbyists, nurse’s union representatives, and the state’s elected policy makers back to the bargaining table. A yes vote will force all three groups to accept meaningful responsibility for dealing effectively with this issue. 

A NO vote will further empower and embolden the wealthy special interests whose outsized political influence has prevented the legislature from taking up the nurses’ cause, further weakening the ability of healthcare workers to resist exploitation by hospital administrators."

Continue reading the full article by Jerold
http://www.masspoliticsprofs.org/2018/10/24/the-experts-and-question-one/

WBUR also has a good summary of the issue here
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2018/10/26/question-one-karen-donelan?fbclid=IwAR2HH--CqenTzfG-EhejlXk4DG28X_zwoqcV9f-P_7Qp7f32xqg24huhuGU


The Franklin Town Clerk page with additional information
http://www.franklinma.gov/town-clerk

Additional info can be found in the 2018 Election Collection
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2018/10/election-collection-2018.html

Election Information for Nov 2018

Representative Roy: November election and early voting

Making the case for your vote Serving the citizens of Franklin and Medway in the Massachusetts House of Representatives has been a great honor and privilege. I thank you for your support and encouragement along the way, and ask for your vote on November 6th so that we can continue our work together. Early voting is open now, and you can click here for the hours in Franklin and here for the hours in Medway. I've advocated for healthcare legislation that would increase access to care and make the delivery of care more efficient and effective. I've pushed for laws to get legal notices posted online, so people know what's happening in their communities. And I've reached across the aisle and worked on bipartisan legislation to protect young people from cyber bullying. And I have been been part of a legislative team that has addressed the issues of substance use disorder, criminal justice reform, civil rights and social equity, gun safety, anti-bullying, energy, the environment, and economic development. But being a State Representative involves more than just passing laws. It's about being there for the people of your district and bringing home local aid from Beacon Hill. It's about looking out for your neighbors and letting them know you have their back. It's in that spirit that I worked with local law enforcement, social services and families to form the SAFE Coalition, to help our community find solutions to the opioid crisis. It's why I help entrepreneurs and manufacturers secure state grants and support, so that our local economy can thrive and workers can find good jobs. And it's why I have advocated for and delivered local aid for schools, roads and other infrastructure, public safety, arts and recreation. Below I have included some videos which capture the essence of this work. I have also included one which speaks about work on the opioid crisis and another which talks about manufacturing and economic development. I have committed myself to working hard on behalf of the citizens of Franklin and Medway and look forward to another opportunity to serve. That's why I do this job, and it's why I'm asking for your vote. Copyright © 2018 State Rep Jeff Roy, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: State Rep Jeff Roy State House Room 236 Boston, MA 02133

The newsletter was shortened for publication here, to view the full contents follow this link  https://mailchi.mp/0e84abe43734/making-the-case-1474005

29th Annual - Taste of the Region - Oct 30

The "Taste of the Region" is back! 

Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2018
Time: 5 PM – 8 PM
Location: Tri-County Reg. Vocational High School
147 Pond Street, Franklin, MA 02038

29th Annual - Taste of the Region - Oct 28

You can help too! Help Jose Knock out Cancer

Via Twitter we find: 

“No one fights alone!” Our fifth grade community came together to support a classmate! #oakststories

“No one fights alone!” Our fifth grade community came together to support a classmate!

Contribute online via GoFundMe   https://www.gofundme.com/pyehc-knockout-cancer

The tweet showing the Farmer Market booth fund raising event
https://twitter.com/OakStElementary/status/1055949888524115968

Wow! So proud of these Oak St kiddos for their time, energy, and kindness! George and Cece (too shy for the picture) were so pumped to get bracelets from the BIG KIDS! #oakststories pic.twitter.com/pGY9TPIBCP

— Heather Adams (@MrsAdamsOAK) October 26, 2018

MassBudget: Low-income taxpayers pay higher share in "upside down" Massachusetts system, new study shows

Read our new report

MassBudget    Information.    Participation.  Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center    Democracy. Oct. 25, 2018 Low-income taxpayers pay higher share in "upside down" Massachusetts system, new study shows Taxes pay for the essential services and programs that everyone uses, from fire protection and health inspectors to roads and schools. But in Massachusetts, those with the lowest income pay the largest share of their incomes in state and local taxes. The Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center (MassBudget) finds in its new paper, Who Pays? Low and Middle Earners in Massachusetts Pay Larger Share of their Incomes in Taxes, that in the Commonwealth's "upside down" tax system those with the lowest incomes pay 10 percent of their earnings in state and local taxes, while those with the highest incomes pay 6.8 percent.  This "upside down" tax system also has lopsided effects when it comes to race. Because historic and systemic barriers have blocked Black and Latinx people from access to quality education, high-paying jobs, and other opportunities, these taxpayers are more likely to be low-income and therefore tend to pay a larger portion of their earnings in state and local taxes. Finally, the report finds that other states with overall fairer tax systems tend to tax their top earners at significantly higher income tax rates than their other taxpayers. States that succeed in collecting a greater share of income from the top 1 percent of earners are using a top tax rate, similar to the proposed "millionaire's tax". These states include California, New Jersey, Minnesota, Vermont, and the District of Columbia. While Massachusetts was set to vote this year on a higher income tax rate on income over $1 million, a ruling from state's Supreme Judicial Court struck it from the ballot. Read the full report http://massbudget.org/report_window.php?loc=Who-Pays-Low-and-Middle-Earners-in-Massachusetts-Pay-Larger-Share-of-their-Incomes-in-Taxes.html. 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 Try it free today