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Wednesday, April 29, 2020
CBD, COVID-19 and cancer: The unfounded facts
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Franklin Food Pantry Purchases Building to Expand Services
The Pantry Looks to Renovate a Bigger Franklin Space to Better Serve Its Neighbors
Today (Apr 27, 2020) the Franklin Food Pantry announced that it has purchased a building to be able to better serve its neighbors. The building formerly known as Dante’s Motors, Inc. is located on 138 East Central Street and will undergo renovations to make it into a functional and expanded Pantry.
The new building will allow The Franklin Food Pantry to increase safety, accessibility, confidentiality and robustness of its current services and help The Pantry to develop new services to better fulfill the full mission of the Franklin Food Pantry. The Pantry will announce a Capital Campaign later in the year to help fund the renovations of the new space. In the meantime, The Pantry will continue to operate at its current location and appreciates the Support of Rockland Trust.
“For the past three years, The Franklin Food Pantry has been searching for a bigger space to be able to increase our assistance to our community. We are so thankful to Rockland Trust for loaning us our space and taking such good care of us over the past ten years, but we have outgrown the building,” said Lynn Calling, Executive Director of the Franklin Food Pantry. “Through the generosity of our Board members and close friends of The Pantry we were finally able to make this happen. Because of the commitment of the Board - as volunteers, donors, and advisors - we have been able to secure a mortgage for this property.”
“We are so grateful for the incredible outpouring of support from our community as we meet increased demand due to Covid-19 and we are happy to be able to bring some good news to them,” said Tina Powderly, Board President. “This endeavor has been a long time coming and we’d like to thank community member Christine Bracci who worked with us so closely to help create a lasting legacy for her family’s business and to ensure the growth of the pantry.”
“This building has been in my family for a long time, and I’m so glad that I was able to work with the Franklin Food Pantry to give the building new life and another chance to serve the Franklin Community,” said Christine Bracci, previous owner. “I would like to thank my attorney Michael Heaney, Heaney and Small LLP for his help with making this deal possible.”
During the pandemic, the Franklin Food Pantry continues to operate to serve all new and existing neighbors. The Pantry has changed its hours to Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. The Pantry is distributing prepackaged bags of shelf stable items as well as fresh produce and proteins through a drive up service. Since March, the Pantry has seen a weekly increase of new neighbors needing to receive services and all donations have gone toward continuing to feed its patrons.
About the Franklin Food Pantry
Today (Apr 27, 2020) the Franklin Food Pantry announced that it has purchased a building to be able to better serve its neighbors. The building formerly known as Dante’s Motors, Inc. is located on 138 East Central Street and will undergo renovations to make it into a functional and expanded Pantry.
The new building will allow The Franklin Food Pantry to increase safety, accessibility, confidentiality and robustness of its current services and help The Pantry to develop new services to better fulfill the full mission of the Franklin Food Pantry. The Pantry will announce a Capital Campaign later in the year to help fund the renovations of the new space. In the meantime, The Pantry will continue to operate at its current location and appreciates the Support of Rockland Trust.
“For the past three years, The Franklin Food Pantry has been searching for a bigger space to be able to increase our assistance to our community. We are so thankful to Rockland Trust for loaning us our space and taking such good care of us over the past ten years, but we have outgrown the building,” said Lynn Calling, Executive Director of the Franklin Food Pantry. “Through the generosity of our Board members and close friends of The Pantry we were finally able to make this happen. Because of the commitment of the Board - as volunteers, donors, and advisors - we have been able to secure a mortgage for this property.”
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| Lynn Calling, Executive Director, stands in front of the future home |
“We are so grateful for the incredible outpouring of support from our community as we meet increased demand due to Covid-19 and we are happy to be able to bring some good news to them,” said Tina Powderly, Board President. “This endeavor has been a long time coming and we’d like to thank community member Christine Bracci who worked with us so closely to help create a lasting legacy for her family’s business and to ensure the growth of the pantry.”
“This building has been in my family for a long time, and I’m so glad that I was able to work with the Franklin Food Pantry to give the building new life and another chance to serve the Franklin Community,” said Christine Bracci, previous owner. “I would like to thank my attorney Michael Heaney, Heaney and Small LLP for his help with making this deal possible.”
During the pandemic, the Franklin Food Pantry continues to operate to serve all new and existing neighbors. The Pantry has changed its hours to Tuesdays and Fridays from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM and 1:30 PM to 4:00 PM. The Pantry is distributing prepackaged bags of shelf stable items as well as fresh produce and proteins through a drive up service. Since March, the Pantry has seen a weekly increase of new neighbors needing to receive services and all donations have gone toward continuing to feed its patrons.
About the Franklin Food Pantry
The Franklin Food Pantry offers supplemental food assistance and household necessities to over 1,100 individuals. Clients have access to a variety of fresh, frozen and nonperishable foods on monthly scheduled shopping trips as well as Walk-in Fridays. They can visit the Pantry daily for fruits, vegetables, bread and pastry. As a nonprofit organization, the Pantry depends entirely on donations, and receives no town or state funding. In 2019, 302,336 pounds of food was provided to clients. Other programs include the Weekend Backpack Program, Carts for Clients, Mobile Pantry, emergency food bags and holiday meal packages. Visit www.franklingfoodpantry.org for more information.
FM #255 State Representative Jeffrey Roy 4/27/20 (audio)
FM #255 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 255 in the series.
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with our State Representative Jeffrey Roy. We had our conversation via conference bridge to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
We started by talking about the weekend and trying to take a break from COVID-19; the family of foxes that briefly lived in his backyard; the work of the Legislature and how that is progressing during this pandemic. The State budget is starting to be worked on by the House, later than normal, and it is likely that the entire State budget timeline will be later than normal. We talk about legislation on enabling voting by mail for the State primary in Sept and then the regular election in November.
We also talk about Jeff's work on the higher education committee and how that is helping to prepare for the broader discussion on what the State can do for higher education in MA; the economic impact of higher education, and then shifted into the arts and culture arena which also provides considerable economic value to the Commonwealth.
The recording runs almost 40 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Jeff. Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HB8QvYQ7
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We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
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You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Note: I had the opportunity to join Rep Roy for his tour of UMass Medical, Quinsigamond Community College and Worcester State College on Friday, November 1, 2019
This session of the radio show shares my conversation with our State Representative Jeffrey Roy. We had our conversation via conference bridge to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
We started by talking about the weekend and trying to take a break from COVID-19; the family of foxes that briefly lived in his backyard; the work of the Legislature and how that is progressing during this pandemic. The State budget is starting to be worked on by the House, later than normal, and it is likely that the entire State budget timeline will be later than normal. We talk about legislation on enabling voting by mail for the State primary in Sept and then the regular election in November.
We also talk about Jeff's work on the higher education committee and how that is helping to prepare for the broader discussion on what the State can do for higher education in MA; the economic impact of higher education, and then shifted into the arts and culture arena which also provides considerable economic value to the Commonwealth.
The recording runs almost 40 minutes, so let’s listen to my conversation with Jeff. Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HB8QvYQ7
--------------
We are now producing this in collaboration with Franklin.TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm).
This podcast is my public service effort for Franklin but we can't do it alone. We can always use your help.
How can you help?
- If you can use the information that you find here, please tell your friends and neighbors
- If you don't like something here, please let me know
Through this feedback loop we can continue to make improvements. I thank you for listening.
For additional information, please visit Franklinmatters.org/
If you have questions or comments you can reach me directly at shersteve @ gmail dot com
The music for the intro and exit was provided by Michael Clark and the group "East of Shirley". The piece is titled "Ernesto, manana" c. Michael Clark & Tintype Tunes, 2008 and used with their permission.
I hope you enjoy!
------------------
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
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| Rep Roy listening as part of the tour of the 'maker space' at Quinsigamond Community College (Nov 2019) |
Board of Health approves mandate for face coverings for employees of essential businesses
I took my notes with Twitter to capture the gist of what was happening at the Board of Health meeting, Monday, April 27, 2020. The meeting had two agenda items. The agenda doc can be found linked below.
Effectively, the Board of Health approved a mandate for employees of essential businesses to wear facial coverings and to reinforce the advisory that residents should wear facial coverings when visiting retail establishments. This is an interim step to be effective 4/29. There is another meeting to be scheduled for next week as a follow up and to review a new item that came up during the meeting (a clarification on golf per Governor's revised statement).
My Twitter notes were all tagged as #boh0427. As I went from this meeting to the Economic Development meeting (which had started at 5:50) I made a few mistakes by tagging some of the EDC notes with this same #boh0427 tag instead of #edc0427 - oops.
The individual tweets can be found with this search result:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23boh0427&src=typed_query
The new FDA update on masks as mentioned during the meeting is found here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bckh-j1LwwNztxa52Jdsk4K5fVQALY_G/view?usp=sharing
Effectively, the Board of Health approved a mandate for employees of essential businesses to wear facial coverings and to reinforce the advisory that residents should wear facial coverings when visiting retail establishments. This is an interim step to be effective 4/29. There is another meeting to be scheduled for next week as a follow up and to review a new item that came up during the meeting (a clarification on golf per Governor's revised statement).
My Twitter notes were all tagged as #boh0427. As I went from this meeting to the Economic Development meeting (which had started at 5:50) I made a few mistakes by tagging some of the EDC notes with this same #boh0427 tag instead of #edc0427 - oops.
The individual tweets can be found with this search result:
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23boh0427&src=typed_query
- Real time reporting underway for Board of Health mtg
- New guidelines from Attorney General referenced. Consider mandate for employees of essential business to do so as a step. Reserve N95 for health and first responders
- Some of the citizen complaints to the Health Dept are around lack of grocery store employees not wearing cloth coverings (mask) #boh0427 . Health Director prefers advisory rather than mandate
- Concerns expressed about the mental health of the residents as we won't be observing the smiles of neighbors. Fear of going out because people are observed wearing masks.
- New FDA update on masks and types of just came out today. Mandate for employees, suggestion for residents to be clear. No single metric is perfect for effective of enforcement
- Questions and discussion around enforcement, in some cases would need to be by the retail business, BoH not wanting to get Franklin Police involved, they have other and better things to do
- Motion to adopt mandate for employees of essential business, recommended for posting of residents recommended to wear, motion approved; discussion on what effective date #boh0427 by close of business by April 29, notification coming, approved 3-0
- Hopefully the incremental approach will bring results, if not we can go further
- Discussion on expanding items for sale by restaurants and essential business, modify temp food permit to provide the steps/guidance for the business to do so. #boh0427 Health Director to come up with listing of items
- Motion for food establishments to sell grocery items, approved by 3-0 vote. Golf question came up in chat, can't add to this agenda. Will consider for next week meeting TBD #boh0427 motion to adjourn, passed via roll call
The new FDA update on masks as mentioned during the meeting is found here
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bckh-j1LwwNztxa52Jdsk4K5fVQALY_G/view?usp=sharing
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| screengrab of Zoom meeting early in the meeting |
Attention Veterans: Project Toy Box - Response due Weds Apr 29
The United Way of Tri-County has received a major donation of new toys and games to distribute to children in out of work or low income veterans' families. We're calling this program Project Toy Box and have a goal to reach children in need who may have limited access to new activities, especially during this difficult time when many people are homebound. A variety of toys and games for children ages 5-12 will be distributed in the next few weeks.
If you are a veteran who has children and you may benefit from this, please let me know by end of day, Wednesday, Apr 29.
thanks
Dale
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Dale Kurtz
Veterans Service Officer
Towns of Avon and Franklin
10 Daniel McCahill Street
Franklin, MA 02038
508-613-1315 (O)
508-520-4917 (F)
If you are a veteran who has children and you may benefit from this, please let me know by end of day, Wednesday, Apr 29.
thanks
Dale
--
Dale Kurtz
Veterans Service Officer
Towns of Avon and Franklin
10 Daniel McCahill Street
Franklin, MA 02038
508-613-1315 (O)
508-520-4917 (F)
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| Attention Veterans: Project Toy Box - Response due Weds Apr 29 |
Beaver St. Recycling Center Open Regular Hours Now With the Addition of Thursday - Noon-3 PM
Beaver St. Recycling Center Open Regular Hours Now With the Addition of Thursday - Noon - 3 PM for This Week -- Brush and Yard Waste Drop-Off Only All Days
In order to meet the needs of our residents and still follow the Governor's directive, as well as provide the appropriate level of safety to our residents and public works employees, we are going to re-open the Beaver Street Recycling Center with the following guidelines.
• The Recycling Center opens for the drop-off of yard waste and brush only.
• No other recycling products will be accepted.
• The Recycling Center will be staffed with only one worker just to check that folks have a Recycling Center Sticker and are only dropping off yard waste or brush.
• The Employees will practice established personal space guidelines and "Social Distancing" and will not assist residents in any way with the unloading of their vehicles.
• Only five vehicles will be allowed in the Recycling Center at one time.
• There will be no credit card or check transactions.
• If a resident needs a recycling sticker, they will need to contact and arrange to get one from the Public Works Administration Office (508 520-4910) prior to going to the Recycling Center.
Recycling Center Hours This Week:
- Tuesday, April 28, Noon-3PM
- Thursday, April 30, Noon-3PM
- Friday, May 1, 8AM-3PM
- Saturday, May 2, 8AM-3PM
- Sunday, May 3, 9AM-1PM
This was shared from the Town of Franklin page
https://www.franklinma.gov/recycling-solid-waste/news/beaver-st-recycling-center-open-regular-hours-now-addition-thursday-noon
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| Beaver St. Recycling Center Open Regular Hours |
The Franklin Cultural District announces a "Photography Scavenger Hunt"
The Franklin Cultural District (FCD) is sponsoring a Photography Scavenger Hunt for residents of all ages! The Cultural District is building on an idea developed by the Cape Cod Arts Center in the Barnstable Village Cultural District.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about the Cultural District while using your artistic talents and skills. We invite all to exercise your creativity while maintaining a safe physical distance from others.
During this quarantine take some time to go out and explore with your phone, tablet, or camera and take pictures of scenes that you can find in the Franklin Cultural District. While exploring please make sure to practice good social distancing skills.
To find out all you need to know about the Scavenger Hunt including:
https://sites.google.com/view/franklin-cultural-district/home
Winners will be posted by June 1st. Hope you will all consider participating!
This is a great opportunity to learn more about the Cultural District while using your artistic talents and skills. We invite all to exercise your creativity while maintaining a safe physical distance from others.
During this quarantine take some time to go out and explore with your phone, tablet, or camera and take pictures of scenes that you can find in the Franklin Cultural District. While exploring please make sure to practice good social distancing skills.
To find out all you need to know about the Scavenger Hunt including:
- How to enter
- The rules
- All of the Photo Categories
- A map of the Franklin Cultural District
https://sites.google.com/view/franklin-cultural-district/home
Winners will be posted by June 1st. Hope you will all consider participating!
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| Franklin Cultural District Photography Scavenger Hunt |
FTC Consumer Alert: Don’t click links in unsolicited text messages
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Monday, April 27, 2020
Watch "A Message From Hospitals: Don't Avoid Emergency Care" on YouTube
"At the COVID-19 briefing on Thursday, April 23, 2020, Governor Baker joined leaders from the Commonwealth's health care community to make clear that thanks to the shared work to prepare and build capacity, Massachusetts' hospitals are handling the uptick in COVID-19 cases, and are still able to care for patients with other medical conditions."YouTube Link = https://youtu.be/IWITRRS0WZ4
U.S. Geological Survey introduces "Learning From Home" portal
The U.S. Geological Survey Youth and Education in Science (YES) Team has revamped their web presence to better assist with online and home learning.
Check the new USGS Learning From Home portal for weekly lesson plans and activities, grades K – 12.
Students of all ages can always tap into the USGS Resources for Teachers for over 140 years of USGS research in the natural sciences in the form of lesson plans and activities, maps, podcasts, online lectures, videos and animations, and much more. Browse thousands of ideas for using these resources in elementary, secondary, university, and informal education settings.
- USGS Learning From Home portal
- USGS Resources for Teachers
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| https://edits.nationalmap.gov/tnmcorps/ |
FHS Senior Boys Hockey video
"We are thinking of our Seniors. Here is an awesome video celebrating them. Thank you for your unwavering commitment to the program, our school and our town.""Special thanks to Tina Connelly for putting this video together!"
https://youtu.be/7fksBTRVLdI
Shared from Twitter
https://twitter.com/FHSPantherHocke/status/1254430043914285058?s=09
Ali Brigham named one of the 2020 Red Auerbach Massachusetts Basketball Players of the Year
Another award for FHS' Ali Brigham
Shared via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/fhsgjvlax/status/1254474332132315136?s=09
MBCA Girls’ All-Sectional Team. This list includes our Regional Players Of the year:— MBCA (@mbcaorg) April 21, 2020
Makayla Graves (North)
Ali Brigham (South)
Belle Lanpher (Central)
Nora Young (West) pic.twitter.com/K5PD0qMS18
The MBCA is also proud to present the 2020 Red Auerbach Massachusetts Basketball Players of the Year: Ali Brigham (Franklin High School) and John West (Shrewsbury High School). @FHSSports @ColonialsAD— MBCA (@mbcaorg) April 21, 2020
Shared via Twitter:
https://twitter.com/fhsgjvlax/status/1254474332132315136?s=09
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| MBCA names Ali Brigham one of the 2020 Red Auerbach MA Basketball Players of the Year |
“A huge piece of art is not just the creating process, but also the sharing process”
Great article in Edutopia featuring our own Ms. Doherty!
"Can the Arts Go Digital?
Christine Doherty, an elementary art teacher in Franklin, Massachusetts, said she had always shied away from using technology but realized she would have to embrace it to connect to all 540 of her students at two different schools during school closures.
Doherty created a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsK1QTSOSHu3NiSAwDvYGtQ) where she reads books to her students or leads them through easy art activities such as drawing and coloring.
She quickly found that online platforms allow students to continue sharing and talking about their artwork, just as they would in school. During her live video instruction time, students can type an H, for hand, into the chat box to indicate they want to share their work and place it up to the screen for other students to see. “A huge piece of art is not just the creating process, but also the sharing process,” she said."Read the full article onlinehttps://www.edutopia.org/article/show-must-go-online-arts-teachers-adapt-home-instruction
Huge thank you to @lauraelee and @Edutopia for publishing this article featuring the hard work, effort & creativity of fellow arts educators during the school closures! I am so honored to be featured and represent @FranklinPSart https://t.co/Wet0edRP3O— Christine Doherty (@MsDoherty_ART) April 24, 2020
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NY Times: "The Untold Story of the Birth of Social Distancing"
From the New York Times we find this long read but good background information on where 'social distancing' came from.
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/social-distancing-coronavirus.html
Shared earlier in this pandemic period but a great visual on how social distancing works. YouTube Link = https://youtu.be/o4PnSYAqQHU
"Fourteen years ago, two federal government doctors, Richard Hatchett and Carter Mecher, met with a colleague at a burger joint in suburban Washington for a final review of a proposal they knew would be treated like a piñata: telling Americans to stay home from work and school the next time the country was hit by a deadly pandemic.
When they presented their plan not long after, it was met with skepticism and a degree of ridicule by senior officials, who like others in the United States had grown accustomed to relying on the pharmaceutical industry, with its ever-growing array of new treatments, to confront evolving health challenges.
Drs. Hatchett and Mecher were proposing instead that Americans in some places might have to turn back to an approach, self-isolation, first widely employed in the Middle Ages.
How that idea — born out of a request by President George W. Bush to ensure the nation was better prepared for the next contagious disease outbreak — became the heart of the national playbook for responding to a pandemic is one of the untold stories of the coronavirus crisis."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/22/us/politics/social-distancing-coronavirus.html
Shared earlier in this pandemic period but a great visual on how social distancing works. YouTube Link = https://youtu.be/o4PnSYAqQHU
MBTA: Starting Saturday, May 2: Franklin Line no longer uses shuttle bus
"The installation of PTC has been completed on the Franklin Line. Normal weekend train service will resume on Saturday, May 2."
Last Updated: Apr 27 2020 04:30 AM
https://mbta.com/schedules/CR-Franklin/alerts
For more about Positive Train Control (PTC)
https://mbta.com/projects/commuter-rail-positive-train-control-ptc
"Normal weekend service" really means it is under the 'new normal' reduced service of the pandemic. https://mbta.com/covid19
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| MBTA: Starting Saturday, May 2: Franklin Line no longer uses shuttle bus |
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