50+ Networkers: Practice Interview session - registration deadline Monday

Good Morning ~

Attached you will find the promo for the next 50+ Job-seeker workshop we are hosting.  Please feel free to forward and share the flyer with anyone who may want to attend.

There is a registration deadline for this interview practice event. We will  organize  the break-out rooms in advance and need a head count.

DEADLINE for to register with your Zoom Invite is Monday 12/14 at 12 Noon

You are invited to a Zoom meeting.

When: Dec 15, 2020 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:

https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYkdO2gpz0uGtPe6mDtJkONqTpFvaLiChov 

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Sincerely,

Melody Beach and Ed Lawrence

50+ Networkers: Practice Interview session - registration deadline Monday

Re-imagining post COVID-19: "Midtown Is Reeling. Should Its Offices Become Apartments?"

From the New York Times, an article of interest for Franklin:

"The pandemic is pummeling New York City’s commercial real estate industry, one of its main economic engines, threatening the future of the nation’s largest business districts as well as the city’s finances.

The damage caused by the emptying of office towers and the permanent closure of many stores is far more significant than many experts had predicted early in the crisis.

The powerful real estate industry is so concerned that the shifts in workplace culture caused by the outbreak will become long-lasting that it is promoting a striking proposal: to turn more than one million square feet of Manhattan office space into housing."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/11/nyregion/nyc-commercial-real-estate.html

   

Views on the Supreme Judicial Court decision; they got it wrong, right, and 'following the money'

From CommonWealth Magazine we share two articles of interest for Franklin and then 'follow the money': 

SJC decision on Baker’s powers is poorly reasoned

"THE MASSACHUSETTS Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled on Thursday that Gov. Charlie Baker’s various COVID-19 orders were authorized by the Massachusetts Civil Defense Act of 1950, and did not violate the plaintiffs’ due process rights or right to assemble under either the state or federal constitutions. The court’s opinion is superficial and poorly reasoned at best, and intellectually dishonest at worst, and is hardly the end of the matter.

The outcome of the opinion could readily be predicted from its first words, which identified the justice who authored it. Stunningly, that justice during the argument of the case had asked the plaintiffs’ counsel whether he didn’t agree that the governor was doing a good job with his COVID-19 measures. Any first-year law student, and indeed most sentient citizens, would know that the job of a justice ruling on a legal or constitutional challenge to a government measure is not to agree or disagree with any policy underlying the measure, or the results achieved by it, but rather to rule on whether it is indeed legally or constitutionally valid."

Continue reading the article online
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opinion/sjc-decision-on-bakers-powers-is-poorly-reasoned/

SJC got Baker emergency orders case right

THERE ARE AT least two important takeaways from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in Desrosiers v. Governor, in which the court upheld Gov. Charlie Baker’s authority to issue emergency orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

First, the court’s conclusion was undoubtedly correct. The plaintiffs argued that the governor had “usurped” the role of the Legislature and violated the state constitution’s commitment to separation of powers, as well as the plaintiffs’ rights to due process and free assembly. At bottom, the plaintiffs maintained that the governor lacked the authority to issue emergency orders under the Civil Defense Act. That law, enacted in 1950, gave the governor the power to issue emergency orders in the event of, among other things, “fire, flood, earthquake or other natural causes.”

Continue reading the article online
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/courts/sjc-got-baker-emergency-orders-case-right/

 

To 'follow the money' we share this article from MassPoliticsProfs

Desrosiers v. The Governor: Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Body Slams Charles Koch

"Today the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled for Governor Charlie Baker in a lawsuit underwritten by Charles Koch and sponsored by Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance/Fiscal Alliance Foundation in which MFA sought to undo the governor’s emergency public health powers—just as Covid-19 is raging across the land.  It wasn’t close.

This was really a case about conflicting ideologies. On one side is the view that government should be empowered to help people to do needed things the people cannot do for themselves (the view of Abraham Lincoln, by the way) versus Koch’s ideology, which is that government should do nothing except to protect private property."

Continue reading the article online

http://www.masspoliticsprofs.org/2020/12/10/desrosiers-v-the-governor-massachusetts-supreme-judicial-court-body-slams-charles-koch/

‘An Indelible Stain’ and "Republicans faced a simple choice: For or against democracy"

From the New York Times, an article of national interest for Franklin:

"The Supreme Court repudiation of President Trump’s desperate bid for a second term not only shredded his effort to overturn the will of voters: It also was a blunt rebuke to Republican leaders in Congress and the states who were willing to damage American democracy by embracing a partisan power grab over a free and fair election.

The court’s decision on Friday night, an inflection point after weeks of legal flailing by Mr. Trump and ahead of the Electoral College vote for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Monday, leaves the president’s party in an extraordinary position. Through their explicit endorsements or complicity of silence, much of the G.O.P. leadership now shares responsibility for the quixotic attempt to ignore the nation’s founding principles and engineer a different verdict from the one voters cast in November."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/12/us/politics/trump-lawsuits-electoral-college.html

From the Washington Post, an article of national interest to Franklin:

"HOUSE REPUBLICANS have faced what amounts to a choice between standing for or against democracy: whether to sign on to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s delusional lawsuit to overturn the presidential election. A large majority of them failed the test. More House Republicans, including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), on Friday signed an amicus brief supporting Mr. Paxton, just hours before the Supreme Court unceremoniously rejected the suit. This is a disheartening signal about what these members of Congress might do on Jan. 6, when at least some Republicans probably will object to the counting of President-elect Joe Biden’s electoral votes.

Mr. McCarthy and the other extremists and toadies who have signed their names to President Trump’s antidemocratic plot may think their complicity is costless, because the Supreme Court was bound to reject the Paxton lawsuit, as it did on Friday, and there are enough Democrats on Capitol Hill to foil any GOP mischief during the electoral vote counting. They are wrong. Their recklessness raises the once-unthinkable possibility that a Congress controlled by one party might one day flip a presidential election to its candidate in defiance of the voters’ will, citing claims of mass fraud just as bogus as the ones Republicans have hyped up this year."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/republicans-faced-a-simple-choice-for-or-against-democracy/2020/12/11/e2e9a610-3bef-11eb-98c4-25dc9f4987e8_story.html

Franklin Public Schools: Re-opening update Dec 11, 2020

December 11, 2020

Dear Franklin Families and Faculty/Staff, 

We hope you are doing well.

We are monitoring student and staff attendance very carefully at this time. We are experiencing a rise in COVID cases, increased quarantine requirements of close contacts, combined with other routine matters necessitating staff absences, and limited substitute coverage within our schools. We are striving creatively to provide classroom coverage at all of our school buildings in order to keep schools open for students. We also fear that all our creativity in the world and an “all hands on deck” approach may someday not be enough to feel we can appropriately and safely supervise students in school.

We may need to temporarily place one or more schools into remote learning (one day or a few days) if we are unable to supervise in-person learning safely. We do not always have a lot of advanced notice. We will aim, wherever possible, to notify the school community if a school is going to be remote for a day the evening before the following school day. Notification will go out through our Regroup emergency notification system by email, text, and cell phone and will be communicated through social media channels.

If someone you know is interested in serving as a substitute teacher in Franklin Public Schools, please contact our Human Resources office at 508-553-4840.

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Sincerely,
Franklin Public Schools 

 

Shared from the Franklin Public Schools page

https://www.franklinps.net/sites/g/files/vyhlif4431/f/uploads/english-december_11_reopening_update_to_families.pdf

 

The COVID-19 dashboard is updated weekly

https://www.canva.com/design/DAEPRVkkW0s/Ind7MzRCMkuOSlOGn-9hag/view?website#1

 

Franklin Public Schools: Re-opening update Dec 11, 2020

 

Finance Committee Meeting - Dec 15, 2020 - Agenda

Finance Committee Meeting 

Agenda & Meeting Packet 

December 15th, 2020 = 6:30 PM

 

 

Agenda
1.    Call to Order
2.    Public Comments
3.    Approval of Minutes

a.    November 9, 2020
b.    November 17, 2020

4.    FY21 Water Treatment Plant Transfer
5.    Approval of 2021 Finance Committee Meeting Schedule
6.    Discussion: School Department
7.    Trust & Stabilization accounts update
8.    Future Agenda Items
9.    Adjourn

Connection info contained in meeting packet

Shared from the Town of Franklin page 12-15-2020 Finance Committee Agenda 

 

 

Finance Committee Meeting  - Dec 15, 2020 - Agenda

Franklin Cultural District Committee - Agenda - Dec 14, 2020

Franklin Cultural District Committee

Monday, December 14, 2020

7:00 p.m.

Welcome

Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes

• November 19, 2020

Chair’s Update (Nancy)

• FCD Newsletter Changes
• FCD Partners’ Meeting January 11, 2021

Franklin Cultural Council Grant Application (Pandora)

• FCC/MCC Grants

Franklin Cultural District Website (All)

• Meeting with Anne Marie Tracey
• Meeting with Athena Pandoph
• Cultural District Committee Mission Statement

Next Cultural District Meeting Dates

• Monday, January 11, 2021, 6:30 p.m.

Next Cultural District Partner Meeting Date

• Monday, January 11, 2021, 7:00 p.m.

Adjourn

Agenda doc with connection info for meeting

https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/cultural_district_meeting_agenda_-_december_14_2020.pdf

Franklin Cultural District Committee - Agenda - Dec 14, 2020

"Military-grade camera shows risks of airborne coronavirus spread"

From the Washington Post, an article of interest to Franklin:

"As winter approaches, the United States is grappling with a jaw-dropping surge in the number of novel coronavirus infections. More than 288,000 Americans have been killed by a virus that public health officials now say can be spread through airborne transmission.

The virus spreads most commonly through close contact, scientists say. But under certain conditions, people farther than six feet apart can become infected by exposure to tiny droplets and particles exhaled by an infected person, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in October. Those droplets and particles can linger in the air for minutes to hours.

To visually illustrate the risk of airborne transmission in real time, The Washington Post used an infrared camera made by the company FLIR Systems that is capable of detecting exhaled breath. Numerous experts — epidemiologists, virologists and engineers — supported the notion of using exhalation as a conservative proxy to show potential transmission risk in various settings.

“The images are very, very telling,” said Rajat Mittal, a professor of mechanical engineering in Johns Hopkins University’s medical and engineering schools and an expert on virus transmission. “Getting two people and actually visualizing what’s happening between them, that’s very invaluable.”

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2020/12/11/coronavirus-airborne-video-infrared-spread/?arc404=true

image from an Infrared video of a woman wearing an unfitted surgical mask

Easy Walks - Choate Park, Medway (YouTube)

I had the pleasure of being invited to join Marjorie Turner Hollman for an easy walk in Choate Park, Medway recently. The video of our conversation and meander along the park trails can be found here.

Related links: 

We had previously walked the Sculpture Park in Franklin

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/11/watch-finding-easy-walks-wherever-you.html

We had talked about her new book "Finding Easy Walks"

https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/09/fm-342-easy-walks-with-marjorie-turner.html

Shared from the "Easy Walks" group page on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/616401235386068/permalink/1298057593887092/

Direct link to YouTube video = https://youtu.be/aGrspVpaMs4

Franklin Senior Center: Email Blast - Dec 11, 2020

Hello Everyone!

Staying Connected

Link to the Senior Center - https://www.franklinma.gov/fsc

Link to the Senior Center Calendar -https://www.franklinma.gov/node/39/events/day/2020-07-07

Link to Franklin Matters - https://www.franklinmatters.org/

Link to the Town's webpage - https://www.franklinma.gov/

Tips

Paul Eugene - Holiday Stress?  29 minute power workout!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apjHztxecKI 

Feliz Navidad Chair Yoga with Sherry Zak Morris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjbWo7lfg3I 

Music

Marcin Patrzalek - AGT You MUST listen to this incredible guitarist!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eollizcRpgQ 

Hot Scots Drum line - WOW!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iuD3pSgBcw 

Just for Fun

3 year old piano prodigy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8esq8BwBsc 

NASA webcam from space - 24/7 How incredible to be able to view Earth from space!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDU-rZs-Ic4 

Lights under Louisville - 20 minute drive through Christmas Light display

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2fCofhjVfU 

James Cagney and Bob Hope Dance Routine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOoNOs8Ql28 

Humor

Jeff Allen - When your wife asks you to put the kids to bed

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wmBa0dOvfI 

Moving Bronze Cowboy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZsmdLhO0Ik 

Jeanne Robertson - Don't trust a man with luggage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtknMuXY-NI 

Kindness Matters

Girl getting bullied - watch how strangers react

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqU-hnowpZA 

Young widow is surprised by a Secret Santa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91il61htenU 

Attached you will find:

1. Donna's Activity Pages - Musicals!  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mSW50mKf5a4V-VBHb5LSSiukABJnKG9L/view?usp=sharing

2. Math challenge sheet https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FMW37XPMM6OOfAdMkE1p5mYyJKKu62q8/view?usp=sharing

3. Mini letters sudoku puzzle https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vSQ74Fy9bOziZH92QzpkMe0itQ7sxv5t/view?usp=sharing

Upcoming Events email adoggett@franklinma.gov to attend unless noted otherwise.

*Monday Dec. 14th at 1pm Tele Bingo call the Senior Center to play 508-520-4945

*Monday Dec. 14th at 2pm Time Out Memory Cafe Email adoggett@franklinma.gov to attend

*Tuesday Dec. 15th at 5pm - Quarantini Time a virtual, social, cocktail hour.

*Tuesday Dec. 15th at 1pm - Audio Book Club - email mgunderson@franklinma.gov 

*Wed. Dec. 16th at 1pm - Winter Wonderland Sing-A-Long call the senior center to attend -

 This is a drive through, stay in your car like a drive in movie event! Plus Mrs. Claus will

 be handing out candy canes, hot chocolate and cookies!

*Wed. Dec. 16th at 1pm - Writers Group call the Senior Center to Attend

*Thursday Dec. 17th at 10am - Discussion Group call the Senior Center to attend

*Thursday Dec. 17th at 1pm - TeleBingo call the senior center for instructions on how to play

*Thursday Dec. 17th at 1pm - Talk Franklin Matters - email adoggett@franklinma.gov to attend

*Thursday Dec. 17th at 6:30pm - NAME THAT TUNE! Email adoggett@franklinma.gov to play

*Friday Dec. 18th at 1pm - Tele-Trivia - call the franklin senior center to attend 

Plus Exercise, Yoga, Discussion Groups and more.  Check out our newsletter or online calendar for a full list of all activities available https://www.franklinma.gov/franklin-senior-center/pages/connection-newsletter

*Curbside Cafe - SPECIAL- Pastrami Sub and Chips

Love, virtual hugs and good health to you all!  We are still here for you!  Please feel free to email Donna and I with questions, concerns or just to check in!

Ariel & Donna

Please feel free to share this email with anyone you think might enjoy it.  If you want me to add someone to the email blast list just send me a message with their email in it. 

REMEMBER:

When searching for information about the Coronavirus, COVID-19 please use caution!  Unfortunately there are many false sites that contain viruses and malware that can threaten your computer.  Many look like real sites.  Your best bet is to go directly to the CDC, WHO or your local government page (links below).   

https://www.cdc.gov/ 

https://www.who.int/

https://www.franklinma.gov/home/urgent-alerts/coronavirus-information-portal-updates-here

MEMORY CAFE!

For those of you who attend our Memory Cafe events I invite you to learn more about attending a VIRTUAL Memory Cafe through Zoom!  There are many options to choose from.

https://www.memorycafedirectory.com/cafe-connect/

--

Ariel Doggett

Virtual Program Coordinator

Respite Coordinator

"We rise by lifting others" - Robert Ingersoll

There is no act of kindness too small

Ziggy helping with Christmas Decorating

CommonWealth Magazine: Baker signs FY 21 budget, refuses to sign abortion provision

 From CommonWealth Magazine we share two articles of interest for Franklin:

Baker signs FY21 budget, vetoes $156m 

"GOV. CHARLIE BAKER signed the delayed fiscal 2021 budget on Friday, vetoing $156 million in spending.

Lawmakers had postponed passing a budget for the year that began July 1 to take time to monitor the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. That left state government operating on a series of temporary budgets for the first five months of the fiscal year.

The final budget that Baker signed is $45.9 billion, representing growth of 4.5 percent over fiscal 2020.  Much of the additional spending is driven by rising MassHealth costs, with more people becoming eligible for MassHealth and a federal rule that prohibits the state from cutting anyone from MassHealth during the pandemic.

With tax collections coming in higher than expected so far this year, the administration revised upwards by $459 million the amount the state expects to collect in taxes, to $28.44 billion. That is still a $1.2 billion anticipated drop in taxes compared to fiscal 2020."

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/state-government/baker-signs-fy21-budget-vetoes-156m/ 

Baker refuses to sign abortion provision

"GOV. CHARLIE BAKER rejected a provision in the Legislature’s budget bill lowering the age of parental consent for an abortion from 18 to 16 and tweaked other language narrowing when late-term abortions would be allowed.

Baker regards himself as a strong supporter of a woman’s access to reproductive health care, but the amendment he filed to the budget bill prompted a sharp retort from groups seeking to expand access to abortion at a time when the makeup of the US Supreme Court, which guaranteed access to abortion with its Roe v Wade decision in 1973,  has changed substantially.

A coalition of abortion rights groups, which calls itself the ROE Act Coalition and includes NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts and Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, said in a statement that they are “deeply disappointed by Governor Baker’s failure to recognize the urgent need to improve access to care.”

“His amendment pushes abortion care out of reach for many, especially for people with low-incomes and communities of color,” the coalition said, urging lawmakers to reject Baker’s amendment. “The governor cannot have it both ways: He cannot call himself pro-choice and keep anti-choice restrictions in place.”

Continue reading the article online

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/health/baker-refuses-to-sign-abortion-provision/

and the Boston Globe has an article on the same topics (the abortion provision was included in the budget legislation)     https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/11/metro/baker-signs-budget-balks-provision-letting-16-17-year-olds-get-abortion-without-parental-consent/

Washington Post: "Congress bans anonymous shell companies"

From the Washington Post, an article of national interest to Franklin:

"A groundbreaking measure to ban anonymous shell companies in the United States cleared Congress on Friday as the Senate joined the House in passing a defense-spending bill with a veto-proof margin.

The Corporate Transparency Act, which was tacked onto the defense bill, would require corporations and limited liability companies established in the United States to disclose their real owners to the Treasury Department, making it harder for criminals to anonymously launder money or evade taxes. The rule applies to future and existing entities alike.

The measure passed the Senate with an 84-to-13 vote as part of the National Defense Authorization Act, which cleared the House earlier this week. Trump pledged to veto the defense bill — one of few laws that passes every year — because it doesn’t include his demand to repeal liability protections for social media companies. Trump also opposes a clause that orders military bases named for Confederate leaders to be renamed."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)

https://www.washingtonpost.com/us-policy/2020/12/11/anonymous-shell-company-us-ban/

FTC Consumer Alerts: Avoid a season of mis-giving

Avoid a season of mis-giving by Jennifer Leach; Associate Director, Division of Consumer & Business Education, FTC It's the 6th day of Consumer Protection, and maybe you're in a giving spirit. 'Tis the season, right? If you like to donate to charities at the end of the year, 'tis also time to make sure your donations get to the places you mean them to go. Because this year, lots of charities could really use the help.   Read more https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/2020/12/avoid-season-mis-giving?utm_source=govdelivery  This is a free service provided by the Federal Trade Commission.

---

Supreme Court rejects suit to overturn election results

A round up of the articles on this decision to settle the election results

From the Boston Globe:

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/12/11/nation/supreme-court-rejects-texas-lawsuit-overturn-bidens-election-victory/

The Washington Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/11/scorching-reply-awful-texas-lawsuit-frames-stakes-moment/

The NY Times

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/10/us/trump-election-lawsuit-states.html

and The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/dec/11/supreme-court-rejects-trump-backed-texas-lawsuit-aiming-to-overturn-election-results

Franklin's Weekend Outlook - Dec 12-13

Appropriately, the performance by FPAC of The Nutcracker this year is both masked and live streamed in collaboration with Franklin TV. Talk about adjusting to these pandemic times! Tickets available for this event online or via phone.

There is hope with the vaccine on the way. In the meantime be safe; be masked, and be social (at a distance!).

Saturday, December 12
2:00pm - The Nutcracker- Masked
7:00pm - The Nutcracker- Masked

Sunday, December 13
1:00pm - Historical Museum (open and free admission)
1:00pm - The Nutcracker- Masked
6:00pm - The Nutcracker- Masked

Find the full calendar  https://www.franklinmatters.org/p/blog-page.html

If you have an event to add to the calendar, you can use the form to submit it for publication:  https://forms.gle/oPdi8X3ZbHHyrHzo6
 

Community Calendar

 

"The Nutcracker ~ Masked" live streamed from THE BLACK BOX - Dec 12-13

The Franklin Performing Arts Company is excited to present The Nutcracker- Masked live streamed from THE BLACK BOX on December 12 and 13. The classic holiday ballet will be presented with a small cast of Ballet Conservatory dancers from the Franklin School for the Performing Arts all in masks and socially-distanced, with narration, live at THE BLACK BOX to a virtual audience at home.

Under the direction of Cheryl Madeux, former dancer with American Ballet Theatre, the Franklin Performing Arts Company has found a safe way to present this holiday tradition for the region. The masked production will feature Merrie Whitney’s stunning costume design accompanied by facial coverings. The production will continue FPAC’s collaboration with Franklin TV who will help bring the magic of the season to the audiences at home.

Cast A performs Saturday, 12/12 at 2:00 and 7:00 pm

Cast B performs Sunday, 12/13 at 1:00 and 6:00 pm

Tickets are available for each Livestream show and also an On-Demand option for the Saturday Show and the Sunday Show.  https://www.showtix4u.com/events/17686

"The Nutcracker ~ Masked" live streamed from THE BLACK BOX - Dec 12-13