Dr. Erin Bromage Ph.D. (@ErinBromage) tweeted at 8:36 AM on Mon, Dec 21, 2020: More on the UK variant
More on the UK variant https://t.co/PWYlE6lLZ6
— Dr. Erin Bromage Ph.D. (@ErinBromage) December 21, 2020
Providing accurate and timely information about what matters in Franklin, MA since 2007. * Working in collaboration with Franklin TV and Radio (wfpr.fm) since October 2019 *
Dr. Erin Bromage Ph.D. (@ErinBromage) tweeted at 8:36 AM on Mon, Dec 21, 2020: More on the UK variant
More on the UK variant https://t.co/PWYlE6lLZ6
— Dr. Erin Bromage Ph.D. (@ErinBromage) December 21, 2020
The Franklin Food Pantry is on the agenda for the Planning Board meeting Monday to introduce the site plan for their new building on East Central St and begin the permit approval process.
Planning Board Agenda
7:00 PM - Commencement/General Business
7:05PM - PUBLIC HEARING - Continued
52 East Central St
Special Permit & Site Plan Modification
WITHDRAWN
7:10 PM - PUBLIC HEARING - Continued
515 West Central Street
Site Plan TO BE CONTINUED
7:15 PM PUBLIC HEARING - Initial
138 East Central Street (Franklin Food Pantry)
Site Plan https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/138_east_central_st_site_plan.pdf
Review docs https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/138_east_central_review.pdf
7:20 PM PUBLIC HEARING - Initial
Countryside Estates
Subdivision Modification
7:25 PM PUBLIC HEARING – Continued
186 Grove St
Site plan Modification
GENERAL BUSINESS:
A. Road Acceptance: Laurinda Lane
B. Bond Release: Sandy Knoll Estates
C. Decision: 72-94 East Central Street- Special Permit & Site Plan
D. Phasing Plan Approval: 160 Grove St
E. Endorsement: 164 Grove St
F. Endorsement: 162 Grove St
G. 81-P ANR: 15-17 Margaret’s Cove
H. 81-P ANR Rescind Vote: 55 Coutu Street
I. Meeting Minutes: November 2, 2020 & November 16, 2020
This agenda is subject to change. Last updated: December 15, 2020
The next meeting of the Planning Board is scheduled for January 11, 2021
FM #418 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 418 in the series.
This session shares the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Dec 16, 2020.
The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: members of the Town Council, selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council Chambers, the public was remote via Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.
The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda. The recording runs about one hour and fifty minutes
Let’s listen to the Town Council meeting of Dec 16, 2020. Audio file = https://www.hipcast.com/podcast/HZZbRDPS
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Agenda document (and released supporting materials in one PDF)
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/franklin-ma-town-council-agenda-dec-16.html
Spear phishing update folder
https://franklinma.gov/administrator/pages/spear-phishing
My notes from the meeting
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2020/12/town-council-meeting-recap-dec-16-2020.html
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Via The Hill
"A key federal agency said this week that employers can legally require their workers to get the COVID-19 vaccine and prevent them from entering their workplaces if they refuse.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in guidance issued Wednesday said that requiring a test would not violate the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. The law bars employers from requiring medical exams such as blood tests that seek information on an employee’s physical or mental condition, but the EEOC said a COVID-19 vaccine does not fall under that category.
“If a vaccine is administered to an employee by an employer for protection against contracting COVID-19, the employer is not seeking information about an individual’s impairments or current health status and, therefore, it is not a medical examination,” the commission said."
The presentation documents as released for discussion at the School Committee meeting Tuesday, Dec 21, 2020.
Franklin School Committee to hear presentations on ECDC and Performing Arts Tuesday, Dec 21 |
Register O’Donnell Discusses Need for Mortgage Transparency |
Franklin Federated Church will LIVESTREAM special Christmas services via the FFC Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/franklinfederated)
Via Boston25 News
"Alison Caruso left her part-time job earlier in 2020 to care for her teenage son, who she said had become depressed after the death of a family member and spending months trying to learn from home. She relies on the food pantry in Franklin as well as food stamps to survive, she said.
The state has seen food insecurity rise significantly, according to a study by Feeding America.
Norfolk County was cited as the area with the highest child food insecure rate at 163%, which is also the country’s highest mark, according to Feeding America."
"This made me cry. Listening to the worry in those little voices and the relief they must feel thanks to the good doctor."
Fauci vaccinated Santa! (And the way he says “chimney”!) pic.twitter.com/DjCg4nH3HK
— John Aravosis 🇺🇸🇬🇷🏳️🌈 (@aravosis) December 20, 2020
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new recommendations on getting a Covid-19 vaccine for those with a history of allergies.The recommendations, published on the CDC’s site on Saturday, suggest that people who have ever had a severe allergic reaction, also known as anaphylaxis, to any ingredient in a Covid-19 vaccine should not get that vaccine.The CDC considers a reaction severe if it requires the person to be treated with epinephrine or they need to be hospitalized. Symptoms of anaphylaxis can include shortness of breath, a closing of the throat, nausea, and dizziness.The agency added that people with a history of anaphylaxis to other vaccines or injectable medications should consult their doctor on getting the Covid-19 vaccine.
A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisory panel recommended on Sunday that people 75 and older and certain front-line essential workers be next in line for COVID-19 vaccines.Continue reading the article online
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted 13-1 to advise the CDC to include those 75 and older and specific front-line essential workers, including emergency responders and teachers, in the next phase of coronavirus vaccinations, several news outlets reported Sunday.
These recommendations would apply to phase 1b of the vaccination process, after the committee and the CDC advised that health care workers and residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities get the first vaccinations in the country. Phase 1b will aim to vaccinate about 50 million people before the end of February, according to The New York Times.
newly elected Town Councilor Cobi Frongillo |
In the spirit of open communication, “the Committee will hold a public participation segment (also called Citizen’s Comments) about matters not related to an agenda item at the beginning of each regular School Committee meeting. The Committee will listen to, but not respond to any comment made…. A Committee member may add an agenda item to a future meeting as a result of a citizen comment…. The Committee will hear public comments related to an agenda item when the Chair deems appropriate during the Committee meeting. Topics for discussion during the meeting must be limited to those items listed on the Committee meeting agenda for that evening…. ” - from Policy BEDH
A. School Committee Sub-Committee Reports (e.g. Ad Hoc Supt. Evaluation, Ad Hoc Facilities Analysis, Budget, Community Relations/Public Schools Advocacy, Policy, Transportation)VI. New Business
B. School Committee Liaison Reports (e.g. Joint PCC, Substance Abuse Task Force, School Wellness Advisory Council, Franklin Racial & Social Justice Task Force)
A. Approval of Minutes
I recommend approval of the minutes from the December 8, 2020 School Committee meeting as detailed.
B. Budget Transfers
I recommend approval of the budget transfers as detailed.
C. Parmenter Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $1,625.00 from the Parmenter PCC for supplemental supplies as detailed.
D. Scholarship
I recommend acceptance of a check for $250.00 from Sean Jobin for a FHS Scholarship as detailed.
E. Keller Gift
I recommend acceptance of a check for $296.45 from the Keller PCC for supplemental supplies as detailed.
F. Air Purifiers
I recommend acceptance of the donation of 650 Air Purifiers from the DESE valued at $175,500.00 as detailed.
A. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A, §21(a)(3) to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with the FEA as an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the School Committee and the chair so declares.XI. Adjournment
B. Pursuant to M.G.L. c. 30A §21(a)(2) to conduct strategy session in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel.
Franklin, MA: School Committee - Agenda - Dec 22, 2020 |
You can also subscribe and listen to Franklin Matters audio on iTunes or your favorite podcast app; search in "podcasts" for "Franklin Matters"
Town Administrator Jamie Hellen talking with the subcommittee on the details of his review |
"Over the course of her 52-year career, Nikki Giovanni has written 12 children’s books and eight nonfiction books, and she has released 10 spoken word albums. But the genre for which she is best known is poetry.When you flip through a stack of her 19 collections (it’s a tall stack), you find her face, still radiant and smiling at 77, staring back at you from the covers. This is an unusual choice for the jacket of a poetry book, but Giovanni is the rare poet whom a good number of people will actually recognize — a distinction that is all the more noteworthy considering how long it has been true.She was name-checked in the 1980 Teena Marie song “Square Biz,” featured in the Afropunk Festival in Brooklyn in 2016, and both seen and heard reading her poem “Dream” last fall in a campaign ad for Joseph R. Biden Jr. It was 1972 when Ebony magazine first called her “a personality, a star.” Her staying power over half a century comes from a stream of acclaimed work, her proclivity for a punishing schedule of tours and readings, and a fearlessness born of not caring what foolish people think.“The best thing you can do for yourself is to not pay attention,” Giovanni said during a video interview from her home in Christiansburg, Va."
"As the number of coronavirus cases ticked upward in mid-November — worse than the frightening days of spring and ahead of an expected surge after families congregated for Thanksgiving — four doctors on President Trump’s task force decided to stage an intervention.After their warnings had gone largely unheeded for months in the dormant West Wing, Deborah Birx, Anthony S. Fauci, Stephen Hahn and Robert Redfield together sounded new alarms, cautioning of a dark winter to come without dramatic action to slow community spread.White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, among the many Trump aides who were infected with the virus this fall, was taken aback, according to three senior administration officials with knowledge of the discussions. He told the doctors he did not believe their troubling data assessment. And he accused them of outlining problems without prescribing solutions."
"The story of how America arrived at this final season of devastation, with the reported death toll some days surpassing 3,000 people — a new 9/11 day after day — is based on interviews over the past month with 48 senior administration officials, government health professionals, outside presidential advisers and other people briefed on the inner workings of the federal response."
daily total COVID-19 deaths in US year to date 2020 (as of 12/18/20) |
daily COVID-19 deaths in US last 14 days (as of 12/18/20) |
As President of the @MA_Senate, I am proud to have authored this piece with @SpeakerDeLeo on the need for federal stimulus to help our residents face the economic impact of #COVID19 in Massachusetts. #mapoli 1/3
Even a state like Massachusetts, with a significant rainy-day fund, cannot unilaterally absorb all of the pain of an unprecedented public health crisis. #mapoli 2/3Congress must remember its duty to the American people and pass a bill that will provide states with much-needed funds. Our constituents facing unemployment and our struggling small-business owners deserve nothing less. #mapoli 3/3
#Scammers are taking advantage of fear and uncertainty during the #COVID19 pandemic to steal money and launder it through the complex cryptocurrency ecosystem. Protect yourself, and report #fraud to the #FBI at https://t.co/MWss57C5gI.
"The goal of Russian disinformation is not to make you believe in anything, but to destroy your trust in everything." Journalist Maria Ressa explains the real goal of disinformation operations—and how they're weakening democracy:
Alaska Airlines parodied an '80s song to promote COVID-19 safety https://t.co/r8CVKpLsRV https://t.co/2LF7U9nCir
Or directly to YouTube https://youtu.be/b9w_paUjzKs
"Children around the world should not worry about the logistics of Christmas present delivery while the coronavirus pandemic rages, Dr. Anthony Fauci said – because he vaccinated Santa himself.“I took care of that for you,” the top US infectious diseases expert told CNN. “Because I was worried that you’d all be upset.“So what I did a little while ago, I took a trip up there to the North Pole. I went there and I vaccinated Santa Claus myself. I measured his level of immunity, and he is good to go. He can come down the chimney. He can leave the presents, he can leave, and you have nothing to worry about. Santa Claus is good to go.”