Sunday, February 21, 2021

“We are colliding with a future of extremes”

 

"Even as Texas struggled to restore electricity and water over the past week, signs of the risks posed by increasingly extreme weather to America’s aging infrastructure were cropping up across the country.

The week’s continent-spanning winter storms triggered blackouts in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and several other states. One-third of oil production in the nation was halted. Drinking-water systems in Ohio were knocked offline. Road networks nationwide were paralyzed and vaccination efforts in 20 states were disrupted.

The crisis carries a profound warning. As climate change brings more frequent and intense storms, floods, heat waves, wildfires and other extreme events, it is placing growing stress on the foundations of the country’s economy: Its network of roads and railways, drinking-water systems, power plants, electrical grids, industrial waste sites and even homes. Failures in just one sector can set off a domino effect of breakdowns in hard-to-predict ways."

Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

Remember H1N1? There are more, one is H5N8

"A H5N8 strain of bird flu has been detected in humans for the first time, among seven workers who were infected at a Russian poultry plant in December.

There is no evidence of the strain being transmitted between humans, but Russia has reported the transmission to the World Health Organization.

The workers now feel well, and “the situation did not develop further”, according to Dr Anna Popova, head of consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor. She said the workers had been infected during an outbreak of the strain at the plant."
Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required) 

Saturday, February 20, 2021

FM #466 - Town Council Meeting - 02/17/21 - P1 of 4 (audio)

FM #466 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 466 in the series. 

This session shares part of the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Feb 17, 2021. 

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: most members of the Town Council, selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council Chambers, at least one member of the Council was remote along with the public via the Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

I’ve split the full three hour fifty minute meeting into four logical segments:

  • *** First segment *** covers the opening through the Community Preservation Committee appointments and a two minute recess (51 minutes)
  • Second - returns from the recess to cover the Complete Streets presentation/discussion as well as the Town Administrator review and discussion (58 minutes)
  • Third - opens with the Legislation for Action and covers the items through the authorization of the fire trucks (40 minutes) 
  • Fourth - covers the technical adjustments to the three Storm Water Articles I, II, and III with the discussion running off course (again - with confusion around the proposed storm water utility fee - not in these three articles) through to the close of the meeting (approx. 1 hour and 13 mins)

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda. 

Let’s listen to this segment of the Town Council meeting of Feb 17, 2021. Audio file = https://player.captivate.fm/episode/4e9abe73-7e69-402d-97c8-6930470c0524

--------------

Agenda document (and released supporting materials in one PDF) 
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/2-17-21_town_council_agenda_0_0.pdf
Town Council ‘quarterbacking session’ with Chair Tom Mercer
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/02/couldnt-spend-hours-with-town-council.html 

--------------

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"

FM #466 Town Council Meeting - 02/17/21 - P1 of 4 (audio)
FM #466 Town Council Meeting - 02/17/21 - P1 of 4 (audio)


FM #467 - Town Council Meeting - 02/17/21 - P2 of 4 (audio)

FM #467 = This is the Franklin Matters radio show, number 467 in the series. 

This session shares part of the Franklin, MA Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, Feb 17, 2021. 

The meeting was conducted in a hybrid format: most members of the Town Council, selected guests, and Town Administration personnel were in the Council Chambers, at least one member of the Council was remote along with the public via the Zoom conference bridge, all to adhere to the ‘social distancing’ requirements of this pandemic period.

I’ve split the full three hour fifty minute meeting into four logical segments:

  • First - covers the opening through the Community Preservation Committee appointments and a two minute recess (51 minutes)
  • *** Second segment *** returns from the recess to cover the Complete Streets presentation/discussion as well as the Town Administrator review and discussion (58 minutes)
  • Third - opens with the Legislation for Action and covers the items through the authorization of the fire trucks (40 minutes) 
  • Fourth - covers the technical adjustments to the three Storm Water Articles I, II, and III with the discussion running off course (again - with confusion around the proposed storm water utility fee - not in these three articles) through to the close of the meeting (approx. 1 hour and 13 mins)

The show notes contain links to the meeting agenda including documents released for this agenda. 

Let’s listen to this segment of the Town Council meeting of Feb 17, 2021. Audio file = https://player.captivate.fm/episode/66056b80-08cb-4098-b742-bcd557d22746


--------------

Agenda document (and released supporting materials in one PDF) 
https://www.franklinma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif591/f/agendas/2-17-21_town_council_agenda_0_0.pdf
Town Council ‘quarterbacking session’ with Chair Tom Mercer
https://www.franklinmatters.org/2021/02/couldnt-spend-hours-with-town-council.html 

--------------

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"

FM #467 - Town Council Meeting - 02/17/21 - P2 of 4 (audio)
FM #467 - Town Council Meeting - 02/17/21 - P2 of 4 (audio)


Franklin's Cultural District Updates and Events - February 2021 Newsletter

Welcome from The Chair ...

In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, communities around the country have endured great loss and isolation. During this isolation we have all worked to find ways to respond to the reality of our constrained lives. Many of us have found new ways to interact, connect and support one another. Though the Covid-19 crisis has significantly impacted the artistic community, the spirit of connection and inspiration through the arts remains stronger than ever.

While we have not been able to attend live performances and concerts, we have been lucky to live in a community in which our arts' establishments have worked hard to continue to provide artistic experiences for us to enjoy. Our community has also worked hard to support our struggling businesses and restaurants with the "Think Franklin First" cards. The Franklin Interfaith Council and the Franklin Food Pantry have collaborated on "Project Envoy" to support both our local restaurants as well as the most vulnerable in our community.

We are now making our way through a very snowy New England winter. Soon we will reach the one-year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Although the days are long, we are beginning to see some bright spots on the horizon. We will continue to look to the arts to generate positivity, appreciation and hope for the future. As we move through this stage of the pandemic let's all remember to shop local to support our Franklin cultural venues and businesses.

Regards, 

Nancy Schoen, Chair


Follow the link to review the full set of contents for the newsletter

Subscribe to receive your copy of the newsletter via email

Franklin's Cultural District Updates and Events - February 2021 Newsletter
Franklin's Cultural District Updates and Events - February 2021 Newsletter


Town of Franklin, MA: Senior Center Coffee rescheduled - 2/25/21

Town of Franklin, MA (@TOFranklinMA) tweeted on Fri, Feb 19, 2021:
"State Representative Jeff Roy, Town Council Members, & Town Administrator Jamie Hellen will be available to chat, answer ?s, and provide updates on vaccine rollout."
Zoom meeting link =  https://t.co/vMwuaflZCi

Join via phone: -312-626-6799, Meeting ID:  87851447900 press # passcode: 897373 press # https://t.co/0qLzwB4Dr4

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOFranklinMA/status/1362777988442583042

Why reschedule? The session scheduled for 2/18/21 used Microsoft Teams (not Zoom) and no one from the 'normal' seniors group joined the session. The lesson - stick with Zoom. 

Town of Franklin, MA: Senior Center Coffee rescheduled - 2/25/21
Town of Franklin, MA: Senior Center Coffee rescheduled - 2/25/21


Town of Franklin, MA: Ben reminds us to #DoYourPartFranklin

Town of Franklin, MA (@TOFranklinMA) tweeted on Fri, Feb 19, 2021:

"Happy Friday! As we enter the weekend, we are reminding our community that the safety guidelines are STILL important! We want to continue to see the COVID-19 situation improve for everyone. 
Please continue to support our local businesses while remembering to #DoYourPartFranklin"
https://t.co/C35YYqB0bw

Shared from Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOFranklinMA/status/1362799924459544582

Town of Franklin, MA: Ben reminds us to #DoYourPartFranklin
Town of Franklin, MA: Ben reminds us to #DoYourPartFranklin