FPS Parents - Pool Testing/Physical Distance Survey reminder due 2/22/21

FHS PCC (@FHS_PCC) tweeted on Fri, Feb 19, 2021:

"FPS Parents reminder to complete the survey by Monday, February 22nd link for survey https://t.co/5fvhdHIpXB 

and link for reopening page https://t.co/sxXkmeBV6j"

Shared from Twitter: https://t.co/2OVv1HxiRJ

Pool testing presentation shared at the Feb 9, 2021 School Committee meeting

https://www.slideshare.net/shersteve/fps-pooled-testing-presentation-2092021

FPS Pooled Testing Presentation 2/09/2021 from Franklin Matters

FPS Parents - Pool Testing/Physical Distance Survey reminder due 2/22/21

Vaccine, Anyone? Oops!

If only –    Our Instant Gratification is Offline. 

by Pete Fasciano, Executive Director 02/21/2021

Soooooo, the C19 vaccine distribution in Massachusetts was expanded to include folks aged 65 and up, and another 50K doses would be available as of Thursday. The good news – and the bad news – it made another million folks eligible.

The Wednesday 11PM newscasts noted that appointments for the doses would go online Thursday at 8AM. Come 7:30AM – the state’s website collapsed. Oops!

There has been much blaming, shaming, finger pointing and general frustration expressed in the media. The pundits were quick to hang blame on the Governor. Yes, he’s the guy at the top. Yes, things could have gone better with planning phone banks and website design. However, launching an instant phone crew to answer 100,000 frantic callers or handle a million appointment requests (for those 50,000 doses). Not easy. Not at all.

Everyone is needling Charlie about shots that can’t come fast enough. However – even the seemingly infinite resources of our vast Internet are not actually – infinite. It has very physical limits. Anyone with techno-geek skills can use a home computer as a small internet server to host a website online. But, your typical ‘high speed’ Comcast connection would be swamped by only a few hundred people trying to access that awesome site. Oops!

Even with a farm of hosting servers and very wide Internet backbone bandwidth, the Massachusetts vaccination website was statistically doomed by the million new eligible applicants, all trying to squeeze through that digital doorway at once. How does Google do it? They own fifteen percent of the Internet. They are everywhere. Same with Amazon. These organizations grew over time – no instantaneous demand.

Many years ago I produced a TeeVee Bingo program. We aired only one episode. Turns out we took down the city-wide phone exchange by folks constantly redialing our call-in number so they would be ready to yell, “ Bingo!”    Oops!

This is a time for patience and persistence. Charlie is doing all he can. And if you were a lucky vaccine winner this week? Bingo!

And – as always –

Thank you for listening to wfpr●fm. 

And, thank you for watching.

Get this week's program guide for Franklin TV and Franklin Public Radio (wfpr.fm) online

http://franklin.tv/programguide.pdf  

or for archive purposes  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NKs1_-GOoBiWKNB12gprQVfqtII166tc/view?usp=sharing

http://franklin.tv/

Franklin Senior Center: Memory Cafe - Feb 22 - 2 PM

Please join us at our "Where's The Toast?" Memory Cafe' on Monday Feb. 22 at 2 PM.  Shelley Otis will be entertaining us with her beautiful harp music. 

Listen to Shelley play "Heaven" by Bryan Adams  https://youtu.be/q508lMfNEZg

We look forward to seeing you Monday at 2 PM!

Click below to join "Where's The Toast?" Memory Cafe' with Shelley Otis
https://zoom.us/j/98625081878?pwd=d05HMzFKd09kaldIcjhGWXNBRE1sUT09

Meeting ID: 986 2508 1878
Passcode: 059521

--

Ariel Doggett

Virtual Program Coordinator

Respite Coordinator

"We rise by lifting others" - Robert Ingersoll

There is no act of kindness too small

#ThinkFranklinFirst adds businesses to the listing!

"We are excited to share that 2 new businesses are accepting the #ThinkFranklinFirst gift card! You can now use your card at Mirchi Indian Cuisine and at Night Owl Farm!  

Do you have a Franklin Gift card?  Check out the 40 different businesses where you can redeem them!  These cards are helping our local economy by boosting local spending AND covering processing costs thanks to our generous sponsor, Dean Bank!  

Businesses are redeemed 100% of the funds spent at their locations! Random Smile Project has helped make this initiative possible by donating their time and energy to assist with administrative tasks.  We are so lucky to live in such a supportive community! 

Gift cards are always available both online and at Dean Bank.  www.franklingiftcard.com #supportlocal #shoplocal #giftlocal"

Shared from the Town of Franklin page on Facebook: 

https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=461047405262367&id=109645590402552

A full listing of the participating businesses can be found

https://franklingiftcard.com/participating-businesses

#ThinkFranklinFirst adds businesses to the listing!

CDC: "Essential Elements of Safe K-12 School In-person Instruction"

From the Executive Summary of the CDC guidance on reopening schools released recently: (RED text for my emphasis)

"As communities plan safe delivery of in-person instruction in K-12 schools, it is essential to decide when and under what conditions to help protect students, teachers, and staff and slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. It is critical for schools to open as safely and as soon as possible, and remain open, to achieve the benefits of in-person learning and key support services. To enable schools to open safely and remain open, it is important to adopt and consistently implement actions to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2 both in schools and in the community. This means that all community members, students, families, teachers, and school staff should take actions to protect themselves and others where they live, work, learn, and play. In short, success in preventing the introduction and subsequent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in schools is connected to and facilitated by preventing transmission in the broader community."

There is no easy short list, the essential elements to reopen safely are complex. Take time to read through them to understand them.

Find and read the full CDC guidance doc

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/operation-strategy.html

“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) 

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/20/climate/united-states-infrastructure-storms.html

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) 

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/20/bird-flu-humans-infected-with-h5n8-strain-for-first-time-in-russia