framingham.com (*** TEST SITE ***)

Author: News Staff

  • Special Addition of Round Table Discussion

    FRAMINGHAM, MA– Join Round Table Host Dave Hutchinson and Guests as the program honors Ted Welte the CEO and President of the Metro-West Chamber of Commerce in his retirement.

    Guests of this special program will include Sen. Karen Spilka, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, Ginger Esty, former Sen. David Magnani, former Rep. John Stasik and Executive Director of Leadership Metrowest, Helen Lemoine.

    Viewing dates and times are as follows:

    • Monday, February 1 at 6:00 p.m.
    • Tuesday, February 2 at 8:00 a.m. and Noon
    • Thursday, February 4 at 9:00 p.m.

  • Free Public Program on Heart Health

    FRAMINGHAM, MA — February is American Heart Month, and the Framingham Board of Health will be sponsoring their annual Healthy Heart Program on Tuesday February 10, 2009 at the Framingham Public Library.
    Heart Disease is the number one killer of women in the US, but research shows that eighty percent of cardiac events in women could be prevented if women make the right choices for their hearts, such as changing their eating habits, getting regular exercise, choosing not to smoke and managing their cholesterol and blood pressure.

    Dr Naomi Hamburg of BU School of Medicine and the Framingham Heart Study will speak about heart health. There will also be brief presentations on local heart healthy activities. Attendees will be able to get cholesterol, blood pressure, BMI, and bone density tests done and gather information from many community agencies.

    The program is free and everyone is encouraged to attend.

    For more information contact the Board of Health at 508-532-5470.

  • Framingham School Reorganization Initiative Discussion

    FRAMINGHAM, MA — Framingham’s School Superintendent, Dr. Steven Hiersche and School Committee Chairman Adam Blumer; and Townwide PTO President Kristin Romine will appear on The Audrey Hall Show discussing the School Reorganization Initiative in Framingham.

    The discussion centers around the thinking behind the proposal and the strategic approach to change.

    Tune into the Audrey Hall Show

    The program airs on Framingham Public Access TV (FPAC-TV):

    • Monday, 1/25/2010 at 7:00 p.m.
    • Tuesday, 1/26/10 at 9:00 a.m.
    • Wednesday, 1/27/10 at 9:00 a.m. on:

    Comcast: Channel 9
    RCN: Channel 3
    Verizon: Channel 43

    Input for future discussions is welcome at Ms.AudreyHall@gmail.com

  • DCR SPONSORING PUBLIC FORUMS

    METROWEST, MA – The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is sponsoring five public forums in February to discuss draft recommendations on the future stewardship and management of forest lands within the Massachusetts state parks system.

    The upcoming public forums will be at the following dates, times, and locations:

    Thursday, February 4, 2010 – 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

    Westborough Public Library
    55 West Main Street, Westborough
    (Snow date: Tuesday, February 16)

    Saturday, February 6, 2010 –10 a.m.- Noon

    North Adams Public Library
    74 Church Street, North Adams
    (Snow date: Saturday, February 13)

    Saturday, February 6, 2010 –2 p.m. – 4 p.m.

    Berkshire Community College
    Melville Hall Room 201
    1350 West Street, Pittsfield
    (Snow date: Saturday, February 13)

    Tuesday, February 9, 2010 –5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

    Jones Library
    43 Amity Street, Amherst

    Thursday, February 11, 2010 –5 p.m. – 7 p.m.

    Taunton Public Library
    12 Pleasant Street, Taunton
    (Snow date: Thursday, February 18)

    DCR began the Forest Futures Visioning Process last spring to determine how best to manage the myriad public benefits and values of forest land within the agency’s parks system,

    including recreation, tourism, aesthetics, renewable forest products, habitat diversity, and landscape ecology, and how to strike the appropriate balance among them.

    The process has several components, including the formation of an advisory group of stakeholders and the Technical Steering Committee. The Technical Steering Committee,which includes academics, practitioners, and scientists, is developing the draft recommendations with input from the public and the stakeholders.

    “We are committed to having an open, wide-ranging, public conversation about forests in Massachusetts,” said DCR Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan Jr. “We had three public forums and forest tours over the summer, and we look forward to the Technical Steering Committee’s recommendations and hearing public comment.”

    DCR contracted with the Massachusetts Office of Dispute Resolution & Public Collaboration(MODR) at the University of Massachusetts in Boston to develop a design for the public process, act as facilitators throughout its implementation, and ensure that the discussion and processes are unbiased.

    The Technical Steering Committee is composed of 11 individuals who have a high level of expertise in the issues, trends, and best practices of forest conservation and ecology, landscape ecology, natural resource economics and law, recreation, silviculture, aesthetics, watersheds, and wildlife habitat.

    The draft recommendations will be posted soon on the DCR website, WWW.MASS.GOV/DCR The public is encouraged to review the recommendations and comment on them by email to MODRDCRFFVP@umb.edu. The Technical Steering Committee is expected to make its final recommendations to DCR in late winter 2010.

    For more information on this public process, visit: http://www.mass.gov/dcr

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    The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), an agency of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, oversees 450,000 acres of parks and forests, beaches, bike trails, watersheds, dams, and parkways. Led by Commissioner Richard K. Sullivan Jr., the agency’s mission is to protect, promote, and enhance our common wealth of natural, cultural, and recreational resources. To learn more about DCR, our facilities, and our programs, please visit www.mass.gov/dcr. Contact us at mass.parks@state.ma.us.

  • Safe Prom Video Contest

    FRAMINGHAM, MA – Dance. Don’t Chance. is a program of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPSS) that aims to make the 2009 prom/graduation season safer for teens on Massachusetts roads.
    Here’s How: Write and produce a 60-second video on safe driving which may be used as a public service announcement to help keep you, your friends, and other teens in Massachusetts safer on the road during prom/graduation season and year round. You must include the tagline: “Dance. Don’t Chance.”

    Videos must also include these key messages:
    • Underage drinking/impaired driving are illegal and dangerous
    • Buckle up
    • Don’t speed or drag race
    • Avoid distracted driving, i.e. texting

    You can find all the safe driving information you need to help produce your video, including statistics on teenage motor vehicle fatalities and injuries and safe driving tips, as well as last year’s winning video at the Dance. Don’t Chance. website www.mass.gov/safety/promshorts.

    Each school can submit up to five entries. So get creative and let yours be one of them! Contact your principal, SADD advisor or class advisor to find out if your school is registered.

    Submission Rules: An authorized representative, such as the school principal or his/her designee, must send an e-mail to Ethan Tavan at ethan.tavan@state.ma.us by 5:00 p.m. February 13, 2009 indicating that the school and its students would like to participate in the contest. The e-mail must include the name, title, address, telephone number, e-mail address and fax number of the authorized representative whom the school has designated to coordinate its participation in the contest.

    Students may submit individual entries or may work as a group with up to five students in each group. Each school can submit up to five (5) entries, but each participating student/team of students may only submit one entry. Each submission must be attributed to an author(s) or else it will be assigned to the entire school.

    All submissions must be screened by the authorized representative and be submitted to Dance. Don’t Chance. c/o Argus, 280 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210 by 5:00 p.m. March 13, 2009. All entries should be in QuickTime or WindowsMedia and burned onto a CD. No other formats will be accepted. Entrants must include their script in .doc format if a script is being used in the video.

    Selection of Winner: Once all videos are submitted, students will be able to go online to the Dance. Don’t Chance. YouTube Channel, accessible through www.mass.gov/safety/promshorts, and rate their favorite videos.

    The highest rated videos will be judged by JAM’N radio personalities who will select the winner on or about March 27, 2009. Winners will be notified by phone through the entrant’s school.

    Prizes: The top video will be available through www.mass.gov/safety/promshorts and possibly on other websites and on community television stations. The winning entrant’s school, through its authorized representative (see above), will receive prizes listed below as determined by the EOPSS, including but not limited to:

    • A JAM’N 94.5 DJ will play the tunes at the prom
    • $1,000 cash prize for entrants’ prom committee from AAA Southern New England
    • A 10-person limo to and from the prom, from Boston Limo
    • Five tuxedo rentals from Men’s Wearhouse and Tux
    • $100 Macy’s gift cards to be used for prom, for up to five people
    • Hair styling services provided by Dellaria Salons for the prom, for up to five people
    • Beverages from glacéau smartwater®

    Eligibility: All entrants must be fully registered juniors or seniors at the high school from which the entry is submitted at the time of submission.

    Other Rules and Regulations: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material, including television programs, videos and music. Anyone who uses copyrighted material without a license or the copyright holder’s permission may be held liable for copyright infringement. In order to ensure that your video does not infringe on someone else’s copyright, all Dance. Don’t Chance video submissions must be the original work of the entrant, including,
    but not limited to, any music used, videos shown, photographs displayed or skits performed. Submissions that do not adhere to these guidelines may be disqualified from the contest.

    EOPSS reserves the right to change or cancel any or all of these prize elements with good cause. Further, EOPSS reserves the right to edit or even reject the winning entrants’ video. All entrants agree that by submitting their entries in the contest they give up the right to any compensation for their possible use as public service announcements. The winning entrants further agree to be available for media interviews, including having their images used by media outlets, which may result from publicity surrounding the contest.

    By submitting an entry (ies) the school representative agrees that they have complied with the school’s privacy and media appearance policy for students and staff.

    http://www.mass.gov/safety/promshorts

  • START Framingham to Release Economic Impact Study

    Framingham, MA – The START Framingham Partnership will release the results of their Economic Impact Study, prepared by Carlisle & Company, on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at an event to be held at the Danforth Museum of Art from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Press and public are invited to discover why the creative industries are economic engines, having a profound economic impact on their communities. (more…)

  • Sec. of State William F. Galvin to speak at Census Kick-Off

    Framingham, MA — On January 26, 2010, Secretary of State William Galvin, Rep. Pam Richardson, Selectman Chair Ginger Esty, Pastor Elias Monteiro, Rev Faith Tolson and other local leaders will Kick Off Framingham’s 2010 Census Complete Count Committee.

    Effort will emphasize Census is Easy, Safe and Important

    The event will take place at 6:00 p.m. in the (more…)

  • You Move Massachusetts MassDOT Forum

    FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is conducting an on-going program of community forums related to the You Move Massachusetts Civic Engagement Initiative.

    There will be a forum in Framingham on Tuesday January 26th: Framingham Town Hall (Blumer Room) from 5:30pm to 6:45pm.

    Agenda:

    I) MassDOT Overview
    II) Commuter Rail Update – Acting MBTA General Manager William Mitchell
    III) CSX – MassDOT Rail Agreement – Jamey Tesler, MassDOT
    IV) Questions & Feedback

    If you have questions, please contact:

    John Romano
    Municipal Affairs Liaison
    Massachusetts Department of Transportation
    Direct: 617.248.2822 | Mobile 617.438.4301

    This meeting should be of interest to rail commuters as well as those hoping for improvements to the downtown grade crossing.

  • TALK – Eat Local – Buy Local With Community Supported Agriculture

    FRAMINGHAM, MA — Tom Hanson of Hanson’s Farm, 20 Nixon Rd., Framingham will present a talk on community supported agriculture at Annie’s Book Stop in the Nobscot Plaza, 774 Water St., Framingham on Wednesday, Jan 13,at 7.00 p.m.

    Community Supported Agriculture is in such demand all across New England that many CSAs have people on waiting lists one or two years long. By paying a fee up front, members are entitled to a share in the season’s crop and a small farm benefits by spreading the cash flow out across the season. Join us at this meeting, sponsored by the Nobscot Neighbors Association, and learn all about this wildly popular new way of bringing home the groceries.

    The CSA model appeals to a wide range of people: foodies who will settle for nothing less than the freshest fruits and vegetables that have ripened naturally. It appeals to environmentalists who want to buy from local sources, rather than support interstate transport from mega-farms on the West Coast or in South America. And it appeals to those who want to support local farms as a way to preserve the rural character of their community. Stearns Farm on Edmands Road has operated as a CSA since 1990.

    For over a hundred years the Hanson family has worked their Nixon Road farm, with about 52 acres in fruits and vegetables and another 100 in hay and field corn. As far back as any of us can remember, Tom, Martha and son, Matt Hanson have sold their produce and flowers at the roadside farmstand and at farmer’s markets throughout this part of the state. Last year they launched a CSA and membership sold out in the first season. Tom says the CSA program is an ideal way to embrace the needs of modern families while honoring the farm’s agricultural history.

    The Nixon Road farm is also home to a pick-your-own program and an annual halloween event that has come to be known as Tom and Matt’s Excellent Adventure.

  • Food Allergies at School: What Works?

    FRAMINGHAM, MA — A roundtable discussion about how to keep children with food allergies comfortable and safe at school will be the topic of the Metro-West Allergy and Asthma Educational Support Group meeting on Wednesday, January 20 at 7:00 p.m. at Allergy & Asthma Treatment Specialists, 475 Franklin St., Framingham.

    The program is free; pre-registration is not required.

    Support group leaders Lori Brockway and Linda Drews will share their years of experience as parents of children with food allergies and as a teacher, and moderate a discussion of how parents can work most effectively as an advocate for their child.

    AAFA New England organizes educational support group programs throughout the region, publishes a newsletter, and runs a telephone resource and referral line for people coping with allergies and asthma. For more information, or a free copy of the AAFA New England newsletter or parent checklist for managing food allergies in school or child care, call (781)444-7778 or see www.asthmaandallergies.org