FRAMINGHAM, MA – CNNMoney.com is featuring special reports and a brief online video about the impact of the recession on Framingham.
A CNNMoney reporter visited Framingham and interviewed State Senator Karen Spilka, Alison Steinfeld, Director of (more…)
FRAMINGHAM, MA – A free workshop with helpful tips for professional women who are job hunting will be held this Tuesday, February 24th from 10 a.m. to noon at Tatnuck Booksellers & Café, 18 Lyman St., Westborough. The workshop is presented by the Leading Women MASS organization. Register online at leadingwomen.biz.
In their continuing effort to advance women in their careers and give back to the community, Leading Women MASS has (more…)
FRAMINGHAM, MA — In a successor to the 50 States Quarters Program, the U.S. Mint, in a nationwide program, has asked Governor Patrick to select one preferred and three alternate Massachusetts national sites to be featured on the reverse of a quarter. Beginning in 2010, the Mint will release five new quarter designs annually based on the order in which the selected sites gained federal designation.
Governor Deval Patrick is calling on the people of Massachusetts to help with this decision. “Our Commonwealth has many great parks and historically significant sites,” said Governor Patrick. “It will be fun to let everybody help choose the one to submit.”
What Sites are Included? The sites for Massachusetts can include federally-recognized national parks or other national sites in the Commonwealth, including those appearing on the National Register of Historic Places, National Wildlife Refuges, and National Forests.
Governor Patrick has had a website created with additional information and where you can vote. While there is a list on the webpage with the more likely and well-known sites, there is a link to a list of historic places that includes several in Framingham. So, you could show your hometown support by voting for a Framingham site.
How to Vote: Go to the website via the link below and select one of the sites, or call the number below if you want to nominate a Framingham site because they don’t have buttons to check off.
The voting is now open. Please note that you can only submit one site at a time, but you can vote as often as you would like until 5:00 p.m. February 26, 2009. If your preferred site does not appear on the list on the website, you can still vote for it by calling 1-800-227-MASS [6277]. For more info, visit: mass.gov/governor/quarter
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FRAMINGHAM, MA – After two years under the worthy, yet temporary guidance of Dr. Gene Thayer, the Framingham schools will again have a superintendent. Watertown Superintendent Dr. Steven Hiersche will take over from Thayer on July 1st, 2009.
Framingham has a new fire chief, Gary Daugherty, who took over from Ollie Gadson, who retired last year. Daugherty is the former Hopkinton Fire Chief.
Monsignor Francis Strahan, of St. Bridget’s Church, celebrated his 50th year of service to the Catholic Church, 25 of which were at St. Bridget’s.
Dr. Arthur Caplan, whose father ran the Pinefield Pharmacy in Saxonville, was dubbed one of “The 10 Most Influential People in Science,” by Discover Magazine. Dr. Caplan has been doing some ground-breaking work in bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania.
Framingham Public Library’s “Framingham Reads Together” program with guest speaker Greg Mortenson attracted a record crowd of an estimated 1900 people to Nevins Hall. This key event for the first-ever townwide reading initiative was an outstanding success.
And another success was accorded to John Harvard’s Brew House, Shoppers World, who took home two medals in the Beverage Tasting Institute’s World Beer Championship, a gold for its “Mabay Stout” and a bronze for its “Atomic Espresso Stout.” Head brewer Maria Poulinas developed the recipes for the two medal winners.
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FRAMINGHAM, MA — The Massachusetts Coalition for Suicide Prevention recently recognized the Framingham Police Department with a Leadership in Suicide Prevention Award.
The award was presented at the State House by Rep. Ruth Balser, D-Newton, to Sarah Abbot, director of the Jail Diversion Program, along with Lt. Paul Shastany, and Deputy Chief Craig Davis.
The Jail Diversion Program helps people with mental illnesses to avoid jail and go into programs that can help them. Framingham Police recognize that many people need help, not a jail cell, to correct their behavior.
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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Small Business Administration issued a scam alert today to small businesses, warning them not to respond to letters falsely claiming to have been sent by the SBA asking for bank account information in order to qualify them for federal tax rebates.
The fraudulent letters were sent out with what appears to be an SBA letterhead to small businesses across the country, advising recipients that they may be eligible for a tax rebate under the Economic Stimulus Act, and that SBA is assessing their eligibility for such a rebate. The letter asks the small business to provide the name of its bank and account number.
These letters have not been sent by or authorized by the SBA, and all small businesses are strongly advised not to respond to them.
The scheme is similar in many ways to e-mail scams often referred to as “phishing” that seek personal data and financial account information that enables another party to access and individual’s bank accounts or to engage in identity theft.
The SBA is working with the SBA Office of Inspector General to investigate this matter. The Office of Inspector General asks that anyone who receives such a letter report it to the OIG Fraud Line at 1 (800) 767-0385, or e-mail at OIGHotline@sba.gov or go to: www.sba.gov
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FRAMINGHAM, MA — Based on a request from the Board of Selectmen, officials from the Assessor’s Office will give a presentation about how assessments are calculated for commercial and residential properties on Monday, March 2, 2009 at 7 p.m. in Nevins Hall. The public is welcome to attend this event and will be allowed to ask questions about the assessing and abatement process.
Nevins Hall was selected as the site for the public hearing since it has a seating capacity of about 1,500 so that a large crowd can be comfortably accommodated. Residents and business owners can take advantage of this opportunity to attend on a proactive basis. The economy could decline further, which could cause more concern about a possible disparity between assessments and market values next year.
Attend and be educated about how your home or business property is assessed.
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FRAMINGHAM, MA — Parents of children with food allergies are invited to a meeting with clinical social worker Marianne Fougere on Wednesday, March 4 at 7:00 p.m. at the Metro-West Allergy & Asthma Educational Support Group, which meets at Allergy & Asthma Treatment Specialists, 475 Franklin St., Framingham. The program is free and open to the public.
“There are many challenging emotional issues and uncomfortable family situations that come up when a child in (more…)
FRAMINGHAM, MA — Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, the book chosen for the Framingham Reads Together initiative, spoke to a packed crowd of an estimated 1000 people at Nevins Hall on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2009.
Mortenson, a humble and sincere speaker, shared insightful commentary and stunning photography from his extraordinary journeys through a region that is now front and center on the world stage and in the war on terror. He explained how schools and education, especially of girls, can be more effective in fighting the Taliban than weapons. He has succeeded where government programs have failed.
Local schools and the library are collecting donations to his “Pennies for Peace” program. Look for the jars to make a donation.
Mortenson’s program was broadcast through the Government Access Channel and will be re-broadcast several times. For the schedule, see http://framinghamtv.com/schedule.htm
Framingham Reads Programs continue this week. Check the Framingham Public Library web site for more information. www.framinghamlibrary.org
One of this weeks highlights takes place on Tuesday, February 10th at 7 p.m. at the Main Library: The Impact of Location and Landscape on Pakistan’s Short (and Turbulent) History- Panel Discussion with Professor Adil Najam, Director, Pardee Center, Boston University; Moeed Yusuf, Boston University doctoral candidate and Parwez Wahid discussion leader.
Professor Najam was one of the Lead Authors of the Third and Fourth Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore. He is the winner of teaching awards at MIT and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and the author of several books and articles. He also is the founding editor of the blog Pakistaniat: “All Things Pakistan.”
Related Link: <http://www.framinghamlibrary.org>
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