Franklin Matters Radio

This session of the radio show shares our “ Talk Franklin” discussion with Town Administrator Jamie Hellen . We recorded our conversation in the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Key topics Updates to the FY 2027 budget Health care overview Final stretch for budget approval Finance Cmte Jun 3 Town Council Jun 10 Town Council Jun 17 The recording runs about 1 hour & 5 mi...

This session shares my conversation with School Committee Chair Paul Griffith. We had our discussion via Zoom on Wednesday, May 27, 2026. We condense and get into the explanations behind the key items from four recent meetings: Our conversation covered the following topics: Joint Budget Subcommittee meeting - April 16 Joint Town Council & School Cmte meeting May 12 School budget discussion at...

This session shares the Town Council Communications Subcommittee Meeting . The meeting was held in the Council Chambers at the Municipal Building on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Subcommittee Chair Caroline Griffith, members Jane Callaway-Tripp, Max Morrongiello, and Gene Grella also participated. Town Administrator Jamie Hellen, Operations Manager Julie McCann and Director of Communications & Commu...

This episode combines the Franklin Public Radio news briefing spots for the week of May 31, 2026 . The outlook for the week ahead May 31 through June 6, 2026 The look back at the week that was May 24 through May 30, 2026 -------------- The text and links referenced can be found at Franklin Matters Weekly https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/2026/05/spend-less-than-5-minutes-to-find-out.html

This session shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at 7:00 PM. All 7 members of the Committee participated, 6 were present in Chambers, 1 participated via Zoom. Quick recap 17 students were recognized for achieving the Seal of Biliteracy in one or more languages other than English A number of school department retirees from the Central Office or individual...

This session of the radio show shares the audio of the Town of Franklin Memorial Day ceremony held on the Town Common on Monday, May 25, 2026. The day was overcast, a rainy forecast had caused the cancellation of the parade. Veterans Service Officer Shannon Nisbett is the master of ceremonies and introduces each speaker, and walks us through the program. The ceremony runs about 56 minutes. -------...

This episode combines the Franklin Public Radio news briefing spots for the week of May 24, 2026 . The outlook for the week ahead May 24 through May 30, 2026 The look back at the week that was May 17 through May 23, 2026 -------------- The text and links referenced can be found at Franklin Matters Weekly https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/2026/05/your-franklin-news-in-less-than-5.html ---------...

This episode combines the Franklin Public Radio news briefing spots for the week of May 10, 2026 . The outlook for the week ahead May 10 through May 16, 2026 The look back at the week that was May 3 through May 9, 2026 -------------- The text and links referenced can be found at Franklin Matters Weekly https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/2026/05/the-meeting-outlook-in-less-than-5.html ----------...

This session shares my conversation with Franklin artist extraordinaire Amy Adams . She is a member of the Franklin Art Association . We had our discussion in the Franklin TV & Radio Studio on Wednesday, April 29, 2026. Our conversation covers Amy’s work and approach The Wind Phone comes to Franklin’s Sculpture Park Dealing with grief, healing with HeART Readiness to deal with grief The record...

The Franklin, MA Board of Health met on Wednesday< May 6, 2026 at 5 PM as scheduled. All three members were present in the 3rd floor training room with the full representation of the Health Department members. A number of folks were in the room as well as joining remotely via the Google Meet connection. Quick recap: Board approved by 3-0 the prior meeting minutes Opened the public hearing, hear...

This session shares the Favorite Poem Reading facilitated by Steve Sherlock at the Franklin Public Library on Saturday, April 18, 2026. April is National Poetry Month and this ‘poetry and conversation” was a good way to celebrate poetry. The consensus of the group was to do this more frequently rather than wait until next April rolls around. Stay tuned. The next one may be in August or September....

This session shares the Town Council Communications Subcommittee Meeting . The meeting was held in the 3rd floor training room at the Municipal Building on Monday, April 27, 2026. Subcommittee Chair Caroline Griffith, members Jane Callaway-Tripp, Max Morrongiello, and Gene Grella (remote) also participated. Operations Manager Julie McCann and Director of Communications & Community Engagement L...

This session shares the exclusive audio from the Horace Mann Legacy Subcommittee Meeting held on Monday, April 27, 2026. The meeting was held in the 3rd floor training room. The recording runs about 1 hour & 21 minutes , so let’s listen in. -------------- Meeting agenda https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04272026-2263 My notes in one PDF https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K...

This episode combines the Franklin Public Radio news briefing spots for the week of May 3, 2026 . The outlook for the week ahead May 3 through May 9, 2026 The look back at the week that was April 26 through May 2, 2026 -------------- The text and links referenced can be found at Franklin Matters Weekly https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/2026/05/budget-budget-and-in-may-there-is-more.html ------...

This session shares my conversation with Rion James and Evelyn Rossing to talk about the 5th Annual Franklin Celebrate With Pride. We had our discussion in person at the Franklin TV Studio on Monday, April 27, 2026. We talk about Celebrate With Pride - Saturday, June 27 from noon to 4 Rain date, Sunday, June 28, same time frame Vendor, non-profit table and volunteer sign up open now Some of the hi...

This session shares the Joint Budget Subcmte Meeting held on Thursday, April 16, 2026 . The recording runs about 1 hour & 55 minutes, so let’s listen in. -------------- Franklin TV video is available for replay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbKccD9CA3Q The agenda for this session https://www.franklinma.gov/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04162026-2252 ------------- We are now producing this in...

This session shares my conversation with Kevin Harn, Director of Facilities. We had our discussion in person at the Franklin TV Studio on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. We talk about The amount of space and equipment managed across Town & schools The team structure and scope Coordination with all the other departments to deliver support Efforts to reduce cost in building maintenance The recording ru...

This session shares the Franklin (MA) Town Council meeting held on Wednesday, April 15, 2026 . The Council held this session as scheduled beginning at 6 PM. 8 members participated, 7 in Chambers, 1 remotely, hence all votes were recorded via roll call. The meeting recording runs 3 hours and 50 minutes -------------- Franklin Matters recap - https://www.franklinmatters.org/2026/04/town-council-hear...

This session shares my conversation with Mitzi Gousie, Programming and Outreach Librarian with the Franklin Public Library. We had our discussion virtually on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. We talk about Reviewed the regular open hours, book sale and holiday scheduling for the month Closed on Sundays due to budget reduction Closed all day on Monday, May 25 for Memorial Day Library events for May 2026 In...

This session shares the Franklin (MA) School Committee meeting held on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 at 7:00 PM. All 7 members of the Committee were present in Chambers. Quick recap: The complete administrative leadership team across the district was present to provide a midyear update on the District and School Improvement plans The 'current' District and School plan can be found - https://heyzine.com/...

This episode shared my conversation with Marc D Cohen , author of “ A Dance with the Cosmos .” Marc’s second book of poetry was recently published. We had our conversation virtually via Zoom on Friday, April 24, 2026 . Our conversation covered Marc’s Franklin story His first poem Poetry to make sense of the world The conversation runs about 52 minutes, let’s listen -------------- Marc’s Facebook p...

This episode shares the testimonials I was able to gather during the SAFE Coalition Gala held on April 17, 2026 at Gillette Stadium. I was fortunate to have an official Press Pass for the evening and am grateful to be able to share these recorded testimonials with the community. Testimonials from Lucas Giguere, Superintendent, Franklin Public Schools Jim Derick, co-founder of the SAFE Coalition Je...

This episode combines the Franklin Public Radio news briefing spots for the week of April 26, 2026 . The outlook for the week ahead April 26 through May 2, 2026 The look back at the week that was April 19 through April 25, 2026 -------------- The text and links referenced can be found at Franklin Matters Weekly https://www.franklinmattersweekly.org/2026/04/where-have-all-showers-gone-vs-come.html...

This session of the radio show shares the Finance Committee Budget Hearing , the Last of 4 sessions to go over the FY 2027 budget. The meeting was held in Council Chambers with 7 of 9 members present. Quick recap: This session was time well spent by the Committee to review the potential adjustments to the budget and come to a consensus on them. They started with a set of goals and a process to wor...

This session of the radio show shares the Finance Committee Budget Hearing on Public Works & Public Safety , the 3rd of 4 sessions to go over the FY 2027 budget. The meeting was held in Council Chambers with 8 of 9 members present. Quick recap: Gus Brown, Building Commissioner, up first Brutus, DPW up next, Next up Police Chief Lynch, level service plus 2, looking to get the SROs back Next up,...