In Other News

Darling to Depart FFD

According to a report in Patch, Northborough has officially hired Franklin Battalion Chief Keith Darling as its new fire chief, following Deputy Chief Neil Aspesi's decision to decline the promotion and remain in his current role. Darling, a 24-year Franklin Fire veteran and U.S. Army veteran, is expected to start Oct. 1, bringing more than three decades of emergency medical services experience to the Northborough Fire Department.

Mess in Milford

Milford Patch is reporting that a vehicle struck a utility pole Monday, causing road closures and significant traffic delays in downtown Milford. The crash affected the area around Main, School, Jefferson and Pine streets as of 12 p.m., according to Milford police.

Dashcam Fingers Tesla in Franklin,

A dashcam video posted by Franklin Police will, it is hoped, lead to identification of the driver on Chestnut Street Tuesday morning, who reportedly violated the school bus law and narrowly missed a student.

Franklin DPW Issues Alert for Pine Street

Over the next couple of weeks, a DPW  contractor will continue to connect the remaining water services to the newly installed main along the section from Beech St to Stanwood Drive, all water line work has been completed along the section from Beech St to Pond St. They will also be repaving some of the trench patches that were previously installed within the entire project limits.  The last remaining work under this contract will be some isolated sewer repairs on Stanwood Drive. We expect all work to be completed by the end of October. If appropriate funding is available, DPW plans to reconstruct the roadway travel surface on Pine St. during next year's construction season. This will allow any trench work completed this year to settle over the winter.

Walpole Resident Pleads Guilty to Kickback Scheme

Deane Gilmore, 36, of Walpole, Mass., was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy to 13 months in prison, to be followed by 18 months of supervised release with the first year to be served on home confinement. Gilmore was also ordered to pay restitution and forfeiture of $2.3 million. In January 2026, Gilmore pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks after Gilmore was charged in December 2025. From approximately March 2020 through April 2022, Gilmore owned and managed two durable medical equipment (DME) companies, Jupiter Medical Associates Inc. and Granite Medical Associates Inc. Gilmore. Through these companies, Gilmore illegally paid telemarketers who obtained medical information from Medicare beneficiaries to prepare orders for DME, such as back, knee, wrist, or ankle braces. The orders provided by the telemarketers made it appear that medical practitioners were legitimately prescribing DME to these beneficiaries, when, in fact, the orders were frequently medically unnecessary and based on false documentation. By paying these telemarketers on a per-order basis, Gilmore violated the Anti-Kickback Statute.

Benched

According to an online post. material left over from the conversion of Franklin's Old South Meeting House into a Habitat for humanity home, has been crafted into a bench for the town on a pro bono basis by a local woodworking firm. No official confirmation yet.