Archive for the ‘Columns & Essays’ Category
Sentimental journey
So, it’s settled. A majority of the Wakefield Town Council gets to define what “Official Town Sentiment” is. The Council voted earlier this month to give itself the power to determine what constitutes Official Town Sentiment, at least in terms of which flags can be flown from town flagpoles as an expression of such sentiment. […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: American Flag, Boston, Christian Flag, election, First Amendment, flag, flagpoles, flags, Humor, Juneteenth, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Mehreen Butt, News, Official Town Sentiment, Old Glory, Opinion, Politics, POW-MIA, Pride flag, Stars and Stripes, Supreme Court, symbol, Tom Mullen, US Supreme Court, veterans, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Town Council, Wakefield Veterans Advisory Board, Wakefield Warrior, Warrior logo, WHRC
High school math
Let’s start by stipulating that there will be a new Wakefield Memorial High School. And it will be fabulous. We know this because the local education lobby is very motivated and highly coordinated. We saw it in the recent Town Election. The three School Committee winners were all educators or former educators. And all three […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: ageism, debt exclusion, Douglas Lyons, economy, education, electric, energy, environment, fossil fuels, Galvin Middle School, gasoline, groceries, Humor, inflation, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts School Building Authority, Mike Conley, MSBA, Opinion, override, Phyllis Hull, Politics, schools, sustainability, taxes, taxpayers, townies, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, WMHS
Flagging allegiance
There aren’t a lot of human rights violations in Wakefield, Massachusetts. So, to justify its existence, the Wakefield Human Rights Commission has to find things to do. I just wish they’d stick to discussing their favorite Girl Scout Cookies and leave our country’s flag, holidays and traditions alone. The Wakefield Human Rights Commission (WHRC) recently […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: America, Americal Civic Center, Edward Dombroski Jr., flagpoles, flags US flag, genocide, Girl Scout Cookies, History, Humor, immigrants, inclusive, Indians, Indigenous People, Juneteenth, land acknowledgement, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Native Americans, Old Glory, Opinion, oppression, patriotism, Politics, POW-MIA flag, Pride flag, School Committee, Stars & Stripes, Thomas A. Mullen, Town Council, United States, veterans, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield Town Council, Wakefield Warrior Logo, welcoming, WHRC, woke, wokeism, wokism, Youth Council
Brave New World
Less than a year after dumping the Warrior logo, the Wakefield School Committee continues to demonstrate that they are more in tune with global causes than they are with the local taxpayers who pay the freight. Last week, they quietly changed Columbus Day to “Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day.” And nobody said a word. The 2022-2023 […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: America, Aztecs, calendar, Christopher Columbus, colonizers, Columbus Day, education, European, explorer, History, human sacrifice, Humor, Indians, Indigenous People, Italian-Americans, Italians, learning, Mark Sardella, Native Americans, New World, North America, Opinion, Peru, Politics, Reuters, Scandinavian, school, stolen land, students, teachers, Vikings, virtue signaling, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Memorial High School, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield School Committee, WakefieldMA, Western Hemisphere
The naked and the masked
With COVID on the wane, last week everyone in Wakefield was finally liberated from the imperative to cover their faces. Everyone, that is, except those least at risk from the virus: school children. That’s what’s known as “following the science.” The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) lifted the state’s indoor mask mandate last week, […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 3 Comments
Tags: Ami Wall, Amy Leeman, Anthony Chui, children, COVID, data, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, Department of Public Health, DESE, DPH, education, Families, health, Humor, illness, kids, mandate, Mark Sardella, mask mandate, masks, Massachusetts, nurse practictioner, Opinion, pandemic, Politics, schools, students, Suzy Veilleux, testing, Thomas Markham, unvaccinated, vaccinated, vaccination, vaccine, vax, virus, Wakefield, Wakefield Board of Health, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Town Council
Magic bus
Like most of you, I had never heard of “transportation equity” until a week or so ago. It’s one of those terms that members of the Woke Community toss around in casual conversation believing everybody knows what it means, because everybody they know does. You probably thought “equity” was the value of your home minus […]
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Tags: Amesbury, Boston, bus, Cambridge MA, Cambridge Mayor, electric vehicles, equity, Everett, EVs, fare-free bus service, free bus service, Humor, Jonathan Chines, letter, Malden, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, MBTA, Medford, Mehreen Butt, Melrose, Newburyport, Newton, Opinion, pilot program, Politics, public transportation, Rowley, Somerville, Sumbul Siddiqui, taxpayers, Town Councilor, Town Meeting, transit, transportation equity, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Town Council, Watertown, Winchester, Worcester
Ethos, pathos and logos
Having endured two previous School Department “forums” on the Wakefield Warrior logo, my expectations were not high for last week’s “Warrior Logo Community Forum.” Somehow, it still managed to disappoint. For one thing, it was held via Zoom, which hinders participation by the less technically adept while favoring a demographic more comfortable with technology. If […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 5 Comments
Tags: American Indians, Bayrd Family, caring, chat, compassionate, courageous, Douglas Lyons, fierce, football, forum, global community, gridiron, Humor, inclusive, Indigenous peoples, Jim Landrigan, Landrigan Field, logo, Mark Sardella, Native Americans, Opinion, Politics, respectful, School Committee, schools, sensitivity training, sports Wakefield Warriors, strong, students, teachers, technology, Town Election, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, welcoming, Zoom
Santa is coming!
The Daily Item has obtained, through a Freedom of Information Act request, a partial copy of Santa’s Christmas list. As journalists, we believe in the public’s Constitutional right to know what our local officials and others will be receiving in their stockings and under their trees on Christmas morning. The North Pole Information Agency has […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: Ann Santos, Betsy Sheeran, Bill Renault, Board of Health, Brian McGrail, Donald Trump, Ed Dombroski, Edward Dombroski Jr., elections, FOIA, Fred Rich, gift, Humor, Jeff Kehoe, Marian Ryan, Mark Sardella, Melrose, Merry Christmas, Mishy Lesser, North Pole, Opinion, Politics, present, Santa Claus, School Committee, Stephen P. Maio, Suzy Veilleux, Town Council, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights CommissionChristmas, Wakefield Public Schools, WCAT, Youth Council, Zoning Board of Appeals
Mark Sardella 