Archive for the ‘Columns & Essays’ Category
Early and often
The Nov. 6 election is over. Or was it the Nov. 2 election? Or the Oct. 30 election? It all depends on if you voted early and on which day. Because now, every day is Election Day! Election Day used to be special day. Not so much when you have 12 days to vote. When […]
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Tags: ballot, candidates, early voting, election, Election Day, Humor, Mark Sardella, mid-terms, November 6, Opinion, Politics, polls, signs, Town Clerk, vote, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Weeding out NIMBYism
Well, well, well. It seems that as the date approaches for the first recreational marijuana shops to open, more and more communities in Massachusetts are getting cold feet – including towns that voted overwhelmingly to legalize the bud. That includes Brookline, where they voted 17,803-11,066 to legalize recreational marijuana statewide. But now, in a community […]
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Tags: accidents, ageism, Brookline MA, bud, car crashes, Colorado, Concord MA, election, hemp, herb, Humor, insurance, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, legalization, loitering, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, medicine, Nevada, NIMBY, Opinion, Oregon, plastic bags, Politics, pot, prohibition, schools, vote, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Washington, weed
Apathy grips Hub
When the New England Patriots are in the playoffs, people can’t wait to hang their Patriot flags and put out their Patriot signs, banners, pennants and even display their inflated Patriots lawn ornaments. Sometimes even before the regular season ends. You can’t drive half a mile in town without seeing Patriots everywhere. So, what are […]
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Tags: 1960s, America's Pastime, American Football League, baseball, basketball, Boston, Dick Stuart, Dodgers, Eddie Bressoud, Fenway Park, hockey, Humor, Impossible Dream, Jim Gosger, John Henry, Ken Coleman, Lenny Green, Mark Sardella, Mel Parnell, Ned Martin, New England Patiots, NFL, Opinion, Pleasure Island, Red Sox, Robert Kraft, Sixties, soccer, sports, team, Tom Brady, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, World Series
Lost at the Fair
I try to make it to the Topsfield Fair once every 20 years. So, I checked my internal calendar and it turns out this was the year! Despite my infrequent visits, I like the idea of country fairs. They are authentic relics of traditional America. You can go there and get a taste of what […]
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Tags: agricultural fairs, America, animals, Bible, Columbus Day, corn, country fair, cows, flag, food pizza, God, Humor, jokes, livestock, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, parking, pigs, poultry, pumpkin, rabbits, rain, sausage, sheep, Topsfield Fair, Topsfield MA, United States, Wakefield Daily Item
By MARK SARDELLA GLOUCESTER – “Bringing history to life” is about as cliched as it gets, but it happens to be an apt description for what Gloucester Stage’s current production, The Agitators, succeeds in doing. Mat Smart’s play takes us into the 19th century world of icons of equal rights Frederick Douglass and Susan B. […]
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Tags: 15th Amendment, 19th Amendment, abolitionist, drama, equality, Frederick Douglass, Gloucester Stage, History, Jacqui Parker, James Ricardo Milord, Mark Sardella, Mat Smart, play, Rochester NY, Sara Elizabeth Bedard, slavery, Susan B. Anthony, The Agitators, theater, theatre, vote, Wakefield Daily Item, womens suffrage
Foreseen Circumstances
QUESTION: During the campaign to legalize recreational marijuana in Massachusetts, how many times were we assured that legalization would never lead to increased use by teens? ANSWER: About the same number of times we were told that legalizing weed would not result in more highway deaths in Massachusetts. Go explain how that works to the […]
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Tags: alcohol, Christopher Desir, crash, David Bell, driving, drugs, DUI, East Bridgewater, Eryck Sablah, herb, legalization, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Naiquan D. Hamilton, Nicholas Joyce, Opinion, OUI, Politics, pot, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, weed, Youth Risk Behavior Survey, YRBS
Street view
Monday was like Christmas in August for me. Did the town rescind the plastic bag ban? Did the Town Council go back to being the Board of Selectmen? Sadly, the answer to both of those questions is “no.” But something almost as good happened. The 2018 edition of my favorite book was released. I’m not […]
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Tags: 1936, 2018, Board of Assessors, Board of Registrars, Board of Selectmen, books, Christmas, directory, female, genders, Humor, inclusivity, male, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, Politics, residents, Street List, Town Council, voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, World War II Memorial
Meeting expectations
I’m starting a petition to ban petitions. Actually, I would never do that. First of all, I’m much too lazy and second, it would involve talking to people, which I try to avoid whenever possible. Saying that I want to start a petition against petitions is an attempt at irony. Not intended to be ironic […]
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Tags: agendas, Board of Selectmen, branding, digital, downtown, Favermann Design, government meetings, Humor, kiosk, Mark Favermann, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Open Meeting Law, Opinion, Politics, Town Council, transparency, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Main Streets, wayfinding, WCAT
Mark Sardella 