Archive for the ‘Columns & Essays’ Category
Lighten Up
The Boston Globe recently ran a front-page story about people who are hoarding incandescent light bulbs in anticipation of a coming federal restriction on the sale of Edison’s most important invention. Count me among the hoarders. I’m not ready yet for my close-up on reality TV, but I have managed to lay in a small […]
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Tags: banning light bulbs, bulb, bulbs, CFL, CFL light bulbs, CFLs, Compact flourescent light bulb, Daily Item, electric, electric light, electricity, household lighting, incandescent light bulb, Item, light, light bulb, light bulb ban, light bulb law, light bulbs, lighting, lights, Mark Sardella, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
The Price of Redemption
Debt ceiling, we hardly knew ye. Now that the debt discussion that has held the national airwaves hostage for the past few months is over and the phony threat of default is in the rear view mirror, can we please get back to real issues – like littering? Expanding the Massachusetts bottle law is the […]
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Tags: bottle, Bottle Bill, bottle deposit, Bottle Law, bottles, can, cans, Massachusetts, recycle, recycling
Green and Mean
I’m all in favor of being green – if only when it comes to the lettering of my car’s license plate. In a sea of white plates with red lettering, the old “greenies” have become something of a treasure among the dwindling number of car owners who still have them. The green lettered Massachusetts tags […]
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Tags: auto, automobile, automobiles, autos, car, cars, Daily Item, green, license plate, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, number plate, Registry of Motor Vehicles, tag, tags, vehicle, vehicles, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
It takes the Wakefield Independence Day Committee many months to put together the annual July Fourth Parade, and Monday’s parade was no exception. But even for mere spectators, attending the parade involves a good deal of advance planning in order to stake out a prime viewing spot. As early as Sunday afternoon there were so […]
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A Month of Summer
Tuesday, June 21 was the first day of summer. I saw it on a calendar, so it must be true. Otherwise, how would anyone know? As long as the sun is out it feels almost like summer. But it’s late June and how many nights have there been when you could go out without a […]
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Challenge Your Future
My 2011 Commencement Address Winter ended a week ago, and that means it’s graduation time. So I am happy to be here delivering my 2011 commencement address. Graduates, distinguished members of the faculty, salutorian, valedictorian and vegetarians. I guess that covers everyone. I come here today not to tell you how to live your lives; […]
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Tags: Anthony Weiner, commencement, commencement speech, Daily Item, graduates, graduation, graduation speech, school, speech, student, students, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
Catering to Apathy
Note to 89 percent of the registered voters in Wakefield, Massachusetts: There was a Town Election on April 26, 2011. Sorry you couldn’t make it. Two selectmen, two School Committee Members and an Assessor were elected. And those were just the contested races. It’s been noted that the 2011 Wakefield Town Election may have seen […]
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Tags: apathy, campaign, campaigns, candidate, candidates, Daily Item, election, elections, Item, voter, voter apathy, voter turnout, voters, voting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Sound Advice
We’ve all heard the expression “political echo chamber,” but until the recent debates who knew that the term referred to Wakefield‘s own Galvin Middle School Auditorium? I don’t know what it sounded like to the live audience of a dozen people who packed the hall, but for those of us on stage there was more […]
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Mark Sardella 