Archive for the ‘Columns & Essays’ Category
Information Highway Robbery
It’s hard to say which made me feel more violated – having my car stolen or having my computer hijacked by an insidious virus. The car-theft happened over two decades ago, and time has a way of softening the edges and making offenses seem less egregious. (Just look at how many Americans seem to have […]
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I won’t say that last week’s public hearing on RCN’s request for a renewal of its cable license in Wakefield, Massachusetts brought back fond memories. There were, however, occasional moments of déjà vu that reminded me how little some things change. If I closed my eyes and listened to RCN Vice President Thomas Steel explaining […]
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Tags: cable licesnse, cable TV, community access television, Daily Item, John Carney, public access, public access television, RCN, renewal, Television, Thomas Steel, Wakefield Community Access Television, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, WCAT
Breaking the Ice
Sometimes the hardest part of being a newspaper columnist is figuring out what to write about. Once a topic presents itself, I seldom have a problem producing the requisite number of publishable words before deadline. But as John Dewey said, “There is all the difference in the world between having something to say and having […]
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Wakefield needs a hug. The town is struggling financially and its self-esteem may be shot, but help is on the way. The board of selectmen gave preliminary approval last week to a group that wants to stage a “farmers’ market” on Saturday mornings at Hall Park on North Ave starting next summer. I just hope […]
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Tags: Daily Item, farmers' market, fruit, selectmen, vegetables, Wakefield, Wakefield Climate Action Project, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, Woodstock
My Lawn is Greener Than Yours
I recently reduced my carbon footprint. Did I buy a Prius? No. I could never afford the sticker price. Did I inflate my tires to the proper pressure? The answer is a flat no. Did I install a clothesline in my back yard? Sure – strung between my two windmills. Did I buy a bunch […]
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Tags: Al Gore, carbon credit, carbon footprint, Climate Change, compact fluorescent, Daily Item, energy conservation, Global Warming, lawn mower, lawn mowers, polar bears, Prius, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, windmills
Arsenic and Old Lake
For the town of Wakefield, Massachusetts, news that the dredging of Lake Quannapowitt’s Hartshorne Cove has been completed is certainly welcome. The recent cleanup was ordered following the discovery in 1999 that arsenic, lead and petroleum contaminants had seeped into the sand, mud, peat and gravel on the Lake’s bottom in the area behind the […]
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Tags: arsenic, coal gas, DEP, EPA, Hartshorne Cove, lake, lake cleanup, Lake Quannapowitt, lakes, Massachusetts, pollution, Quannapowitt, Veteran's Field, Wakefield, Wakefield MA
Mark Sardella 