Archive for the ‘Feature stories’ Category
A hero remembered
There are heroes walking among us, but the true heroes don’t go around seeking recognition for their deeds. We lost another one of those authentic heroes last week. I count myself fortunate for having known World War II veteran Alfred Willett. Al was 85 years old in 2010 when I had the honor and privilege […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: 29th Artillery Division, Al Willett, Alfred Willett, D-Day, Daily Item, Normandy, Omaha Beach, United States Army, US Army, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, World War 2, World War II
Never forget
Shye Klein Weinstein could be any young Zillennial. Arms covered with tattoos, his passions include hiking, rollerblading, kayaking and video games. He could be your son, grandson, nephew, brother, cousin or friend. But the 27-year-old Toronto native has witnessed more horror in one day than anyone should see in a lifetime. Weinstein was at the […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, News, Opinion, Photography, Politics, Profiles, Wakefield | 6 Comments
Tags: anti-Semitism, bodies, bombs, Canada, Chabad of Wakefield, explosions, gunfire, Hamas, Iron Dome, Israel, Jews, machine gun, Mark Sardella, music, News, Nova Music Festival, October 7, Opinion, photography, Politics, Rabbi Sruly Brook, Reading Public Library, rockets, Shye Klein Weinstein, SuperNova, Tel Aviv, terrorism, terrorists, Toronto, Wakefield Daily Item, war, Zillennials, Zionism
School Book Report
Serious question: Are all educational gurus Marxists? Or is it just random luck that we keep finding them to guide curriculum development and teaching practice in Wakefield Public Schools? We’ll get to the latest example in a moment, but first a quick review.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 11 Comments
Tags: agitation literacies, Angela Davis, Betina L. Love, classroom, Critical Race Theory, Critical Theory, criticality, CRT, Cultivating Genius, culturally responsive teaching, Dr. Gholnescar Muhammad, education, Ella Baker, equity, feminism, historically responsive teaching, History, indoctrination, Jamilah Pitts, Little Red Book, manifesto, Mark Sardella, Marxism, math, Opinion, opinioncurriculum, oppression, Politics, power, privilege, professional development, racism, Roxanne Dungar-Ortiz, schools, science, Social Studies, socialism, students, teachers, teaching, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Schools, writing
Lady killer
Tony Costa is the most vicious serial killer you never heard of, which is all the more remarkable considering he plied his trade right here in Massachusetts. He didn’t just murder his victims. He eviscerated and dismembered them. And like so many other serial killers, Tony Costa was a real tough guy. He preyed on […]
Filed under: Art, Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, News, Opinion, Reviews | 2 Comments
Tags: 1960s, 1969, book, book review, Cape Cod, Casey Sherman, Chappaquiddick, Charles Manson, Charlie Manson, Edmund Dinis, Edward M. Kennedy, Helltown, hippies, Kurt Vonnegut, Mark Sardella, Mary Anne Wusocki, Mary Jo Kopechne, Massachusetts, Moon Landing, murder, NASA, Norman mailer, Patricia Walsh, Provincetown, review, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Sixties, Susan Perry, Tony Costa, true crime, Truro, Wakefield Daily Item
An Irish homecoming
A cold October rain was falling as I turned my rented Nissan Sunny down the dirt lane in the village of Portglenone, Northern Ireland. The road was barely wide enough for one vehicle and had grass growing between tire-worn tracks. Up on a hill in the distance, I could make out a pickup truck. A […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Family, Feature stories, History, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: Ahoghill, Ballymena, Beechfield Guest House, Blaney, Clare Blaney, Colm Blaney, Dympna Blaney, Family, family history, genealogy, Harry Blaney, History, Ireland, John Blaney, Matk Sardella, Northern Ireland, Portglenone, Rosetta O'Hara, Sean Blaney, travel, Una Lynch, Wakefield Daily Item
Return to ‘Wakefield Tonight’
Many years before I became an ink-stained wretch, I toiled in another branch of local media. It was way back in the last century, the 1980s, to be precise, when I produced and directed Wakefield’s first regularly-scheduled TV comedy/talk show. Cable TV was new and all the rage. Cable companies vied for lucrative contracts in […]
Filed under: Art, Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Profiles, Reviews, Television, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1980s, Bill Downwes, Bob Brooks, Bob Lazarus, Bob Seibel, Boston, cable TV, camcorder, Carl Yarde, Chance Langton, Charlie Brooks, Charlie Golub, Comcast, comedians, comedy, comedy clubs, comics, Community Television, Elaine Gold, Gary Stuart, Giggles, Internet, Janeane Garofalo, Johnny Carson, Jon Rubin, Linda Franklin, local TV, Massachusetts, monopoly, Open Mike, Prince Pizzeria, public access television, RCN, Rich Ceisler, smartphone, Sony 1800. Betamax, stand-up, Steve Faria, Stu Wiley, talk show, Television, Tony Morewood, Tony V, TV studio, verizon, viideo, Wakefield Community Access Television, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Access, Wakefield Tonight, Warner Cable, Warner-Amex, WCAT, YouTube
WAKEFIELD — Greenwood native Thomas A.C. Ellis has written a new, comprehensive history of Wakefield’s role in the Civil War. It is a worthy companion to other volumes written on the history of the town. Ellis is an independent Civil War historian who decided to write the book after he searched for information regarding Wakefield’s […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Feature stories, History, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: battle, book, Civil War, Confederacy, Cyrus Wakefield, History, Lakeside Cemetery, Major Horace M. Warren, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, military, Richardson Light Guard, South Reading, Thomas A.C. Ellis, Tom Ellis, union, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield’s Civil War Service, women
Theory of relativity
For something that supposedly doesn’t exist in any public school anywhere, an awful lot of effort and ink have been spent of late trying to convince us of it’s non-existence. Critical race theory, they insist in no uncertain terms, has no place in public education. The messaging usually goes something like this: “Of course we’re […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 14 Comments
Tags: Bakari Sellers, classroom, Critical Race Theory, CRT, Culturally Relevant Teaching, culturally responsive teaching, curriculum, Douglas Lyons, Dr. Clint Smith, education, educators, equity, Jamilah Pitts, Jason Pavey, Judith Briggs, Margaret Messier, Mark Sardella, Marxist theory, MASC, Massachusetts Association of School Committees, Opinion, Politics, schoold, social justice, Social Studies, students, Suzt Veilleux, teachers, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield School Committee
A simple choice
Out-of-state donors are pouring millions into an effort to forever alter the outcomes of Massachusetts elections. Unfortunately for them, the concept of ranked choice voting is so convoluted that it can’t be convincingly explained in a one-minute TV ad or even with an oversized, glossy, two-sided mailer.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Feature stories, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: ballot question, ballots, candidates, carpetbaggers, elections, Humor, John Arnold, Laura Arnold, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, money, Opinion, Politics, ranked-choice voting, Secretary of the Commonwealth, Shauna Hamilton, Texas, vote, voting, Wakefield Daily Item
Pride of the Yankees
I was vaguely aware that John J. Round had been a town official way back at the beginning of the 20th century. But, like most people, I had no inkling about his more significant contributions to the town. I had no idea, for example, that he had purchased entire tracts of land in the areas […]
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Tags: altruism, Anglo-Saxons, Arthur G. Walton, Bandstand, Cornelius Sweetser, Crystal Lake, Cyrus Wakefield, Galvin Middle School, Gardner Campbell, Greenwood, JJ Round Park, John J. Round, Lucius Beebe, Lucius Beebe Memorial Library, Mark Sardella, money, old white men, philanthropy, Pilgrims, Protestant, Sweetser Lecture Series, trees, Wakefield Common, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Town Hall, Walton Field, Yankees
Mark Sardella 