Archive for the ‘Humor’ Category
Fantasy League
The irony of the moment was not lost on acting Planning Board chairman Bill Spaulding. “I do find it interesting that you’re questioning the parking – the amount of it,” Spaulding told Bronwyn Della-Volpe at hearing last week on Town Meeting Article 12, which was aimed at revitalizing the downtown with more mixed-use, residential-above-retail development. […]
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Tags: Brightview Senior Living, Bronwyn Della-Volpe, commuter rail, downtown, housing, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Melrose MA, mixed-use development, parking, Pat Bruno, Paul Reavis, Planning Board, residential, retail, Town Meeting, Wakefield Civic League, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, William Spaulding, zoning
The Right Stuff
Wakefield’s long human rights nightmare is over. No more need to tell your stockbroker to divest from companies doing business in Wakefield, Massachusetts. Last week, the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee voted to endorse the establishment of a “Wakefield Human Rights Commission.” You didn’t know that human rights abuses were rampant in Wakefield? […]
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Tags: anthropocentric, Bill of Rights, blue-green algae, Board of Selectmen, Canada geese, Human Rights Commission, Lake Quannapowitt, Massachusetts, patriarchy, privilege, rights, School Committee, United States Constitution, Wakefield MA, Zoning Board of Appeals
Dunk Tank Diplomacy
The newest addition to last weekend’s Festival Italia was by far the best part of the event and should immediately be made a permanent fixture of this annual celebration. No, I’m not talking about the Wakefield Civic League booth.
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Tags: dunk tank, Evan Kenney, Festival Italia, Gerard Leeman, Gregory Liakos, Jason Lewis, Jay Ash, Joseph Tringale, Mark Sardella, Paul Brodeur, politicians, Politics, Stephen P. Maio, Thomas Markham, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Interfaith Foof Pantry, Wakefield MA. Massachusetts
Fear Factor
“Your decision will decide if Wakefield becomes more like Medford or more like Lynnfield,” attorney Alan Grenier warned the Zoning Board of Appeals last week. Grenier had asked for and was granted an opportunity to present to the Zoning Board the opposition case against building the 130-unit Brightview Senior Living facility proposed on Crescent Street. […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Alan Grenier, Assisted Living, Brightview Senior Living, CVS, Dollar Tree, elderly, Galvin Middle School, Lynnfield, Malden, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Medford, Melrose, Shelter Group, Topsfield, urbanization, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Zoning Board of Appeals
A League of Their Own
As you may have noticed, protesting is back in vogue. Beyond the immediate complaints, it’s hard to know exactly what has spawned the recent resurgence in this trend of seeking redress of grievances by “singing songs and carrying signs,” as The Buffalo Springfield once sneered. Maybe part of it is aging Baby Boomers and their […]
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Tags: Assisted Living, Baby Boomers, Brightview Senior Living, Buffalo Springfield, demonstration, Koch Brothers, Mark Sardella, protest, Shelter Development, social justice, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Zoning Board of Appeals
Commencement Address
Greetings parents, guardians, students, faculty and other stakeholders. On behalf of this professional learning community and its educators, it is a pleasure to welcome you to today’s commencement exercises. I am pleased that you were able to leverage your resources in such a way as to join us today. Our strategic plan for this afternoon […]
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Tags: commencement address, diploma, education, educator, eduspeak, faculty, graduate, graduation speech, jargon, learning, lingo, Mark Sardella, pedagogy, school, schools, student, teacher, Wakefield Daily Item
The high road to hell
There will very likely be a ballot question in 2016 seeking to legalize recreational marijuana in Massachusetts. We know this because the activists who in 2012 successfully perpetrated the “medical” marijuana scam are the same people who are now working on the 2016 ballot question to make pot available for recreational use. So much for […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 30 Comments
Tags: addiction, alcohol, Colorado, drugs, high, legalization, marijuana, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, medical marijuana, opiates, pot, recreational marijuana, Wakefield Daily Item, weed
Not the Time
Normally, I give topics like Global Warming and Climate Change a good leaving alone. It’s a slippery slope that can quickly trigger an avalanche of supercilious lectures from the Reality-Based Community. But in my reality I have eight feet of snow in my front yard and if the AccuWeather Boston forecast holds true, we’ll finish […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Nature & Wildlife, Opinion, Photography, Politics | 3 Comments
Tags: Climate Change, divestment, electric rates, electricity, fossil fuels, Global Warming, ice, Mark Sardella, Porter Fox, power, snow, solar, Wakefield Daily Item, wind, winter
Sign of the Times
The passing of another era has been marked with the removal of another landmark from Wakefield‘s downtown. On Sunday, the giant projecting “Santoro’s” illuminated sign was removed from above what was one of the early submarine sandwich franchises in the Wakefield area. Why didn’t the preservationists step in and protect this historic landmark? Were they […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: downtown, Israel Horovitz, Main Street, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Santoro's, signs, sub, submarine sandwich, The Savings Bank, Thomas Wolfe, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA
Winter Parking Woes
The newest storm brewing on the Wakefield Facebook discussion groups relates to the winter parking ban. The local ban prohibits overnight parking on the street from Dec. 1 to April 1 in order to facilitate snow plowing and ensure public safety. The latest idea that social media pundits are convinced has never occurred to anyone […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 3 Comments
Tags: blizzard, cars, emergency, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, parking, roads, snow, storm, street, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, winter, winter parking ban
Mark Sardella 