Archive for the ‘News’ Category
Undue process
“First we have the fair trial, then we hang him.” That quote from Judge Roy Bean came to mind last week as I watched the School Committee discuss the “process” that would be used to determine the fate of the Wakefield Warrior logo. After this “process” plays out, the School Committee, in its adopted role […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: Aimee Purcell, ballot question, Colleen Guida, court, Darci Burns, execution, Finance Committee, gallows, Greg Liakos, hanging, hangman, Humor, Judge Roy Bean, justice, logo, Mark Sardella, Mike Boudreau, Opinion, Politics, process, referendum, school, School Committee, sentence, Thomas Markham, Town Council, Town Election, trial, verdict, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Warrior, Youth Council, Zoom
Offensive strategy
If nothing else, the current debate over the Wakefield Warrior logo has been educational. I’m not talking about learning the unique history of the logo. It’s been well-established that a local Native American family and the four-star general for whom we named the Galvin Middle School played key roles in the history of the Warrior […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Family, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 4 Comments
Tags: ancestry, athletes, children, education, Galvin Middle School, game plan, heritage, History, Indian, jocks, John R. Galvin, logo, Mark Sardella, Native American, Opinion, Politics, Richard Bayrd, school, strategy, students, tactics, U.S. Census, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, warrior, Youth Council
Done Deal
Allow me to be the one to break the sad news. The Wakefield Warrior logo is history. Oh sure, the School Committee paid lip service Tuesday night to the lofty notion of having a “community-wide discussion.” But you didn’t need a degree in “English Language Arts” to read between the lines. There would be no […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 14 Comments
Tags: Community, conformity, COVID, cultural appropriation, History, Indian, logo, Mark Sardella, Native Amreican, Opinion, Politics, public opinion, racism, sports, survey, truth, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield School Committee, Wakefield Warriors, Warrior logo, Youth Council
Civics lesson
A certain kind of bias has long been suspected in public education but has always been vigorously denied. So, I commend Wakefield School Committee member Greg Liakos for his honesty and forthrightness this week in loudly and proudly confirming what many have long believed.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: bias, civic education, civics, civil discourse, classroom, demagogues, democracy, Donald Trump, education, Greg Liakos, learning, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, parents, Politics, President Trump, School Committee, schools, students, teachers, teaching, voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Public Schools
2020, we hardly knew ye
We couldn’t wait to kick 2020 to the curb, and indeed it was a rotten year in many respects. The pandemic brought illness and worse to the old and vulnerable. For the rest of us, it was a year of prohibitions: on going out to eat, on walking around the Lake, on attending church, on […]
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Tags: 2020, business, court, COVID coronavirus, DPW, Fire Department, flags, Humor, lockdowns, Mark Sardella, Memorial Day, News, Opinion, pandemic, plastic, police, Politics, prohibition, social media, straws, Town Meeting, Veterans' Day, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Warrior logo, Winship Mansion, wreaths, Youth Council, Zoom
Sustainability theater
Good things, as they say, come to those who wait. Unfortunately, so do bad things. You may recall that on last spring’s Annual Town Meeting warrant, there were a couple of articles aimed at expanding the town’s plastic bag ban and prohibiting certain types of food packaging. These measures were sponsored by the same folks […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: ban, businesses, Climate Change, compost, consumer, containers, economy, environmentalism, food, Global Warming, Humor, lockdown, Mark Sardella, merchants, Opinion, plastic bags, plastics, Politics, polystyrene, prohibition, recycling, restaurants, shopkeepers, stores, styrofoam, sustainable, Town Meeting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
Mailing it in
It’s adorable how people still refer to Nov. 3 as “Election Day.” We’ve had “early voting” for a couple of years, which began the process of diluting the meaning of Election Day. Now, with the totally unnecessary concept of “mail-in voting,” we’re told that we may not even know the result of the presidential election […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: 2020, Anthony Fauci, ballots, cash, COVID-19, early voting, Election Day, elections, Franklin MA, Humor, lottery, mail, mail-in voting, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, November 3, Opinion, post office, presidential election, Teresa Burr, USPS, voter fraud, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA
The worst summer
Monday is Labor Day, meaning that the Summer of 2020 will finally, mercifully, be over. So long, COVID Summer. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. It was the summer of face coverings, cancellations and quarantines, as opposed to concerts, camp and cookouts. Everything was canceled, including local favorites like the Fourth […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Nature & Wildlife, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: 1816, arctic, August, cancellations, climate, Climate Change, COCID-19, cold, concerts, Connecticut, coronavirus, crops, fireworks, fossil fuels, frost, Global Warming, heat, Humor, July, June, Mark Sardella, masks, Massachusetts, Mother Nature, New England, New Hampshire, Opinion, Parade, Politics, Red Sox, snow, summer, Vermont, volcano, Wakefield cold, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Waltham, weather
Warriors forever
The writing has been on the wall for some time. The space on the Wakefield High School field house facade where the Wakefield Warrior logo was once proudly displayed has been conspicuously empty now for at least five years. Ever since an ill wind supposedly blew the Warrior off the building, the School Department has […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 8 Comments
Tags: American Indians, cancel culture, Dick Bayrd, Galvin Middle School, Humor, Jack Galvin, John Rogers Galvin, Leonard Bayard, logo, Mark Sardella, mascot, Massachusetts, Native Americans, NATO, Opinion, Politics, racist, Richard Bayrd, Saugus Sachems, U.S. Army, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Warriors, warrior
