Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category
One Issue Wonders
Every time a special interest group manages to pack Town Meeting to ram their pet measure through, local government geeks find themselves wondering if there will be some long-term residual benefit, some lasting silver lining to this cynical exercise. Surely, they imagine, out of this great mass of people here to vote on their one […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: ballot, ballot question, debt exclusion, election, Galvin Middle School, Galvinize, Galvinize Wakefield, June 9, Mark Sardella, new Galvin Middle School, property tax, Proposition 2 1/2, rebuild, school, school building project, school construction, schools, taxes, Town Meeting, vote, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Galvinizers’ Night Out
Pro-debt exclusion crowd dominates Wakefield, MA Annual Town Meeting The Monday, May 14 Galvin Gala was scheduled to begin at 7:30, but if you arrived later than 7 p.m., you may have found yourself parking, as I did, in Victory Village down off Richardson Street. Packing the Galvin Auditorium and the cafeteria, the crowd of […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Bill Carroll, Daily Item, debt exclusion, Galvin, Galvin Middle School, Galvinize Wakefield, Mark Sardella, property tax, Proposition 2 1/2, school, schools, taxes, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Preaching to the Choir
Judging from the comments of those who spoke, 99 percent of the hundred or so people who showed up for the April 30 public forum on the the Galvin Middle School were supporters of the project before they walked in the door. Given the composition of the audience, the project manager, architect and Wakefield town […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Dunkin' Donuts, Galvin Middle School, Galvinize Wakefield, Mark Sardella, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts
Signs of the Times
It happened two weekends ago. Seemingly, if not literally, overnight, political yard signs sprung up like crocuses all over the town of Wakefield. Along main roads and side streets and especially on the coveted corner lots, each sign installation proclaimed a resident’s allegiance to a candidate or candidates in the April 24 Town Election. Some […]
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Tags: ballot, Brian Falvey, candidate, candidates, Daily Item, election. elections, Galvin Middle School, Greg Liakos, Paul DiNocco, Phillip Renzullo, Phyllis Hull, political signs, Politics, Town Meeting, vote, voters, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Perils of Microcelebrity
As blogs, Facebook, Twitter and photo sharing sites like Flickr have exponentially increased the ranks of would-be “citizen journalists,” they have also increased the chances each of us has for moments of microcelebrity. Writer Clive Thompson coined the term “microcelebrity” a few years back to describe the way that DIY (Do It Yourself) media has […]
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Tags: blog, blogs, Boston Magazine, Clive Thompson, Daily Item, Facebook, flickr, Guardian, Kowloon, Los Angeles Times, McWanks, Rene Lynch, Scott Brown, social media, St. Patrick, Twitter, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
Snow Deal
One day last fall as I headed out for a morning walk, my neighbor stopped me as I strode past his house. “See this?” Ron asked, pointing to the contraption sitting in front of his garage. “It’s a snow blower.” Yes, I know,” I replied, suddenly feeling like I had walked into a Leslie Nielsen […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Nature & Wildlife, Opinion | Leave a Comment
Tags: blizzard, Daily Item, Galvin, Leslie Nielsen, Mark Sardella, neighbor, neighbors, Old Man Winter, school, snow, snow blower, snow shovel, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, weather, winter
How to Galvinize Wakefield
The campaign to sell the town of Wakefield a new Galvin Middle School is already gathering steam and is likely to continue unabated through the May Annual Town Meeting and beyond. It’s going to be a hard sell. With a $74,740,254, price tag, building a brand new, state-of-the-art middle school is going to require the […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: Annual Town Meeting, ballot, building, building project, buildings, campaign, classroom, classrooms, construction, Daily Item, debt exclusion, debt exclusions, election, Gallvin Middle School Wakefield MA, Galvin, Galvin Middle School, Galvin Middle School Wakefield, Galvin Middle School Wakefield Mass, Galvinization, Galvinize, Galvinize Wakefield, home, Massachusetts School Building Authority, MSBA, override, overrides, plan, plans, project, Proposition 2 1/2, referendum, renovate, renovation, school, school building, school building project, schools, site, student, students, teacher, teachers, town, Town Meeting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Super Bowl Scorecard
Everyone in the Northeast, not to mention the entire nation, will be impacted by Sunday’s Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants. Everybody has a role to play, whether they realize it or not. You may not need a scorecard to identify the players, but you’ll need one to categorize […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion, Television | 2 Comments
Tags: american pop culture, Daily Item, fans, football, game, Mark Sardella, new england patriots, New York Giants, parties, party, patriots game, players, season ticket holders, sports, Super Bowl, Super Bowl party, Super Bowl Sunday, super bowl xlii, Superbowl, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
Occupy My Heart
Goodbye eHarmony.com. Hello eOccupy.com. The January 16, 2012 Boston Globe Metro section featured the touching story of a romance that bloomed in the Occupy Boston encampment before the 99 percent were forced out of Dewey Square by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the forces of the evil one percent. The Globe described Anya Karasik, 18, […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics | 1 Comment
Tags: Boston, Boston Globe, Boston MA, Boston Massachusetts, Daily Item, demonstration, demonstrations, Mark Sardella, Occupy Boston, Occupy Wall Street, Politics, protest, protests, romance, Starbucks, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
Mark Sardella 