Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category
Two Partings, One Huge Loss
When all was said and done after this long campaign season, Tuesday’s election directly impacted Wakefield, Massachusetts in a couple of key ways. Two of Wakefield’s longtime representatives in the state legislature will no longer be there. Running for Lt. Governor as Charlie Baker’s running mate, Wakefield’s Sen. Richard Tisei suffered the first loss of […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: Charlei Baker, Donald Wong, election, elections, Mark Falzone, Massachusetts, Politics, Richard Tisei, Saugus, Scott Brown, State House, state representative, State Senator, Wakefield, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass
Farewell Esther, and Thanks
On August 19, 2010, a crowd gathered at the First Parish Congregational Church in Wakefield, Massachusetts to say a final goodbye to a woman who spent decades looking out for the weakest of God’s creatures. Esther P. Nowell died August 8, 2010 at the age of 92. She was the founder, prime mover and force […]
Filed under: Cats, Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Profiles, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: animal, animal rights, animal welfare, animals, cats, Daily Item, dogs, Esther Nowell, Esther P. Nowell, First Parish Congregational Church, humane society, leg-hold trap, leg-hold traps, Mark Sardella, P.A.W.S., PAWS, Protection of Animals in Wakefield Society, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
“Tell Scott Brown to stop obstructing progress on global warming.” “Tell Scott Brown to stop voting with Wall Street.” “Tell Scott Brown to Release $700 million in Federal Relief Money to Massachusetts.” “Tell Scott Brown to Extend Unemployment Insurance.” Those are just a few of the advertisements that have run on TV, radio and the […]
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Tags: ad, ads, advertisements, boat, boating, boats, canoe, Climate Change, Edward M. Kennedy, election, elections, Global Warming, John Kerry, Kennedy, Martha Coakley, Massachusetts, political ad, political ads, political advertisement, Politics, Rhode Island, RI, row boat, rowboat, Scott Brown, Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Scott Brown, Senate, Senator John Kerry, Senator Kennedy, Senator Scott Brown, special interest group, special interest groups, Ted Kennedy, Unemployment Insurance, union, unions, United States Senate, US Senate, Wall St., Wall Street, yacht, yachts
All aTwitter
As recently as a few weeks ago, my resolve was holding firm. There was no way that I would ever be on Twitter. About a year ago, I finally caved to virtual peer pressure and signed up for a Facebook account long after most of my eventual FB friends had been updating their statuses for […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Opinion | 2 Comments
Tags: Anneli Rufus, Beta, Betamax, blog. blogs, blogging, cable, cable television, cable TV, Comcast, computer, Daily Item, dial up, dialup, electronics, flickr, hermit, hermits, high-speed Internet, home computer, home electronics, Internet, journalist, loner, loners, Luddite, modem, MySpace, Party of One, Party of One: the Loners' Manifesto, PC, personal computer, social media, technology, Twitter. Facebook, VCR, VHS, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, web, writer
Parade of Pols
Maybe I’m the only one, but I like seeing the politicians in the Wakefield (MA) July 4th Parade. The marching bands are great, and they provide an element of entertainment relief in what would otherwise be an endless stream of pols. But the main reason I go to the parade every July 4th is to […]
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Tags: 4th of July, 4th of July Parade, Alley Oop, Anthony Guardia, Bill Hudak, candidate, candidates, clown, Craig Spadafora, Daily Item, David Lucas, Donald Wong, election, elections, Eric Estevez, Fourth of July, House of Representatives, Independence Day, Independence Day Parade, JFK, John F. Kennedy, John Tierney, July 4 2010, July 4th, July 4th Parade, July Fourth, Katherine Clark, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Senate, Michael Day, Monica Medeiros, Parade, parades, Paul Brodeur, politician, politicians, Richard Tisei, Scott Brown, Senator Scott Brown, Steve Grossman, US Senate, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Independence Day Parade, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
“You too?”
“You too?” That may have been the most frequently uttered greeting among survivors at the American Cancer Society Relay for Life held last weekend at the Beasley Oval behind Wakefield High School. Survivors were easy to identify at the Relay by their purple t-shirts. All other Relay participants got white t-shirts when they checked in. […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: American Cancer Society, Daily Item, Mark Sardella, relay, Relay for Life, survivors' lap, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield Relay for Life
The Better Part of Valor
At least two candidates for State Representative are happy that they kept a safe distance away from any and all podiums on Memorial Day in Wakefield. Two others are probably now wishing they had. At the time, getting up and speaking at an event that was likely to draw town officials and the media probably […]
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Tags: Anthony Guardia, Bill Walsh, Daily Item, Donald Wong, Eric Estevez, holiday, Katherine Clark, Mark Falzone, Mark Sardella, Melrose, Melrose MA, Melrose Mass, Melrose Massachusetts, Memorial Day, Monica Medeiros, Northeastern University, Paul Brodeur, Politics, Richard Tisei, state representative, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Total Recall
Massachusetts town solves voter apathy problem Outraged that only 145 voters showed up at Wakefield‘s Annual Town Meeting session to vote on the town’s $67 million FY’11 operating budget, a group of local citizens has filed a petition to recall Wakefield’s remaining 16,301 registered voters.
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Tags: apathy, budget, budgets, Daily Item, election, elections, government, Mark Sardella, municipal budget, municipal government, municipalities, municipality, Open Town Meeting, recall, recall effort, recall efforts, recall election, recall petition, recall petitions, tax, taxes, town, Town Meeting, Town Meetings, towns, vote, voter, voter apathy, voters, voting, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts
Mark Sardella 