Archive for the ‘Opinion’ Category
Every year at around this time, just as the shock of your holiday debt is beginning to set in, the telecoms (formerly known as the cable companies) send out their own Season’s Greetings – in the form of a rate “adjustment.” Somehow, the rates never seem to get adjusted down.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Television, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: cable companies, cable rates, cable television, cable TV, cable TV rates, Comcast, Daily Item, FiOS TV, Jason Whittet, Jill Reddish, verizon, Wakefield Board of Selectmen, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item
The whole silly story broke in the middle of November. A middle school in Winchester planned a December 19 field trip to Stoneham Theatre where 7th graders would be treated to a professional theatrical performance of the Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street. But then the principal abruptly cancelled the school trip after receiving complaints […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, News, Opinion, Politics, theater | 2 Comments
Tags: Al Gore, An Inconvenient Truth, Christmas, Daily Item, Evander French, holidays, Kris Kringle, McCall Middle School, Miracle on 34th Street, North Pole, play, Santa, Santa Claus, stage, Stoneham MA, Stoneham Massachusetts, Stoneham Theatre, theater, theatre, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers, Winchester, Winchester MA, Winchester Massachusetts
November 11 is Veterans’ Day, an opportunity for Americans who support our troops, past and present, to gather together and champion the men and women in uniform who serve and defend the United States. Wakefield’s 2007 Veterans’ Day ceremonies will take place on Sunday, November 11 at 11 a.m. in the Galvin Middle School Auditorium. […]
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Tags: armed forces, Armistice Day, Daily Item, Galvin Middle School, Mark Sardella, military, November 11, patriotism, soldiers, veterans, Veterans' Day, Wakefield, Wakefield Choral Society, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers
QUANNAPOWITT CASINO REVISITED
I am nothing if not ahead of my time. On April 1, 1999, I wrote a column about filling in the Lake and building the “Quannapowitt Casino.” In spite of the date on the newspaper, some people in town actually thought it was a serious proposal. Back then, the state’s economy was booming, cities and […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, Opinion, Wakefield | 2 Comments
Tags: casino, Daily Item, gambling, Lake Quannapowitt, Massachusetts, Quannapowitt, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers
THE CONSERVATIVE RECYCLER
It’s been official for many years, but now it’s truer than ever: if you’re still not recycling, you’re costing yourself and your fellow taxpayers money. At one time, recycling may have been the exclusive province of aging hippies, environmentalists and assorted other tree-huggers. But that’s ancient history. Nowadays, recycling is an exercise in fiscal conservatism. […]
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Tags: Daily Item, MA, recycling, trash, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers
A BAD START FOR VERIZON
A major corporation comes to town and says whatever it needs to say so that local officials will let them do business here, and then waits for the town to threaten legal action before living up to its agreement. I know–it’s shocking. But that’s exactly what communications mega-giant Verizon did to the town of Wakefield, […]
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Tags: cable television, cable TV, Daily Item, Jim McGrail, PEG channels, Phyllis Hull, public access television, selectmen, verizon, Wakefield, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Mass, Wakefield Massachusetts, Wakefield news, Wakefield newspaper, Wakefield newspapers, WCAT
Stoneham production features forty Cohan tunes I wonder how many students in school drama and musical theater classes today even know who George M. Cohan was. After all, Cohan wrote and performed in musicals that reflected patriotism and old-fashioned, traditional American values — themes that now seem out of favor, not just in academia, but […]
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FRED’S FRANKS MUST GO
The arrival of summer also signals the return of transient vendors to the areas around Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, Massachusetts–most visibly, Fred’s Franks, the hot dog stand at the head of the Lake. This seems like as good a time as any to review the recent history of that part of town. When the old […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Opinion, Wakefield | 39 Comments
Tags: Fred Rex, Fred's Franks, hot dog, Lake Quannapowitt, peddlers, transient vendors, Wakefield
Mark Sardella 