Posts Tagged ‘Humor’
To be, or 40B
Let’s be clear. Something is going to be built at 119-135 Nahant St., the former location of Precision Honing. At this point, the only question is, ‘What?” Right now, it’s a blighted industrial site with a crumbling old factory building on it. Developer Jason Kearney’s new proposal to build a six-story, 120-unit, 40B affordable housing […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: 40B, affordable housing, apartment building, building development, comprehensive permit, construction, developers, equity, housing, Humor, legislature, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, MassHousing, Nahant Street, Opinion, Politics, Precision Honing, private property, suburbia, suburbs, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Zoning Board of Appeals, Zoning Bylaws
The price of apathy
Last Saturday’s Special Election, which saw 18 percent of the voters give 100 percent of Wakefield homeowners a hefty tax increase, brought back a hazy memory from about 40 years ago. As a member of the Board of Assessors in the 1980s, Paul Faler was a fierce advocate for residential taxpayers. As I recall it, […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 5 Comments
Tags: bike lanes, Blosoms at the Beebe, Board of Assessors, education, election, electorate, homeowners, Humor, Jonathan Chines, League of Women Voters, LWV, Mark Sardella, Mike Conley, Opinion, Paul Faler, People's Paradise, Phil Porter, Phyllis Hull, Politics, Proposition 2 1/2, Sam Benedetto, schools, solar panels, special election, TAW, taxes, taxpayers, Taxpayers Association of Wakefield, Town Council, townies, voters, voting, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield MA, Wakefield natives, WMHS, Yes for WMHS
Schools of thought
Watching two school building projects unfold virtually side by side in time and space has provided a unique window into what happens when environmental and educational activism collide at the local level.
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: activists, Amazon Rain Forest, Breakheart Reservation, Chelsea, civics, Conservation Commission, diversity, education, environment, equity, Everett, forest, Hemlock Rd., Humor, inclusion, Malden, Mark Sardella, MSBA, NEMT, Northeast Metro Tech, Opinion, Politics, privilege, Revere, schools, Shaun F. Beasley, social justice, trade school, vocational education, Voke, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Memorial High School, wildlife habitat, WMHS, woods
All aboard the Equity Express!
The plan to get you out of your single-family home and private vehicle is proceeding apace as we forge ahead toward our collective future. The latest phase in this great leap forward has been promulgated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which is in the process of forcing it on local cities and towns with MBTA […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 8 Comments
Tags: apartments, automobiles, bicycle, bike, Board of Appeals, building, bus, by right, Cabot Cabot & Forbes, Cambridge, carbon, carpooling, cars, Climate Change, commuter rail, construction, cycling, developers, DHCD, emissions, energy, equity, Erin Kokinda, Fabians, home prices, home values, housing, housing prices, Humor, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, MBTA, Mike Kenneally, MTA, multi-family housing, Opinion, pedestrian, Politics, private property, railroad, ride-sharing, roads, social justice, suburbs, TDM, train, train station, trains, transit, transportation, Transportation Demand Management, Wakefield Daily ItemNew York, Wakefield MA, Watertown, zoning
Meeting expectations
There were few surprises at last Saturday’s Special Town Meeting, other than the fact that the start was delayed 45 minutes to allow several hundred people to stroll in fashionably late. Who could have known that this much-anticipated and highly promoted Special Town Meeting would attract such a crowd? And you can hardly blame people […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Anthony Guardia, ballot, children, classroom, education, educators, homeowners, Humor, Mark Sardella, Open Town Meeting, Opinion, parents, Politics, punctuality, school, schools, senior citizens, social security, special election, Special Town Meeting, Steely Dan, students, taxes, teachers, vote voters, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, William Carroll
Here comes Santa Claus
I’ve taken to heart recent advice from readers that I should “do a little investigative journalism.” And since it’s my firm conviction that the public has a constitutional right to know what their local officials and others will be receiving in their stockings and under their trees on Christmas morning, my digging has uncovered Santa’s […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Humor, Nature & Wildlife, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | Leave a Comment
Tags: Amy McLeod, Beatles, Christmas, copyright, Donald Trump, Dr. Douglas Lyons, Fence Viewers, Humor, Jason Lewis, Jeff Kehoe, Jonathan Chines, MAGA, Mark Sardella, Mehreen Butt, News, Northeast Metro Tech, Ohio State University, Politics, Sam Stella, Santa Claus, Shaun F. Beasley, Smart Brevity, Taxman, Unitarian Universalist, Voke, voters, Wakefield Bowladrome, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield High School, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield Police Department, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield Town Council, Warrior logo, Winter Solstice, WMHS
Columbian exposition
Not so long ago, Italian-Americans were actually seen as a disadvantaged group that faced real discrimination. For that reason, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the first federal observance of Columbus Day in 1937 to recognize the contributions of Italian-Americans and to assure them of their rightful place in American history. “We are celebrating today the […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 7 Comments
Tags: 1492, America, American History, Christopher Columbus, colonizers, Columbus Day, conquerors, European, FDR, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Galvin Middle School, holiday, Humor, Indians, Indigenous Curriculum, Indigenous Peoples Day, invaders, Italian-Americans, Italians, Mark Sardella, Megan Webb, Native Americans, New World, North America, October, Opinion, Original Sin, Politics, progressives, U.S. history, United States, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Public Schools, Wakefield Warrior
Developing a climate plan
The state of Massachusetts wants more control over municipal decision-making and is threatening to withhold state funding from cities and towns that do not comply with its social and climate goals disguised as zoning. New state guidelines based on a law passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Charlie Baker last January require that […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 11 Comments
Tags: automobiles, batteries, building, bus lines, buses, cars, Charlie Baker, China, Climate Change, commuter rail, developers, development, electric vehicles, environmentalists, EVs, forced labor, fossil fuels, housing, Humor, lithium mining, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Massachusetts Legislature, MBTA, Mike Kennealy, multi-family, Opinion, parking, Politics, public transportation, railroad, Town Meeting, traffic, trains, transit, Wakefield Daily Item, zoning
A revolting development
A Boston University study recently found that municipal zoning boards, planning boards and redevelopment boards are dominated by white male homeowners. Wait. Men are more interested in construction, development and zoning than women are? What’s the next bombshell revelation – male drivers won’t ask for directions? Fight the urban planning patriarchy! Speaking of zoning and […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: American Mutual, Board of Appeals, building, business, Comverse Technologies, construction, development Cabot Cabot & Forbes, elitism, Facebook, Humor, Lake Quannapowitt, Malden MA, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Opinion, Politics, public hearings, public transit, smart growth, social media, Town Meeting, urban planning, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield MA, ZBA, zoning, Zoning Board, Zoning Bylaws
Sentimental journey
So, it’s settled. A majority of the Wakefield Town Council gets to define what “Official Town Sentiment” is. The Council voted earlier this month to give itself the power to determine what constitutes Official Town Sentiment, at least in terms of which flags can be flown from town flagpoles as an expression of such sentiment. […]
Filed under: Columns & Essays, Community, History, Humor, News, Opinion, Politics, Wakefield | 1 Comment
Tags: American Flag, Boston, Christian Flag, election, First Amendment, flag, flagpoles, flags, Humor, Juneteenth, Mark Sardella, Massachusetts, Mehreen Butt, News, Official Town Sentiment, Old Glory, Opinion, Politics, POW-MIA, Pride flag, Stars and Stripes, Supreme Court, symbol, Tom Mullen, US Supreme Court, veterans, Wakefield Daily Item, Wakefield Human Rights Commission, Wakefield MA, Wakefield Town Council, Wakefield Veterans Advisory Board, Wakefield Warrior, Warrior logo, WHRC
Mark Sardella 