Posts Tagged ‘Politics’

The newest addition to last weekend’s Festival Italia was by far the best part of the event and should immediately be made a permanent fixture of this annual celebration. No, I’m not talking about the Wakefield Civic League booth.


Every time there’s a low-turnout local election or Town Meeting (or both, as we recently had in Wakefield) talk inevitably turns to ways to improve voter turnout and participation. On the surface, it seems like a noble idea. “How can we make voting easier?” people wonder, as if voting were a task akin to climbing […]


On October 8, , Shelter Development publicly unveiled its new proposal to construct a 137-unit Brightview Senior Living facility on downtown properties currently owned by the Fraen Corporation. The facility would front on Crescent Street. Representatives of Shelter Development presented a general overview of the proposal at last night’s meeting of the Zoning Board of […]


Both candidates running for the 32nd Middlesex District seat in the Massachusetts House of Representatives want to keep casino gambling in Massachusetts, but incumbent Rep. Paul Brodeur and his Republican challenger John Lock disagreed on most other issues as they debated last week at Wakefield’s WCAT studios. The 32nd Middlesex District includes all of Melrose […]


What, me vote?

12Sep14

The 2014 Massachusetts State Primary Election was Tuesday, September 9 and if you are one of the 20 percent of registered voters who cast a ballot, congratulations. You are in an elite group. One week before the Primary, on Sept. 2, the Boston Globe surveyed 605 voters to see how many were paying attention. The […]


Summer is typically known as a slow period for news. The theory is that people are on vacation and therefore less likely to make news or to be paying attention when other people make news, so what’s the point of making news? Politicians know this. That’s why, despite a Sept. 9 primary and a Nov. […]


Twilight Zoning

10Apr14

Well, as it stands right now, there will not be a parking garage in downtown Wakefield, Massachusetts and based on recent developments, you might want to hold off on that down payment on an assisted living unit. It’s been anything but dull in our sleepy little town over the last few weeks. There’s blame being […]


[Wakefield Daily Item, April 3, 2014] With the exception of the town’s handling of the Quinn Bill, there was little disagreement during Tuesday night’s debate between the three candidates vying for two seats on the Board of Selectmen in the April 22 Town Election. The forum was moderated by William Carroll with questions posed to […]


[Wakefield Daily Item, March 17, 2014] The two candidates vying for the Massachusetts State Senate seat formerly held by now Congressman Katherine Clark squared off last week in an 80 minute debate at Wakefield’s WCAT studios. Clear differences emerged between the Democrat, State Rep. Jason Lewis of Winchester, and Republican Monica Medeiros, an Alderman and […]


As we enter the New Year, the time has come to make some bold predictions for 2014. So let’s dust off the old crystal ball, shall we? Come to think of it, the whole house could use a good dusting. I’ll begin by predicting that that will not happen in 2014. People ask how I […]