Posts Tagged ‘Wakefield Daily Item’

Entertaining romantic comedy at Quannapowitt Players “When a woman says she wants a new car, she really wants a whole new life,” middle-aged Becky Foster (played by Barbara Douglass) muses in the opening scene of “Becky’s New Car.” The highly entertaining romantic comedy by Steven Dietz is currently on stage at Quannapowitt Players in Reading […]


Point of Order

07Nov13

In defense of Open Town Meeting Wakefield‘s Regular Town Meeting opens on Monday, Nov. 18, and it seems like a good time to reflect on the institution of Open Town Meeting. While some towns have gone to a watered-down “Representative Town Meeting,” with voting members elected from each precinct, Open Town Meeting remains a New […]


Game 2 of the 2013 ALCS was One for the Ages David Mamet couldn’t have written a better script. We headed into Boston for game 2 of the 2013 American League Championship Series with the Red Sox already down one game to the Detroit Tigers. Another loss would have put the home team down 0-2 […]


The Massachusetts Tech Tax is going to be repealed, and that’s a good thing. But now that repeal appears certain, all this “let bygones be bygones” stuff is just a little nauseating. Massachusetts is Democratic state – I assume we can all agree on that much. A state’s political leanings tend to be reflected within […]


GOP Legislators meet with members of business community Wakefield last week became a flashpoint of opposition to the broad new 6.25 percent sales tax on custom software and network design services when The Savings Bank hosted a roundtable discussion with state legislators and technology industry professionals. Thursday’s meeting was the last of eight such technology […]


[Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] Suspicious 1940 blaze linked to union activity On the afternoon of July 18, 1940, the Wakefield Fire Department received a frantic call from the caretaker of the former Arthur G. Walton property at 108 Main St. Hans Meyer, who still lived in the caretaker’s house, reported that the old […]


[Part 1 of 3] [Part 2] [Part 3] Daring payroll Robbery of Walton shoe factory compared to Sacco & Vanzetti When it comes to Wakefield’s prominent old families, chances are you’ve at least heard of the Hartshornes, the Beebes, the Wakefields and the Eatons. But what do you know about the Walton family of Wakefield, […]


Pop quiz: What’s the first thing you do if you’re a new business moving into Wakefield Square? If you answered, “Hire Brian McGrail to go before the Zoning Board and get a waiver from the parking requirements,” you would be correct! Bonus question: Why do you need a waiver from the requirements for parking? If […]


We are right in the middle of the graduation season, and I am again available for a small stipend to deliver the keynote address at any commencement ceremonies. Or you can save yourselves the money, save me some time, and spare your graduates a few minutes of agony and just read it here. Graduates, distinguished […]


They say that everybody loves an underdog – unless the underdog happens to be a moderate Massachusetts Republican. The Democrats think you’re the devil incarnate, and a lot of your fellow Republicans call you a Democrat. Scott Brown heard it when he ran, and now Senate candidate Gabriel Gomez is also getting it from both […]