Approaching the year-end holidays, we look back at many of the issues that dominated the Current’s editorial pages in 2025, motivated by our belief that Marblehead’s greatest asset is an informed and active citizenry.
Civic engagement and civil discourse were two themes threaded throughout, joined by a lengthy list of topics we deemed worthy of editorial comment and, in many cases, a recommended action plan.
The list included but was not limited to:
· The MBTA Communities Act and whether Marblehead would ultimately endorse a revised zoning plan compliant with state law — or suffer the consequences, fiscal and otherwise.
· An historic turnout at May’s Town Meeting, spread over four eventful nights, followed by June elections for town offices and a referendum driven re-vote on the still unresolved 3a question. (For the record, we continue to support a yes vote.)
· An article-by-article rundown of Town Meeting action items, with a check mark on the ones earning our endorsement.
· The debate over formulating a school flag policy that balanced DEI concerns and students input with the School Committee’s authority to set rules on appropriate signage.
· The growing spotlight on teenage drinking, local law enforcement’s response and community mental health in general — in one form or another, the subject of multiple editorials written before and after the tragic death in August of 13-year-old Savanah Gatchell caused by an alleged drunk driver.
· Soaring homeowner insurance costs, a shrinking housing supply and Marblehead’s vulnerability to rising sea levels and other climate-related challenges.
Our focus has generally been on hyperlocal issues rather than federal and state policies that have often seemed confusing, capricious, or both. There were times, though, when we felt obliged to note that, as we wrote in March about escalating assaults on a free press, “what happens in Washington doesn’t necessarily stay in Washington.”
In that spirit, we questioned a flurry of executive orders aimed at governing how public schools tackle subjects like gender identity and structural racism — or avoid them altogether in the name of promoting a so-called “patriotic education.”
“Needless to say,” we observed, “teachers did not enter their profession thinking they would be forced onto the frontlines of a multipronged ideological war.”
In another editorial, we addressed the recent government shutdown and threatened loss of SNAP benefits to millions who, like hundreds of our own neighbors, face food insecurity on a daily basis. Whether SNAP benefits will continue in 2026 remains unclear. But, as we emphasized, providing food assistance is not charity, it’s an expression of community values. “While we cannot directly control what happens in Washington,” we added, “we can absolutely control how we respond here at home.”
We underscored that same point in highlighting October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month campaign and how local support can help counteract the ill-begotten war on medical science being waged by D.C. health officials.
Among other subjects meriting our attention were: e-bikes, campus cellphones, AI and how their use (and misuse) affects our young people especially; why the religious exemption for school vaccinations should be eliminated; the protracted legal drama (since resolved) around police officer Christopher Gallo; and remembering military hero Chrisopher Piper MHS ’80 on the 20th anniversary of his death.
Also, a summertime salute to an extraordinary group of student-athletes and other local heroes; giving kudos to Glover’s Regiment reenactors and Okos firemen for keeping Marblehead history both alive and fun; why we love exploring the town’s hidden wonders, buried secrets and natural beauties; and, of course, thanking Current readers for your continued support, financial and otherwise, as we begin another eventful and challenging year.
Next week we’ll look ahead to 2026 and some of the issues on which we will be keeping a close editorial eye. In the meantime, our very best wishes for a joyous and meaningful holiday season.
The Current Editorial Board
The members of the Current’seditorial board are Bob Peck, chairman of the Current; Virginia Buckingham, president of the Current's board of directors; board member Brian Birke, Current editorial staff member Kris Olson, and Joseph P. Kahn, a retired Boston Globe journalist.
