Marblehead Current Editorial Board - Marblehead Current

31 Mar

EDITORIAL: End of an era

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion

After 15 years of leading MHTV, Executive Director Joan Goloboy has retired, and we are taking this moment to both recognize and thank Joan for her many contributions to local access public television in Marblehead. Cable television came to town in the mid-’80s, with Continental Cablevision being the first of many cable companies to provide such service to homeowners looking to abandon their roof-top antennae. From the beginning — as part of their franchise licenses with the town — cable companies have dedicated at least…

25 Mar

EDITORIAL: In abnormal times, an affirmation of basic rights

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion

Why are the core principles embedded in two of our country’s foundational documents — the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution — up for discussion at this year’s Town Meeting? And how does Marblehead’s historic role in fighting for these inalienable rights figure in how the town might vote, considering our current political climate? We don’t know how Article 40 will fare. But its timeliness should resonate with most if not all voters, however symbolic its likely passage would be in terms of town governance.…

17 Mar

EDITORIAL: Send scammers’ ‘payment portals’ packing

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardOpinion

Scammers don't ask you to mail a check anymore. They direct you to a convenience store. There, beside the chips and sodas, sits a kiosk that looks like an ATM but exists, in practice, to separate vulnerable people from their money. The targets are most often seniors — people the FTC says are more than three times as likely as younger adults to fall victim to these scams. Last year in Waltham alone, more than 20 residents reported $75,000 in losses to cryptocurrency scams —…

09 Mar

EDITORIAL: Oh, what a night

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion

There was laughter and there were tears as family and friends of Ed Bell came together at the Boston Yacht Club last week to celebrate Ed’s legacy. Longtime colleague and friend Susan Wornick and Ed’s daughter, Andrea Bell Bergeron, co-hosted the first of what we anticipate will be an annual event. Love was in the air as Wornick and Bergeron regaled the crowd with stories about Ed’s past accomplishments and fun-filled anecdotes. The crowd sat in rapt silence (for the most part) as they viewed…

01 Mar

EDITORIAL: Winter put town to the test

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion

“Winter forms our character and brings out our best.” — Tom Allen Punxsutawney Phil, everyone’s favorite furry weatherman, predicted on Feb. 2 that there would be six more weeks of winter rather than an early spring. He was right! Nearly 30 inches of snow fell in Marblehead in February alone. Total snowfall this winter has been close to 60 inches, according to some accounts. How does Marblehead handle so much snow? What do we do? Who’s responsible? What does it cost, and where does it…

25 Feb

EDITORIAL

Marblehead Current Editorial Board0 CommentsOpinion, Viewpoints

State of the Town: Where we go from here Less than 10 weeks from now, Town Moderator Jack Attridge will gavel Town Meeting to order, and this year it is anticipated that funding for fiscal year 2027 will be hotly debated. On Jan. 28, Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer presented his annual State of the Town report to the Select Board in which he detailed anticipated revenues and expenses for the coming year. Town leaders have been predicting for the past few years that a general…

18 Feb

EDITORIAL: Happy anniversaries

Marblehead Current Editorial Board0 CommentsOpinion, Viewpoints

We are celebrating two Black history anniversaries this month: the 100th anniversary of Negro History Week, established by Dr. Carter Woodson in 1926, and the 50th anniversary of Black History Month, established by President Gerald Ford in 1976. Woodson, known as the “Father of Black History,” created Negro History Week to ensure the contributions of Black people were celebrated and included in American history, believing that education was key to fighting racism. President Ford urged all Americans to "seize the opportunity to honor too-often neglected…

11 Feb

EDITORIAL: Ordinary days, extraordinary times

Marblehead Current Editorial Board0 CommentsOpinion, Viewpoints

This past weekend, as the Super Bowl kicked off, many of us were in our own huddles — in living rooms filled with wings, pizza, people shouting at the TV, and others shushing during commercials. But for many of us, it felt different this year. Not because of what was happening on the field — but because of everything happening off it. Because when the world feels like it’s on fire, everything feels different. We’ve all seen the videos: children used as bait, terrified and…

03 Feb

EDITORIAL: Collision course

Marblehead Current Editorial Board0 CommentsOpinion, Viewpoints

No one should have been surprised by last week’s news that the Attorney General’s Office had sued Marblehead and eight other towns in Suffolk Superior Court over their failure to comply with the MBTA Communities Act. As readers no doubt know by now, the five-year-old MBTA Communities Act, passed towards the end of Gov. Charlie Baker’s second and final term, aims to address the state’s housing shortage by requiring communities served by the MBTA to adopt a zoning district or districts in which multi-family housing…

28 Jan

EDITORIAL: Debate in deadly serious times

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion

Last week, the Marblehead Current published the latest letter from perhaps the town’s biggest — or at least most vocal — supporters of President Trump. As has happened when we have published previous missives from that same writer, the Current received criticism. We were already considering using this space to address that criticism. Then immigration agents shot and killed a second American citizen in Minneapolis this past weekend. Now, it seems all the more urgent to do so. There are some who think that, as…