Submitted Content - Marblehead Current

25 Feb

PAWS & CLAWS: This little Piggy will steal your heart

Submitted ContentAnimals, Press releases

Piggy was surrendered to the Marblehead Animal Shelter after her former family’s new cat would not stop going after her. COURTESY PHOTO Guinea pigSize: MediumAge: AdultSex: Female Piggy is approximately 1 1/2 years old and in good health. She came to the Marblehead Animal Shelter when the family brought home a cat that kept going after her and the other smaller animals in the house. Rather than giving up the cat, they gave up Piggy. Piggy is “sooo cute,” according to volunteers at the Marblehead…

25 Feb

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

Submitted ContentColumns, Opinion

From the Vault: The Art of Escape By Jarrett Zeman Henry Brown’s escape was immortalized in a lithograph titled “The Resurrection of Henry Brown.” COURTESY IMAGES / MARBLEHEAD MUSEUM On March 23, 1849, Henry Brown attempted one of the most daring escapes on the Underground Railroad. Brown paid a white shoemaker in Manchester, Virginia, to drill him inside a crate measuring three-feet long, two-feet wide and two-feet deep. Brown crouched uncomfortably inside the crate and breathed through three air holes, beginning a harrowing 27-hour journey…

25 Feb

FOOD 101: Last century’s chicken, revived

Submitted ContentColumns, Food, Opinion

By Linda Basset On winter weekends, I like to thumb through old cookbooks searching for old treasures. I might want to revive one of grandma’s recipes, renew it or tweak it for the present day. I just struck gold: Chicken Marbella. In the last two decades of the past century, home cooks made this a dinner party go-to. Kind of show-off-y, chicken is surprisingly combined with pitted prunes, green olives and capers in a roasting pan. Originally created at Manhattan’s Silver Palate food shop back…

25 Feb

CUZNER IN NATURE: Owl in a box

Submitted ContentColumns, Cuzner in Nature, Local News

By Rick Cuzner Owl boxes Some friends and I have put up several owl boxes over the years. Sometimes the owls find them and come back year after year and sometimes they do not. This photo is from a friend's backyard. The box had an inhabitant almost immediately after putting the box up. This will be the third year of watching owls "winter" in the box. Hopefully some owlets will emerge in the spring. Hooded mergansers I spend a lot of time around Forest River…

25 Feb

VERY COOL FACTS: Why we do the things we do

Submitted ContentColumns, Opinion

By Margaret Bacon It has occurred to me that most of us are still guided by instincts built for a much rougher coastline. We wake up in old houses that have seen a few Nor’easters. We glance toward the harbor, check our phones before coffee and worry about parking near Abbot Hall. Yet we carry habits shaped by cold Atlantic nights, uncertain catches and boats that did not always return when expected. The puzzle is not that we behave strangely. The puzzle is that we…

23 Feb

OBITUARY: Kenneth Wilson Ross, 100

Submitted ContentObituaries

Kenneth Wilson Ross passed away at Salem Hospital on Jan. 27, at the age of 100. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on Sept. 4, 1925, to John and Bessie Ross. He was the youngest of five siblings: Letitia, Mabel, Betsy and Robert. Kenneth served as a corporal in the U.S. Air Force 1944-1946, flying missions in Italy and Germany. Post WWII, Kenneth worked for Amtrak until 2008. His career included being the New York City crew base manager and supervisor. He was elected…

19 Feb

LETTER: Resident asks MPD to stand with town when ICE shows up

Submitted ContentLETTERS, Opinion

To the editor: During my 60 years here in Marblehead, I have come to know of the dedication of our Police Department in comforting lost children, managing traffic situations and responding when our neighbors face emergencies. That lifelong sense of safety and reassurance was painfully absent on Sept. 12, 2025, when the Department of Homeland Security came to town and took three men into custody without any visible local police presence. The silence and absence of our familiar protectors left many of us shaken and…

19 Feb

GUEST COLUMN: Understanding trends in our schools — Where we’ve come from and the choices ahead

Submitted ContentColumns, Opinion, Top Stories

By Melissa Clucas, School Committee member Many Marblehead residents care deeply about our public schools — whether they have children currently in the system, grown children who once attended or simply value the strength of our town. We are living through a period of significant financial pressure across the town, and those pressures are real for families and taxpayers alike. School budgets are complicated, and they affect everyone. It is reasonable — and healthy — for residents to ask hard questions. One of the most…

18 Feb

PAWS & CLAWS: ‘Three Amigos’ rescued from under shed

Submitted ContentAnimals, Press releases

The Three Amigos — Dusty Bottoms, Harry Flugleman and Carmen — are ready for adoption at the Marblehead Animal Shelter, ideally either paired with another member of their trio or into a home with another playful cat. COURTESY PHOTO The Three Amigos — Dusty Bottoms, a black neutered male; Harry Flugleman, a white-and-black neutered male; and Carmen, a black-and-white spayed female — are sweet, approximately 6-month-old domestic short-haired kittens. Like all kittens, they love to eat, play and sleep, according to volunteers at the Marblehead…

18 Feb

SUSTAINABLE MARBLEHEAD: A generational perspective on historic preservation

Submitted ContentColumns, Environment, Local News

By Chris Randall Marblehead is special. Our town has contributed so much to American history that it’s nearly impossible to come up with all of the superlatives that we hold. Birthplace of the American Navy, marine aviation, Gerrymandering, the list goes on. That history is palpable when you take a walk downtown (old town, if you prefer) and can be heard in the voice of nearly any ‘Header of whom you ask a history question. Town pride is thick. As a community, we have done…