Submitted Content

To the editor: It is time to address the quality of the roads in Marblehead. As residents, our town taxes should be used to provide essential services, including proper road maintenance. However, the roads are unacceptably bad and some of the worst in the entire country. The town does not appear to have a long-term strategy for maintaining the roads. They patch rather than pave the roads. Patching leaves the roads very bumpy with undulations, seams and ridges that make driving unsafe and miserable. We…

To the editor: I am writing regarding the recent letter of Margaret Bacon regarding a previous letter, “New Year’s resolutions for Democrats.” I did not see this previous letter but, from the content of Ms. Bacon’s letter, I would assume this previous letter was not very constructive but, rather, caustic and destructive. At least, not conducive to any mutual exchange of ideas. I laud Ms. Bacon for her balanced and erudite retort. The current state of politics and societal behavior in our country is certainly…

To the editor:  The recent brouhaha about whether the Current should have published Mark Ferrante’s letters made me curious, so I went back and read them all. They were well written, and he is clearly a fervent supporter of the Trump administration (and loathes “the left”). Although I disagreed with many of his characterizations, I finished the exercise feeling optimistic that Mr. Ferrante should now be willing to follow his own advice ... apologizing for being wrong! In his Aug. 19 letter, after belittling “the…

By John Beccia, candidate for Congress I’m a dad raising two kids here on the North Shore — and like a lot of parents I know, I’m worried about the future we’re handing them. Everything costs more. Housing is out of reach. Childcare is crushing. Healthcare is a constant stress. You can do everything right and still feel like you’re falling behind. That’s not how the American Dream is supposed to work. Washington calls this the “affordability crisis.” For families, it’s more personal than that. It’s wondering if your kids…

To the editor: “Join the OKOs,” my friend urged me some years ago.  I worked on their hand tub at a muster. It’s hard work! And watch out — that bar might hit your head. Firefighting in Marblehead and all around here has a fascinating history, that I learned from senior members. There was no fire department for a long time in the hand tub days, just private firefighting companies. They’d race each other to get to a fire first so they’d get the business. Sometimes…

To the editor: All I had known about PAM is it’s a cookware spray. Now I live in a neighborhood where not one, but two, ladies are called Pam. From the huge universe, they are both here and particularly benevolent human beings. They raised their adopted children. One lucky young daughter was from the Soviet Union and the other three brothers were from an island. Now they’re all adult citizens. Certainly love is the special gift we’re talking about. I was blessed with raising four…

To the editor: Increasingly, with devastating evidence, the current administration proves itself to be anti-American. Our nation has never fully lived up to its founding ideals, but they exist, like guiding stars, ready to lead the collective mind and heart towards a better America. Now, the principles, ideals and rights long fought for and striven towards, are being unapologetically trampled. Let’s find strength in numbers, protect the many, value humanity in all its variety, and let us continue our march towards being more generous, just…

To the editor:  Back in the 1940s, growing up in Marblehead, we had a skating rink; it was on Bay View Avenue on Bobby’s Pond. Marblehead High School played hockey there, and it was home to the Marblehead Skating Club, which was an ice dancing club. Every Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday afternoon throughout the winter, we would go there, and our parents would ice dance. Every couple of hours, they would stop to clear the ice and resurface it with their home-made zamboni,…