LETTERS

To the editor: Trash collected after a windy day on Washington Street. COURTESY PHOTO / SCOTT SNYDER My family has been Marblehead residents for six years, living on Washington Street, downhill from Abbot Hall toward town. During that time, there have been more than a dozen Tuesday mornings when we’ve woken up to trash scattered down our street after a windy night. This past Tuesday was a perfect storm. High winds overnight sent exposed trash — especially open recycling bins — into the roadway. It…

To the editor: “We the people of the United States…to form a more perfect union…establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility…promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty…”  These founding aspirations inscribed in the Constitution feel painfully distant. For many Americans, 2025 has been a terrible year, marked by a cascade of crises that demand renewed commitment to our constitutional ideals. We face a refusal to confront systemic racism; escalating attacks on racial, gender and immigrant communities; and the troubling rise of authoritarian impulses that…

Recent news is begging us to at least try to limit or end violence and hatred. It has become so horrible that it’s really difficult to bear. One sane and simple thing we could do as human beings is to refrain from using rhetoric comparing our president to Hitler or Nazis. Plain and simple, he is no more a Nazi or Hitler than my sweet grandmother was. If you want to see what Nazis do, go to Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum in Israel, and…

To the editor: There is the grand picture of Peace on Earth, and then there is a vision much more personal. This time of the year many capture the longing for global peace, and this image is a beautiful one to keep in our mind’s eye. Believe it or not — it will come. But we cannot afford to wait for the world to give us peace on our earth and in our own lives. It is a great joy to give to others; tis…

To the editor: With 2026 fast approaching, I expect that Marbleheaders will soon begin to have a more rigorous and honest conversation about how we fund our town and the services we rely on. It is encouraging to hear town leaders, led by Finance Director Aleesha Benjamin, publicly acknowledge the need for a general override in 2026. For years, Marblehead’s operating costs have grown faster than revenues due to the constraints of Proposition 2 1⁄2, which caps annual property-tax increases. Over time, that structural imbalance…

To the editor: If you were walking your dog on the Hawthorne Pond trail in Marblehead at approximately 3:40 PM on Dec. 11, please contact me. My dog lost a piece of his ear and had to have stitches.  Unless I can establish that the dog who bit him was currently on rabies shots, my 2-year-old Siberian husky will have to do an extended quarantine and will miss his beloved twice daily playtime at the dog park with his best buddies. I can be reached…

To the editor: I write this letter with a heavy heart. I am witnessing a tragic repeat of history that occurred only 85years ago. Back in 1938, Prime Minister Chamberlain of Great Britain travelled to Munich, Germany to meet with Hitler. After the meeting, he arrived back in Great Britain. Stepping off the plane, he waved a paper in his hand to a cheering crowd and yelled, “Peace in our time.” Great Britain had acceded to the wishes of Hitler. In 1939, a horror like…

To the editor: Do you want to hear exceptional live orchestra or Pops music from Boston Symphony Hall? Well, we have a "jewel in the crown" right here in Marblehead! Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish has a concert program that rivals Boston. A person doesn't have to travel to Boston, pay for parking, make a reservation for tickets and pay high ticket prices. We are so fortunate to have inspiring music right here in our midst. I have now attended two of the…

I am writing in reference to the article on Chief King’s response to criticism regarding lack of enforcement of Social Hosting Law. Chief King states, “When enforcing the Social Host Law, which we do in Marblehead, not every call meets the legal threshold for charges or fines… Many situations require careful investigation, documentation, parental engagement and, whenever it is appropriate, an arrest or diversion may occur.”  Maybe I am thinking of this too simplistically but if parties have been repeatedly rousted at the same addresses…