Letters to the Editor

Last month, the Marblehead Police Department deployed electronic signs alerting drivers that April was Distracted Driving Awareness Month. What the MPD did not do was enforce the laws enacted to deter distracted driving. Only two citations were issued for violations of the state’s “hands free” law, according to the police log, with two more stops ending in “verbal warnings.” What’s more, of the 73 citations issued during the month, 40 were issued over the course of just three days, 21 of those on a single day. Eleven days show no citations issued at all. These data are available to anyone, although they are laborious to extract and are not always complete. (I’d welcome someone to check my figures.) What they say about how traffic law enforcement actually works in small towns — and i...

To the editor: It is hard to describe what I witnessed as a chaperone on the Village School's sixth-grade trip to Camp Bournedale last week — the first Bournedale since it was canceled in 2020 — but here goes nothing. The traditional Bournedale trip was canceled in 2020 and remained canceled for the two subsequent years. This year represented a triumphant return. And what a triumph it was! I observed the pure joy of a bunch of sixth-graders off their phones, playing, fishing, dancing and singing, throwing themselves into theme nights and karaoke and Project Adventure. Taking care of each other. Working out conflict in person, face-to-face, rather than over group chats. Understanding the behavior expectations and working together to protect this time-honored Marblehead tradition f...

To the editor: First, a sincere thanks to all Marblehead voters who supported my candidacy for Abbot Public Library Trustee over the last three terms. It has been a privilege to serve our town for the last nine years and to work with the community leaders who have served on the Board and committees with me. Libraries are, after all, the great equalizers in our society — free for all and champions of continuous learning and intellectual freedom. As a teacher and writer, I know this. My nine years on the Board have been anything but dull! They have been busy, pivotal years as we hired the architectural firm of Johnson Roberts Associates from Somerville, and began the process for a much-needed structural renovation of our library building that will meet the needs of a 21st-century libr...