Opinion - Marblehead Current

05 Jan

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Go-getters, please apply

Leigh Blander0 CommentsOpinion

Today, we celebrated a transfer of power in Massachusetts with outgoing Gov. Charlie Baker making the traditional long walk down the front steps of the State House and newly elected Gov. Maura Healey taking the oath of office and making her inaugural address in the House Chamber. Once upon a time, I helped orchestrate both of those important ceremonies for outgoing and incoming governors. And I had the great fun for this latest transition of providing color commentary on WCVB-TV about what some of the…

04 Jan

COLUMN: Light commissioner offers winter energy overview

Kris Olson0 CommentsOpinion

Energy reliability in the Northeast has been in the headlines, with talks about possible blackouts in our region. Some Marblehead residents have asked: Has our energy situation really become so bad? Is Marblehead Municipal Light Department (MMLD) really contemplating rolling blackouts this winter? What can we do to prepare if this is the case? What is going on? We get our electricity from “the grid,” which brings electricity from the production facilities (run mainly on gas and oil) to our houses through the wires along…

04 Jan

State Rep. Jenny Armini: A charge to keep

Leigh Blander0 CommentsLocal News, Opinion, Politics, Top Stories, Viewpoints

Marblehead resident Jenny Armini has been sworn in as the new 8th Essex District state representative today. Armini submitted this column to the Marblehead Current to mark the occasion. Having scrupulously avoided brushes with the law in my 53 years, I was surprised to receive a court summons the other day. Granted, this one came worded in olde English, with a gold seal, signed by the governor, but I was taken aback. “Whereas, it appears, by the returns of votes for Representative… You are therefore…

28 Dec

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: New Year, New You?

Will Dowd0 CommentsOpinion, Viewpoints

If you’re looking for one of those columns which provides you tips and tricks for making this the year you become a heathier, better version of yourself, skip on to the next article. This space is a New Year’s resolution safe zone. I play along every year on Jan. 1 when my husband eagerly leans forward (he does everything in life enthusiastically, argghh) and asks over morning coffee to discuss our resolutions. I try to dodge with a mumbled, “I didn’t think of any yet”,…

24 Dec

Marblehead nonprofit keeps up its work with Afghanistan

Will Dowd0 CommentsOpinion, Top Stories, Viewpoints

For almost 15 years, Applied Ethics, Inc. (AE), a Marblehead-based nonprofit has been working with Afghanistan through its people-to-people peacebuilding program called Pax Populi, which is Latin for “the People’s Peace.” In 2010, we began collaborating with universities to offer one-on-one English tutoring programs via Skype or Zoom. Working with individual volunteers and institutional partners in the US and overseas, we developed a network of educational partners in several major cities in Afghanistan never doubting that student by student, we had a role in supporting…

22 Dec

LETTER: ‘No more damaged tires’

Will Dowd0 CommentsOpinion

To the editor: I agree the bumpouts will slow traffic and prevent passing on the right side of a standing auto. Perhaps permanent standing poles along the narrowing curbs would help to alert drives of the upcoming bumpouts. Also, a white stripe on the road to signal the narrowing of the road. No more damaged tires! Go for it. I am not so happy regarding the exits from the Post Office on to Smith Street or from Village Street onto Pleasant Street. Rather than facilitating…

21 Dec

COLUMN: The power of small gestures

Kris Olson0 CommentsOpinion

The “grand gesture” gets a lot of play in movies, especially romantic ones, but the less-than-grand gestures are the ones that sustain us. True to the saying “it’s the little things in life,” the smaller gestures are the ones that get us through the day and often help us get up the next day. Grand gestures usually require lots of thought, preparation, and money, but the small gesture can be carried out on the spot and might even hold more weight. My sister recently bought…

21 Dec

COLUMN: A sense of human

Kris Olson0 CommentsLocal News, Opinion

Among attributes inherited from my parents is a Bronx Irish sense of humor from dad and what I call a “sense of human” from my mother. A “sense of human” is simply compassion for our fellow Homo sapiens. I've made good use of dad's gift of humor throughout my life, but need a wake-up call every now and often in the humanity department. *** UConn, 1957. It's the Saturday night cocktail bash of our fraternity's big spring weekend, and everybody's too beautiful to be true.…

21 Dec

MARBLEHEAD CHRONICLES: The town’s Mayflower connection

Kris Olson0 CommentsOpinion

Isaac Allerton came to the New World on the Mayflower in 1620 and was originally a part of the Pilgrim Colony at Plymouth. He left Plymouth due to conflicts resulting from his inclinations to speculation and personal free trade, strictly forbidden by the Mayflower Compact. Allerton came to Marblehead with the intent of establishing a fishing enterprise, and he did. He worked for the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, Matthew Cradock. Moses Maverick of Marblehead was also part of the early fishing enterprise.…

21 Dec

EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY: Let’s play patience BINGO!

Kris Olson0 CommentsOpinion

We all know there are global supply issues holding up the delivery of everything from furniture to computer chips, but who knew that a ship-full of patience was stuck somewhere out at sea. At least it seems that way, if the fraught drivers on main streets and in parking lots of malls and grocery stores are any indication. I know my patience in these final, frantic holiday and year-end-everything-must-get-done-now days is sorely lacking and I suspect I’m not the only one. It’s not just the…