Opinion - Marblehead Current

25 Sep

Confused? Your Windows 10 PC still works, but the clock is running out

Stephen BachColumns, Opinion, Stephen Bach

A customer came into our “hospital” on Elm Street recently with a perfectly good Dell laptop. It turned on, checked email, printed fine, everything worked perfectly. The only problem? It was running Windows 10, and Microsoft’s totally free mainstream support ended last October. “So what?” she said. ”It still works.” Current columnist Stephen Bach COURTESY PHOTO And she’s absolutely right. Your Windows 10 computer did not turn into a pumpkin on Oct. 15, 2025. It still boots, still browses, still plays solitaire. But here is…

23 Sep

EDITORIAL: Numbers game

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion

Let's start with what's most important, and what's actually reassuring: When the new U.S. News & World Report ranked Marblehead High School 78th in Massachusetts, down 17 spots from 61st a year ago, no one in the town panicked. There was no wave of anxious letters, no dueling statements from override supporters and skeptics, no attempt to spin a single composite score into either an indictment or an exoneration. It showed up as a brief item in the Current and mostly stayed there. In a…

23 Sep

DOC IN A BOX: Confused? Your Windows 10 PC still works, but the clock is running out

Leigh BlanderColumns, Opinion, Stephen Bach

A customer came into our “hospital” on Elm Street recently with a perfectly good Dell laptop. It turned on, checked email, printed fine, everything worked perfectly. The only problem? It was running Windows 10, and Microsoft’s totally free mainstream support ended last October. “So what?” she said.”It still works.” And she’s absolutely right. Your Windows 10 computer did not turn into a pumpkin on Oct. 15, 2025. It still boots, still browses, still plays solitaire. But here is the part that matters: Microsoft is no…

21 Sep

LETTER: Are we being sold a ‘bill of goods’ on the Glover project?

Submitted ContentLETTERS, Opinion

To the editor: As an abutter to the proposed Glover development in Swampscott/Marblehead, I attended the meeting of the Swampscott Planning Board on Monday, Sept. 14. Yes, it is in my backyard, but regardless of how you feel about the project I wanted to note some of my observations about the way that the developer is behaving and their attempts to "sell" a "bill of goods" to our communities. Attorney D'Ambrosio (representing the developer) implied that traffic would not be a problem because residents of…

21 Sep

LETTER: Applauding efforts to restore the local oyster population

Submitted ContentLETTERS, Opinion

To the editor: As a commercial diver operating in Salem Bay for the last 55 years I’ve been an acute observer of all things marine-life related. I’ve also been a Marblehead shellfish constable for the last 40 years. This letter is in response to the latest noble efforts to reintroduce the native oyster population. (“From tiny oysters, big hopes for healthier waters”, Current Sept. 14) Since the mid 1980s our local waters have been home to a huge population of European flat oysters. I started…

16 Sep

COLUMN: The best-laid plans of my morning self

Margaret BaconColumns, Opinion

At 8 o’clock in the morning, I am a person of considerable resolve. I will exercise before breakfast. I may even stretch afterward, a practice I have long admired in others. Tonight, I will eat a sensible dinner, go to bed on time and return to the half-read novel on my nightstand instead of scrolling on my phone. Current columnist Margaret Bacon COURTESY PHOTO But alas, at 10:30 p.m., this resolve is difficult to find. I am watching a French crime drama. The mayor has…

16 Sep

EDITORIAL: Before we move on

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion

In the aftermath of an unusual Board of Health meeting whose sole agenda item ended in the censure of one of its members, more than a few people have suggested it is time to move on. We understand the impulse, and in one sense it is right. Tom McMahon has pledged to “be better.” Nothing anyone says or writes will determine whether he does. We wish him luck. But if this episode can be a teachable moment for Mr. McMahon, it can be one for…

14 Sep

LETTER: Why the Light Board should vote for the renewable energy surcharge

Submitted ContentLETTERS, Opinion

To the editor: I am writing in support of the Light Board voting to levy the renewable energy surcharge, which is required for the town of Marblehead to become a Green Community”. (See The Current’s Sept. 9 edition, page 2). Green Community designation will make the town eligible for hundreds of thousands of dollars in energy conservation grants for municipal projects, a year. The renewable energy surcharge will be a charge of 1/20 of a cent/kWh a month. This will amount to between 30 cents…

14 Sep

LETTER: Why I oppose Question 8

Submitted ContentLETTERS, Opinion

To the editor: As a licensed family therapist who has been treating addictions for over 50 years, I am appalled at the presence of Question 8 on the Massachusetts ballot. The legal prohibition of mind altering substances has a long record of spectacularly disastrous results: from the 18th amendment which provided a bonanza for organized crime, to the “war on drugs” which made marketing of dangerous substances immensely profitable and facilitated law enforcement abuses, these campaigns were an attempt to quench a fire with gasoline.…

14 Sep

LETTER: Help keep the music playing

Submitted ContentArt, Entertainment, LETTERS, Opinion

To the editor: Four years ago, if you had told me that a concert at Star of the Sea would cause a traffic jam on Atlantic Avenue because so many people were coming to hear Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, I would have thought you were pulling my leg. Since its founding in 2022, the Star of the Sea Concert Series has grown into something I am incredibly proud of. We have brought together extraordinary professional musicians, volunteers, supporters and audiences for performances that I believe have…