Public safety

Marblehead's Hamond Nature Center Marblehead Police are investigating antisemitic and racist graffiti discovered Thursday, September 8, at the Hamond Nature Center, 30 Everett Paine Blvd. The property is owned by the town's Recreation and Parks Department, which runs programming there. It's also the site of the former Camp Shore Lea. “The whole back of the building was covered with bad stuff,” said Rec and Parks Dir. Peter James. He discovered the graffiti yesterday when he went to the building to check on its new roof. “There were swastikas and racial slurs, antisemitic slurs. Not a lot of good stuff. I’ve seen graffiti before, but not in this amount.” James said the building's back wall is 70-100 feet long and it was covered.  The vandals used white, yellow and blue spray p...

Chief reports uptick in graffiti Marblehead police are continuing to investigate a case of racist and homophobic graffiti discovered July 26 in a vacant Marblehead Housing Authority apartment on Barnard Hawkes Court.  Barnard Hawkes Court “Somebody used a marker to go throughout the apartment and write different things. There were about a dozen markings on the wall -- homophobic and racist comments,” said Chief Dennis King. There were also comments targeting a person at the Housing Authority, King added. He declined to elaborate because the investigation is active. King will report the incident to the Anti-Defamation League and the Marblehead Task Force Against Discrimination. While the incident was noted in the police log, the department did not proactively seek to...

Harbormaster Mark Souza on Marblehead Harbor PHOTO BY LEIGH BLANDER You might imagine that Marblehead Harbormaster Mark Souza spends his August workdays on the water, enjoying the summer sun and sea breezes. Not exactly. “We don’t just drive around,” Souza said. “We’re monitoring the radios, responding to emergency calls and maintaining gangways and docks. We’re very hands on." “We’re carpenters, plumbers, firefighters, ambulance drivers,” he added. “We wear a lot of hats.” Souza manages the 1,800 moorings in Marblehead Harbor and another 1,200 on the Marblehead side of Salem Harbor. He is in charge of the 20-year-long wait list for moorings in Marblehead Harbor, which has the third highest demand for moorings in the state behind Barnstable and Hyannis. (The mooring wait l...

Marblehead Fire Department pulled out all the stops on Thursday afternoon to keep local kiddos cool and have a little fun. Hundreds of families descended on the Judy and Gene Jacobi Community Center parking lot as water rained down from Marblehead Fire Department’s centerpiece ladder engine, outstretched in all her glory. The apparatus can reach 105 feet, according to Fire Chief Jason Gilliland . "This is the second year that we've done this," said Firefighter Mark Tentindo, standing among his fellow firefighters. "We've done it when camps request it." Firefighters gave a big thanks to Marblehead Water and Sewer Department Superintendent Amy McHugh, who unmetered the water for the summertime event. https://videopress.com/v/BeNjjpVA?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&...