Top Stories - Marblehead Current

09 Oct

First financial review since $15M override set for later this month

Leigh BlanderMunicipal Matters, Top Stories

Marblehead officials will hold their first formal joint financial review later this month, fulfilling a requirement of a memorandum of understanding signed by town and school leaders last spring. The agreement was reached as officials urged residents to support a three-year, $15 million Proposition 2½ override, which voters approved in May. Select Board Chair Dan Fox said the review will take place the week of Oct. 19. "As per the MOU, Joint Financial Review section, the town administrator and superintendent will be reporting to the…

09 Oct

Marblehead lands $718K Rail Trail grant as new volunteer group launches

Leigh BlanderEnvironment, Top Stories

Marblehead has been awarded a $718,444 state grant to advance design, engineering, permitting and community engagement for the town's 4.5-mile Rail Trail, as a new volunteer group launches to help maintain and improve the popular pathway. The funding will bring the project closer to construction readiness, according to Brendan Callahan, the town's director of community development and planning. The grant will support final design and permitting for the Swampscott, Salem and Wye Junction branches of the trail. Marblehead has received a $718,000 state grant to…

08 Oct

A town in mourning: More than 1,000 honor Owen Coyne

Leigh BlanderTop Stories

More than 1,000 people gathered Oct. 8 to say a final goodbye to Owen Coyne, the beloved 17-year-old Marblehead High School senior and star athlete who died Oct. 1 after suffering a brain hemorrhage. More than 1,000 mourners filled Star of the Sea Church and its lawn for Owen Coyne's funeral Thursday. CURRENT PHOTO / LEIGH BLANDER Mourners filled Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, while hundreds more stood outside on the lawn, watching the funeral service on a television screen. Owen Coyne died…

08 Oct

Owen Coyne’s funeral this morning. ‘Marblehead loved Owen Coyne. Now, we keep showing it’

Marblehead Current Editorial BoardCurrent Editorials, Opinion, Top Stories

There are times when a newspaper's job is to explain, to put events in context, to help a community make sense of what has happened. This is not one of those times. There is no sense to be made of the death of a 17-year-old who, until a few weeks ago, was looking forward to his senior football season. Nothing we can write will change what the Coyne family has lost. Owen Coyne died Oct. 1 after a sudden brain hemorrhage. He was a senior…

07 Oct

ELECTION ’26: Koh talks affordability, Trump, AI and Marblehead

Leigh BlanderPolitics, Top Stories

Democratic congressional candidate Dan Koh says lowering household costs, bringing federal infrastructure dollars back to communities like Marblehead and making himself accessible to constituents would be among his priorities if voters send him to Washington. Koh, the Democratic nominee for Massachusetts’ 6th Congressional District, faces Republican Micah Jones in the Nov. 3 election for the seat held for 12 years by U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton. In an interview with the Current at his campaign office in Peabody Square, Koh discussed Marblehead’s affordability and infrastructure challenges,…

07 Oct

Pathways to Friendship opens doors — and hearts — for adults with disabilities

Leigh BlanderCommunity Resources, Nonprofit corner, Top Stories

Once a month, a room at the Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish Center fills with games, crafts, cooking, music, dancing and — most importantly — friends. For about a year, Pathways to Friendship has been creating a place where adults with disabilities can meet, socialize and simply have fun. The free program draws about 15 to 20 participants from Marblehead and communities across the North Shore. Now, the volunteers behind the program are hoping the community will help keep it going. Pathways to…

07 Oct

ELECTION ’26: Jones pitches Baker-style Republicanism in 6th District race

Leigh BlanderPolitics, Top Stories

The Current spoke with both candidates for the 6th Congressional District. The story featuring Dan Koh will appear next. Both profiles are in the Oct. 7 print edition. Republican Micah Jones is making the case that Massachusetts needs a different kind of voice in Washington — one that can work with President Donald Trump when he believes the administration is right and push back when he believes it is wrong. Jones, an Army veteran and attorney running against Democrat Dan Koh for the 6th Congressional…

06 Oct

Board backs ‘Amazing Race’ for teens, explores black plastic ban

Leigh BlanderHealth, Top Stories

Marblehead’s Board of Health is planning an “Amazing Race” (similar to the CBS show) for high school students next month, an effort to give teens something fun to do without alcohol. The board backed moving ahead with the event at its Oct. 5 meeting, with Nov. 6 selected as the target date and Nov. 13 as a rain date. Board member Kristen DuBay Horton has been developing the event. She said teens she has spoken with complained that there is little for them to do…

06 Oct

CURRENT EVENTS: Marblehead’s best bets coming up

Leigh BlanderAbbot Public Library, Animals, Art, Recreation, Religion, Top Stories

Current Events spotlights exciting happenings in the coming week. If you’d like to contribute a listing, please email the Current at info@marbleheadnews.org. Old Burial Hill walking tourFridays, Oct. 9 and 16, 4 p.m. The Marblehead Museum will debut a new walking tour of Old Burial Hill led by director Dan Marshall. Established around Marblehead’s first meetinghouse in 1638, Old Burial Hill is one of the oldest European graveyards in Massachusetts. Visitors will learn about the people laid to rest over the past 350 years, the…

06 Oct

Nor’easter damaged at least 16 boats in Marblehead, harbormaster says

Leigh BlanderSailing, Top Stories

At least 16 boats broke free, sank or washed ashore during the recent nor’easter, Harbormaster Mark Souza told the Harbors and Waters Board Oct. 5, offering the clearest accounting yet of the storm’s toll on Marblehead Harbor. The figure does not include boats damaged when other vessels struck them during the storm, Souza said, meaning the total number of boats affected is higher. Harbormaster Mark Souza said at least 16 boats "either broke free, sank, washed ashore" during the recent nor'easter. COURTESY PHOTOS / BRUCE…