Top Stories - Marblehead Current

14 Sep

MARBLEHEAD POLICE LOG: Keys left at Mookie’s counter land in wrong pocketbook

Marblehead Current staffPolice Log, Public safety, Top Stories

Sunday, Aug. 23Alarms: 1Building/property checks: 13Abandoned 911 calls: 0Vehicle stops, citations: 0Vehicle stops, verbal warnings: 0 12:25 a.m. An officer investigated a complaint about a moving vehicle on Pleasant Street. 7:32 a.m. A bike was found on Wallace Road. 10:09 a.m. An officer assisted a citizen on Rowland Street and filed a report. 7:35 p.m. Officers assisted Salem Police and an ambulance crew with responding to the report of a pedestrian struck by a vehicle in the area of Salem State University near the White…

14 Sep

From tiny oysters, big hopes for healthier waters

Leigh BlanderAnimals, Environment, Top Stories

Outside the Marblehead Harbormaster’s office sits a big white box that has been attracting curious looks all summer. Inside are six orange buckets containing about 25,000 tiny oysters — some no bigger than a grain of rice — quietly doing their part in an ambitious effort to restore oyster populations and improve the coastal ecosystem. The oyster upweller outside the Marblehead Harbormaster’s Office contains about 25,000 baby oysters. People gathered for an update on the project Sept. 10. The box is an oyster upweller, installed…

12 Sep

GUEST COLUMN: ‘Til next summer, Marblehead

Submitted ContentColumns, Top Stories

By Paul Mazonson We arrived ready for another Marblehead summer in late May. That first morning of returning, walking our older dog to Crocker Park we noticed the beauty of the houses under the gaze of Abbot Hall, some with flowers in bloom, some under construction. Life happening here in Marblehead. As we approach the bandstand at Crocker Park, the harbor opens ahead, a particular kind of greeting after nine months away. I can smell the salt, feel the damp and I love it, it's…

11 Sep

25 years later, Marblehead remembers — and looks to a generation that never knew 9/11

Leigh BlanderPublic safety, Top Stories

Twenty-five years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the memories remain vivid for those who lived through that day. But for a growing number of Americans — including firefighters, police officers, EMTs and military members now serving their communities — 9/11 is not a memory at all. They weren't alive when the towers fell. That generational shift was at the heart of Marblehead's 25th anniversary remembrance Friday morning, as hundreds gathered at Memorial Park to honor the nearly 3,000 people killed in the…

11 Sep

‘So people don’t forget’: This Friday, Marblehead marks 25 years since 9/11

Leigh BlanderTop Stories

Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Marblehead will once again gather to remember the lives lost that day — including three people with deep ties to the town — and the local service members who later died in the war on terror. The community is invited to Marblehead’s annual Sept. 11 memorial ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the attacks. The ceremony will begin at 10 a.m. at Memorial Park. For Fire Chief Jason Gilliland, the anniversary carries an added urgency as a…

10 Sep

Free parenting classes to help local families build their ‘village’

Leigh BlanderCommunity Resources, Education, Parenting, Top Stories

Having a baby may not come with an instruction manual, but a new — and free — program hopes to send expectant parents home with something close: a plan. The Board of Health is sponsoring a series of parenting classes, including a new prenatal program that will be free for Marblehead residents. Expectant parents will leave the course with a personalized Postpartum Preparedness Plan identifying the people, community organizations and medical resources they can turn to once their baby arrives. The goal is to help…

10 Sep

After 9/11 changed everything, Buckingham finds way back

Leigh BlanderTop Stories, Virginia Buckingham

Virginia Buckingham has spent years coming to terms with how Sept. 11, 2001, changed her life. Twenty-five years later, she is still finding new meaning in what came afterward. The Marblehead resident was running the Massachusetts Port Authority when two planes took off from Logan International Airport and were hijacked by terrorists who flew them into the World Trade Center. In the years that followed, Buckingham wrestled with guilt, shame and blame — an experience she chronicled in her memoir, “On My Watch.” Now, with…

09 Sep

Health board unanimously censures McMahon for his conduct

Leigh BlanderHealth, Top Stories

The Board of Health voted unanimously Wednesday night to censure member Tom McMahon over his conduct during a heated exchange with resident Ryan Wilson at an Aug. 24 meeting, formally putting the board’s disapproval of his behavior on the record. The vote came after a tense, 90-minute discussion during which McMahon acknowledged that he should not have repeatedly interrupted Wilson but declined to apologize directly to him, even as Wilson sat in the audience. “I'm apologizing to my board members,” McMahon said. At the beginning…

09 Sep

Swim, sip, repeat — without the waste

Leigh BlanderBusiness, Environment, Sports, Top Stories

Four mornings a week, a group of local women starts the day with a swim class at the Marblehead YMCA. They call themselves the Noodlettes. But the exercise is only part of the ritual. Afterward comes coffee — and conversation. The group of 14 women has been swimming together at the YMCA since 2014, gathering at Dario’s Cafe after their workouts to catch up over a cup of coffee. Over the years, the post-swim gathering has become as important as the laps in the pool.…

09 Sep

Revised Broughton Road redevelopment plan calls for 50 new senior units

Akanksha GoyalMunicipal Matters, Top Stories

The Marblehead Housing Authority and WinnDevelopment presented a revised plan Tuesday to redevelop Broughton Road, proposing 50 new age-restricted units while preserving all 62 existing family housing units. The revised concept, presented to the Planning Board on Sept. 8, follows months of feedback from residents, abutters, town officials and other stakeholders. The proposal calls for either renovating or demolishing and rebuilding the 62 existing units, along with construction of a three-story building containing 50 new senior units. The rear portion of the site would replace…