Top Stories - Marblehead Current

Polling places run out of ballots across town

21Jun

By Kris Olson and Leigh Blander2 Comments

Local News, Top Stories

Polling places run out of ballots across town

The supply of ballots for Tuesday's election had been depleted town wide by 5 p.m., an employee of the town clerk's office has confirmed. Residents voting after that time were voting using makeshift photocopied ballots that could not be fed through the town's voting machines and will need to be hand counted, in all likelihood delaying the official results, the employee added. Marblehead Town Clerk Robin Michaud in Abbot Hall after polls closed on Tuesday. The Marblehead News first learned of possible problems in administering the election when a voter in Precinct 1 reported arriving at the Old Town House around 6 p.m. and being told he would be unable to vote temporarily because the precinct had run out of ballots. The voter said that poll workers told him that more ballots w...

NAMING CONTEST UPDATE: Suggestions streaming in

20Jun

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

About Us, Local News, Top Stories

NAMING CONTEST UPDATE: Suggestions streaming in

Residents have been flooding the Marblehead News' inbox with ideas for a new permanent name for the town's new, nonprofit news source. In no particular order, some of the suggestions we have received include: MarbleHeadlinesMarblehead ScuttlebuttMarblehead TickerMarblehead ForeverMarblehead News Messenger (or just "Messenger," though we need to check with the legal department on that)Marblehead NavigatorMarblehead GazetteDateline: MarbleheadMarblepress PressMarblehead TimesThe Marblehead CoastalThe Marblehead CoastThe Marblehead ShoreShoreline MarbleheadMarblehead VoiceMarblehead WaveUp for AirMarblehead MonitorMarblehead at a Glance, a.k.a. Marblehead GlanceMarblehead Mainsail At least a couple of people think we should just stick with "Marblehead News." Have a favorite from ...

Big crowds, cannon fire at Fort Sewall celebration

20Jun

By Leigh BlanderNo Comments

Local News, Top Stories

Big crowds, cannon fire at Fort Sewall celebration

More than 3,000 people streamed into Fort Sewall on Saturday to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the federal government turning the fort over to the town - and the completion of a $1.8 renovation project. “People are so happy to be back at the fort,” said Larry Sands, chair of the Fort Sewall Oversight Committee, which led the renovation. “Kids are having fun, families are having fun. It’s perfect.” The fort’s lower lawn was decked out with a large white tent and cocktail tables where people enjoyed Joe Frogger cookies and lemonade and listened to live fiddle music. On the upper level, members of Glover’s Regiment fired a cannon -- a reproduction of a British six-pounder -- several times throughout the day. “What a wonderful celebration,” said Olivia Barry, as she and her...

Question 1 proposes capital spending in four parts

17Jun

By Marblehead News staffNo Comments

Question 1 proposes capital spending in four parts

Marblehead has a history of exercising fiscal prudence within the Proposition 2 1/2 framework to finance capital projects. The process usually unfolds with town officials or a group of citizens identifying a capital need, developing a budget and timeline, and embarking on a campaign to garner community support. Debate plays out in the lead-up to Town Meeting. If the project secures a two-thirds vote on the Town Meeting floor, it heads for a town-wide referendum. If the project captures a simple majority in that second vote, the town then takes on debt — usually in the next fiscal year — to finance the capital need through the issuance of bonds. Taxpayers pay back the borrowed money — typically at very low interest rates due to Marblehead’s AAA bond rating — in installments ove...

Marblehead school officials: Question 2 would fund long unmet needs

17Jun

By Marblehead News staffNo Comments

Marblehead school officials: Question 2 would fund long unmet needs

In Question 2 on the Tuesday, June 21 town election ballot, school officials are asking to override by $3 million Proposition 2 1/2, which annually limits increases to property-tax assessments to 2.5 percent. Education officials say the money is needed to fill a significant funding gap in the district’s $43 million budget that has grown over multiple years. QUESTION 2: Shall the Town of Marblehead be allowed to assess an additional $3,051,093 in real estate and personal property taxes for the purpose of the School Department Budget for which the monies from this assessment will be used for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2022? “Years of level-funded budgets have led to holes in our staffing, the deferral of services and educational initiatives,” Marblehead Schoo...

16Jun

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

About Us, Top Stories

Introducing the Marblehead News Group

What you see here today is just a fraction of what we hope to become — with your help. We are veteran journalists and local residents who for the past several months have been laying the groundwork to launch the Marblehead News Group, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit news outlet covering the town. Those involved in guiding the effort include (but are not limited to): Ed Bell, former Boston bureau chief of the Associated Press, MHTV host and Marblehead Harbor Rotarian;Jessica Barnett, teaches communications at Salem State University and is the incoming president of the Rotary Club of Marblehead Harbor;Kris Olson, professional journalist for 24 years, 14 of which were spent serving as editor of the Marblehead Reporter (2000-2015); andLeigh Blander, an experienced TV, radio and print journalis...

16Jun

By Brenda Kelley Kim1 Comment

NOT THE SAME OLD THING: The importance of ‘local’

"The best way to be global is to be local."Alex Atala I know, I know, this quote sounds like some Alice in Wonderland, "Sometimes down is up, sometimes up is down" kind of concept, but really, it's absolutely true. We are all citizens of the world; we all live on this beautiful blue marble and have our humanity in common. But let's face it: When you drill down to a region, a country, a state, city, town, or street, the picture changes a bit, doesn't it? While I am a born-and-raised New Englander and have lived here all my life, being a college student in Vermont was vastly different from commuting to Boston in my first real job, and both of those times were nothing like the years spent raising children in the suburbs. Those local areas each offered different experiences, an...

15Jun

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

How, where to vote on June 21

Polls will be open across Marblehead from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 21 for voting in the annual town election. This year's ballot features contested races for Board of Selectmen, School Committee, Board of Health, Town Moderator, Light Commission and Cemetery Commission. Voters will also decide the fate of two ballot questions proposing overrides of Proposition 2 1/2. Voters must vote in their own precincts. Polling places are as follows: Precinct 1: Old Town House, One Market SquarePrecincts 2 and 3: Abbot Hall Auditorium, 188 Washington St.Precincts 4, 5 and 6: Judy and Gene Jacobi Community Center Gym, 10 Humphrey Street Unsure of your precinct? Follow this link to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's website and enter your address. Marbl...

11Jun

By Kris OlsonNo Comments

About Us, Local News, Top Stories

Help us choose a new name!

An independent dedicated group of local journalists and Marblehead citizens has spent the last several months working toward creating a new independent news source that is hyper-focused on Marblehead and built on a sustainable non-profit model governed by a local board of directors. With the help of a kind local attorney (thanks, David Moran!), we wound our way through the IRS thicket as well as the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Office and established a bona fide 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Marblehead News Group. We brainstormed and produced an initial batch of content you see on the website, primarily focused on preparing residents to cast informed votes in the June 21 election. The one thing we could not settle on? A permanent new name. On this, we humbly request yo...