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Citing ongoing health issues, Karl A. Johnson resigned his seat on the Light Commission "immediately," in a letter to Town Clerk Robin Michaud dated July 13. Johnson had been reelected to a three-year term on the Light Commission in 2021. Under the town's process for filling such vacancies, the remaining four members of the Light Commission will meet in joint session with the members of the Select Board to appoint a commissioner to serve in the seat until next June's annual town election, and then the town's voters will get a chance to elect someone for the remaining year on Johnson's term. The Light Commission race was the tightest of the contested races on this year's town election ballot, ultimately requiring a recount. In that recount, Jean-Jacques Yarmoff was confir...

Marblehead School Superintendent John Buckey has been elected president of the North Shore Superintendents Roundtable. Buckey succeeds Carol Jacobs, superintendent of schools in Georgetown, who held the position for the past 12 years. The election was held last week at the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents 28th annual Summer Executive Institute held at Mashpee High School. School Superintendent John Buckey The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents originated in 1973 and is the only statewide organization dedicated to the professional and advocacy concerns of school superintendents and assistant superintendents. In addition to holding multiple networking and professional development events per year, the association supports eight regional round t...

Our coverage of the town is free, and we’d like to keep it that way. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the Marblehead News Group, Inc. by visiting https://bit.ly/3NxZ0yJ. The winning margin of new Marblehead Light Commissioner Jean-Jacques Yarmoff only expanded in a recount held July 11 at Marblehead High School. Initially declared the winner of one of two seats in the June 21 annual election by a 19-vote margin in the June 21 election over incumbent commissioner Walter Homan, Yarmoff added nine votes in the recount while Homan lost five, bringing the final margin to 33 votes, 2,633 to 2,600. Back on July 5, the town's Board of Registrars had met on July 5 to examine the petitions and statements Homan had submitted to request the recount formally and found that they me...

As the dust settles (sort of) on the 2022 town election, Marblehead finds itself with a new town moderator, Jack Attridge. The Marblehead native's election embodies a rare changing of the guard in this particular elected office. Attridge's predecessor, Gary Spiess, held the post for 16 years, and before Spiess, Steve Howe carried out moderator duties for a whopping 43 years. Next May, Spiess can partake in something he had given up while presiding over the town’s most significant civic meeting of the year: contributing to the debate on the town warrant's articles. Gary Spiess, former town moderator, sits in the Muffin Shop on a recent Sunday morning. "You have to remember that you're a conciliator, not an advocate,” Spiess said of the moderator role between sips of a black de...

No one has been driven crazier by the sound emanating from Marblehead's Crocker Park the past two Fourth of July weekends than Brian Wheeler. That sound? Silence. Wheeler, longtime chairperson of the performing arts portion of the Marblehead Festival of Arts, is beyond excited that he and his team of volunteers will once again this year be bringing an eclectic array of accomplished performers to the stage at the "gorgeous sandbox" that the Parks and Recreation Department and other town officials have allowed them to play around in for the past quarter-century. The stage at Crocker Park may have been quiet the past two years, thanks to COVID-19. But that is all about to change. Until its involuntary COVID-19-related hiatus, the Performing Arts program had been part of the Festi...

Thanks to throngs of dedicated volunteers, the annual Marblehead Festival of Arts has long been a sprawling event. There are so many features for young and old, it can be hard to wrap your head around all of them. The Marblehead News thought it might be helpful to put together a quick primer for visitors, those new in town or anyone in need of a bit of a refresher. For a complete listing of all things MFoA, visit the Festival's website. Exhibits One centerpiece of the festival is, of course, the visual arts, with six sites around town hosting exhibits in various media. Abbot Hall: Crafts, Painting, and PrintmakingSt. Michael's Church: Mixed Media, Digital Art, and SculptureUnitarian Universalist Church: Drawing and Senior ArtOld North Church: Youth and StudentOld Town Hous...