For those who had clamored since before April’s Annual Town Meeting for a three-way meeting of the Selectmen, Finance Committee and School Committee to look at the town’s finances, the first public meeting of the Tri-Board on June 11 must have been something of a disappointment.
The residents of the town of Wakefield, Massachusetts who advocated [...]

Vote NO on Wakefield, MA school budget
In next Tuesday’s referendum election on the $27.4 million School Department budget, the only vote that make sense is a “No” vote.

This conclusion has nothing to do with the value of education, the needs of the Wakefield School Department or the sincerity of the School Committee. It has everything [...]

Thoughts on the April 7, 2008 Wakefield (Massachusetts) Town Meeting
Sometimes it pays to listen to our elder statesmen.
But when we become caught up in a righteous cause, it’s easy to ignore the voices of experience in our midst. We dismiss them at our own peril.
Advocates to fund the School Department budget did a good job [...]

The best thing to come out of last week’s FCC hearing into Comcast Corp.’s Internet polices had nothing to do with the subject of the hearing. The purpose of the hearing was to look into the communications giant’s network management practices.
But the thing that tickled me about the news story was the fact that Comcast [...]

Every year at around this time, just as the shock of your holiday debt is beginning to set in, the telecoms (formerly known as the cable companies) send out their own Season’s Greetings – in the form of a rate “adjustment.”
Somehow, the rates never seem to get adjusted down.

Now that the New Hampshire Primary is over, we in Massachusetts may get a very short break from the barrage of “approved messages” on Boston TV and radio stations that have been aimed primarily at voters in the Granite State. Any respite will be short lived, however, with the Massachusetts primary less than a month [...]

I like vanity license plates in the same way as I like weddings and children. They’re lots of fun as long as they’re not my own.
I would never have a vanity license plate on my car. It’s not just that I’m too cheap, although that’s part of it. And it’s not because of an undersupply [...]

The whole silly story broke in the middle of November.
A middle school in Winchester planned a December 19 field trip to Stoneham Theatre where 7th graders would be treated to a professional theatrical performance of the Christmas classic, Miracle on 34th Street. But then the principal abruptly cancelled the school trip after receiving complaints from [...]

November 11 is Veterans’ Day, an opportunity for Americans who support our troops, past and present, to gather together and champion the men and women in uniform who serve and defend the United States.
Wakefield’s 2007 Veterans’ Day ceremonies will take place on Sunday, November 11 at 11 a.m. in the Galvin Middle School Auditorium.
Attendance at [...]

I am nothing if not ahead of my time.
On April 1, 1999, I wrote a column about filling in the Lake and building the “Quannapowitt Casino.” In spite of the date on the newspaper, some people in town actually thought it was a serious proposal.
Back then, the state’s economy was booming, cities and towns were [...]