CP_MBHC_20230517_1_A01
IN THIS ISSUE
OPINION
HISTORY
SPORTS
‘Purest form of democracy?’ Hardly
MHD’s sole Salem witch trials victim
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Page 8
Spotlight shines on young track stars
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MARBLEHEAD, MA PERMIT NO. 25
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NEWS FOR PEOPLE, NOT FOR PROFIT.
TM
May 17, 2023
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VOLUME 1, ISSUE NO. 25
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MARBLEHEADCURRENT.ORG
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ON SOCIAL @MHDCURRENT
SCHOOL COMMITTEE ELECTION
Voters to choose amid budget crisis BY LEIGH BLANDER The race for School Committee is one of the hottest contests in the town’s June election, with four people vying for two seats. A fifth candidate, Karen TalMakhluf, dropped out last week. She was the first person to announce a run back in March. “Since then, I have been encouraged to see four other
Paul Baker
Brian Ota
candidates enter the race. Since I have no wish to detract from these candidates’ efforts and because I will also need
Sarah Gold
Jenn Schaeffner
to be traveling during much of the campaign season, I am publicly withdrawing from this year’s School Committee
race effective today, but I look forward to continuing to help move our community forward both as a volunteer and as a parent,” Tal-Makhluf wrote in a statement. The remaining School Committee candidates are Paul Baker, incumbent Sarah Gold, Brian Ota and former School Committee member Jennifer Schaeffner. The School Committee faces tough challenges as the district
SERVICE ABOVE SELF
Rotary Club unveils community clock
and the town grapple with a budget crisis. In fact, if town voters reject a $2.5 million override on the June ballot, Schools Supt. John Buckey says more than 30 staff positions will be cut. Also, several programs will be canceled, including freshmen sports. Here’s a quick look at each candidate: ELECTION, P. A9
SELECT BOARD
Discord aired over COVID relief funds Officials emphasize need for investment in infrastructure, reversing learning loss BY WILLIAM J. DOWD
CURRENT PHOTOS / NICOLE GOODHUE BOYD
A Pleasant Street crowd celebrates the unveiling of the Rotary Club of Marblehead’s community clock on Thursday, May 11.
Rotary Club’s 100 years of service Gift to town to our community, to the youth of Marblehead, to our international celebrates a projects. We hope that these efforts into the next century as century of service continue well.” BY WILLIAM J. DOWD In front of a crowd gathered across from the National Grand Bank, the Rotary Club of Marblehead unveiled a community clock in celebration of its centennial anniversary on May 11. “In today’s world, clocks are integral to everything we do from work to school to sleep. Humans have been regulated by some form of the clock for ages,” said Nancy Gwin, the Rotary Club of Marblehead’s co-president, to the crowd surrounding the clock. “This [clock] is the perfect symbol to commemorate our Marblehead
The community clock, standing at 10-and-a-half feet, is located next to Memorial Park along Pleasant Street. It was manufactured by Electric Time Street Clocks, a Massachusetts company that Gwin noted for its reliable and durable timepieces. The clock, with its dual faces, can be seen from various directions and will light up at night. Rotary Club District Governor Alexander Falk briefly addressed the crowd before reading a letter from Rotary International President CLOCK, P. A5
The community clock, standing at 10-and-a-half feet, is located next to Memorial Park along Pleasant Street. It was made by Electric Time Street Clocks, a Massachusetts company.
Members of the Marblehead Select Board recently expressed conflicting views regarding its allocation of the town’s remaining $3.3 million in federal COVID relief funds from the American Reinvestment Plan Act (ARPA). During a public meeting on May 10, these contrasting opinions arose as the Select Board considered, and ultimately approved, two ARPA funding requests worth $93,513 for the Marblehead Public Schools. These proposals were the most recent recommendations from an ARPA working group chaired by Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer. ‘Circumstances have changed’ The working group prioritizes projects based on approved criteria, including public health, safety and infrastructure. The Select Board approved the criteria during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Select Board members Erin Noonan and Alexa Singer commended the ARPA working group but voiced a mutual desire for the Select Board to reassess the established criteria. “The whole landscape has changed since we established these priorities,” said Noonan, who suggested a meeting to discuss ARPA, P. A9
THE POWER OF ONE
Aboard WWII cattle car, students learn about Holocaust BY LEIGH BLANDER Hundreds of Marblehead High School students traveled back to 1940s Europe this week by boarding a replica of a cattle car — the kind that transported Jews and other targeted groups to Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust. Inside the car, which is 30 feet long by 10 feet wide, students watched a 360-degree, immersive video featuring two Holocaust survivors who were put on cattle cars with their families decades ago. The wooden, windowless car had 100 painted sets of footprints to
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represent the typical number of people packed inside. “The boxcar was the transition from being a human being to a number,” said survivor Nate Leipcinger. “This was a moment of horror. This was the last time we were together as a family.” “I remember how they pushed everyone into the cattle car,” said survivor Hedy Bohm. “We were liked sardines packed into a can. I remember my mother telling me she couldn’t breathe and I was fanning her. I remember darkness, crying and the feeling of fear.” After the survivors’ stories, the video gave a brief history of
the Nazis’ campaign in the late 30s and 40s to dehumanize and eventually systematically murder Jews and other minorities. The cattle car was part of an exhibit from the groups ShadowLight and Hate Ends Now, traveling across the United States to teach students about the horrors of the Holocaust and what people can do to make sure it never happens again. “The students have been very moved,” said Evelyn Riddell who led some of the presentations at MHS. “They are emotional and surprised by some of what they HOLOCAUST, P. A11
CURRENT PHOTOS / LEIGH BLANDER
Marblehead High students watch a 360-degree video presentation about the Holocaust while on board a replica of a cattle car used to transport Jews and others to death camps.