CP_MBHC_20230920_1_A01
CUZNER IN NATURE
The elusive green herons
IN THIS ISSUE
Page 3
OPINION
ABBOT HALL
Trading farm fields for the wild blue sea
‘Less bridge, more trail’
NONPROFIT ORG PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
MARBLEHEAD, MA PERMIT NO. 25
Page 14
Page 6
NEWS FOR PEOPLE, NOT FOR PROFIT.
TM
September 20, 2023
|
VOLUME 1, ISSUE NO. 41
| MARBLEHEADCURRENT.ORG
|
ON SOCIAL @MHDCURRENT
KEEPING A PROMISE
Happy ending for man and his bride after he overcomes tragedies BY LEIGH BLANDER It’s the stuff movies are made of — a story of triumph over tragedy that ends with a hurricane and a wedding. Meet Thomas Smith, who lives in Marblehead. “Growing up, I was a hockey player and on track to be a
Division I athlete with a good chance of playing professional hockey,” Smith says. But then, he was paralyzed not once but twice on the ice. “My first accident was on Aug. 2. 2008,” Smith told the Current. “Doctors said I made a one-in-amillion recovery.” They cleared him to play
again. He was injured a second time on Oct. 1, 2009. “The doctor said I had a better chance of winning the lottery five times in a row” than it happening again. Smith was paralyzed from
COURTESY PHOTO / THOMSON & THOMSON PHOTOGRAPHY
Keeping his promise: Thomas Smith walks his mother down the aisle at his WEDDING, P. A11 wedding at Abbot Hall, along with his brother.
SEA SURPRISE
HOUSING
Town to ID zones for denser housing
Once in a blue shell Lobstering couple make one-in-two-million find BY WILLIAM J. DOWD A wife-and-husband crew of a Marblehead lobster boat made a rare catch on Thursday morning, Sept. 14: a lobster with a brilliant periwinkle blue shell. “It was really blue — like blue-rubber-gloves blue,” Anne Rodgers told the Marblehead Current on Thursday afternoon. “It was beautiful.” Rodgers and her husband, Marblehead Veterans Agent David Rodgers were on their boat, Liberty, moving traps ahead of Hurricane Lee’s arrival. “We were on the outside of Tinker’s Island near the Roaring Bull area,” Anne explained. Her eyes widened as she spotted the blue lobster among the catch. “I said, ‘Look, it’s blue,’ and Dave said, ‘What’s blue?’” recalled Anne. “I said, ‘The lobster.’” According to experts, blue lobsters like the one caught by the Rodgers are blue due to a genetic mutation, which causes them to produce an excessive amount of a particular protein. When that protein binds to astaxanthin, a carotenoid pigment that gives lobster shells their typical
State law mandates multifamily areas BY WILLIAM J. DOWD
COURTESY PHOTO
BLUE, P. A11
Anne Rodgers holds the rare blue lobster that she and her husband, Dave, caught on their boat, Liberty. She described the catch as ‘gorgeous.’
The Marblehead Planning Board is exploring ways to comply with a state law that requires MBTA communities to zone for multifamily housing. The mandate will help the state “meet our goals for housing, transportation and climate resiliency,” explained Lily Linke of the Citizens Housing and Planning Association at a Planning Board meeting last week. She said cities and towns that don’t comply may lose state funding and grants and face enforcement in state and federal courts. “All MBTA communities must comply with the law,” Attorney General Andrea Campbell wrote in an August advisory. Marblehead has until the end of 2024 to zone a total of 27 acres that allow residential development at a minimum density of 15 units per acre. The zones must be located within half a mile of MBTA transportation and suitable for families with children. The total capacity needs to be about 900 units — which is 10% of Marblehead’s housing stock. The Board talked about holding a working session later this month to study zoning maps and brainstorm potential locations before launching public outreach. Member Ed Nilsson emphasized the importance of education, outreach and HOUSING, P. A4
SCOUT PROJECT
MHS student leads greenhouse groundbreaking BY LEIGH BLANDER After more than two years and 400 hours of work, Marblehead High School senior and Scout Tyler Earp joined Acting Superintendent Michelle Cresta and other school leaders — all with shovels in hand — for a groundbreaking for Earp’s greenhouse project. “I’m so glad to see this coming to fruition,” Earp said. “It will be nice to see it here.” Earp started working on his greenhouse idea, an Eagle Scout project, in February of 2021. “There were six months of planning, three months of approvals from the Scouts and the schools, and then we started fundraising,” he said.
BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW
The greenhouse should be completed and ready for use by the end of October. Earp raised more than $76,000 for the project. “I have received over 275 donations from individual, corporate and civic organizations,” he said. The largest donation, $11,000, was anonymous. The greenhouse will be 17 feet wide by 22 feet long with a peak height of 9 feet. It will be made of glass and aluminum with a concrete foundation. Groom Construction is donating its time and materials to pour the foundation. Local architect Jeff Tucker contributed the plans. GREENHOUSE, P. A5
CURRENT PHOTO/LEIGH BLANDER
At the groundbreaking for a greenhouse at Marblehead High School are, from left, architect Jeff Tucker, Groom Construction’s Dwight Groom, Tyler Earp, Acting Superintendent Michele Cresta, MHS Assistant Principals Lindsay Donaldson and Dan Richards, and Principal Michele Carlson.