A Voice In Salem

5 Places I Love In Downtown Salem

Here's a look at the positive — Derby Square, Artists' Row, the waterfront, flowers and a couple of dry fountains.

Today we follow up on last week's discussion on downtown locations that are in need of some work. You and I probably frequent many of the same places. We stop for coffee or a muffin, read a newspaper or just sit and chat with a friend. We all have our favorite spots whether it be a breakfast place or a bench somewhere. Some of the spots may have changed in appearance or in name over the years, but many have long been places where locals meet to discuss sports, business, family or politics. Town House Square is one of these places. Many no longer know it by that name. My grandfather, Bill Hussey, used to meet his cronies there when Gerber's Restaurant was in its heyday. He continued to walk there daily up until he fell ill in 1985.  Here …

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SalemWhole

5:25 pm on Tuesday, May 28, 2013

One way to make Artists' Row safe would be to get rid of the alcoholics, drug addicts, and pedophiles who hang out there. Most of that could be done very easily by kicking the Salem Arts Club off.   more ›

A Voice In Salem

5 Places That Bother Me In Downtown Salem

Here's my take on traffic, loitering, litter, Pickering Wharf and Museum Place.

  Most of my time is spent in downtown Salem. Thirty years of wanderlust has dissipated and it is my pleasure to say I am content to occupy my time in this small corner of the world.  When not spending idle time, I have been found employed by various local entities in the corporate, hospitality, municipal and fitness fields. If you see me sitting about staring at a computer screen, chances are I am working on one of my writing projects or opining for Patch. As I walk the town and take in the sights, I see many of the same things you see. Your perspective and mine may differ on occasion. Once in a while we may see things the same way.  Salem has changed tremendously in the last 20 years. It has changed for the better. Not everything has …

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Erin

9:37 pm on Wednesday, September 12, 2012

I just returned from a visit to Salem and that intersection is most definitely not just a driver only problem. Pedestrians seldom wanted to wait for the very short walk light to come up and crossed whenever they 'thought' they had a break. From a pedestrian's viewpoint, the way the pedestrian crossing lights work doesn't work well, if you're trying to get to the diagonally opposite corner. You …   more ›

A Voice In Salem

State Senate Election Could Impact 2013 City Races

September democratic run-off may alter local political winds.

  August has passed its mid-point and we will soon be into September. The ninth month has long been one of transition. The weather will begin a gradual change to cooler winds, and students will return to their studies. Transitions will also occur in the political world. There have been some watershed moments over the last 40 years in Salem. The mayoral election in 1969 stands as the first one in my memory. Two sons of Salem squared off to succeed Francis X. Collins who had led the city for 20 years. When the smoke cleared, Sam Zoll had won the vote over Dick Guy. Soon after that, Jean Levesque, who had been selected by the city council to succeed Zoll, was challenged in two consecutive elections by Hank O'Donnell.  Levesque endured to …

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A Voice In Salem

PEM Expansion — Shade Trees Are Not Really The Issue

Community perceives a lack of respect from the Peabody Essex Museum as construction plans are released.

  There are days when I am surprised at how easily people's emotions can be stirred — in this case it is the future, or lack thereof, for two small Honey Locust trees, seven Red Oak trees and the location of a construction crane on the pedestrian mall. As a young Derby Street kid I remember walking across the old Empire's parking lot as I crossed from Charter Street to Essex Street. I could have been going to Almy's or on my way to mow the lawn at my grandfather's house in North Salem. As I approached what was once Liberty Street, I would stop and watch as a large hole was excavated for the foundation for the first expansion of what we knew then as the Peabody Museum. Later downtown, journeys that summer were interrupted to watch steel …

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A Voice In Salem

Power Plant — It's Time to 'Walk the Walk'

The time for talking is soon to end and results will be expected.

  Long before any of us were here, decisions were made concerning the waterfront.  Business, profit and employment were the impetus. Many generations of Salemites have lived with the results of those decisions.  More than 175 years later the main legacy of those who built the waterfront industries has been Shetland Park, the mess that is the North River, and the smokestacks of the power plant. It would seem that the third leg of that industrial triad is soon to be a thing of the past. There are few in Salem who do not have an opinion on what has transpired over the last few years in regards to the 60-acre site on Fort Avenue. No one loves it. Many love the jobs and tax revenue that it has generated. Lots of folks truly hate it. Some who …

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Richard

11:52 pm on Wednesday, August 8, 2012

You're right, you definitely don't want to mess with the Fed's, but the FERC filing seems to only deal with the current plant operation, so it probably doesn't lock them into anything else. If I'm doing the math right, I think Dominion may have actually paid Footprint to acquire the plant. In their second quarter earnings last week Dominion took a $27 million write down on Salem Harbor for the …   more ›

A Voice In Salem

Urban Safety Is Both Reality and Illusion

Small steps could assist in solving the larger issue.

  The recent Patch poll on how safe we are in Salem generated some interesting and, in a few cases, predictable comments. There are those who said that Salem is not as safe as it used to be. Some compared us unfavorably with Lynn, our larger neighbor to the south. The Salem Police Department, the homeless shelter at Lifebridge, low-income housing, and the new parking plan all came under criticism or were assigned blame. Comparing us to Lynn, or any other neighboring community just does not work. Lynn has its issues as does every other community that we border. Any honest reading of police logs will bear that fact out. Drugs, assaults, and robberies are common across the North Shore. We are not special. Picking on the police is too easy. …

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Let's Break Ground on the New MBTA Station

The discussion has gone on long enough; the MBTA station project needs to move to the next step.

Discussion and input from private citizens concerning public works projects is good; it is an integral part of the process. Over the last few years, many have weighed in on the plans to build a new station for the MBTA commuter rail at Washington and North streets. The opinions are many and varied. Those who are a few years older than me are always sure to bring up memories of the old depot at what is now Riley Plaza. Their memories of that towering stone structure are almost always pleasant and entertaining. My father often told the story of his father and his departure from that station for Fort Dix and Army boot camp. He would detail how my Memere (grandmother) had lined up all 11 of their children to say goodbye. As my father told the…

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A Voice In Salem

Cameras in Parks Are a Step Too Far

Civil liberty is the key component of this issue.

We all want safety and security for ourselves and our families. Those of us who whose hair has either left the room or turned to gray or white certainly remember the days when parents didn't seem to worry as much about how safe their children were when they left the house for the day. As a young skinny nine-year-old, summer days meant that I would leave the house shortly after breakfast on my stingray bicycle with the banana seat. The itinerary would be fluid as the day's events would take me to places both planned and unplanned. Lunch would often be at a friend's house and on occasion we would lunch at my mothers table. We usually didn't know whose mom would feed us until we all piled into the kitchen. Most times, our afternoons would …

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John Dumas

10:36 am on Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Did anyone get the EVIL dictator part?   more ›

A Voice In Salem

State Law on Service Animals is Toothless Waste of Time And Money

Rules are written in a way that makes enforcement impossible.

  We are a nation of laws. Without rules, our society, culture and institutions would not exist.  Where we run into problems is when laws are written unclearly or with no clear system in which to enforce that law.  If a police officer, when making a traffic stop, were not allowed by law to ask for proof of your right to drive or identity, he would be unable to cite you for whatever infraction you may have commited. As a result, the traffic laws would be ineffective and unenforceable. Massachusetts General Law Chapter 272, Section 98A is as good an example of a toothless law as I have ever seen. The decision by City of Salem Health Agent Larry Ramdin to suddenly enforce this law in regard to outdoor patios in Salem restaurants, while well …

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A Voice In Salem

Footprint's Power Plant Intentions Create Discussion

For or against — was your air conditioner running this weekend?

  The most prominent landmark in Salem is the 500-foot tall smoke stack at the Salem Harbor Power Station. That has been true since before I was born. As a small boy, three smaller stacks dominated the skyline. They created an optical illusion as you came up Derby Street. Each one in turn looked taller even though each stood 300 feet tall. My main memory of the power plant and its various stacks is of the dark clouds of smoke and steam that they belched on cold winter mornings. Those emissions would oftentimes, depending on the wind direction, result in layers of black soot on the windowsills at home. My mother would open the windows to a chilling blast of winter air so she could clean the soot from the sills. Salem and its surrounding …

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chester suchecki

5:31 pm on Friday, July 6, 2012

watch out snookie and family is moving to 24 fort avenue in her new spacious waterfront property   more ›