Linda Saris — Bringing Passion to The Point

Linda Saris is in her 10th year as director of Salem CyberSpace.

One woman is working hard to make a difference in The Point. Ten years ago, Linda Saris began to make a difference by opening Salem CyberSpace, a learning center for the neighborhood’s youth and adults. With an undergraduate degree in economics and urban studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from the University of Chicago, Saris has spent most of her career as a high-tech executive, taking Bedford’s RSA Security public as its chief financial officer. But she has harbored a passion for public service from a young age. ”I’m a child of the 60s, and for kids who grew up in the 60s we were taught we could change things, that actions are able to impact positive change,” she said. “I promised myself that when I had the …

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Police Chief: 'Hands-On Approach' Key to Improving Quality of Life in Point

Residents, Ward 1 Councilor and Salem Police discuss issues in the Point after Fourth of July mayhem.

Education, dialogue and planning were key themes in a discussion about recent happenings in the Point and where the neighborhood is headed. Head of the Point Neighborhood Association, Lucy Corchado, Police Chief Paul Tucker, Sgt. Harry Rocheville and Officer Robert Phelan of the Community Impact Unit met with approximately 25 neighborhood residents who represented nearly every street in the area at a meeting Monday evening. The meeting was conducted in both English and Spanish with the help of Corchado as translator to accommodate all residents.  "I'm very grateful to everyone here," Tucker said at the beginning of the meeting, adding that each time he meets with the association, there are no problems that "we cant solve together." "[But] …

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Matt

10:25 am on Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Easy: stop building "affordable" (aka subsidized) housing. There's too much of it in Salem as it is. The Mayor had a real chance to develop St. Joe's into something that would create jobs and improve the area. Unfortunately she didn't take advantage of the opportunity. All affordable housing does is make market rent apartments less affordable. All while giving tax breaks to developers and the …   more ›

A Voice In Salem

A Point Kid Remembers the Past and Considers the Present

Today's Point was sown by the seeds of yesterday — idealistic memories are flawed.

I do not subscribe to the much discussed theory that the Point, when it was a French-Canadian enclave, was a clean and perfect world. My earliest memories of my life are of Perkins Street. It runs east of and parallel to Congress Street, beginning at the side gate of Shetland Park and ending at the front gate of the Palmer Cove Yacht Club. My father, and many of his brothers and sisters, were born in a small double decker there, located behind the old North Shore Market. We lived in a large, four-story tenement just up the street from that very house where my Memere still lived. Coast Guard aircraft taking off and landing to or from Winter Island were a daily presence. We later moved to Ward Street where we lived in two separate houses …

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