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Nearly 900 residents attended the Special Town Meeting in the gymnasium and the auditorium.

Controversial MBTA Zoning Passes in MBTS

Manchester by-the-Sea Special Town Meeting voted to accept the MBTA zoning plan after vigorous debate on both sides Monday night at the Manchester Essex High School. Nearly 900 residents attended …
Essex Planning Board chair Lisa O’Donnell (right) with fellow PB member Shelly Bradbury (left) led the charge on carefully crafting Article 3's residential protections.

Historic Rezoning Denied, Delayed in Essex

Essex residents this week paused the adoption of zoning by the Planning Board that would have dramatically expanded residential property protections because it was deemed anti-business and pushed too …
Abby Kent drives to the net in the Hornet’s MIAA Sweet Sixteen joust on Wednesday at home.  ME won the two games played during the season 1-0 and 1-0, but after a long, tiring game lost to Ipswich in a shootout.

Familiar Foe Ipswich Ends ME Field Hockey Team’s Season

When the Manchester Essex and Ipswich field hockey teams play one another, it’s destined to go down to the wire. During the regular season meeting between the two teams in Ipswich during …

In Pictures: Veterans Day, Manchester, 2024

As a Veteran’s day tradition, veterans visited the schools to explain the day to various classrooms of pupils. Here the kindergartners at MMES greet Legion Chaplain Bruce Heisey for a photo …
Essex County Greenbelt’s DeNormandie Woods/Long Hill Conservation Project will safeguard 330 acres between Manchester and Gloucester, preserve natural habitat, an established trail system, and important watershed land from development. Voters in Manchester will be asked to approve $250,000 of CPC money for the project.

MBTS Town Meeting Monday: Here's What You Need to Know

All Manchester voters are encouraged to attend the Special Town Meeting set for Monday, November 18 at the Middle-High School.   Given that a larger than normal crowd may attend, early arrival, …
Brian Geaudreau of Hancock Associates, a CST consultant, points out how a sidewalk will fit on Atwater Avenue in Tuesday’s MBTS Planning Board hearing. (
Dueling STMs in Essex, Manchester; CST Permit Hearing Continues
There’s a lot going on this season, including the state-mandated consideration in November of a zoning change to encourage added housing in Manchester, what’s going on this year with the …
Summer Demeo scrambles for the ball in last week’s 6-0 MIAA tournament win again Sturgis Charter East.
Tourney Win is Familiar Territory for ME Field Hockey
It’s all very familiar, but that doesn’t make it any less impressive. Two years ago, the Manchester Essex field hockey team played in the Div. 4 State Final. In 2023, the Hornets made it to …
Henry Stevens was the Hornets’ top runner at the CA League Cross Country Championships.
Top-Five Finish for ME Boys XC in CAL
In October, coach Steve Whittey used the term “underrated” to describe the Manchester Essex boys’ cross country during the 2024 regular season. Although the Hornets finished with a 1-4 record, …

Paige Farrell : Be Light ! | It’s Christmas

Pottery, by Gloucester artist Paige Farrell

"Paige Farrell : Be Light ! | It’s Christmas," a celebration of art in clay will be on view for one weekend only —December 14th and 15th — at Jane Deering Gallery in Gloucester.

Bruce MacDonald

Bruce A. MacDonald, 87, of Manchester, MA passed away in the early hours of Wednesday December 4, 2024 at the Kaplan Family Hospice House in Danvers. Son of the late Alexander and Alice (Patch) …

"The Terror of Abbadia Mare" at Hammond Castle is a Fun, Ghostly Thrill

"Jimmy T" (a.k.a. Jimmy Tarentino) delights as the sailor in "The Terror of Abbadia Mare," at the Hammond Castle Museum playing thru Oct. 26.

John Hays Hammond Jr.’s wild and creative mind is on display at the Hammond Castle Museum this week, with a creative Halloween theatrical performance this week that offers “guests” an …

Sports

Smooth Sailing So Far for ME Field Hockey

Hornet Abby Kent fires a shot towards the back of the net in an earlier match against Danvers.  ME won 4-0.  At press time the Hornets are 7-1-1.  Kent has a record of 6 goals and 7 assists.  ME next faces Gloucester on October 3.
It’s probably a sure sign that things are going well when a coach calls her team’s lone loss in a season a, “slump.” To be certain, there aren’t many things to complain about when it comes to the Manchester Essex field hockey team in 2024. The Hornets have been spectacular ...
Those close losses can sting like no other, but this one packed more of a wallop because it knocked the Manchester Essex football team out of the Div. 7 playoff mix. A couple of weeks ago, the …
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IN THE HORNET'S NEST
The ME cross country team met their opponents, Amesbury on Senior Day at Ravenswood Park in Gloucester.  From left, the senior runners are Henry Stevens, Henry Chadbourne, Libby McKinnon, Sabine Cooper, Whitney Turner and Hayden Remington.

ME Cross Country Readies for Postseason Meets

The regular season is over for the Manchester Essex cross country teams, and now comes the postseason push. Both Hornet squads will compete in the Cape Ann League Championships at Wrentham …

ME Girls Soccer Hopes to Keep Up Momentum in Postseason

At the start of the season, the Manchester Essex girls’ soccer team faced a number of unknowns: How much would the returning talent and experience on the field translate into wins and losses? How …

ME Football Looks Ahead to Postseason

With the MIAA tournament field now set, Manchester Essex football coach Joe Grimes feels his team’s best is yet to come. “The regular season was a good one for the Hornets and I feel …
Lifestyle
2024 Toyota Tundra

2024 Toyota Tundra: Stacking Up

The Toyota Tundra is a full-size pickup truck built in America—in San Antonio, actually—and designed to compete with the Chevrolet Silverado and Ford F150.  Believe it or not, it has …
2025 Mercedes E450

Mercedes E Class: Changing of the Luxury Sedan Guard?

The Mercedes E-Class was updated just last year, and it continues to be a great choice for upscale customers looking for an understated luxury sedan that’s safe and provides a very good driving …
On Tuesday, the Cape Ann Museum packed up “Three Dancing Girls,” by Manchester’s Charles Hopkinson as it empties its Pleasant Street home to make way for an $18 million renovation.  Here, Assistant Curator Leon Doucette and Jennifer Hale carefully remove the work from the wall to be prepared for shipping.

Two Hopkinsons, Making Their Way

The Cape Ann Museum has begun the painstaking process of packing up its original downtown campus on Pleasant Street to make way for an historic, $18 million modernization and renovation that will …
The Bluegrass and Beyond concert features Charles Clements, bass, Concert Master Scott Moore, fiddle, George Clements, guitar, and Erica Pisaturo, fiddle.

Cape Ann Symphony Musicians Unleashed Concert Series

Cape Ann Symphony proudly announces the opening of the 2024/25 Musicians Unleashed Concert Series with Bluegrass and Beyond, on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at 3 p.m. at The Unitarian Universalist …
And they're off!

2024 Cardboard Boat Regatta Photo Gallery

Weather was no match for Sunday’s 15th Annual Cardboard Boat Regatta, with eager spectators braving cold and “spitty” rains at Manchester’s public boat launch behind Town Hall …
Home and Garden
The Teen Loft celebrated last week's MERSD early release day by inviting students to make candy sushi!  (Idle question:  If you whip up a Japanese dish using Swedish Fish, is that fusion cuisine?).

Manchester Library Notes | Nov 15

This week at the library there is perfume making, Community Game Night, celebrating the best in detective fiction, winter hibernation and lots more.   Library Closing | The library will …

I have long been obsessed with discovering how people live in small spaces. One year for my birthday, I dragged my husband and four young children to the RV show at the convention center in Boston. …
Pets and People

An Ode to Veterinary Medicine

Larry Lamb and his wife and partner, Jaqueline

This month we are celebrating our 30th Anniversary at the Manchester Animal Hospital.   With Jacqueline, my partner in this endeavor, it is a very sweet time to reflect and consider the journey …

Books

Manchester Library Notes | Oct 25

MBTS_Library_Book.jpg (Courtesy Photo) Manchester Library Notes | October 25 This week at the library it’s the Cookbook Club, Dungeons and Dragons for Adults, Graphic Novel Club and much …

Columnists

Old or New? Which Way Does Your House Lean?

A chic interior with a nice, light filled room to read books or browse interior design publications. Armchair design and wallpaper with a floral motif. Generative AI

Reconciling an historic home with modern living can be tricky. These properties are beautiful house with solid bones, but it's important when you tackle this type of design renovation to proceed with a healthy dose of caution ...

Obituaries
Lorraine Auwaerter Bullock
Lorraine Auwaerter Bullock, beloved wife of Anthony N. Bullock III died, Wednesday, November 27, 2024 at home surrounded by her family. Born in Philadelphia, PA, she was the daughter of Mary (Niznik) …
Evelyn M. (Burbank) Marshall
Evelyn M. (Burbank) Marshall, 89, affectionately known as “Pete” passed away on November 12, 2024, spending her last days at home with her family by her side. She was born in Ipswich, MA …
Eleanor M. Lee
Eleanor M. Lee, 93, passed away peacefully at home on September 3, 2024. She was the daughter of Maude E. Olsen and Oscar Olsen. She grew up in Manchester …
Lynda (Pitts) Griffiths
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Lynda (Pitts) Griffiths on November 10, 2024. She was born in 1944 in Madill, Oklahoma and moved around through several states over the course …
Christopher R. "Bubba" Glass
Christopher R. Glass, 77, affectionately known as “Bubba”, a lifelong resident of Manchester-by-the-Sea passed away on October 30, 2024, at the Lahey Clinic in Burlington.   He …
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