In seeing this, I thought about all the people who live with food insecurity these days.  How can we better connect the folks in need with resources like this?  After all, if you live in Maynard and don't have enough to eat, chances are you may not have a car to get to Boxborough.  True, we have Open Table and The Maynard Food Pantry here, so that's something solid.  And Maynard is so small that almost anyone who lives here can walk to those places if they can't drive.
I thought of having a mini van service to drive up there every Saturday morning, free of charge, so that people could just hop on and ride up there, grab some of what's available, and then be carried back home.  Perhaps leave from Main Street, near the Post Office.
I'm so busy trying to report the news, I'm unlikely to have the energy to organize this (as I'm short on sleep as it is), but if someone does, I can help by creating flyers and run stories here to help publicize it.

Grindavik, ICELAND - You might think I’m crazy, but last Saturday, I waded into a small lake of wastewater from a power plant and soaked in it for awhile.  And I had plenty of company!  There were literally a few hundred other people doing exactly the same thing that morning.
The water had a bluish white appearance.  As I stood upright, (it was only about four and a half feet deep), I put my hand down a few inches from the surface and could no longer see it, it was so opaque. 

• Frequent winds across Iceland mean that there is almost no air pollution as the air is constantly renewed by breezes from the ocean that surrounds it.  Recently, as we have experienced here in Maynard, our air quality is subject to change without notice, based on the increasing incidence of wildfires in North America, among other factors.

However, if you think it would be great to live there, you might want to consider the following:

• Many foods must be imported into Iceland, so food shopping or buying prepared meals is often more expensive than it is here in North America.  There are plenty of sheep, cows, and fish, there, but very few vegetables or fruit can be grown locally in the very short growing season.

• Although there are plenty of places to visit outside the cities, getting to many of them involves taking long trips in a car or on a tour bus (we chose to rent a car because we wanted a more flexible schedule).

Taking all that into consideration, we had a great time and I’m glad we went. It’s true that flying there (about 5 hours) does use jet fuel (a fossil fuel source).  I realize that, like anything else, “moderation in all things,”  is a good principle when considering air travel.  It is relatively easy to just book it and go, but to me, it makes sense to remain aware of our environmental impact.  After all, before 1914 there was no commercial air travel.  By 2019, just over 100 years later, an average of 2.8 million passengers fly every day!

We were in Iceland last week, which is why I didn't post any news stories here.  But rest assured, I have plenty waiting to put up here soon.  Right now, I'm preparing for my Citizen Journalism Open House, tomorrow (at 6:30 PM, Tuesday, 27 June, in the Maynard Public Library).  If you think news in Maynard is important, I'd love to hear your thoughts and share some of mine with you, so please attend if you can.  Please see the invitation and RSVP form by clicking on the button below. Thank you!

They are asking artists to drop off one piece of art per person, for submission this coming week:  Wednesday through Saturday, June 21 through 24, from Noon to 5 PM, at the Gallery's location, 77 Main Street in Maynard.
Complete details and an artwork submission form are now posted on the 6 Bridges Gallery web site:  https://6bridges.gallery/call-to-artists-only-from-maynard/

When I visited the Gallery this afternoon, the member who was staffing the desk remarked that without a local newspaper, it's been difficult to get the word out about events.  I don't doubt that, so I'm doing what I can here.  So if you are reading this story, please think of who you know who might like to know about this event and spread the word.
At the same time, I also want to put the word out, once again, to please get familiar with the Discover Maynard web site, if you haven't already done so. The Events section there is dutifully updated by volunteers here in Maynard on a frequent basis.  To make their job easier and keep the Discover Maynard web site current and useful, I urge anyone hosting events here in town to submit their event information using the "Submit Event" link on the Discover Maynard web site:  https://discovermaynard.com/
Also, I have just learned how to have flyers posted at the various outdoor public kiosks around town where anyone can check for events without needing a connection to the web.  Printed cards, pages, or flyers can be dropped off at Maynard Town Hall, 195 Main Street, at the Office of Municipal Services on the lower level, just to the left of the downstairs meeting room. The Town Hall is open Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 8 AM -4 PM; Tuesday from 8 AM to 7 PM; and Friday from 8 AM to 12 Noon.

The other is The Maynard Legacy, Season 2 Finale, a compendium of recently produced student news and feature segments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGEuP35vFhE
The station also provides programming on local cable TV channels (Ch. 28 on Verizon FiOS; Ch. 8 on Comcast Xfinity), as well as radio programming on 91.7 FM or streaming on their web site:  https://wavm.org/radio-91-7fm/
Programming is produced and broadcast under the supervision & with the instruction of Maynard High School faculty.
Note: My thanks go to John Ogden, Maynard High School Faculty for television and radio broadcast, for providing information on the stories above.  For general information on school department activities, events, and news in general, you can access the school department's main web site directly:  https://www.maynard.k12.ma.us

One of the regular features of the local newspaper in Maynard was stories on student athletics and their team's activities.  Now that publication has ceased, a number of people have told me how much they have missed it.  Some local newspapers also carry a schedule of local access television programs, but without a newspaper, that's now gone as well.
To be honest, athletics is not at the top of my list of interests.  Radio and Video production are more my style, as part of my general focus on communication media.  In either case, if I tried to cover the numerous stories in these areas, I'd be spreading myself way too thin.  Instead, my goal is to provide links to stories, programs, or videos published by others.  This story is one example.
I can't afford to fill my news feed with everything that comes in across my desk, of course. But over time, I hope to do some justice to providing a connection to other sources of news here in Maynard.
One advantage I have here, when compared to a traditional newspaper, is that I can provide links to audio or video that can be accessed directly without the need to hand enter a complex URL with a string of nonsense characters.  I give the links themselves in each story, in case I or others print it out on paper to hand out to others.

I think of the exhibit and event as an informal “learning environment” rather than something that follows the structure of a meeting, a talk, or a class.  I’m ready to talk about what I’m doing, and lend my perspective on communication media and citizen journalism, but I’m also very much interested in the ideas and perspectives of anyone else who would like to share or have questions.

I promise I won’t ask anyone to join a committee or commit to anything else; my only invitation is to show up, learn something, and have a good time in the process.  We may be standing around talking in groups or sitting, depending on what those who attend wish to do.  Although I’m seeking donations here on this web site, I won’t be soliciting for them while at the Library.

I’m thinking of providing some refreshments, but I would like to get some idea of how many people may attend and what kind of things they’d perhaps like to snack on.  Please RSVP using the form below if you’re willing. Attendance at this event is free and open to the public.  And by the way, I’m serious about this being an invitation to anyone of any age, from 9 to 90 (and no, I won’t be checking IDs!).

(Note: I have just learned that the library web site calendar only shows events hosted by the library itself, or ones hosted by other official town committees or departments, so this event will not be listed there.  However, Discover Maynard Calendar should have a listing.)
Download the flyer using the PDF document link below and help spread the word!

The artworks, in various media, are so numerous that there is hardly enough wall space in the room to accommodate them all.  As a result, some items are displayed on portable panels, and others are displayed at floor level.

For details and schedule of hours the room is open, please see the library's web site calendar:  https://maynardpubliclibrary.assabetinteractive.com/calendar/2023-june/  Please note that even though the show is not listed on the calendar for Monday the 12th, plans are to have it remain up throughout the day.

The group is actively searching for new studio space for their members at this time.

From what I understand the Acme Theater is still in operation in west end of the building, at 61 Summer Street.  Their web site https://www.acmetheater.com/ is being updated and their shows are continuing.

The Town of Maynard now has a committee to study the future of the building, as a whole.  There is more information on the committee's web site:  https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/449/61-63-Summer-Street-Re-Use-Committee

“We should expect the bridge to be completed some time this fall,” Public Works Director Justin DeMarco told me, when I talked with him recently.  Surprisingly, the town is not managing the rebuild.  When it comes to bridge construction, the town turns over ownership of the bridge to the state. The state (aka The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Highway Division, Municipal Small Bridge Program) hires the contractors and manages all construction.  When the job is completed, the state returns ownership of the new bridge to the town.  The entire project will take about two years of work, from start to finish.  “That’s actually pretty good,” DeMarco told me.  Bridge projects often took double that in the past.

Up until the late 1960s, many people and industries often treated rivers as giant sewage canals and dumped all kinds of hazardous and foul effluent into them.  After the famous Cuyahoga River fire of 1969 ( https://www.nps.gov/articles/story-of-the-fire.htm ), attitudes towards rivers began to change.  There are now many federal and state laws and regulations in place to protect them.

Bridges can last for 100 years if properly designed and built.  The Florida Road bridge that was removed was built in 1915, so it was clearly due for replacement.  Now the goal is to build this new bridge well enough to last for the next 100 years.

The Town’s Web site has more detailed information regarding the project:  https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/316/Florida-Road-Bridge-Project