Malden Vol. 28, No. 27 -FREEHA ADVOCATE www.advocatenews.net Published Every Friday Historical reenactment celebrates American Independence 617-387-2200 Friday, July 5 , 2019 The road to the election takes a couple of new turns By Barbara Taormina V oters keeping track of candidates running in the upcoming municipal election had some news to consider this week. Tara Beardsley announced Mayor Gary Christenson (center) was impressed with the young talent of the William Diamond Junior Fife & Drum Corps. during Malden Declaration Day on June 28. See page 10 for photo highlights. (Advocate photo by Tara Vocino) Suspicious glitter mailed to local straight pride parade organizer By Barbara Taormina T he Massachusetts State Police bomb squad, the FBI and local fire personnel and police responded to three reports of suspicious packages on Monday, including one delivered to a home on the Fellsway in Malden. The packages, envelopes filled with colored glitter and Bible verses, were delivered to three leading members of Super Happy Fun America, the group organizing a straight pride parade scheduled for Aug. 31 in Boston. Malden resident Mark Sahady, vice president of the group, President John Hugo of Salisbury and Sam Racioppi of Woburn all found taped envelopes with no return addresses in their mailboxes and contacted authorities. Malden Police were quick to post a message on Twitter explaining there was no threat of an explosion and the envelopes were taken to a lab for analysis and a follow-up investigation. A post on the Super Happy Fun America website said the glitter letters were sent by “domestic terrorists” intent on intimidating straight pride parade organizers. “These latest threats against Super Happy Fun America are obviously being made in response to our planned Straight Pride Parade to be held in Boston on Aug. 31. This serves at the end of Monday night’s School Committee meeting that she will not be seeking a third term, leaving the race for the Ward 5 seat on the committee wide open. “I want to thank Ward 5 for giving me the honor of representing them for the past four years,” said Beardsley, who added it is with sadness that she was announcing she would not be running for reelection in the fall. “My career and my family will as further proof of our sincerely held belief that Straight people are an oppressed majority,” wrote members of the group, who vowed the parade will go on. According to the group’s website, Sahady been involved in social justice issues in the Boston area for several years but is now focused on the problems of straight people of all income levels and social standing. “We will educate the public about straight issues and foster unity and respect by having a parade,” said Sahady. The idea of a straight pride parade has triggered plenty of SUSPICIOUS | SEE PAGE 19 Suffolk Downs send-off require more of my time in the future, and I’m not able to serve you to the best of my ability,” she said. Beardsley said she joined the School Committee to bring educational equity to all students in the city. “I’m proud that we have done a lot and accomplished a lot together,” she said, adding that she has six more months to continue working on ongoing projects and issues. Beardsley’s announcement opens the door to new candidates who may have been reluctant to challenge an incumbent who had not only had the support of Ward 5 but also the goodwill of families throughout the city. The other news on the city’s electoral landscape came with the latest update on the candidates from Assistant Registrar of Voters Carol Ann Desiderio. “As you'll see, we've had some movement within the campaigns, including a new candidate who has pulled papers in the Mayor’s race,” she said. Tara Beardsley will not seek 2nd term on Malden School Committee Thomas Burgess of Bryant Street has taken out nomination papers to join Mayor Gary Christenson and Ward 3 Councillor John Matheson in this year’s mayoral race. On his Facebook page, Burgess describes himself as a “Hilarious, un-PC & insightful radio personality,” referring to his calls into shock jock Howard Stern’s NEW TURNS | SEE PAGE 4 $3.39 $2.45 GALLON GALLON We accept: MasterCard * Visa * & Discover Price Subject to Change without notice 100 Gal. Min. 24 Hr. Service 781-286-2602 Boston resident Alexander Pelletier and former trainer Mickey McGrath, of Peabody, with their commemorative Suffolk Downs T-shirts on Saturday. McGrath called it “the saddest day in Massachusetts,” but even more for Revere. He joked that he’s a big spender and bet $60. “They’ll have to generate taxes elsewhere – all the greatest horses ran here,” McGrath said, referring to Seabiscuit and Cigar. See pages 14-15.
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