Your Local News & Sports Online! Scan & Subscribe to The Advocate! Vol. 34, No. 29 -FREEwww.advocatenews.net Published Every Friday Malden Recreation Baseball Camp Brings Some Summer Fun Malden High School coaches and players join campers for instruction and baseball fun 617-387-2200 Friday, July 18, 2025 EDITORIAL: Mayor, city officials answer the call in regional emergency, which has now become a national issue W hen Malden Mayor Gary Christenson was out and about on his “rounds” visiting at the city’s eight wards at the various July 4th Independence Day celebrations, he had a one-word answer when someone, rather nonchalantly, asked him the equivalent of “What’s going on around the city these days?” “Trash,” the Mayor said. Not the Independence Day celebration and dozens of ice cream cone-clutching kids milling about at Lincoln Commons in Ward 7. Not the fabulous, free performance concerts underway regularly now at Malden City Hall plaza. None of that, any of it. Trash. That’s all. That’s it. Make no mistake about it. This is serious business, with serious consequences. The Republic Services trash collection workers strike is now in its Malden High coach Mike Nicholson is shown talking to the campers last week. Some of his assistants, from left: Devin Otero Milonopoulos, Kyle Nickerson, Nicholas D’Anna, Davante Layne, Jaylen Fuentes Rivera and Leandro Ortiz Castro. (Courtesy/Malden Public Schools/Athletics) By Steve Freker B aseball took center stage once again at Bob Rotondi Field at Howard Park last week when Malden Recreation hosted the 10th Annual Summer Baseball Camp for kids in grades 3-7. Over 30 young players participated in the week-long event, which featured instruction, drills, games and most important of all, lots of fun. The Malden Rec Baseball Camp was free of charge to all who participated and was intended to both reinforce skills and ability in experienced players — some of whom are already participating in the local Malden Youth Baseball (Cal Ripken) Program — as well as introduce “America’s Pastime” to young residents who may not be familiar with baseball. According to Malden High BASEBALL| SEE PAGE 14 Malden residents facing fourth week of Republic Services trash removal workers’ strike Regional work stoppage quickly has gone national, with Calif. workers now walking off jobs, issues with N.J., N.Y. trash By Steve Freker M alden residents are now facing a fourth week of trash pickup disruption due to the ongoing Republic Services workers’ strike. Also, it was announced on Wednesday that the strike, supported and coordinated by the Teamsters Union, has now evolved from a regional strike in the North Shore of Massachusetts into a nationwide affair. STRIKE| SEE PAGE 10 third week with no end in sight. Malden is one of 17 North Shore communities in Massachusetts who are contracted with Republic Services, and due to the Teamsters Union-backed strike, trash began piling up in the city on sidewalks and in yards immediately on July 1, when the strike was announced. Since then — especially in the past week — the strike has escalated and grown to nationwide proportions, literally from coast-to-coast, when it was announced Wednesday that picket lines against Republic Services had extended to Los Angeles, Calif., from the Atlantic Ocean, N.J. and N.Y. coasts, to, now, the Pacific. So what has followed? As expected, trash has become an unwanted tenant on many city streets — both trash that is expected to be taken away and trash that can be recycled. Lots of trash: trash overflowing in city-designated barrels, trash in either city-sold “blue bags” or other trash bags... or worse. Combine the unattended trash with the sweltering temperatures that have arrived over the last two weeks and not only is there an unsightly, abominable mess in our community, it also is a health emergency in real time. In fact, this situation has to be considered the most serious health emergency Malden has faced since, well, the once-in-100-years COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Accumulation of trash creates a breeding ground and food ANSWER | SEE PAGE 8
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