Maldden alld a A Vol. 29, No. 48 O den -FREEwww.advocatenews.net For the first time since 1889, football not on Thanksgiving menu for Malden & Medford COVID-19 claims another icon: Malden-Medford Thanksgiving football game cancelled By Steve Freker ne-by-one, since the NBA was the fi rst to stop its season on March 10, the COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world of sports upside down. League after league, team upon team, FOOTBALL| SEE PAGE 9 Have a Safe & Happy Thanksgiving! AD CATET AD OCAT O A Published Every Friday 617-387-2200 Wednesday, November 25, 2020 Neighbors concerned about bike path reducing property values Where they say a portion of the Buckley Brothers Inc. Plumbing Company property would be demolished. Shown bottom row: Pamela West-Turco and Joanne Silva. Front row: Matthew Burns, Margaret Geiren, William DeFranzo, John Anderson, Bruce Guckert, Georgina Oduro, Paul Buckley, Kennix Wang, Kevin Tang and Robert Casaletto. See page 14 for story and photo highlights. (Advocate photo by Tara Vocino) For the fi rst time since 1889, football is not on the menu for Nedlam – the Malden High School mascot – and the Golden Tornados players, cheerleaders, coaches and fans, because the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled the entire 2020 high school football season, including what would have been the 133rd Malden-Medford Thanksgiving football game. (Steve Freker Photo) High school players, fans going cold turkey with no Thanksgiving Day Football tomorrow COVID-19 has cancelled the entire HS slate this fall, including traditional holiday matchups By Steve Freker C old turkey’s going to take on a whole diff erent meaning in less than 24 hours, when people arise from their holiday slumber tomorrow morning and realize there is no high school football game to attend. When the reality sets in, that high-pitched wail you hear emanating from the greater Boston and North Shore region, particularly from such high school football strongholds as Everett, Malden, Revere and Saugus, will be the sound of the thousands of folks who suddenly realize they have absolutely nothing to do until the mashed potatoes and gravy gets here. This is serious stuff here, folks. Everyone was well aware that there was not going to be a Thanksgiving football feast to complement the turkey and fi xings this year – we all got plenty of advance notice. But when reality really, truly arrives, sometime around 8 o’clock or so tomorrow morning, it is all over, close the curtains. There really, really is no Thanksgiving football game this year! In Malden, it means no game for the fi rst time since 1888! PLAYERS | SEE PAGE 7 Malden School Committee initiates new superintendent search Selects UMass Boston-based search group at special meeting Monday night By Steve Freker A formal search to determine a replacement for outgoing Malden Superintendent of Schools John Oteri was launched Monday night at a special meeting of the Malden School Committee. School Committee chairperson and Mayor Gary Christenson at the meeting outlined an ambitious superintendent search timeline which included selecting an outside search fi rm, forming a search committee and following the process through the start of the new year. The goal would be to select a new superintendent by April 2021 with the intent of having that selectee in place by July 1. Supt. Oteri last week informed the School Committee he would not be seeking an extension to his existing contract and would be departing on June 30, 2021, at the close of this school year. Supt. Oteri last week informed the members that he intends to pursue other professional and personal options after serving the Malden Public Schools for the past three-plus years, since his appointment in April 2017. On Monday, the School Committee took a key fi rst step with an eventual 7-1 vote selecting the Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management at UMass Boston to head the superintendent search. The Collins Center was one of three groups seeking the contract, the others being the Massachusetts Association of School Committees (MASC) and the New England School Development Council (NESDEC). The consensus vote selecting the Collins Center came on a third voting round, which followed a pair of deadlocked, 4-4 votes. It appeared the School Committee might have to wait until a future December meeting to make a decision, before one Committee member said he was willing to change his vote, citing a wish for expediency for the process. The first round, coming on a motion by Ward Five Member Adam Weldai to select the Collins Center, failed 4-4 with Weldai, Ward Three’s Jennifer Spadafora, Ward Seven’s Michelle Luong and Mayor Christenson voting “yes” and Ward Two’s Robert McCarthy Jr., Ward Four’s Leonard Iovino, Ward Six’s SUPERINTENDENT | SEE PAGE 17
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