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Highlighting News Stories for Our Town for the week of  January 26, 2003

Previous Newsbreak Archive

Newsbreak for Walpole

The Week – Jan. 26

The Year – 2004

      Politics and Football

The news, both locally, and nationally, is dominated by two themes – sports and politics.

1.  The world is focused on the annual Super Bowl contest that takes place this Sunday, Feb. 1 in Houston, Texas. Our own New England Patriots will try to win this game for the second time in three years.

The aura surrounding this event defies easy explanation. Football fans converge on this day to celebrate their year-long search for a new champion of the football world. Yet, even casual fans or non-fans alike, are drawn into the event.

The half time show and the parade of new advertisements designed especially for viewing on that day are a major aspect of the drama and the celebration.

2.        As we follow the fortunes of the football folks, we are also inundated with stories and non-stories about the contest within the Democrat party to select a nominee to compete against President Bush in the November presidential election.  This week the primary contest is in New Hampshire. Following that, the excitement heads down south and the Mid-Atlantic States.

3.        And, as we stated, this both a national and local story. It is a  national election and it is chock full of local angles. Senator John Kerry is one of the front-runners and people are already drawing comparisons to another local candidate – former Gov. Dukakis.

4.        Further down the line, local politics will take even more interest as we look ahead to our own town annual election. The list of candidates for selectmen begins to unfold shortly.

5.        In May, our spring town meeting convenes with the major focus being the annual budget with all its implications.

The winter will soon give way to signs of spring with the Red Sox beginning their spring training sessions in February.

Our winter has been a difficult time for many – with frozen pipes and icy roads.

Be patient; spring awaits.