SALISBURY — Jessica Rivera, a single mother of four children, has been homeless two different times. She works 40 to 70 hours per week at three jobs to support her family who lives in a Haverhill apartment, where rent was double what she is paying for her new home. ...
Stewart Lytle

Stewart Lytle is the lead reporter for The Town Common newspaper. Before joining The Town Common, he was a national correspondent for Scripps-Howard Newspapers in Washington, D.C., covering the Pentagon and Congress. He has also written for newspapers in Dallas, TX, and Birmingham, AL.
As a national reporter for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain, Stewart wrote the inside story on military life of soldiers and sailors and their families. He landed on aircraft carriers, experienced oxygen deprivation for high-altitude flight training and crawled through the mud with Marine snipers.
One of his proudest achievements outside of journalism was assisting USAA Chairman Robert McDermott in securing federal legislation that mandated air bags in vehicles.
Stewart is also a novelist and has written non-fiction books. He is currently working on a non-fiction book and screenplay about an incident that occurred in Boston.
His first novel, Iron City Conspiracy, explores power in a city. It features a black newspaper editor solving the bombing of a historic black church in a tough Alabama town.
Following in the footsteps of his idol, Ernest Hemingway, Stewart has completed a new novel about a love affair in the midst of the Spanish Civil War. The book, Montserrat, is based on a true story and has been made into a screenplay that will become an international feature film.
A graduate of Phillips Academy and Princeton University, Stewart lives with his wife, Mary, in Newburyport.
North Shore Residents Aid Ukraine
REGIONAL — The war in Ukraine is closer than it may seem. Dylan Collins, who grew up in West Newbury, is a news correspondent for the Agence France Presse, covering the war in Kviv. Jarrod and Nadiia Sadowski, who live on Plum Island, continue to raise money to buy...
Justin Haley From Fenway Park to the North Shore as a Pitcher, Realtor, Firefighter
The first time Justin Haley, number 68, was called up to pitch at Fenway Park for the Boston Red Sox, it almost didn’t happen. The 6-foot, 5-inch Californian in May of 2018 was pitching for the PawSox, the Triple A professional baseball team in Pawtucket, RI, when he...
Mello 500-ton Trash Station Faces the Health Board
GEORGETOWN – The town Board of Health will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on April 5 at the Georgetown High School to determine if the G. Mello Disposal Corp. can build a 500-ton per day transfer station at the end of Carleton Road. In what will probably be the most...
Showing Support for Ukraine
NEWBURYPORT – From flying the Ukrainian colors to renaming Russia Street, North Shore residents are showing their support for Ukraine in its fight to remain an independent democratic country. Photos: Stewart Lytle / The Town Common [gallery columns="1" size="large"...
Uni-Sex Restrooms for the Waterfront?
NEWBURYPORT – Designing a public restroom can be tricky these days and may be much more expensive than members of the ad hoc committee on the Newburyport waterfront park expected. After agreeing on most design issues for the new, 4-acre Market Landing Park on the...
To Ukraine With Love
NEWBURYPORT – Since the Russian tanks and soldiers moved into Ukraine, Nadiia and Jarrod Sadowski have been working around the clock to raise money to buy food and supplies for the needy and frightened residents of her hometown of Nova Kakhovka. “Since the first day...
Sea View Retreat Becomes a Private Social Club, Wedding Venue
ROWLEY –Sea View Retreat, the stately brick building that was home to thousands of elderly residents for almost 70 years, is being reinvented as a social club and wedding venue, maybe a restaurant and Airbnb. After months of wrangling with the Commonwealth over...
Buy an EAT Hat, Feed the Hungry
NEWBURY – Chris Brown started volunteering at the First Parish Food Pantry two years ago during the Covid-19 Pandemic. “I wanted to do something useful. I was tired of sitting around at home,” he said. The 16-year-old Brown enjoyed meeting the people who came to the...
More Firefighters to the Rescue
HAMILTON – Firefighters no longer only fight dangerous fires like the midnight battle this winter to save people and houses on Salisbury Beach. As first responders, firefighters are called on almost daily to respond to a variety of hazards and emergencies. You may...
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