ROWLEY – Sea View Retreat, which has been caring for elderly clients for 67 years, is likely to close within two weeks, owner and operator Steven Comley II said Monday. “We’ve been hanging on with one finger,” Comley said. Blaming the lack of support and constantly...
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.
Boxford Select Board to Consider Willows Housing
BOXFORD – GEORGETOWN LINE – A draft of a conservation restriction, proposed for The Willows senior housing project, will be presented to the Boxford Select Board for its comments at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 13. Toll Brothers, a Fortune 500 national homebuilder, is...
Youth Baseball Fields: Win One, Lose One
ROWLEY – It’s win one, lose one in youth baseball fields here. The town has decommissioned the field and taken down the fence at the baseball field next to one of the water wells on Rte. 133 behind TD Bank. The Rowley Water Department now manages that land and plans...
Hockey East Builds Amesbury’s Hockey Brand
AMESBURY – Maples Crossing, the business and hospitality center built on youth hockey, is just beginning construction, but already it is making this city, the home of the first professional hockey team, a destination for hockey enthusiasts. Hockey East Assn., which...
Pickleball Draws a Crowd
REGIONAL – If your feet are moving a little slower, but you still love to play competitively, you may want to try one of the country’s fastest growing sports, known by the odd name of pickleball. Like FlingGolf is reinventing traditional golf, pickleball, as player...
River Valley School Flooded
REGIONAL – Students and teachers at the River Valley Charter School got an extra week of summer vacation when a three-year-old hot water heater on the first floor failed on Sunday, Aug. 22, sending gallons of water flowing through classrooms and offices. In a letter...
Public Input on Mello Station Closed
GEORGETOWN – After more than a year and a half of gathering information about G. Mello Disposal Corp.’s proposed new 500-ton transfer station, the town’s Planning Board last week abruptly shut down its fact-finding effort and moved to deliberate at its next meeting on...
Should Wind Turbines Greet Visitors to Historic Port?
NEWBURYPORT – Veteran City Councilor Barry Connell admitted the idea came to him in “a fever dream.” It envisioned two or three wind turbines spinning a welcome to visitors and residents as they drive north on Interstate 95 to enter this historic seaport city. “What...
Mike Wilson ran all the way home to an excited crowd of supporters
NEWBURYPORT – After running alone for more than 3,000 miles from the west coast, braving extreme weather, packs of dogs and numerous flat tires on his running stroller, Mike Wilson arrived at 5:20 Sunday, Aug. 22 on the Merrimack River waterfront. The Planet Fitness...
Should Georgetown Be Worried About the Willows
BOXFORD – GEORGETOWN LINE – Jeff McClure, the chair of the Georgetown Water Board, does not appear to be a man who panics easily. So, it was no surprise to members of his board or the water department staff when McClure said last week he would reserve “my panic for...
Local Forecast


Recent News
- TOASTS & TRUSTS: ESTATE PLANNING FOR RETIREES – THURS FEB 5 8:30 – 10:30 AM Feb 02, 2026
- Civil War Roundtable of the Merrimack February Meeting Wednesday, February 11 Feb 02, 2026
- Joaquim De Almeida III Feb 02, 2026
- Boxford Select Board Seeks Resident Input on Future of Stiles Pond Beach Operations Jan 28, 2026

