REGIONAL – Since 1873, ship’s captains, fishermen and recreational boaters have used an odd looking, wooden triangle on the Salisbury side of the Merrimack River as a daytime navigational marker. Nicknamed Ben Butler’s Toothpick after the Civil War general,...
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.
Moving Rowley 911 Center Hits Turbulence
ROWLEY — A proposal to transfer the Rowley Communications Center, the town’s 911 dispatch service, to a regional dispatch service has stirred up a nor’easter among residents. The proposed move to the North Shore Regional 911 Center in Middleton, which is designed to...
Pink House Supporters Face Its Demise
THE ROAD TO PLUM ISLAND -- The legions of Pink House supporters meet this week to discuss last-ditch efforts to keep the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (F&WS) from demolishing the beloved house. The meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, April 4 at PITA Hall, 8 Plum...
First Parish Food Pantry Expands to Help the Needy
REGIONAL – It was raining on the Friday morning before Easter when dozens of volunteers for the First Parish Food Pantry gathered, as usual, to fill bags with groceries and a special candy treat for the needy. The rain forced the volunteers inside the...
Nuke Agency Studies Seabrook’s Emergency Plan Changes
REGIONAL — NextEra Energy, owner of the Seabrook Station nuclear power plant, offered last week to conduct a demonstration of its proposed new emergency response program to prove to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that its plans for reducing its emergency...
State: Volunteers May Serve on Multiple Town Boards
REGIONAL – A challenge most small towns and cities face is finding enough volunteers to fill out the memberships of various municipal committees that regulate everything from land use to community health. At least two municipalities – Amesbury and Georgetown – are...
Watershed Council Fighting for the Merrimack
REGIONAL -- To raise money to continue the battle to clean up the Merrimack River, Curt Rogers, dressed as “King Sturgeon,” and 11 more hardy souls plunged into the cold Atlantic Ocean off Plum Island last month. Seventy fans watched from the shore. Rogers dressed as...
Voters Will Decide Georgetown $3 Million Tax Increase
GEORGETOWN – Whether taxpayers here will see a large, permanent tax increase next year will be decided by the voters on May 13, not by the Town Meeting on May 6, as previously thought. Town Administrator Orlando Pacheco told the SelectBoard last week that he had...
Georgetown Faces $3 million Override
GEORGETOWN – Property owners here are facing the possibility of a hefty tax increase to overcome a shortfall in revenues that has been years in the making. The Finance Advisory Committee voted unanimously last week to move forward with a proposal to the Board of...
State Tennis Champs Ask for New Courts
NEWBURYPORT – For the last two years the Newburyport High School girls’ tennis team has won the state championship, but always with other teams hosting the championships. Newburyport trains outstanding players, whose record entitled them to be the host for the...
Recent News
- Holidays Are Busy for Food Banks Nov 21, 2024
- Town of Boxford Completes Glendale Road Culvert Replacement, Strengthening Our Community One Culvert at a Time Nov 21, 2024
- Massachusetts Funeral Directors Association Jeffrey E. Megna Recognized for 40 Years of Service J.S. Roberts & Son Funeral Home, Rowley, Mass. Nov 21, 2024
- Merrimac, Newburyport, Salisbury and Amesbury Police Collaborate On Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response Training Nov 21, 2024