The Academy Awards are scheduled for Feb. 24 at the Dolby Theatre at the Hollywood & Highland Center. It will be televised live domestically on ABC and in more than 225 foreign countries.

The host will be Seth MacFarlane who directed, co-produced, co-wrote and starred (his voice) in the movie Ted.

Ted, a movie starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis, has some major Swampscott connections.

For one, the main character, John, played by Wahlberg, was born in Swampscott, according to the movie plot.

And as many Swampscott people will remember — a major scene in the film was shot inside and outside a Swampscott home on Atlantic Avenue back in May of 2011.

In the movie the home belonged to the character Rex, the hated manager of the Mila Kunis character, Lori.

In real life, the Ron family lives in the Atlantic Avenue home with the spectacular view of the Atlantic Ocean by Preston Beach.

Much of the comedy's action revolves around relationships: between Wahlberg and Kunis; between John and his childhood Teddy Bear, Ted, who comes to life; and between Kunis and Ted.

Here is the complete nominations lists:

Best Motion Picture

Argo
Amour
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty 

Achievement in Directing

Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke, Amour
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Denzel Washington, Flight
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Alan Arkin, Argo
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, The Master
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables 
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Sally Field, Lincoln

Best Animated Feature Film

Brave
Frankenweenie
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph

Original Screenplay

Amour, Michael Haneke
Django Unchained, Quentin Tarantino
Flight, John Gatins
Moonrise Kingdom, Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
Zero Dark Thirty, Mark Boal

Adapted Screenplay

Argo, Chris Terrio
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin
Life of Pi, David Magee
Lincoln, Tony Kushner
Silver Linings Playbook, David O. Russell

Best Foreign-Language Film

A Royal Affair (Denmark)
Amour (Austria)
No (Chile)
War Witch (Canada)
Kontiki (Norway)

Original Score

Anna Karenina, Dario Marianelli
Argo, Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi, Mychael Danna
Lincoln, John Williams
Skyfall, Thomas Newman

Original Song

"Before My Time," J. Ralph; Chasing Ice
"Everybody Needs a Best Friend," Walter Murphy and Seth McFarlane; Ted
"Pi's Lullaby," Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; Life of Pi
"Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; Skyfall
"Suddenly," Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boulil; Les Misérables 

Achievement in Production Direction

Anna Karenina
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln

Achievement in Cinematography

Anna Karenina, Seamus McGarvey
Django Unchained, Robert Richardson
Life of Pi, Claudio Miranda
Lincoln, Janusz Kaminski
Skyfall, Roger Deakins

Achievement in Costume Design

Anna Karenina, Jacqueline Durran
Les Misérables, Paco Delgado
Lincoln, Joanna Johnston
Mirror Mirror, Eiko Ishioka
Snow White and the Huntsman, Colleen Atwood

Best Documentary Feature

5 Broken Cameras
The Gatekeepers
How to Survive a Plague
The Invisible War
Searching for a Sugar Man

Best Documentary Short Subject

Inocente
Kings Point
Mondays at Racine
Open Heart
Redemption

Achievement in Film Editing

Argo
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

Achievement in Makeup & Hairstyling

Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables

Best Animated Short Film

Adam and Dog
Fresh Guacamole
Head Over Heels
Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
Paperman

Best Live-Action Short Film

Asad
Buzkashi Boys
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry

Achievement in Sound Editing

Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

Achievement in Sound Mixing

Argo
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Skyfall

Achievement in Visual Effects

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Marvel's The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

The School Committee’s first motion at Tuesday’s meeting was to offer Swampscott High School Principal Layne Millington the Swampscott superintendent’s position effective January 2014.

The motion was later withdrawn by committee member Ted Delano.

The committee’s last motion Tuesday was to form a search panel of Swampscott administrators and two School Committee members. Under the proposal, assembled in part by committee member Rick Kraft, the search panel would review candidates for interim superintendent and report their recommendation to the School Committee on March 27.

The School Committee approved this motion.

In between the withdrawn motion and the approved motion, many of the 40-plus people in the room at Swampscott High weighed in, among them School Committee members, former School Committee members, parents and administrators.

A recurrent question that parents and others raised was what had led the School Committee to the point where they were willing to offer the high school principal the superintendent position, effective January 2014, without a formal search to explore other candidates?

Committee member Jaren Landen said she and others did not want to take a chance on losing the high school principal to another school district — and he is a candidate for positions elsewhere.

She said he had performed well as principal and was supported by many teachers at the high school.

“I feel we have someone who is real talented and I don’t want to lose him,” she said.

Should Millington be Superintendent?

Jaren Landen said that in follow-up conversations with school administrators about Millington becoming superintendent the response was mixed.

Assistant Superintendent Pamela Angelakis, the former Stanley School principal, said at Tuesday's meeting that she was uncomfortable with the Millington proposal.

She said she felt like a deal was made and she did not like it.

Business Manager Ed Cronin said the School Committee did not take into consideration what goes into being a central office employee. He felt insulted that it was assumed someone could become superintendent without central office experience.

For his part, the high school principal said he did have experience in financial matters, working for several years in the private sector before his years as a school administrator.

For her part, Lynne Celli advocated for Assistant Superintendent Pam Angelakis as a candidate for superintendent, saying she has central office experience and is ready to step into the head post.

Millington Speaks

In the end, Principal Millington said he wanted to move on with peace and dignity as he had planned to do last October.

It is not clear what happened in or before October that had led him to want to move on.

But he seemed to be saying, toward the end of Tuesday’s meeting, that he would not want to be Swampscott superintendent if it was offered to him.

“What I would like desperately — what I would like desperately — is to go back to the plan I had in October,” he said. “I would like ... and I’ve got to say from the bottom of my heart I love Swampscott. I love the school. I love the kids. 

“But at this point in time there is a very strong dynamic here that makes it tough on administrators. I think people have to agree with that — people have to agree with that. That’s why there have been what 13 superintendents and principals in the last decade.

"At some point in time people have to take serious consideration for what that dynamic may be and begin to dismantle it and that is vital.

"What i would like is to move on with peace and dignity. That is what I would like.”

Tension and Peace

Earlier in Tuesday’s meeting, some people in the room wanted to know what had led the committee to the place where they felt they needed a superintendent, especially since Lynne Celli had already been under contract as the full-time superintendent.

Committee member Landen said she had spoken with a majority of Swampscott administrators and everyone felt like they needed peace.

“The culture has been difficult the past two years,” Landen said.

School Committee Chairman Larry Beaupre also spoke with administrators. He said the upshot of what he heard was that the administrators were tired and had experienced enough drama.

The superintendent said that when she was approached by the School Committee, she willingly waived a year, 2014-15, of her contract and was agreeable to accepting a part-time position for the next school year.

Her part-time contract, starting on July 1, calls for her to  focus on special projects including elementary school building needs, science, technology, engineering and math education and Chapter 70 funding — state education aid.

Search for Continuity and Stability

Committee members and audience members alike said what the school system needs is continuity and stability, though some of them disagreed about the best way to achieve stability.

Parent Kris Kennedy said she was dismayed to see the upheaval in two top positions, the superintendent post and high school principal.

Parents had based their choice on where to send their children to school presuming there was administrative stability, she said.

Middle School Principal Bob Murphy urged the committee to seek an interim superintendent to stabilize the district and mentor everyone.

Mona Blumstein, administrator of student support services, said she did not think that having Millington as principal for half the year and then superintendent for the remaining part of the school year was in the interest of stability, especially for students who need stability the most.

But Landen and some people in the room said the proposal to make Millington superintendent was in the best interest of district stability. She said the district had engaged in extensive searches in the past and, yet, here they were, faced with having to hire a new superintendent.

The superintendent — Lynne Celli remains full-time superintendent through June 30 — said search committees had conducted successful searches, among them the middle school principal and an assistant principal at the high school.

Parent Jeffrey Blonder said the move to make the high school principal superintendent showed leadership on Delano and Landen's parts.

Amy O’Connor, a parent and candidate for School Committee, said she did not feel that having an interim superintendent followed by Millington’s appointment as superintendent was in the best interest of stability. 

The Original Motion

The first motion, proposed by Ted Delano and supported by Jaren Landen, called for Layne Millington to serve as high school principal for half the year, through Dec. 30, 2013, then become superintendent on Jan. 1, 2014.

The proposal drew protests.

Former School Committee member Glenn Paster said it was an illegal move and urged the board to think hard about going that route.

Later, former School Committee member Jackie Kinney said the district appeared to be like a runaway freight train. 

She urged the group to step back and think through the choice of the next superintendent.

The Final Motion

Gargi Cooper, parent of a Hadley student, urged the committee to reach some kind of a consensus before they ended on Tuesday night.

She said it would not be healthy to leave the meeting without some sort of direction and to continue discussions with a new group of people at the next School Committee meeting.

Committee members seemed to take that recommendation to heart and they approved the motion to start the search for an interim superintendent. They agreed to advertise it immediately so the interim search committee could start its work reviewing candidates.

School Committee members started Tuesday's discussion by allowing members of the audience to take part.

Editor's note: In the orginal version we called Ed Cronin, Kevin. Sorry about that, Ed. Also, we added the year 2014-15 to the sentence on the superintendent's agreement to accept the part-time position, clarifying that she was waiving an earlier offer to extend her contract to the 2014-15 school year.

 Dear Swampscott Residents,

We wish to acknowledge the service of three Board Members of the Swamspcott Senior Center/ Council of Aging who have recently resigned.  Their years of service, their leadership, and their advocacy were essential to the programs, the activities, and the celebrations that have made this Senior Center such a vital place for our senior citizens.

Mary Abramson was the president of the board for many years.  She led the charge to have this center built as part of the new high school.  This space has led to the increase in membership as well as the extended list of events and programs.  She will be missed.  Best of luck, Mary.

Claire Dembowski served for many years.  She was always willing to help at events and often supported special projects generously.  She was a town meeting member who advocated for seniors and for the senior center.  Thank you, Claire.  

Arlene Rosen designed several intergenerational projects.  These included:  an oral history with elementary students and senior citizens who had also gone to school in and grew up in Swamspcott. Other seniors shared there experience as Veterans of World War II or the Vietnam War with  middle school students in an acknowledgement of Veterans’ Day. Finally Arlene coordinated the Pen Pal project which was an exchange of letters between grade four students and senior citizens.

A luncheon was held at the Tedesco Country Club to thank these fine women.  We appreciate their support through the years.

Sincerely,

Marilyn Hurwitz

Director of the Swampscott Senior Center

Editor's Note: We apologize to the Senior Center for not publishing this editorial last month when it arrived. 

Your neighbors will be on the big screen tonight.

One of the short films screening at the Marblehead Festival of Arts' Winter Film Festival is "Henry Loomis Is Going to Die Tonight." The 8:55 film stars local families and was shot in Swampscott and Marblehead.

The film festival screenings begin at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Marblehead Little Theatre. But if you can't wait that long, director Sam Stratton has posted the entire film to Vimeo. We've embedded it here or you can watch it at this link.

Here are some of the local folks you'll see in the film:

• Lauren Nohelty
• Sam Celentano
• Nellie Booth
• Peter Hughes
• Libby Jancsy
• Dick Nohelty
• Tammy Nohelty
• Kaitlyn Nohelty
• David Thibodeau

1) Town and School Meeting Watch: Tonight the Finance Committee is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m. Town Hall.  Agenda items include a town budget update from the town administrator and assistant town administrator.

2) Newsbit of the Day:  Kevin Giannini of the National Grid agency Schwartz MSL sent us this video showing that Swampscott did pretty well compared to other parts of the state during Storm Nemo. There were some outages in town but they never rose above 10 percent of National Grid customers, he said.

3) Swampscott Scholars: Perri Brandalise was among the students from the University of Massachusetts Boston who made the Fall 2012 Dean's List:

4) Weather Watch: Mostly sunny, with a high near 32. Breezy, with a northwest wind 17 to 20 mph.

5) Big Blue Watch: The Northeastern Conference girls' and boys' all-star games will take place Friday, Feb. 22, at Swampscott High. The girls play at 6 p.m.; and the boys play at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens. No passes accepted. 

Swampscott tuned up for post-season tourament play with a 4-1 win over West Springfield Wednesday afternoon at Salem State's Rockett Arena in the Big Blue's final regular season hockey game. 

The Swampscott skaters defeated a solid Division 3 team in West Springfield. Big Blue's offense was sparked by Trevor Massey's 3 assists, and Corey Carmody and Chris Carman both had a goal and an assist.

Tyler Peterson also chipped in with a goal. Tristan Bradley was in net with 16 saves.

The Big Blue finished the season with a 15-5 record, tying the 1989-90 season as the team with the  most wins and best record in Swampscott's Hockey history.

Seeding for the tournament will be released on Sunday.

The photos of the Big Blue team are by Robert Marra.

To see more of Robert's work visit his website.

Two weeks after the historic blizzard that buried Swampscott under two feet of snow Department of Public Works crews are still hauling snow from piles at intersections and dead ends.

Meanwhile, DPW Director Gino Cresta has his eyes on a possible late-weekend snowstorm that forecasters say could drop anywhere from six inches to a foot in the Boston area.

The brewing storm was too distant to gauge likely impact, forecasters said Wednesday night, but if deep wet snow arrives it would have a heavy impact on Swampscott's snow removal budget.

Already this season the town has spent $140,000 of its $170,000 snow removal funds, the director said.

Most of the $140,000 went to battling the Feb. 9 and 10 storm, the dollars covering expenses including overtime, contractors, sand and salt.

Last season, the winter of 2011-12,, the town spent only small fraction of its $150,000 budgeted for snow removal, the director said in a previous interview.

And a year earlier, during the snow heavy 2010-11 season, DPW overspent its snow budget by $177,000, the director said.

Friday, Feb. 15

• At 10:05 a.m., police received a report of a hit and run — a motor vehicle being struck overnight at 657 Humphrey Street. 
• At 4:20 p.m., police received a report of a motor vehicle breaking and entering on Franklin Street, but items believed stolen were not; they were located, later. 
• At 5:16 p.m., police received a report that a vehicle traveling toward Marblehead on Humphrey Street was all over the road. 
• At 8:18 p.m., police received a report that youth were playing in the street at Alden Road and Puritan Road. The officer spoke to a group of kids who were throwing snow at cars. The kids cleaned off snow they had thrown.

 Saturday, Feb. 16

• At 00:04 a.m., a man in a black leather coat was stumbling around the parking lot at 1006 Paradise Road.   
• At 8:31 a.m., a female fell and broke her ankle at Monument Avenue and Walker Road. She was outside, on town property. 
• At 4:54 p.m., police received a call about a possible stroke on Doherty Avenue. The Fire Department was notified. 
• At 5:39 p.m., police received a report of a possible domestic incident at Bates Road. The caller was out of breath and said she had a fight with someone who had left the address. She appeared to be withholding information.

 Sunday, Feb. 17

• At 6:20 a.m., police notified DPW about the condition of roads.  
• At 2:24 p.m., a woman fell and injured her hip outside Marshalls at 1005 Paradise Road. The woman was transported to Salem Hosiptal. 
• At 3:32 p.m., a Cherry Court caller reported receiving harassing text/phone messages.
• At 3:54 p.m., police received a call from a Redington Street man who said his wife was throwing his things outside. One of the parties was transported to the station for a ride.
• At 4:50 p.m., a steam pipe broke in a Middlesex Avenue basement and the cellar was filling with steam. Fire alarms were going off. The Fire Department responded to the location. A water pipe was broken.
• At 5:12 p.m., a car skidded into a parking lot at 100 Beach Bluff Avenue and struck a parked car. No injuries were reported. The damage appeared greater than $1,000.

This circa 1880 stately Victorian home at 9 Farragut Road has plenty of room with its four bedrooms and more than 3,000 square feet of space.

It has hardwood floors and high ceilings and within walking of the beach, library, Town Hall and parks. 

The house has an attached two-car garage and a fireplace in the living room.

Price: $642,000

Type: Single Family

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 4 Full

Lot Size: 0.22 Acres

Living Area: 3,005 Sq.Ft.

For more information about the beige house on a corner lot contact Connie Irving (781) 631-9511 (office)

The town-funded auditor's fraud examination of the Middle School PTO bank account concludes that internal controls were such that there was an opportunity for fraud.

But the examination's results are inconclusive on whether fraud took place between December of 2009 and December of 2011. Ralph Watson, the former Middle School principal, was interviewed twice as part of the examination.

Findings listed in the report, which is attached to this post, include the following:

• The Middle School principal, Ralph Watson, was reimbursed $1,374.81 for which no supporting documentation was provided
• The Middle School principal, Ralph Watson, was reimbursed twice for the same expense totalling $218.57
• There is insufficient support for $34,399.17 of disbursements from the bank account
• There is a lack of internal controls over cash receipts and cash disbursements that provide an opportunity for fraud
• The Middle School principal's handling of the bank account and the related cash receipts and cash reimbursements was in direct violation of multiple municipal finance laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Noncompliance with IRS and Massachusetts Department of Revenue rules and regulations

The auditor, Sullivan, Rogers & Company, began its investigation a little more than a year ago, Jan. 23, 2012.

Upon finishing it, the forensic accountants recommended that the town consider forwarding the report to police and the Attorney General's Office for their review.

The town did this. Authorities investigated but brought forth no criminal charges.

Patch obtained the auditor's report from Town Administrator Thomas Younger on Wednesday, after making  a request for it late last year under the state's public record law. The forensic audit was funded by taxpayers, costing slightly more than $45,000.

An earlier request, prior to Younger's arrival in Swampscott, was denied because authorities were investigating the case at the time.

The report is inconclusive on whether fraud took place.

"Due to the lack of accounting records and documentation, the result of our fraud examination was inconclusive as to whether fraud occurred during the fraud examination period, " the auditors stated.

"However, we do conclude that the system of internal control over cash receipts and cash disbursements provides an opportunity for fraud to occur."

Assistant Town Administrator Dave Castellarin reported last year that internal controls had been designed, documented, and implemented to promote controls over cash receipts and disbursements related to school activities and student activity funds.

He also said at the time that the School Committee was in the process of formally closing all bank accounts that did not fall under the Town that were previously held at the individual schools.  These funds were to be deposited with the town treasurer going forward and managed and accounted for in accordance with Massachusetts laws.        

This weekend is packed with live music on the North Shore and a whole bunch of bands playing a wide variety of music genres, from classic rock to blues and soul, can be seen for free at rock clubs and restaurants throughout the region.

The Me and Thee Coffee House in Marblehead is featuring two talented and experienced musicians on Friday night. From a blurb on the venue website"Shawn Mullins translates life into song. His musical accomplishments include a dozen self-produced records, two number one charting songs, Grammy nomination and thousands of live performances. Nashville based Carey Murdock, who opens the show, is an Americana artist who frequently performs on both sides of the Atlantic.

All shows begin at 9 p.m. unless specified.

Other Live Music This Weekend:

Me and Thee Coffee House, 28 Mugford Street, Marblehead

Fri., Feb. 22 - Shawn Mullins · Carey Murdock opens - 8 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 23 - N/A

Palmer's Restaurant & Tavern, 18 Elm St., Andover

Fri., Feb. 22 - Looking Back Band
Sat., Feb. 23 - The Rockaholics

Andolini's Italian Restaurant, 19 Essex St., Andover

Fri., Feb. 22 - Doug Kwartler
Sat., Feb. 23 - AJ Edwards

Rockafellas, 231 Essex Street, Salem

Fri., Feb. 22 - Lucky 13
Sat., Feb. 23 - Midnight Goggles

Gulu-Gulu Cafe, 247 Essex St, Salem

Fri., Feb. 22 - Marina Evans
Sat., Feb. 23 - Underwater Airport

Howling Wolf, 76 Lafayette Street, Salem

Fri., Feb. 22 - Ross Livermore - 10 p.m.
Sat., Feb. 23 - Noe Socha

Red Rock Bistro & Bar, 141 Humphrey Street, Swampscott

Fri., Feb. 22 - Lois Lane and the Daily Planets
Sat., Feb. 23 - Grace Curran and the High Falutin' Band

Capone's Restaurant & Bar, 147 Summit St, Peabody

Fri., Feb. 22 - World Premier Band
Sat., Feb. 23 - Lisa Love

Chianti's Tuscan Restaurant & Jazz Lounge, 285 Cabot St., Beverly

Fri., Feb. 22 -  Jen Kearney and The Lost Onion
Sat., Feb. 23 - HDRnB

The Landing Restaurant, 81 Front St., Marblehead

Fri., Feb. 22 - Release the Hounds
Sat., Feb. 23 - Michael Troy

The information for this post was submitted by Town Clerk Susan Duplin

It appears that there may be competitive elections after all this spring.

So far, four candidates have pulled nomination papers for the Board of Selectmen and three for School Committee elections.

Both the Board of Selectmen and the School Committee have two openings, each for three-year terms.

Nomination papers must be obtained in person at the Town Clerk’s Office by the candidate or a designee of the candidate.

A note or 'Declaration of Intent' with the candidate’s original signature is required to obtain nomination papers. You will find a Declaration of Intent form on the Elections Department section of the Town’s website www.town.swampscott.ma.us

Offices & Candidates (who have pulled papers) are as follows:

MODERATOR-Vote for not more than One-1-Year Term

Joseph Markarian        Candidate for Re-Election

BOARD OF SELECTMEN –Vote for not more than Two/3-Year Term

Matthew Strauss         NEW Candidate

John J. Callahan         NEW Candidate

Charles Patsios            NEW Candidate

Paul Moran                 NEW Candidate

BOARD OF ASSESSORS-Vote for not more than One/3-Year Term

Neil G. Sheehan          Candidate for Re-Election

SCHOOL COMMITTEE-Vote for not more than Two/3-Year Term

Jaren Landen              Candidate for Re-Election

Amy L. O’Connor         NEW Candidate

Carin T. Marshall         NEW Candidate

TRUSTEE OF THE PUBLIC LIBRARY-Vote for not more than One/3-Year Term

Marianne McDermott    Candidate for Re-Election

BOARD OF HEALTH-Vote for not more than One/3-Year Term

Lawrence S. Block       Candidate for Re-Election

PLANNING BOARD-Vote for not more than One/5-Year Term

Joseph R. Young  NEW Candidate

HOUSING AUTHORITY-Vote for not more than One/5-Year Term

Richard M. Callahan     Candidate for Re-Election

CONSTABLE-Vote for not more than Three/3-Year Term

Paul Minsky                Candidate for Re-Election

Stephen B. Simmons    Candidate for Re-Election

Deadlines: 

Last day to OBTAIN Nomination papers for all Town offices on the ballot: 3/8/13 by 5PM.

Last day to SUBMIT Nomination papers for all Town Offices on the ballot: 3/12/13 by 5PM.

TOWN MEETING MEMBERS “NOTICES OF RE-ELECTION”:  3/12/13 BY 5PM.

Last day to WITHDRAW in writing:  3/28/13 BY 5PM

Last day to REGISTER TO VOTE & CHANGE YOUR PARTY AFFILIATION FOR THE APRIL 30, 2013 TOWN & SPECIAL STATE PRIMARY ELECTIONS:  4/10/13 by 8PM.

ANNUAL TOWN MEETING:  May 6, 2013

FOR ANY AND ALL 2013 ELECTIONS A NEW ABSENTEE BALLOT APPLICATION MUST BE FILED WITH THE TOWN CLERK’S OFFICE BEFORE OBTAINING A BALLOT

**AS A COURTESY SECOND NOTICES WERE MAILED LAST WEEK TO ALL TOWN MEETING MEMBERS WHOSE TERMS EXPIRE THIS YEAR & HAVEN’T RETURNED THEIR “NOTICES OF RE-ELECTION”…..THERE ARE STILL SEVERAL VACANCIES FOR TOWN MEETING MEMBERS…NOTICES TO WRITE-IN & CAUCUS CADIDATES WERE ALSO MAILED NOTIFYING THEM THAT PAPERS MUST BE PULLED IF SEEKING RE-ELECTION**

***DEADLINE TO OBTAIN NOMINATION PAPERS:  MARCH 8^TH NO LATER THAN 5PM***

***DEADLINE TO SUBMIT NOMINATION PAPERS & NOTICES OF INTENT:  MARCH 12^TH NO LATER THAN 5PM***

Jake Powell placed second in the 126-pound weight class at Division 3 State tournament and Sean Taylor placed sixth in the heavyweight class.

Powell, who has placed first in the Division 3 North Sectional tournament, lost to Eric Reyes of Dedham by a score of 9-5. Powell fought well against Reyes, a four-time New England youth wrestling champion, but was unable to pin or score enough back points in the third period against the number one seed from the Division 3 Central division to turn the tide.

Powell advanced to the championship match by defeating Jehu Barbee of Sabis with a pin at 1:32. He finished the tournament with a 3-1 record."Sad that we couldn't get that last win for him, but no regrets and nothing to be ashamed of,” said Michael Stamison, the head coach of the Swampscott-Marblehead wrestling team. “He did everything he could to turn Reyes, and just could not sink in any cradles on him. That kid is the real deal, and I will certainly be watching his career with great interest." 

"Jake had the best season in terms of tournaments wins and accolades any Black and Bluer has ever had, and I' very proud of him,” said Stamison. “Directly after the finals, we were in the locker room talking about All-States and strategy, so he is not done by a long shot." Powell, meanwhile, faced the disappointment of not winning the championship by looking forward.  

“I gave it everything and came up short,” he said. “There are no excuses. We placed where we placed. There is nothing we can do about it now. It’s time to take All-States. I can't stop now.”

Powell has now advanced to All-State tournament for three straight seasons having placed third in his sophomore year in the 103-weight class at the Division 3 state tournament, and having placed fifth as a junior in the 113-pound weight class.

Taylor, meanwhile, lost a close match in the semi-finals at the Division 3 State tournament. He lost to the number one seed from Division 3 West, Brian Wodecki from Dean Tech by a score of 2-1. The match was lost by virtue of a hand-lock call against Taylor and a takedown call that didn’t go his way later in the match.  Taylor finished the tournament with a 2-3 record. 

"Tough to lose on borderline calls, but a saying we've had this year is 'leave no doubt' meaning put your opponent on his back, a pin is a pin, no matter who is officiating,” said Stamison. “We need to score points and leave no doubt."

Despite the disappointment of losing in the semi-final and suffering two losses later in the day, Taylor will wrestle for the first time ever in the Massachusetts All-State tournament in his high school career.

Said Stamison: “I’m very proud of Sean, as he becomes the first Marblehead high school wrestler to wrestle at All-States since his older brother, Jon, did so in 2009. We still have work to do, and a lot to prove.”

For Powell and Taylor this season will mark the end of eight years of wrestling together since their days as fourth graders in the now defunct Swampscott-Marblehead Youth Wrestling Program.

Also of note, the wrestling team’s annual banquet will be held on March 7 at 6 pm at the Swampscott Yacht Club.

This article was submitted by Black and Blue wrestling.

SWAMPSCOTT MIDDLE SCHOOL HONOR ROLL GRADE 5 QUARTER 2 

High Honors 
Charlotte Andrews, Maria Artiles, Erik Bazarov, Coral Bortman, Kendall Burke, Ariana Casella, Olivia Chavez, Sydney Clark, Maggie Conner, Tynan Connors, Andrew Cronin, Gabriel D’Silva, Alexandra Danilov, Evan DiPietro, Ashley Engstrom, Kyle Fitzgerald, Mia Freddo, Jamie Gaber, Maanik George, Harris Havlicek, Caleigh Hopkins, Bella Irving, Anja Johnson, Aidan Kitt, Ugne Kurdeikaite, Nora LaPlante, Nicholas Lecce, Morgan Lenihan, Anna Levenberg, Mackenna Lord, Tyler Marshall, Sophia Marston, Olivia Matela, Tyler McCoy, Jack Miller, Daniela Moreno-King, George Morris IV, Hester Murphy, Amanda Murrizi, Lucy Naughton, Madeline O’Brien, Alexa Papazoglou, Matthew Pasersky, Isabella Perault, Matthew Potashnikov, Aidan Pulaski, Daniel Rosen, Anbaella Seligson, Charlotte Seligson, Brooke Stout, Hannah Swanstrom, Eleanor Tapping, Sarah Thompson, Miles Vollmer, Olivia Voznyuk, Ethan Weisse, Stephen Whipple, Riley Wurzel, Adam Zamansky, Sarah Zanger

Honors 
Zarialis Amaro, Zachary Barden, Alexis Beaulieu, Alyssa Beitz, Samantha Bendicksen, Abigail Benevento, Jamall Boswell-Fisher, Ronin Buckley, Kelsie Cameron, Lila Caplan, Jalisse Caraballo, Georgia Cilley, Cole Collins, Skye Cote, Allison De La Puente, Genevieve Dishman, Emily DiThomas, Natalie Domeniconi, Evelyn Dove, Caden Dubiel, Ethan Eichler, Mikhail Entsin, Edward Faulkner, Gefen Finn, Luca Gallucci, Lily Ghirardini, Oscar Hale, Liam Hamilton, Graham Inzana, Alexandra Kern, Malik Khatib, Benjamin Kirby, Margaret Krawitz, Isabel Lanzilli, Maxwell Lewis, William Logiudice, Gia Maietta, Isabella Martin, Alexander Medeiros, Jane Michigan, Alexa Mignone, Andrew Olivieri, Jonathan Oriakhi, Duncan Page, Isabella Pazymino, Jake Petras, Bianna Pierce, Walter Rakauskas, Odin Randell, Grace Rapisarda, Justin Ratner, Seemeen Reza, Elsie Ronan, Tyler Seller, Alexander Skalkos, Anastasios Skalkos, Roger Soley, Samantha Sutherland, Andrew Turcotte, Avery Upton, Joel Vered, Jared Widell, Darian Wulf, Jacob Yannetti, Hannah Zafrani, Matie Zakie, Angelica Zeltser


SWAMPSCOTT MIDDLE SCHOOL HONOR ROLL GRADE 6 QTR 2 

High Honors 
Michela Agresti, Samantha Agresti, Alessandra Amore, Alexandra Balchenkoff, Anne Burgett, Codi Butt, Christian Emmerich, Noelle Erikson, Olivia Fillenworth, Madeleine Foutes, Clara Harrington, Fiona Herring, Chloe Howe, Harrison Katz, Caroline Kinne, Victor Kratik, Jack Leahy, Ashley Marston, Rebecca Mitlin, Nicole Modica, Faye Parker, Max Pegnato, Ilya Pindrus, Taylor Roche, Christina Rogers, Sarah Ryan, Marley Schmidt, Dina Seremet, Dylan Smith, Jonah Spritz, William Talebian, Joseph Varghese, Katelyn Watts 

Honors 
Indrit Agalliu, Hannah Amato, John Bachner, Joshua Badal-Rodrigues, Haley Bernhart, James Boots-Ebenfield, Molly Brosnan, Abigail Bruhm, Cameron Burke, Jackson Byrne, Liam Callahan, Grace Carrigan, Mackenzie Carroll, Benjamin Chapman, Brandon Christiansen, Sydney Cresta, Catherine Cullinane, Jacob Culliton, Naomi Culliton, Brenda DeFelice, Sophia Delloiacono, Gia Dilisio, John Dodge, Isaac Dreeben, Karel Durant, Jillian Flanders, Aveen Forman, Chelsea Garland, Isaac Green, Gregory Grimaylo, Amelia Groothuis, Michael Gutin, Sara Hamada Mohamed, Allyson Hartmann, Dimitri Hatzelamprou, Panagiotis Hatzelamprou, Erin Healey, Colton Hernandez, Logan Hill, Benjamin Jacobson, Mahin Jawwad, Sophia Jefferies, Yelena Jefferies, Naya Jeffries-Davis, Ivan Kadurov, Brihat Kelkar, Lori Kholomyansky, Reece Klusza, Alec Landry, Ryan Langan, Steven Lau, Sean Leblanc, Kyle Lenihan, Parker Leone, Thea Levine, Meredith Lutter, Sarah Marks, Matthew Mauriello, Mary Miles, Samantha Mintzer, Herschel Muntiu, Samman Naz, Patrick Norton, Aidan O’Brien, Jacob Olsen, Seth Olsen, Frederic Paster, Russell Paster, Timothy Perlin, Grace Picone, Louis Pilotte, Sean Poister, Alexandra Rogers, Brandon Roth, Ethan Runstadler, Jake Scanlon, Tania Shadari, Jason Sinatra, Michelle Slezinger, Graham Templeman, Anastasia Thomson, Benjamin Townsend, Natasha Tsaryuk, Hannah Vernava, Alexa Winter, Meredith Zimmer   


SWAMPSCOTT MIDDLE SCHOOL HONOR ROLL GRADE 7 QTR 2 
High Honors 
Margot Beaupre, Leona Beermann, Sophia Bereaud, Brendan Bradley, Callan Carr, Mia Chung, Patrick Doucette, Sydney Faulkner, Kendra Fitzgerald, Mia Hopkins, Benjamin Hunt, Robert Jensen, Rita LaPlante, Christopher Legere, Anna Marston, Morgan McBurney, Katelyn O’Keefe, Thomas O’Keefe, Grace Pires, Julia Rapisarda, Julianna Rhoads, Benjamin Ringler, Tenley Seidel, Julia Serino, Samantha Silverman, Sophie Stern, Alice Sullivan, Dejen Teferra, Meredith Wolinski, Kseniya Yermakova 

Honors 
Livia Alperin, Cassandra Andrews, Victoria Asci, Jordan Aucone, Pheobe Baade, Lauren Barbuzzi, Margaret Barden, Rachel Brosnan, Rose Callahan, Noah Carreiro, Madison Chambers, Alyosha Cherkasov, Anna Cilley, Anna Conti, Samantha Conti, Maxx Cooper, Samira Correia, Lucas Cote, Ocean Crawley-Sweeney, William Cruger, Nicholas Dariotis, Luana Dos Santos, Garrison Engle, Nicholas Engstrom, Madeline Faia, Christopher Figueiredo, Aryeh Filler, Colin Frary, William Fraser, Ethan Friedman, Emmanuelle Fuentes, Amanda Gambale, Ishaan George, Alexandra Gladstone, Benjamin Gramling, Jacob Grant, Emily Guiney, Joseph Harling, Brian Hoang, Genefrede Hollenbach, Russell Hopkins, Jr., Sierra Inzana, Ruby Jacobs, Mallory Kessler, Alec Klusza, Troy Levine, Laura Long, Riley Lord, Felix Luebken, Molly Marocco, Gina Marquis, Luke Marshall, John Martin, Claudia Mazariegos, Lauren McCuish, Cate McDonough, Jacob McIntire, Michael McLaughlin, Madeline  Nelson, Christopher O’Connor, Daniel Popovskiy, Jack Poska, Tristan Reenstierna, Alexis Russo, Steven Santanello, Jonas Schultz, Alexander Sheehan, Nicole Silverman, Brianna So, Olivia Sousa, Adam Stockman, Brian Strothman, Julianna Summa, Lilay Teferra, Anne Vogel, Isabella Vu, George Wales, Collin Walsh, Rachael Weiss, Richard Xiong, Liad Zafrani


SWAMPSCOTT MIDDLE SCHOOL HONOR ROLL GRADE 8 QTR 2 

High Honors 
Marina Bron, Jaymie Caponigro, Haley Carola, Meredith Charney, Michael Coffey, Jack Dennehy, Margaret DiGrande, Marina Dreeben, Erika Groom, Kasey Kennedy, Jackie Kostenko, Clare Lang, Hannah Leahy, Nicole Leblanc, William Mallas, Taylor McBurney, Andrew McLaughlin, John Morretti, Daniel Muller, Caroline Munnelly, Ariella Nardizzi, Jacob Nazarenko, Ella Parker, Harry Parker, Shama Varghese, Elizabeth Weisse, Charlotte Westhoven, Joshua Young, Rachel Zabar 

Honors 
Joseph Agresti, Joshua Allen, Robert Barbaro, Jr.,  Alexandria Beitz,  Nicole Bendicksen, Kajayla Boyd, Ashley Bucklin, Alanna Burke, Rebecca Caggiano, Julian Chavez, Joseph Christie, Sophie Clark, Zachary Claussen, Christopher Cohen, Benjamin Conner, Michelle Connor, Aria Corkum, Mackenzie Creighton, William Cronin, Dieynaba Diabate, Brittany DiThomas, Bianca Doman, Giana Faia, Liam Faulkner, Ryan Frauenholz, Jasmine Grube, Adam Hause, Nicole Hayes, John Herlihy, Stephen Hopkins, Karina Kagramanov, Nicholas Kersten, Cenna Khatib, Olivia Kiely, Kelli Kiestler, Julia Kornerup, Thomas Kourkoulis, Gabriella Lariviere, Jackson Laspia, Emily Legere, Matthew Legere, Griffin Lentz, Noah Levine, Mia LoGiudice, Kevin Lombard, Ryan Marescalchi, Michael Mauriello, Liza McCathern, Megan Mentuck, Daniel Mercer, Matthew Moran, Leanne Nisbet, Anne Norton, Liam O’Brien, Paige O’Gorman, Toyah Pass, Owen Pearce, David Peterson, William Petrocelli, Wyatt Phillips, Nicholas Pierro, Claire Powell, Kiely Quinn, Franklin Reid Marston, Elizabeth Rizk, Veronica Rizzo, Juan Rojas Pulgarin, Rachael Rooklin, Charles Ross, Lauren Russo, Mason Sagan, Haley Schofield, Joshua Segedy, Felicia Silveira, Isabelle Stairman, Gavin Sullivan, Emma Sutherland, Chad Swigor, Anthony Troiani, Zachary Turner, Anthony Venuti, Jr., Danielle Vittori, Karol Wabno, Gianna Walker, Morgan Weiner, Emery Wollerscheid, Jack Wurzel, Nathan Young
 

The honor roll was submitted by the Swampscott Middle School

Swampscott High School Principal Layne Millington is one of three finalists for principal positions at both Peabody Veterans Memorial High School and Marblehead High School.

Marblehead Superintendent Greg Maass is expected to announce the new principal on Monday, said Louise Genualdo, director of human resources for Marblehead schools.

The other two finalists are Deb Heaton, Marblehead High's interim principal, and Edward Rozmiarek, Lowell High headmaster.

The Marblehead principal search started in January when a screening committee recommended eight applicants to an interview committee.

The interview committee conducted interviews and narrowed the field to four finalists.

One of them subsequently accepted a position elsewhere.

The Marblehead superintendent interviewed the finalists before February vacation.

 The other two candidates for the Peabody administratve post are:

• Eric Buckley, assistant principal at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School
• John Dillon, assistant principal for education services at Minuteman Regional High School

The successful candidate for the Peabody position is expected to be announced to the Peabody community by Feb. 27, though the School Committee will find out first.

Several members of the Swampscott School Committee sought to keep the Swampscott High principal in Swampscott by bringing forth a motion on Tuesday that would have made Millington superintendent in January of 2014.

That motion was later withdrawn after debate between supporters and opponents. Opponents argued that any choice for superintendent should first go through a selection process.

Earlier, we asked the principal for any thoughts he cared to share about his possible move to Peabody.

He said his experience with the students, faculty and parents at Swampscott High has been incredible.  

"Through their work, the school has grown immensely by every measure of achievement in an extraordinary way," he said.  "However, I am looking at my professional options for the sake of my family and to ensure my own professional growth."

Swampscott Superintendent Lynne Celli said earlier that if Principal Millington is successful and gets the Peabody job, she said, the district will seek an administrator to continue the district's progress just as it has at the Middle School and Stanley School where principals left for new jobs last year.

Millington, formerly the assistant principal at Belmont High School, has been at the helm at SHS since July 2010.

Heavy, wet snow may move in Saturday afternoon and accumulate more than six inches, the National Weather Service said as it issued a winter storm watch.

The winter storm watch runs from Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon and means the potential of accumulating snow of six or more inches in a 12 hour period or eight or more inches in a 24-hour period.

The heaviest snow in Swampscott is expected on Saturday night into Sunday morning when 1 to 2 inches of snow could fall per hour.

“The biggest concern is that this will be a heavy wet snow,” the weather service said as it issued the winter storm watch. “This will bring the potential for downed tree limbs and scattered power outages.”

The wind will blow from the northeast at 5-10 miles per hour through the storm with gusts to 20 mph with temperatures in the low 30s.

The book and subsequent movie "The Perfect Storm" has become etched in local memory and has special appeal in towns like Swampscott with a rich fishing heritage.

Now a long-neglected story of heroism at sea during the Blizzard of '78 could be getting similar treatment.

Word from the Salem News is that actor and director Ben Affleck is examining a screenplay based on the incident.

Peabody's Frank Quirk captained the pilot boat "Can Do" as it tried to aid a tanker that went aground in Salem Harbor during the storm.

For more on the screenplay, see the Salem News report.

Here is an extended YouTube presentation about the "Can Do."

A book, "Ten Hours Until Dawn: The True Story of Heroism and Tragedy About the Can Do," is also available.

The U.S. government has a week before its self-imposed sequestration deadline. If enacted, the across-the-board cuts to the federal budget could mean layoffs, decreased aid and lower government spending. 

That could mean trouble for some popular government programs, such as Social Security and Medicare. Defense contractors are also preparing for lost and reduced contracts with the government. 

Locally, it could also doom smaller programs that have a big impact. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps families in need pay for home heating oil and other energy costs. Massachusetts stands to lose over $11 million in assistance under this one program alone. Representatives Ed Markey and Jim McGovern are trying to shield the program from cuts.

Though designed as a tool to force Republicans and Democrats to negotiate smarter deficit reduction, the threat of indiscriminate cuts has not yet led to a brokered deal.

What about your own pocketbook: Do you think the sequester will affect you? Do you work for the government or in a job that is dependent on government programs? Are you worried sequestration will hurt you financially or be a drag on the economy? Or is it bitter medicine for a country that needs to lower its debt? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Mulling a move? Here are some open houses this weekend. 

If you're a Realtor or are selling your house privately and don't see your listing on the site, feel free to add it to our gallery.

Click through images and check below the photo for information about Sunday's open houses.

Ninety seconds or so of clips running mostly from King's Beach to Preston Beach on Thursday afternoon. 

A look at the coast, with stops at Fisherman's Beach, Eisman's and Phillips Beach before the latest round of snow falls.