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GUEST COLUMN: The failures of leadership in Foxboro
It was great to see the voter turn out for the recent Senate election. I hope this interest spills over into Foxboro politics, where voters can have the greatest impact on taxes. I have focused my voice on leadership topics that have fallen hollow with the majority of the board of selectmen. Whether you agree with me or not, I seek greater citizen input. As pointed out by taxpayers, there has been lots of rhetoric and double standards from the board, with little leadership. Here are just a few examples:

BRISTOL: This column isn't about Brown
Aren't you sick and tired of all the hoopla over Scott Brown? Me neither, but I've been shut off.

HAND: Brown's brief honeymoon
That didn't take long.

D'ARCONTE: Everybody's been off to somewhere
I heard from some pretty interesting people in interesting places over the past several weeks.

GUEST COLUMN: Many deserve credit for Express Registry
While I don't respond to every letter to the editor, I feel it important to respond to the letter from Richard Lunt regarding the Express Registry located in Attleboro. He makes the accusation that I am taking sole credit for the Express Registry in Attleboro.

ZUCK: I wish Toyota steered me away
I owe the fine salespeople of Toyota a huge apology.

SHEA-TAYLOR: Valentine to Etta
Beyonce Knowles swept last week's Grammys with six wins almost precisely one year after she sang "At Last" for the first dance of President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama at their inaugural ball - and caught hell from Etta James, who made famous the jazz melody in 1961.

VOICES: Friendship requires making time
I officiated at a funeral last weekend for a woman who had a lot of friends. I don't mean Facebook friends or acquaintances with whom she was "friendly." I mean a lot of really, truly, deeply held friends. BFF friends.

GOUVEIA: Withstanding the effort to change in NA
It's not easy to top the antics of selectmen in Mansfield or the political theatrics of selectmen in Wrentham. Yet somehow, North Attleboro selectmen keep boosting the local amazement factor to new heights.

REILLY: TV ads are getting weirder
With the most important day of the year for TV advertising coming up, I'd like to talk with you for a moment about commercials.

HICKMAN: For love of art
Since 1937, when Pablo Picasso furiously painted his famous mural "Guernica," thousands of viewers all over the world have wept as they stood before it. That includes a surprising number of the enthusiasts who gathered on Jan. 23 at the Attleboro Arts Museum to discuss "Picasso's War" by Russell Martin - the book chosen to launch a fledgling Art Lovers Book Club.

KESSLER: Inspiration from the ground in Haiti
The devastation in Haiti since the Jan. 12 earthquake is beyond imagination. But nothing brings it home quite like the reports from the nation. Last week, the Rev. Dennis Baril of Community Covenant Church in Rehoboth returned from a visit, where he delivered medical supplies and food. And, on Saturday, Jan. 23, the Rev. Ron Gagne, the communications director at LaSalette Shrine in Attleboro, shared an e-mail with a priest, the Rev. Andrew Labatorio, a Catholic pastor in one of the poorest sections of Port-Au-Prince, which had come to Gagne through the Rev. Bernie Baris.

HAND: Bare facts of politics
Scott Brown is not the least bit embarrassed by it.

GUEST COLUMN: Court puts slingshot in Goliath's hands
Since the era of the "robber barons" when corporate influence in government expanded, the United States has been moving on a steady and certain path to the creation of a plutocratic form of government. A plutocracy is a government controlled by, and for, the wealthy. A recent decision by the United States Supreme Court has accelerated this progression toward plutocracy.

ZUCK: We'll have to learn to live without 'Lost'
I am excited to announce that my favorite and my least favorite show - "Lost" - is finally returning to ABC on Tuesday for its last season. I have loved and hated this show ever since I got my hands on the Season One DVDs and binge-watched all 25 episodes in the span of a couple days. Since then, I've been a devoted fan of the show and a sucker for all the secrets and plot twists that make the island such a fascinating place.

SHEA-TAYLOR: Why America is so polarized
President Barack Obama's first-term rankings in the polls are misguidedly being compared quid pro quo to those of predecessors.

BRISTOL: Bring on the populists
The populist movement that swept Scott Brown into the U.S. Senate has a long way to run, and great potential. The numbers tell the story.

D'ARCONTE: 5th Column: Don't forget to e-mail...
Here’s something different for 2010: On the fifth Sunday of any month with five Sundays, I have invited family members to write a column in my stead, on any subject. Today is the fifth Sunday in January and, hence, here is a 5th Column from my daughter, Elisa Parker of Attleboro.

GOUVEIA: Politics in the age of the clicker
"The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it."Though uttered more than 50 years ago, these words quite accurately apply to our world today. In a political and social sense, change and truth have become virtual strangers, reduced to giving each other a passing nod as they float by on their way to the next ideological battlefield.

REILLY: 'Mystery Science Theater' - so bad, it's great
From time to time, I've made fun of this Internet thing that all the kids are so "into."

KESSLER: Rev E. Nues calls 'em as he sees 'em
Once again, I was searching for some insight into what's been going on, so I consulted one of my old pals, Rev. E. Nues. He made a name for himself as a quick-witted talk-show host on AM station WTAX when an apparatus called a transistor radio was in vogue. He had retired, but is back working for the MBC (Mythical Broadcasting Corporation), because unlike Conan O'Brien, he couldn't get $45 million to just go away. So, while prepping for his annual Groundhog Day Webcast from a secret location known only to himself and Punxsutawney Phil, he agreed to answer some questions.

GUEST COLUMN: Choose experience in North
On Tuesday, Feb. 9, the voters of North Attleboro have the opportunity to elect two candidates as final contenders for a seat on the board of selectman. I am asking for your support in this election.

KIRBY: Audacity of hoop?
You heard him. In the midst of his victory speech in this week's unbelievable upset in the Senate election, Scott Brown challenged Barack Obama to a game of basketball.

HAND: Terror a factor
A Jan. 5 poll showing Scott Brown trailing in the U.S. Senate special election race by only 9 points was a well-publicized turning point in his campaign against Martha Coakley, but an overlooked event was the failed Christmas Day terrorist bombing.

ALL THINGS GREEN: Let's get serious about cleaning up litter
When spring finally comes (it's only nine weeks away!) we will all be reminded of the messy truth buried beneath our snow banks: litterbugs continue to make a mess in Massachusetts. Plastic water bottles, fast food trash, and a scary number of alcoholic beverage containers are scattered along our roadsides.

SHEA-TAYLOR: Bruising may follow basking
Are Scott Brown's legendary Cosmo abs still ripped? His supporters should hope so. Brown's got a political crunch ahead - becoming the promised healthcare roadblock that garnered him untold votes in his campaign against Martha Coakley.

BRISTOL: What will we in the press learn?
We've seen what the media has had to say about Scott Brown. But what does Brown's election say about the media? Quite a bit, I think.

ZUCK: Follow the trail of cookie crumbs
As I take my seat at the computer I can feel my heart throbbing inside my chest. I grip the desk with sweaty palms and try to steady my nerves. Cubicle walls fill my peripheral vision to the right and to the left. Above me, a camera sits bolted to the ceiling, silently recording my actions.

D'ARCONTE: I miss those old 'unsafe' days
There was a time I could say, "Come on, you kids, hop in and I'll take you for a hike in the woods and then we'll all go for ice cream."

GOUVEIA: Brown needs to say 'No' and maintain trust
Scott Brown is the new senator-elect from Massachusetts. He won the old-fashioned way - he earned it.

Voices: A Catholic pastor tries to hang on in Haiti
Editor's note: The following is a letter from a Catholic pastor in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. The journal of the Haitian earthquake and its aftermath is written by the Rev. Andrew Laboratorio, a Missionhurst missionary from the Philippines, working as a pastor in one of the poorest sections of Port-au-Prince. He has 80,000 people in his neighborhood.

GUEST COLUMN: New senator combines humility, determination
I remember the first time I met Scott Brown. It was at the Republican Convention in Lowell, where Mitt Romney was first nominated as the Republican candidate for governor. He was sitting on the stairs where people walked to get to their seats, holding his head in his hands as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. he looked like he wished he were someplace else. But being as he was as handsome and cleancut as any of Mitt's sons, I asked if he were part of the Romney family. "Oh no," he said apologetically, "I'm not that important. I'm just a state rep."

REILLY: Kids these days
According to a story in the New York Times, your teenagers are spending a lot of time online.

MCAVOY: An everlasting night on the ice
As a general rule, I don't see skaters on area ponds anymore.

KIRBY: Remembering when North's Joe Martin ruled the House
It's been more than half a century since the Attleboro area had a player on the national political scene.

MCAVOY: When you're flying on time
Before getting down to the normal course of business in this column, I feel it incumbent upon me to express gratitude to all of you who have helped make this weekly stroll down Attleboro's memory lane into the success that it is.

GUEST COLUMN: Why I serve: The past, present and future
In these challenging and dangerous times for our nation and military, I am often asked by family and friends why I continue to serve in the military. My mother often reminds me of her concern with future deployments and that she would be much happier with me near home.

KESSLER: Marking the time until van leaves...
There's less than a month until the two most meaningful winter milestones for New England baseball fans: the day the equipment van leaves Fenway Park and the date when pitchers and catchers report for spring training in Fort Myers, Fla. That date is Feb. 18, and the van will leave well in advance.

GUEST COLUMN: Mini Fenway healthy deal for North
As a father of three boys who spends a lot of time involved in youth sports, I say "Hooray!" for efforts to bring at least seven new baseball fields, including a major league-level Mini Fenway to North Attleboro. Youth baseball fields are badly needed in North Attleboro. Sports organizers and parents struggle every spring and summer trying to find decent and available baseball fields for our kids to play on.

HAND: Brown's win in the stars?
Former state Treasurer Joe Malone has been involved in his share of campaigns, including an unsuccessful one against the late Sen. Edward Kennedy, but he said he has never seen one like Scott Brown's.

BRISTOL: What if Brown wins?
Today is a day for what ifs for the politically minded in Massachusetts. It's the Sunday before the special election for U.S. senator, a time to consider the possibilities or, if you prefer, to give rein to your worst fears. Consider it a substitute for watching the Patriots.

D'ARCONTE: Cash galore jaywalking 'round town
So, it's 2010 and money's tight, right? Well, here's how the City of Attleboro can make a quick $3 million this year: Enforce the walk-don't walk signs downtown.

ZUCK: Decade of the Patriots
Thoughtful thoughts I was thinking while I watched the Baltimore Ravens give a thrashing to our New England Pop Warner Patriots last Sunday...

SHEA-TAYLOR: An absolute commitment to his birthplace
Wyclef Jean was planning a social networking fest this spring to benefit Yele Haiti, the mission he leads to aid education, health and community development in his homeland.

Calling all Eagles
The Boy Scouts of America is celebrating 100 years since its founding by Chicago publisher William Boyce in February 1910. Scouting for boys began in England in 1907 when Gen. Robert Baden-Powell, a 50-year-old bachelor and one of the few Boer War heroes, discovered that many boys were using his military book "Aids to Scouting" as a guide to outdoor activities and he began to think how he could convert his concepts of army scouting for men to "peace scouting" for boys. That concept worked so well that it spread rapidly to become the largest youth organization in America.

GUEST COLUMN: How'd you do on local history quiz?
Herein are my answers to the quiz in my letter to the editor of Dec. 24 ("Test your knowledge of Attleboro history.")

REILLY: Newsrooms just aren't what they used to be
American Journalism Review - a serious professional journal that publishes articles about such topics as the impact of social media on news gathering - includes in its current issue a story about how a group of reporters once filled an editor's office with golf balls.

ETHICS IN THE NEWS: Measure up to heroic cat's example
Public reaction to the story of a heroic mother cat named Scarlet who in March 1996 five times entered a burning building in Brooklyn, New York, to save her kittens, carrying them one at a time to safety, is an example of how innate human ethical instincts work. This story touched the hearts of millions. As Scarlet clung to life at an animal shelter, with severe burns on her face and paws, her eyes swollen, blistered and shut, thousands of donations and offers of adoption poured in. Scarlet's heroism struck deep into the ethical psyche of so many people because she did what we all believed was right. She was more than brave, she was responsible. She acted ethically in a manner that so reflected the way we think things ought to be that she became an example of virtue. This animal possessed the moral qualities we identify as being excellent: bravery, loyalty, love and devotion to family. She risked her life to help the helpless.

KESSLER: Jan. 19 no day to stay home
We will know next week at this time who the next United States senator from Massachusetts will be: Republican Scott Brown from our own backyard in Wrentham or Attorney General Martha Coakley. Joseph L. Kennedy, a Libertarian candidate who is no relation to the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, rounds out the field, but is given virtually no chance to win due to his miniscule poll numbers.

GUEST COLUMN: Public land no place for private fields
I left last week's North Attleboro meeting regarding the proposed Mini Fenway on Plain Street with the realization that, as a local resident, I would see nothing but inconvenience and a mess. The meeting began with a speech regarding the town's great need for ballfields and the fact there is no money to build them. I believe the need is great and new fields would be very beneficial to our youths, but they should be built with our money and thus belong solely to us, the taxpayers.

Voices: What did you take into 2010?
Like many, I was delighted to say goodbye to 2009 last week. It was a difficult year; an unpleasant year for many people, and I'm just as happy as the rest that it is over. In fact, I'll join in with those who are just as happy to see the "aughts," the "zero decade" - the decade that brought us terrorism, the war on terror, the housing crisis and the economic crisis depart.