A plain-language read on Salem City Hall for the week of October 12 – October 19: a permit-invoice scam warning, the Halloween closure plan, the light-shield ordinance headed to Council, Wednesday’s Zoning Board vote, Holiday Happenings 2026 sponsorships, a November 10 restaurant meetup and the meeting calendar.

A plain-language read on Salem City Hall for the week of October 5 – October 12: the City’s request to keep Pedestrian Mall deliveries off Saturdays, Wednesday’s camping-ordinance committee, the final data-center ban, Halloween licenses and the meeting calendar through October 31.

Halloween week in Beverly just got a lot more romantic! Phantom at North Shore Music Theatre runs Wednesday, October 21, through Sunday, November 1, 2026, at 54 Dunham Road. This is Maury Yeston and Arthur Kopit’s musical take on Gaston Leroux’s classic story. Here, the Phantom is a man named Erik, a brilliant composer hiding beneath the Paris Opera House,

A plain-language read on Salem City Hall for the week of September 28 – October 5, updated October 6: the cancelled business composting meeting, a proposed short-term rental excise, the data-center vote, holiday-weekend closures and the October meeting calendar.

A plain-language read on Salem City Hall for the week of September 21–28, updated September 30: the data-center zoning debate, October parade and rideshare rules, business composting, licensing updates, and upcoming meetings.

Two brass cannons cast in 1836 are coming to Beverly Harbor on October 10. They belong to the Concord Independent Battery, and they will fire during the first on-water reenactment of the Battle of the Hannah and Nautilus. That is one of seven fall events in Beverly MA closing out the city’s 400th anniversary year. Beverly 400+, formally Beverly Quadricentennial,

Salem Night Tour started on October 1, 2006 with one family and a lantern. Twenty years later, the route hasn’t changed. Here’s what has, from the founder.

A plain-language read on what Salem’s boards, commissions and City Council actually did this week — and what’s coming — written for the people who run businesses here. This week: three citywide Haunted Happenings dates (the Food Truck Festival on the Common Sept 19–20, Mayor’s Night Out Sept 25, the Grand Parade Oct 1), the Shetland Park data-center permit appeal at the Zoning Board, a 16-room hotel and a 53-home project at the Planning Board, a Living Wage hearing, and $1M to extend the Salem Skipper.

Mass Cultural Council’s FY27 Grants for Creative Individuals offer unrestricted $5,000 awards. Applications are due October 27, with an online info session September 22.

A plain-language read on what Salem’s boards, commissions and City Council actually did — and what’s coming — written for the people who run businesses here. Every item points back to the city’s own posted record so you can check our work — and you should: agendas get amended, items get continued and meetings get cancelled, sometimes within the same