Blinded by the light

Even as the editor of the paper you don’t always hit a home run.

For those not in baseball mode yet, I end up looking more like the sad-sack Celtics or Bruins. Hey, even the Patriots don’t win the Super Bowl every year.

I often come up with story ideas which are then passed on to the reporters. If I didn’t think it was worthy of the reporter’s time, and thus making into the paper, I would keep quiet.

Recently (this week, actually) I felt it was worth to do a story on the fact that it is February and the Christmas lights are still on the trees on the Common.

While the idea of a homeowner with their lights and decorations still visible this late in the game does irk me, that was not the reason to have someone look into this story.

During a walk through the Common I noticed how the strands of lights were in quite disarray. Not only are there pieces of the green plastic wires and bulbs (whole and broken) on the ground where the wires are hanging, but parts of the strands in the trees were laying on the ground. And many of the wires not reaching the ground, have fallen down within arm’s length of children, and are all tangled.

If you ask me, that is a safety hazard. But, officials of Waltham disagreed. I know they have more important things to deal with, but I am surprised that it has been allowed to go on this long.

According to City Wires Inspector John Nedza, the decorations the city put up for the holiday season were taken down a couple weeks ago. The lights that we still see - not at night as the power has been shut off - are the responsibility of the contractor hired, CNM Electrical Construction, out of Braintree.

Apparently, the tropics-like winter is to blame.

“We can’t have a soft ground. If it’s too soft over there the big trucks will chew up the grass,” Nedza said.

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn’t there a good stretch of frigid weather a couple weeks ago. I know the ground was frozen because I lost my wedding ring at a dog park (in Salem, but the weather was Arctic-like everywhere) and had to call off the search teams because we wouldn’t have been able to crack the frozen tundra.

Who knows, CNM might have been scurrying to take down lights in Peabody, Weymouth and Avon and didn’t get to the Watch City. I am not sure because the South Shore business didn’t call back.

A call to Mayor Jeannette A. McCarthy also proved fruitless in finding someone who was as concerned as I was.

“They are taken down weather permitting,” she said. “Honestly, I haven’t heard any complaints.”

So, I guess if no one complains they could, theoretically, be up there in November, when they won’t need to be installed again.

Ah, it might be getting clear now. Maybe the lights will stay up there all year, saving the city money? (Might be something for Newton to consider, to help pay for Newton North High School.)

One city councilor even refused to comment, saying he would probably get in trouble if they said anything. He also asked if it was a slow news day, further making his point that it was a non-story.

I went to the streets to see if average Joes like myself cared. About one-third of those I asked really didn’t care.

“If someone is stupid enough to run into (the wires) then they deserve to get whatever happens to them,” said Craig Elliott, who was walking along the Moody Street side of the common on the way to the Waltham Mills Artists Association.

Elizabeth Cardone, a Waltham resident, said she hadn’t noticed, but if she had she would wonder why they haven’t been taken down, almost six weeks after the holiday.

“It does bother me (now that I know),” she said. “People are so busy running around they probably haven’t gotten to it yet.”

Despite having very little support, I still feel it is a matter that should be looked into. Maybe the city will realize that, and a call to CNM will be hearing from Waltham soon.