AMESBURY – This city has a new chief of police and will soon have a new fire chief. Craig J. Bailey, a veteran of the force, has been appointed the 23rd Chief of the Amesbury Police Department, replaced Chief William Scholtz, who retired due to health issues from the...
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.
Solace for Stephanie Hosts Comedy Night On Saturday
REGIONAL – Looking for a fun night and a chance to help neighbors suffering from cancer? You still have time to buy tickets to the 12th Comedy Night, sponsored by Solace for Stephanie. It will be held at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 13 at the Topsfield Fair. Tickets are...
A City’s Black History Remembered
NEWBURYPORT – It may surprise you that this city, which erected a statue in front of City Hall to slavery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, once refused to let black children attend its public schools. In the early 1800s, long before the Civil Rights Movement of...
Fight Over Historic Ipswich Waldingfield Mansion Continues
IPSWICH — After a year of contentious hearings over the fate of a historic mansion here, the Planning Board may vote this week if it will approve permits to allow Ora, a global ophthalmology company, to convert the Waldingfield estate and grounds to a corporate...
ESPN Broadcasts FlingGolf Tournament
AMESBURY – A sign of how far FlingGolf has come on its path to becoming a major sport, ESPN this weekend will broadcast two FlingGolf events three times over three days, including once in a prime time on Sunday and again on Monday night. Starting at 6:30 a.m. on...
Ipswich Police Chief Defends Contract
IPSWICH – When Tony Marino left in late May as the Ipswich Town Manager, the plan was to have Mary Gallivan, the town’s human resources director, and Police Chief Paul Nikas take turns serving as interim town manager until a permanent replacement could be hired. But...
Third Authentic Ukrainian Dinner at Pub 97
GROVELAND – When Terry and Bernardine Clifford first tasted Nadiia Sadowski’s authentic Ukrainian food at a fundraising dinner at the Custom House in Newburyport, they offered to host a dinner at their 97 Pub here to raise money to feed the people of Nova Kahovka,...
Is This a Solution For March’s Hill?
NEWBURYPORT – Parks Commission chair Ted Boretti last week offered a series of proposals to resolve the on-going battle between youths who ride bikes and build jumps and the residents who live next to the wooded, section of March’s Hill. In the first meeting since...
‘Empty Greenhouses and Tears’
NEWBURY – When Janet Bach of Marblehead reversed rapidly last May in the small parking lot and crashed her car into the cashier station for the Byfield Greenhouses and Garden Center, she killed not only Susan Sforza Nico of Seabrook, NH, and injured two others, but...
Cities Notify Residents of Sewage in the River
MERRIMACK RIVER BASIN – Only 13 days after the new state law regarding notification of sewage discharge into the Merrimack River went into effect on July 6, heavy rains overloaded the sewage treatment plants and forced the dumping of untreated sewage. The city of...
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