The Daily Item: May 27, 2022

A2 THE DAILY ITEM FRIDAY, MAY 27, 2022
OBITUARIES
Laura A. (Buckwell) Herald, 87
1935 - 2022
BURLINGTON/SAUGUS -
Mrs. Laura A. (Buckwell) Herald,
age 87, died on Tuesday
morning at her home in Burlington.
She was the wife of the
late Carl W. Herald for 67 years.
Born in Lynn, MA, she was
the daughter of the late Arthur
and Lillian (Walther) Buckwell
of Saugus. A resident of Burlington
for the last 3 years, Mrs.
Herald had previously lived and
raised her family in Saugus.
Laura was a true homemaker
with a knack for home décor
and flower arranging. She enjoyed
building their cabin with
her husband and family and
“heading up North” for weekends.
She is survived by her three
children; Cynthia Bridges of
Bedford, NH, Gary Herald and
his wife Nancy of Hudson, NH,
and Lisa Butler of Seabrook,
NH. She was the proud grandmother
of 10 grandchildren
and 21 great grandchildren.
Laura was the sister of Eunice
Case of Wilmington, MA, Nancy
Gibb of Crystal Beach, FL and
Stephen and his wife Laurie
of Hamilton. Mrs. Herald was
pre-deceased by her son-inlaws;
Scott Bridges and Robert
Butler. She was the sister-inlaw
of Judith Herald of Weekie
SAUGUS - Mr. Charles C.
Thomas, age 89, died on Tuesday
morning at Lahey Hospital
of Burlington. He was the husband
of Lois (Hobbs) Thomas
with whom he shared 66 years
with.
Born in Revere, he was the
son of the late Ceasar and
Josephine (Devillis) Thomas
of Italy. Charles was a retired
Fire Captain for the Saugus
Fire Department. Longtime
member of the Saugus Knights
of Columbus and Lions Club.
Charlie enjoyed spending time
in his garden and surrounded
by family.
Besides his wife, Charles is
the father of Charles C. Jr. and
his wife Lori of Saugus; Darren
Thomas of Peabody; Lisa
Lawrence and her husband
Bob of FL; Pamela Ferreira and
her husband Mike of Saugus;
and the late Brian Thomas.
Charles is also survived by
his 10 Grandchildren and 7
Great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers Charlie requested
donations to be made
to the Saugus firefighters relief
association @ Saugusfirereliefassociation.com
and or the
Saugus Lions Club for eye research,
P.O. Box 1121, Saugus,
MA 01906.
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In partnership with
Wachee, FL.
Service Information: Relatives
and friends are invited
to attend an hour of visitation
in the Bisbee-Porcella
Funeral Home, 549 Lincoln
Ave., SAUGUS, on Tuesday
10:30 – 11:30 a.m. followed
by a funeral service in the
funeral home at 11:30. Interment
will follow at Puritan
Lawn Memorial Park,
Peabody. For directions &
condolences www.Bisbee-
Porcella.com.
Charles C. Thomas, 89
1932 - 2022
Service Information: Relatives
and friends are invited
to attend visiting hours in
the Bisbee-Porcella Funeral
Home, 549 Lincoln Ave.,
SAUGUS, on Tuesday 7:30
– 9:30 a.m. followed by a funeral
mass at Blessed Sacrament
Church, 14 Summer
Street, Saugus at 10 a.m.
Interment will follow at Riverside
Cemetery, Saugus.
For directions & condolences
www.BisbeePorcella.com.
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Marjorie “Marge” Nihan, 90
1931 - 2022
NORTH WATERFORD, ME -
NORTH WATERFORD- Marjorie
“Marge” (Cooney) Nihan, 90,
of North Waterford, ME died
peacefully in her home on Friday
May 20, 2022.
Marge was born in Lynn, MA
on September 15th, 1931, the
daughter of Loring and Hazel
(Dennis) Cooney. She was
educated in Lynn schools and
graduated from Lynn English
High School, class of 1949,
where she met her soulmate
and life partner, John “Jack”
Nihan. Married in 1954, Marge
and Jack raised their family
in Lynn and shared 55 joyful
years together.
After raising her children,
Marge received her degree
from Salem State College and
taught in Lynn Public schools
for 15 years. Following her
teaching career, she and Jack
retired to their beloved house
on Papoose Pond in Maine.
Marge was an avid sports fan,
especially of the Red Sox. She
was very active in the lives of
her children, grandchildren,
and great-grandchildren. She
enjoyed putting her incredible
knitting skills to good use for
new family arrivals, as well as
providing donations for children
in need.
Marge was a member of St.
Joseph Catholic Church, where
she was a sacristan and an
Extraordinary Minister of Holy
Communion. She was also a
proud member of the Daughters
of Union Veterans of the
Civil War and the Retired Teachers
Association.
Marge was the cherished
mother of nine children. She
is survived by Paul Nihan and
his wife, Patricia of Peabody,
MA, Mark Nihan of Peabody,
MA, Diane Suslak and her
husband, Tom of Haverhill, MA,
Michael Nihan of Wilmington,
MA, Joann Nihan-Teed and her
husband, Howard of Boxford,
MA, John R. Nihan of Haverhill,
MA, Katherine Holmes and
her husband, Edward of North
Andover, MA and Christopher
Nihan of Andover, MA.
Marge was predeceased
by her devoted husband John
C. Nihan, daughter Donna M.
Nihan, and two brothers William
and Francis Cooney. She
will be dearly missed by her
eighteen grandchildren and
10 plus great-grandchildren.
Marge also leaves behind a
dear friend, Roberta “Bobbie”
Cardone of Harrison, ME with
whom she shared a fervent
passion for the Catholic faith
and Jeopardy.
Nana was truly a blessing in
the lives of those she touched.
Her family is comforted knowing
she is at peace, sharing a
fond reunion with those she
loved in the arms of our Lord.
Please join us in celebrating
her life. Visitation hours will
be held at Chandler Funeral
Home, 8 Elm Street, Bridgton
ME on the evening of Wednesday
June 1, from 4-7:00. A funeral
mass will be held at St.
Joseph’s Catholic Church in
Bridgton on Thursday June 2
at 11am. Burial will be in the
Harrison Lutheran Cemetery at
a later date. In lieu of flowers,
donations may be made to
St. Jude Children’s Research
Hospital or the St. Joseph’s
Food Pantry in Bridgton, ME.
To make an online condolence
please visit www.chandlerfunerals.com
A flashback to ‘70s,
begins to grow
with stagflation
By Paul Wiseman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE PHOTO | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Cars line up in two directions at a gas station
in New York City in 1973.
WASHINGTON — Stagflation.
It was the dreaded
“S word” of the 1970s.
For Americans of a
certain age, it conjures
memories of painfully
long lines at gas stations,
shuttered factories and
President Gerald Ford’s
much-ridiculed “Whip Inflation
Now” buttons.
Stagflation is the bitterest
of economic pills: High
inflation mixes with a
weak job market to cause
a toxic brew that punishes
consumers and befuddles
economists.
For decades, most economists
didn’t think such
a nasty concoction was
even possible. They’d long
assumed that inflation
would run high only when
the economy was strong
and unemployment low.
But an unhappy confluence
of events has economists
reaching back
to the days of disco and
the bleak high-inflation,
high-unemployment economy
of nearly a half century
ago. Few think stagflation
is in sight. But as a
longer-term threat, it can
no longer be dismissed.
Last week, Treasury
Secretary Janet Yellen
invoked the word in remarks
to reporters:
“The economic outlook
globally,” Yellen said, “is
challenging and uncertain,
and higher food and
energy prices are having
stagflationary effects,
namely depressing output
and spending and raising
inflation all around the
world.”
On Thursday, the government
estimated that
the economy shrank at a
1.5 percent annual rate
from January through
March.
Abrams-Kemp slugfest promises
to be pricey, long, and ugly
By Jeff Amy
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA — Georgia
voters didn’t get much of a
break from election talk on
the day after the Tuesday
primary in which Republican
Gov. Brian Kemp demolished
GOP challenger
David Perdue and Democrat
Stacey Abrams finally
clinched a nomination
waiting for her after no
other members of her party
jumped in.
The Republican Governors
Association, a key contributor
to Kemp’s victory,
launched a television ad
attacking Abrams Wednesday.
And the state Democratic
Party announced the
launch of its coordinated
campaign that seeks to
grab victories in November
for Abrams, U.S. Sen. Raphael
Warnock and others.
Those were opening
moves in what will be a
brutal slog of a governor’s
race between Abrams and
Kemp, a contest that Republican
strategist Ryan
Mahoney estimated could
cost $250 million overall
after campaigns and other
groups finish spending.
Kemp’s romp, where he
won nearly 75 percent of
the Republican vote despite
former President Donald
Trump’s support of Perdue,
made headlines worldwide
as proof that Republicans
could defy Trump and
thrive. And Abrams, once
unknown, vaulted to first
rank of national Democrats
with her 2018 loss to Kemp
and subsequent advocacy
for voting rights.
Kemp is eager to tie
Abrams to President Joe
Biden in this year’s rematch,
seeking to drag her
down with the weight of
the Democratic president’s
unpopularity.
“She has embraced the
disastrous Biden agenda
at every single turn,” Kemp
told supporters Tuesday in
his victory speech.
Abrams, meanwhile,
wants to make the campaign
all about the shortcomings
in Kemp’s record,
repeating multiple times in
a Tuesday news conference
that Kemp “doesn’t care
about the people of Georgia.”
US economy shrank by 1.5 percent
in Q1 but consumers kept spending
By Paul Wiseman
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — The
U.S. economy shrank in
the first three months
of the year even though
consumers and businesses
kept spending at a solid
pace, the government
reported Thursday in a
slight downgrade of its
previous estimate for the
January-March quarter.
Last quarter’s drop in the
U.S. gross domestic product
— the broadest gauge
of economic output — does
not likely signal the start
of a recession. The contraction
was caused, in
part, by a wider trade gap:
The nation spent more on
imports than other countries
did on U.S. exports.
The trade gap slashed
first-quarter GDP by 3.2
percentage points.
And a slower restocking
of goods in stores and
warehouses, which had
built up their inventories
in the previous quarter for
the 2021 holiday shopping
season, knocked nearly 1.1
percentage points off the
January-March GDP.
Analysts say the economy
has likely resumed
growing in the current
April-June quarter.
The Commerce Department
estimated that the
economy contracted at a
1.5 percent annual pace
from January through
March, a slight downward
PHOTO | ASSOCIATED PRESS
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Georgia Democratic candidate Stacey
Abrams in Decatur, Ga.
revision from its first estimate
of 1.4 percent, which
it issued last month. It
was the first drop in GDP
since the second quarter
of 2020 — in the depths of
the COVID-19 recession
— and followed a robust
6.9 percent expansion in
the final three months of
2021.
The nation remains
stuck in the painful grip
of high inflation, which
has caused particularly
severe hardships for lower-income
households,
many of them people of
color. Though many U.S.
workers have been receiving
sizable pay raises,
their wages in most cases
haven’t kept pace with inflation.
In April, consumer
prices jumped 8.3 percent
from a year earlier, just
below the fastest such rise
in four decades, set one
month earlier.
High inflation is also
posing a political threat to
President Joe Biden and
Democrats in Congress as
midterm elections draw
near. A poll this month
by The Associated Press-
NORC Center for Public
Research found that
Biden’s approval rating
has reached the lowest
point of his presidency —
just 39 percent of adults
approve of his performance
— with inflation a
frequently cited contributing
factor.