NEWBURYPORT - In late September, Tom Salemi mused online about the low voter turnout in the most recent city election, then offered a solution: Activate the parking ban lights, which are used to signify parking bans during winter storms, to remind people it's Election Day.

"I'm willing to bet," Salemi wrote on his blog, Newburyport Posts, "that we're not going to see much snow in early November, so the confusion will be minimal. And it will give people vivid reminders that they have something to do before they head off to work or go home."

While Salemi's idea has merit, it is where the idea was made public that may be most important to Newburyporters: on a blog.

In the past two years, starting with Mary Baker Eaton in January 2006, blogging in the city has become a popular pastime.

At least six Web sites in Newburyport concentrate on the politics or goings-on in the city. The posts on the sites range from opinions about city officials and their decisions to new local businesses and organizations. Eaton, for instance, writes consistently about historic preservation.

The site www.aroundthenorthshore.com/forums/index/php, for instance, is less blog and more chat room, with local residents anonymously posting about daily news events, politicians, restaurants and all topics in between.

While blogs are nothing new, the political emphasis of Newburyport's is unusual.

Most blogs concentrate on the everyday life of families or the lives of angst-ridden teenagers. "Bloggers: A Portrait of the Internet's New Storytellers," a study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, said many bloggers, 37 percent, write about "life and my experiences," while just 11 percent of bloggers write about politics and government.

Even less, 5 percent, write about general news and current events.

In Newburyport, it seems many bloggers buck the trend, concentrating on areas that deal directly with the city and less about life experiences.

"I think blogging is radically changing how people get news," Eaton said in a phone interview. "So I'll be interested in how it all evolves. I think it is having a national impact, certainly. It will be interesting to see what kind of impact it has locally."

Bruce Menin, a School Committee member, started a blog this year as part of his campaign for re-election, a race that concludes on Nov. 6. The blog started as a way for him to explain his opinions on school issues, which he calls complicated and interconnected, to the residents of Newburyport.

"Part of the frustration I've experienced in the six years I've been on the School Committee, the issues we grapple with are very interconnected and are not yes-or-no-type of issues. And they need, sort of, to be explained, aspects of them. The public needs to be informed.

"A blog is a really good way to do that," he added.

Menin says local blogs allow for the community to talk about issues important to residents. He said it is another good tool to stay informed on a local level, especially since his blog allows for feedback from the readers, both on individual posts and e-mail.

And Menin says he will keep his blog going beyond the Nov. 6 election.

"It's a way to keep ideas coming and moving forward. It has the potential, in a lot of ways, to be a town meeting that stretches over a couple of days," he said. "It is another way to stay informed. It is another way to have a cup of coffee at Fowle's or Angie's. And you can have the cup of coffee anytime you want. You can sit down and see who is saying what and what is going on.

"And it's fun. I'm enjoying it," Mennin added.

Salemi, the most recent of the writers to go online, has written for a magazine about the medical and pharmaceutical field for 10 years and is a former reporter for the Daily News.

He said he started his blog, which can be found at www.tomsalemi.blogspot.com, as a way to write about the community where he lives in an informal way.

"I enjoy this community a lot and to a degree I miss writing about it," he said. "I'm not trying to make it anymore than it is; when I have observations, it just gives me a chance to give a brain dump through my fingers."

Salemi said the blogs of Newburyport allow many voices to be heard.

"I think it is nice," he said. "For me, at least, it was an opportunity to write about this town but not worry about meeting a deadline or even correct grammar for that matter. It is just a good venue. I do have an opinion, and it gives me a nice informal way to put it out there."

Eaton, a painter by profession, said she blogs as part of her "creative process" while making her art. She is known among many political Newburyporters as a blogger who supports progressive politics. Her blog can be found at www.marybakerart.com/newburyport.

"When I get stuck on a painting I sit down and blog a post, and it gives me something to think about in those long hours I am in my studio," she said.

Eaton said she enjoys reading the blogs of Ed Cameron and Menin, both of whom started blogs this election season as part of their runs for elected office. Cameron is running for the City Council's Ward 4 seat.

"I think they are very interesting, those two blogs," Eaton said. "You get a real sense of who the people are."

How local blogs will affect this year's elections is unclear. But both Salemi and Eaton say it is another way for voters to get to know candidates and is a welcome addition to the political scene.

"It would be nice if every candidate did it," Salemi said. "For those who do, it offers me as a voter to get a complete idea of where they are coming from, and you get a sense of the person."

Newburyport Blogs

n www.newburyportschools.blogspot.com - School Committee member Bruce Menin shares ideas, positions

n www.plum-island.blogspot.com - Concentrates on Plum Island issues, such as water and sewer

n www.tomsalemi.blogspot.com - A medical and pharmaceutical writer, Tom Salemi, ruminates on Newburyport

n www.marybakerart.com/newburyport - The original Newburyport blogger; writes on a wide variety of political issues

n www.aroundthenorthshore.com/forums/index/php - More message board than blog, some of the city's top elected officials participate here

n www.edcameron.blogspot.com - Ed Cameron, running for City Council, shares ideas, positions

n www.comity.org - A site that serves as a virtual meetinghouse for Newburyporters