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Palm Sunday By Leo Racicot I’m not much for religion, not a churchgoer. Every year though, I try to make it to Palm Sunday services. I like the literal joy of the proceedings: the priests don bright red vestments for this celebratory day, the incense has a dual sensory effect; the…

Spaces for Wise Phrases – (PIP #101) By Louise Peloquin L’Etoile – March 1, 1926 __________      The L’Etoile print shop on 24-26 Prince Street had no modern technology to set up newspaper layout. Innovative ways to “meubler l’espace” (furnish the spaces) had to be found as we saw in…

Because the regularly scheduled Lowell City Council meeting this week fell on St. Patrick’s Day, the council canceled its meeting, so instead of writing about local politics, today I’ll share an essay I wrote as part of Lowell’s bicentennial observance. However, instead of the founding of the mills and the…

Noon on a Monday a Week into War By Bill O’Connell The Carolina wren sings his heart out. Juncos in the cedar respond. A pair of returning hawks circle beneath Air Force jet trails — C-5 transports lifting arms to Bahrain, Israel. On the deck in March sun I dig…

Living Madly: What Time is It? By Emilie-Noelle Provost Contrary to popular belief, Daylight Savings Time was not created by, or to help, farmers. In fact, when Daylight Savings Time was first adopted in the United States, farmers were among its most vocal opponents. After all, the last thing farmers,…

Seen & Heard: Vol. 11 Television: The Oscars telecast – Sunday night was the Academy Awards show on ABC. I watched it for an hour before moving on with my night (I go to bed early and like to read before that). What I saw was enjoyable. The host, Conan…

The agenda item that dominated the Tuesday, March 10, 2026, Lowell City Council meeting was a public hearing and vote to amend the city’s Zoning Code to impose a one-year ban on new or expanded data centers in the city. After much public comment and discussion among councilors, the new…

Mother at the Stove By Leo Racicot      “Memories hold the key not to the past but to the future.” Corrie Ten Boom Our mother wasn’t Julia Child but she was no slouch at the stove either, and when she, at a young age, found herself a widow and bereft, she,…

The Small Town Newspaper – (PIP #100) By Louise Peloquin      “Peek into the past” of L’Etoile number 100 brings us full circle. The seven-decade newspaper never skirted its priority, placing Lowell happenings in the limelight, as the last seven centennial PIP’s showed. The two editorials below offer food for…