The walking in the city is treacherous this morning. Ice of every variety—pure, crunchy, fat, layered, crusted—on every surface.

Outside the Tedeschi Food Shop on Appleton Street the mood was somber among the men near the front door. Inside, the Sunday Sun stacked hgh in the rack read “Lowell Shelter Worker Slain.” There was the headline again and again, a whole tower of grief. On the shop radio John Lennon was singing, “I read the news today . . . .”

What do you say to the family and friends of Jose Roldan, a former resident of the Transitional Living Center who was killed yesterday while working at the Center? Reports from the scene say he was trying to help a woman who was being harrassed when her attacker turned on him. On Facebook, his friend Matt Descoteaux called him a hero “who placed himself in harm’s way to protect others.” He was doing some of the toughest work in the community. We can thank him and honor his memory.