At Tuesday’s Lowell City Council meeting, councilors received a comprehensive presentation from a representative of Commonwealth Care Alliance, a 20-year-old Boston-based nonprofit corporation that has contracted with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to operate the family emergency shelter program housed in the former UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center in downtown Lowell. This is one of ten such Massachusetts shelters being operated by Commonwealth Care Alliance (CCA).

The Lowell site opened on January 3, 2024, and houses 205 families consisting of 383 adults and 258 children. Most of the residents – 82 percent – are from Haiti. Besides housing and feeding the residents, CCA assists them in obtaining work permits and jobs, permanent housing, health care, food assistance, daycare, and access to schools. In fact, 125 of the children are enrolled in the Lowell public schools and another 52 are enrolled in daycare. Of the adults, 201 have jobs and another 77 have work permits and are looking for employment.

The CCA representative commended the city for being a welcoming partner to the residents and to CCA. The Lowell Public Health Department has provided Covid tests and hosted a vaccine clinic and a TB clinic. The police and fire department have both provided assistance and the Lowell Public Schools have worked closely with CCA to enroll students in classes. The LRTA has provided bus service with a Haitian Creole speaking driver. It seems like city leaders meet weekly with CCA and promptly address any issues that arise. Other Lowell entities that are supporting this effort include Lowell General Hospital, Lowell Community Health Center, the International Institute of New England, the Lowell Career Center (MassHire), and Community Teamwork.

According to the US Census Bureau, there are about 850,000 Haitian immigrants living in the United States with the majority in Florida although Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey have significant numbers. About two-thirds of Haitians living here are naturalized American citizens. Many of the newer arrivals are here legally under a program called Temporary Protected Status (TPS). This program allows migrants to temporarily live and work in the US if conditions in their country make it dangerous to return. TPS was first extended to Haitians in 2010 after a devastating earthquake, but it has been used more recently due to high levels of gang violence in Haiti.

Several factors have made the arrival of Haitian migrants in Lowell a relative non-issue outside of small but vocal circles intent on demonizing immigrants of color. These factors include the relatively small number of Haitians who have come here, the efficient and comprehensive care provided by Commonwealth Care Alliance and its local partners, and, perhaps most significantly, the presence among city leaders of Cambodian immigrants who 40 years ago found themselves in parallel situations and who have considerable empathy for others driven from their homes by violence. And beyond our Cambodian American leaders, most who lived through the massive migration of Cambodian Americans to Lowell in the mid-1980s, while remembering the stress on services that influx of new residents created, also recognize the many benefits that have flowed to the city as the result of that group of newcomers coming here. They also see the latest arrivals as an instance of history repeating itself in a positive way.

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Tuesday’s agenda had a city council vote that could lead to the demolition of four houses on the grounds they had become public nuisances. While the vote was simply referred to a public hearing and generated no comments from councilors, the idea of the city demolishing a private residence seems deserving of further inquiry.

This field is controlled by Massachusetts General Laws chapter 139, “Common nuisances.” This law requires the city to hold a hearing after giving proper notice to the owner after which the city may issue on order that will abate the nuisance. This might involve anything from the city cleaning up the land around the building to demolishing the building itself. The city would then have a lien on the land equal to the amount spent by the city on the abatement. If the property owner was aggrieved by the order issued at the preliminary hearing, this law grants the property owner the right to appeal the order to Superior Court and have a jury trial on the matter.

Of the four properties cited, two are in the Highlands (43 Hastings Street and 290 Branch Street); one is in Pawtucketville (40 Seventh Ave); and one is in Centralville (337 Beacon Street).

43 Hastings Street is near the intersection with Liberty Street. The current Google Street view photograph shows it to be an older single-family house. The photo also shows a large red X on the front façade of the building, warning firefighters that the building is structurally unsafe. There is also mail overflowing from the mailbox. But other than a layer of dried leaves covering the yard, no major defects are visible from this street view. The other houses in the neighborhood are well kept and attractive. The current owner of the property is Yvette Cheeks who city records show now lives in Dorchester, Massachusetts. She purchased the property in 2001 (as Yvette Thomas) for $85,000 and filed a homestead in 2008 which suggests she was living there at the time. She also had a small mortgage which has not been discharged, but the amount owed to the lender might not be worth the cost of fixing the property. Other than reaching the early stage of a foreclosure in 2011, nothing on record about the property indicates financial distress.

290 Branch Street is near the western intersection of Branch and Middlesex, commonly called Dover Square. It’s hard to tell the style of the house or its external condition from Google Street View since overgrown shrubs and trees at the front of the property fully obscure the building. The property is owned by Diane Pihl as the trustee of MG Realty Trust. Other documents show the property has been owned by Ms. Pihl or members of her family since 1967. Other than a city of Lowell tax taking for FY2022, there are no records suggesting financial distress.

40 Seventh Ave is not far from Mammoth Road. On Google Street View, this house seems a likely candidate for tear down. Although there is no red X posted, the front porch roof is visibly sagging and the shingles that cover the front elevation are in poor condition. Other details of the house are obscured by the overgrown shrubs along the front property line. Registry of deeds records indicate that Francis and Kathleen Dillon purchased the property in 1975, although it is possible that Francis is deceased since the city’s notice of the demolition hearing was addressed to Kathleen only. The record also shows several court executions that appear to be for credit card debts but otherwise there are no documentary red flags to suggest a problem.

337 Beacon Street is at the corner of 11th Street. Google shows it as a large house with overgrown shrubs and the cellar windows boarded up, but no other obvious defects from the outside. In 1969, the house was purchased by George and Rose Edgerly. In 1975, George transferred his interest in the property to Linda Edgerly who, in 1983, also obtained Rose’s interest in the house. There are a handful of city of Lowell tax liens on the property, but otherwise there is nothing notable in the records. The city’s recent notice was sent to Linda Sheff who public records indicate was previously known as Linda Edgerly. The record shows no transfer of ownership since Linda Edgerly obtained title 40 years ago. (Records also indicate that Rose was George’s second wife while Linda was George’s daughter from his first wife, whose name was Elizabeth.)

Although not relevant to the potential tear down, it is worth noting that the earlier owner of the property, George Edgerly, is someone whose name would be familiar to people of a certain age who have lived in Greater Lowell for a while. Edgerly was born in Dracut in 1927 and served in the US Army in World War II and Korean War. After the war he worked as an auto mechanic, married, and had two children. On the evening of December 27, 1959, Edgerly’s wife, Elizabeth, disappeared. In April 1960, after the snow had melted, a human torso was found in Beaver Brook in Dracut. The body was identified as Elizabeth Edgerly. George was charged with her murder. He was represented by a young lawyer handling his first murder trial. However, that lawyer’s name was F. Lee Bailey and Edgerly was found not guilty.

George went to work at Butler Chevrolet in Lowell and rose to the post of service manager. However, he and several co-workers were indicted and convicted of larceny for submitting false warranty repair claims to General Motors. While serving the sentence for that conviction, Edgerly was charged and convicted of rape for an incident that occurred before his incarceration. The Assistant District Attorney who tried that case for the Commonwealth was John Kerry who went on to serve in the US Senate and as US Secretary of State. While serving concurrent time for that rape and larceny convictions, Edgerly was charged and convicted of the murder of a General Motors executive who had come to Lowell to investigate the elevated warranty claims at Butler Chevrolet. The GMC person disappeared back before the larceny trial but his body was only found several years later in the Danvers River.

George Edgerly died in 2007 at age 79. He is buried in Lowell Cemetery. Edgerly and surviving family members steadfastly proclaimed his innocence in all the above-mentioned cases.

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Many readers will be familiar with Politico, the online news site founded in 2007 as an alternative to traditional newspapers. Each day a Politico newsletter on national politics arrives in my inbox as part of my daily news diet. In 2013, Politico launched its first “state edition” for New York and eventually expanded to other states including Politico Massachusetts, which provides another daily newsletter focused mostly on the Massachusetts state house.

The headline of this past Thursday’s Politico Massachusetts newsletter caught my eye: “Meet the 24-year-old who defeated an incumbent.” Sure enough, the top article was about Lowell’s Tara Hong who defeated incumbent state representative Rady Mom in the 18th Middlesex District in the September 3 Democratic primary. Here’s part of what Politico Massachusetts wrote about Hong:

As results rolled in a little after midnight, it became clear the Lowell Democrat had accomplished something few have done in Massachusetts’ recent legislative races: defeat an incumbent. Hong bested state Rep. Rady Mom 47-40 percent, while another candidate, Andrew Kollar, earned around 12 percent.

It wasn’t the first time Hong, whose family immigrated to Lowell from Cambodia in 2013, tried to take on Mom; the pair also competed for the seat in 2022. Mom won that cycle, but only by around 50 votes. That was a sign for Hong, he said, that there were people in the district looking for a change. He’s effectively been on the campaign trail ever since that race, building up his name recognition. . .

The piece ended with this:

Hong’s advice to those eyeing a challenge to an incumbent: “If you lose the first time, there’s always an opportunity for the second time, but you have to keep going. You have to keep going and continue building your profile and showing the community that you really want to be in that position, because you have ideas and an agenda that can help improve our community,” he said.

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Next Saturday and Sunday – October 5 & 6 – I’ll lead a 90-minute walking tour of historic Lowell Cemetery. Both tours begin at 10 am from within the Knapp Avenue entrance (77 Knapp Ave). The tours are free and require no advance registration. It will be the same tour both days, but much of the content will be different from past years.

For those interested in Jack Kerouac, this year’s Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Fall Festival runs from October 10 through October 14, 2024. There are many great events but two already on my calendar are a Kerouac-themed tour of St. Joseph’s Cemetery led by Kerouac-scholar Kurt Phaneuf on Friday, October 11, 2024, at 11 am; and another event on Saturday, October 12, 2024, at 11 am at the Pollard Memorial Library Community Room, when another Kerouac expert, Paul Marion, will discuss his new book Portraits Along the Way.

The following weekend, October 19-20, 2024, will feature what I believe is the first-ever Poe in Lowell Festival which will celebrate the three visits the famed poet, Edgar Allan Poe made to Lowell in 1848 and 1849. More information about the Poe Festival is available here.